Coordinators verify each Meld after its work ends, confirming the work was done and every cost is captured before the Meld is billed or closed. Verifying catches missing invoices, work logs and Costs while you can still recover them, so bills are accurate and the full cost of each Meld is on record. Verifying is sometimes called reviewing or checking a finished Meld.
Availability: Rolling out to AppFolio customers first, with other integrations to follow.
Before You Start
Verifying Melds needs the right access, so check these details before you start.
- Who this is for: Coordinators.
- Applies to: All Property Meld customers. The billing actions apply only if your company bills Owners or its own entities for maintenance.
- Access needed: Agent (the platform role for property management company staff who coordinate Melds), with the Add/Edit Bills permission to see Verify. MAX Verify requires the Ops plan.
How Verifying Works
Verifying is the last check on a Meld's costs before anything is billed or closed, so it's where gaps get caught. Verifying is the step where TrueCost confirms the full cost of a Meld: Vendor invoices, plus Technician labor, plus Costs.
When the work on a Meld ends, the Meld waits on the Review & Verify page until a Coordinator verifies it. That includes Melds that were completed, canceled or couldn't be completed. The Meld's original status, for example Completed, stays with it as its resolution. Closed is the final state of a Meld, reached only after it's verified and then billed or marked No Bill Needed.
Selecting Review on a Meld opens the Verify Work Completed flyout, which shows two sections:
- Completion Details: when the work ended, who marked it, their notes and the Meld's files.
- Assignees: a card for each Vendor and Technician, showing their invoice and its status, work logs, Costs and files.
In the Verify Work Completed flyout, each item shows a check when it's present. When something is missing, for example an invoice that isn't approved or a Technician who didn't log any time, the item shows a warning or information icon. Warnings are information only: you can verify any Meld, whatever the warnings say.
Where something is missing, the item may offer a next step:
- Nudge sends that person a chat message asking for the missing item.
- View Invoice opens the Vendor invoice.
- Open Work Log opens a work log that has no check-out time. Without a check-out time, the work log's hours aren't counted as Technician labor. Select Nudge to send the Technician a chat message asking them to check out of their work log. If the Technician can't, open the Meld and edit the work log on their behalf, adding the time the work ended. An open work log doesn't stop you from verifying the Meld.
If the Meld matches a No Bill Needed rule, a note in the Verify Work Completed flyout says so and shows the reason that will be applied.
Verify a Meld
Working through each Meld's evidence is what makes verifying a real check on costs rather than a formality. To verify a Meld:
- In the sidebar, under Melds, select Verify to open Review & Verify. Melds that ended longest ago appear first.
- Find the Meld. Use Search Melds, or narrow the list with Filters, for example by property, Owner or invoice status.
- Select Review on the Meld.
- Work through Completion Details and each assignee card.
Decision Point: What to Do About a Warning
- Check it now: when you can resolve it yourself, for example by reviewing the invoice with View Invoice.
- Nudge and come back later: when a cost is likely missing and only the Vendor or Technician can supply it. Select Close to leave the Meld unverified. Your nudges stay sent, and the Meld stays on Review & Verify.
- Verify anyway: when the gap is expected, for example when the notes say no parts were used.
- Considerations: verifying is final, so a cost you miss now won't come back to Review & Verify to be caught later.
Important: Verifying a Meld can't be undone. If a No Bill Needed rule applies, verifying also closes the Meld. To bill a Meld closed this way, use Mark as Bill Needed in the Meld details.
- Choose a verify action. Verify and Go to Next Meld is the default. Open its menu to see the other actions.
Decision Point: Which Verify Action to Choose
- If a No Bill Needed rule applies: every verify action marks the Meld No Bill Needed with the rule's reason and moves it to Closed, including Verify and Create a Bill. If the Meld does need a bill, verify it, then use Mark as Bill Needed in the Meld details.
- Verify and Go to Next Meld: moves the Meld to Ready to Bill and opens the next Meld. Fits working through the list.
- Verify and Done: moves the Meld to Ready to Bill and closes the flyout.
- Verify and Create a Bill: opens bill creation so you can bill the Meld right away.
- Verify and No Bill Needed: asks for a reason, then moves the Meld to Closed. Fits a Meld that won't be billed and that no rule covers.
- Considerations: a matching rule always wins, so check the flyout for a No Bill Needed rule note before you choose.
Let MAX Verify Flag What Needs Attention
MAX Verify gives Coordinators a second review of every Meld, catching gaps that are hard to spot by hand. MAX Verify requires the Ops plan.
MAX Verify is MAX's review of a Meld's costs and evidence before a Coordinator verifies it. MAX recommends, and the Coordinator decides. In the Verify Work Completed flyout, MAX Verify flags what needs attention, for example a cost far above the Meld's projected cost, a work log that mentions a part with no matching cost, or a Resident question nobody answered. On Review & Verify, the Ready to Verify and Needs Attention quick filters sort Melds by MAX's assessment. You can verify a Meld whatever MAX Verify flags.
To learn what MAX Verify looks for, what each MAX status means and how to rate its review, see How MAX Verify Reviews a Meld.
If Your Situation Is Different
How verifying fits your work depends on how your company bills and who handles close-out.
- If your company never bills for maintenance: you still verify every Meld on Review & Verify. With a No Bill Needed rule for every Meld, verifying is the step that closes it. See Closing Out Completed Melds for which rule fits.
- If someone else shares the work: at some companies, a Property Manager verifies Melds, or a Maintenance Supervisor reviews receipts and costs. The steps are the same for anyone with access.
- If a Meld has no assignee, Costs or work logs: the Verify Work Completed flyout shows a warning. If you're not charging for the Meld, choose Verify and No Bill Needed.
What Happens Next
After you verify a Meld, it leaves Review & Verify and moves to billing or Closed, depending on the action and your rules.
- If the Meld moved to Ready to Bill: select Bill in the sidebar to bill it. See Bill a Verified Meld.
- If the Meld was marked No Bill Needed: it's on Closed. See Close Melds That Don't Need a Bill.
- If you can't find the Meld on Ready to Bill: check Closed, because a No Bill Needed rule may have applied. If the Meld is still on Review & Verify, it wasn't verified.
- If you nudged someone: the Vendor or Technician receives a chat message asking for the missing item.
Limitations and Things to Know
Verifying a Meld has one limitation to plan around.
- You can't undo verifying. A verified Meld doesn't return to Review & Verify. Check the evidence and nudge for anything missing before you verify. If a Meld was closed with No Bill Needed by mistake, use Mark as Bill Needed in the Meld details to move it to Ready to Bill.
Related Articles
These articles cover the rest of closing out a Meld and where to get help.