Set Up No Bill Needed Rules

People who manage billing settings use No Bill Needed rules to close Melds that are never billed as soon as a Coordinator verifies them. Choosing the setting that fits how your company bills saves Coordinators from marking each Meld by hand and keeps Ready to Bill limited to Melds that need a bill. No Bill Needed rules are sometimes called No Bill Needed defaults.

Before You Start

Setting up No Bill Needed rules needs the right access, so check these details first.

• Who this is for: People who manage billing settings.
• Applies to: All Property Meld customers. Rules help most if your company owns the properties it manages, forwards Vendor invoices to Owners, or bills some properties and not others.
• Access needed: Agent (the platform role for property management company staff who coordinate Melds), with Admin access or the Edit Application Settings permission.

How No Bill Needed Rules Work

No Bill Needed rules close every Meld your company never bills without anyone marking it, so no unbilled Meld waits on Ready to Bill. Rules are part of how TrueCost accounts for the full cost of every Meld: the costs are confirmed at verification, and the rule records why no one is billed.

No Bill Needed rules work as follows:

• A rule marks a Meld No Bill Needed when a Coordinator verifies it, with any verify action, including Verify and Create a Bill. The Meld moves to Closed.
• A rule covers every Meld (No Melds Need a Bill) or is saved on specific properties (It Depends on the Property). Owner and property group are only filters for finding properties.
• Every rule has a reason: This Is an Owner-Managed or Company-Owned Unit (the default), The Owner's Management Agreement Covers This Work, or Other, with the reason entered in Please Specify a Reason.
• A changed rule applies to Melds still waiting on Review & Verify.
• With Decide Case by Case, no rules apply, and Coordinators mark Melds by hand. See Close Melds That Don't Need a Bill.

Choose the Setting That Fits How You Bill

The right No Bill Needed setting closes every Meld you never bill and leaves every billable Meld for a bill, so no cost is left off a bill by accident. The table below matches how your company bills to the setting that fits. For more situations, see Closing Out Completed Melds.

Choose a Company-Wide Default

A company-wide default, Decide Case by Case or No Melds Need a Bill, treats every Meld the same way, so no property needs its own rule. To choose one:

1. Go to Account Settings and select Billing. On the Billing Settings page, open the Billing tab.
2. Under No Bill Needed Defaults, choose Decide Case by Case or No Melds Need a Bill.
3. If you chose No Melds Need a Bill, choose a reason in the list under it. If you choose Other, enter the reason in Please Specify a Reason.

4. Select Save Changes.

Choose Which Properties Don't Need a Bill

Rules saved on properties close Melds on the properties you never bill, while Melds on every other property still go to Ready to Bill. To choose the properties:

1. Under No Bill Needed Defaults, choose It Depends on the Property, then select Edit Properties.
2. Find the properties with Search, Filter by Owners or Filter by Property Groups. Select Clear to remove the filters. The Rule column shows each property's reason, or None.
3. Select the checkbox for each property that doesn't need a bill. A property that already has a rule gets the new one.
4. In the banner that shows how many properties will be updated, choose a reason. If you choose Other, enter the reason in Please Specify a Reason.
5. To remove the rule from a property, select the delete icon on its row.
6. Select Save. Saving also saves It Depends on the Property as your default, so you don't need to select Save Changes.

If Your Situation Is Different

How you set up rules depends on how your company handles Vendor invoices.

• If your company forwards Vendor invoices to Owners to pay: choose No Melds Need a Bill if you never pay Vendors directly, or It Depends on the Property and filter by those Owners to find their properties. Vendor invoices sync to AppFolio, where they go to the Owner. No bill is created in Property Meld, and the Meld closes as No Bill Needed. See Integration Settings - AppFolio.

What Happens Next

After you save, the No Bill Needed rules apply the next time a Coordinator verifies a matching Meld.

• What you see: No Bill Needed Defaults Saved Successfully appears. With It Depends on the Property, the setting shows how many properties don't need bills, and Edit Properties shows each property's reason in the Rule column.
• What Coordinators see: for a matching Meld, the Verify Work Completed flyout shows a note with the rule's reason before verifying, with no extra prompt. The Meld's Activity Log records the mark under the Coordinator who verified it.
• If a Meld you expected to close goes to Ready to Bill: check that your default is saved, and for It Depends on the Property, that the Meld's property shows a reason in the Rule column.

Limitations and Things to Know

No Bill Needed rules have these limits, each with what to do instead.

• You can't keep property rules after switching to another default. Before you switch, note the properties and reasons in Edit Properties, so you can add them again if you switch back.
• You can't save a rule on an Owner or property group. Filter by the Owner or property group, select the properties, and save the rule on each.
• You can't see every property in Edit Properties. The list shows only properties you have permission to, within the groups chosen in the Property Groups selector. To see others, change the Property Groups selector and select Apply, or ask someone with access to those properties.
• A Coordinator can't skip a rule or change its reason while verifying. To bill the Meld, or give it another reason, the Coordinator selects Mark as Bill Needed in the Meld details after verifying. See Close Melds That Don't Need a Bill.

Related Articles

These articles cover the rest of closing out a Meld and where to get help.

• Closing Out Completed Melds
• Close Melds That Don't Need a Bill
• Contacting Customer Support