People who manage billing settings set up how bills and Vendor invoices sync from Property Meld to AppFolio, and how each line gets its GL code. The setup decides what Accounting sees in AppFolio, and a bill that fails to sync isn't recorded there until someone fixes it. Bill sync is sometimes called bill export.
Before You Start
Bill sync is set up once for your company, so check these details first.
- Who this is for: People who manage billing settings. Accounting usually works with the synced bills in AppFolio.
- Applies to: Companies with the AppFolio integration turned on that bill Owners or their own entities for maintenance.
- Access needed: Admin, or the View/Edit/Delete Integrations permission.
How Bill Sync Works
Bill sync puts every bill and Vendor invoice into AppFolio with the right payee and GL code, so Accounting doesn't re-enter or recode them. Bill sync is how the full cost of a Meld that TrueCost captures reaches your accounting system.
Property Meld syncs two kinds of records, and each has its own setting:
- Bills that a Coordinator builds in Property Meld sync when the Coordinator finalizes them. The bill's billing profile sets the payee in AppFolio. See Set Up and Use Billing Profiles.
- Vendor invoices sync when a Coordinator approves them. A Vendor must be linked to AppFolio for its invoices to sync.
For the AppFolio field each detail maps to, see How Information Flows With an AppFolio Integration.
Choose What Property Meld Sends to AppFolio
Choosing the export settings decides whether Accounting finds ready-to-pay bills in AppFolio or has to build them there. The settings for bills and invoices are independent. Within each, turning on one option turns off the other. To choose the settings:
- On Nexus, select Partner Nexus, then select Configure on the AppFolio card.
- Select the Settings tab. Under Export Melds, turn on Export Bills as Bills. To attach the bill's file to the AppFolio bill, turn on Include the File on the Bill.
- Choose how Vendor invoices reach AppFolio.
Decision point: how Vendor invoices reach AppFolio
- Export Invoices as Bills: each approved invoice becomes an AppFolio bill payable to the Vendor. Recommended, and fits most companies, which pay the Vendor and then bill the Owner separately. To attach the invoice file, turn on Export Invoice Attachments to Bills.
- Export Invoices as Billable Items: each approved invoice becomes billable items on the AppFolio work order, and Accounting turns them into a bill in AppFolio. Fits companies that build bills in AppFolio.
- Neither: invoices don't sync, and Accounting enters them in AppFolio.
- Considerations: Property Meld recommends Export Invoices as Bills. Billable items still work: they're line items waiting to be added to a bill, and they end up in the same AppFolio bills pipeline. An invoice exported as a bill is payable to the Vendor, and a bill built in Property Meld is payable to its billing profile's payee.
- Select Submit.
Set Up GL Rules
GL rules code each synced line automatically, so Accounting doesn't recode bills in AppFolio. A GL code always follows this order:
- A GL code chosen on a bill line is always used.
- Otherwise, if the Vendor has a GL account in AppFolio, that account is used and GL rules are ignored. For a Vendor invoice, that's the invoice's Vendor. For a bill, it's the AppFolio Vendor that the bill's billing profile is linked to.
- Otherwise, GL rules are checked from top to bottom, and the first rule that matches sets the GL code.
- If no rule matches, the default GL account is used.
To set up GL rules:
- On the AppFolio integration page, select the GL Rules tab.
- To set a default, choose an account in Set Default GL Account, then select Save Default GL Account.
- Select Add Rule. In Add GL Rule, enter a Name, then choose a Select Condition: Meld Work Category, Meld Work Type, Line Item Type, Assigned Vendor or Assigned Internal. Choose the operator and value, choose the Select GL Account, then select Add. New rules go to the end of the list.
- Drag rules into the order they should be checked, then select Update.
- To change a rule, select Edit, then Save. To remove one, select Delete, then Update. Cancel keeps the rule.
To require a GL code on every bill line, turn on Require GL Account for ALL Bill Line Items on the Settings tab, then select Submit.
If Your Situation Is Different
How you set up bill sync depends on how your company pays Vendors and bills Owners.
- If Owners pay Vendors directly: your company passes Vendor invoices through without building a bill. Use Export Invoices as Bills, and close each Meld without a bill. See Close Melds That Don't Need a Bill.
- If your company sends bills as Billable Items: Export Bills as Billable Items sends each bill to the AppFolio work order as billable items, which are line items waiting to be added to a bill in AppFolio. They end up in the same AppFolio bills pipeline as bills. To move to Export Bills as Bills, turn it on in place of Export Bills as Billable Items on the Settings tab, then select Submit.
- If someone else manages billing settings: the steps are the same for anyone with access.
What Happens Next
Each bill shows its sync status, so you know whether AppFolio has it before Accounting goes looking.
- Pending Sync: the bill is on its way to AppFolio. Don't finalize it again.
- Synced: the bill is in AppFolio. Select the information icon to see when it synced. Once the bill is on the Owner statement in AppFolio, select Mark Billed so Property Meld shows the Owner was charged.
- Sync Failed: the bill isn't in AppFolio. Select the information icon to see the reason, for example AppFolio property not found. Common errors, such as an unlinked property or Vendor, mean checking the integration as a whole: make sure your properties and Vendors are synced from AppFolio to Property Meld. Then select Retry Sync or Re-sync.
Approved Vendor invoices show the same sync statuses, and a failed invoice sync can be retried the same way.
For what happens to the Meld after its bill syncs, see Bill a Verified Meld. If a sync keeps failing, contact Customer Support.
Limitations and Things to Know
Bill sync has this limit, with what to do instead.
- Changes in AppFolio don't come back to Property Meld, including whether a bill is on the Owner statement or an invoice is paid. Check AppFolio, and select Mark Billed on the bill once it's on the Owner statement.
Related Articles
These articles cover the next task, the rest of closing out a Meld, and where to get help.