This article covers the end-to-end monthly billing workflow in Sharper: generating invoices, running AutoPay, and resolving declined payments. This workflow applies to Marina and Campground reservations billed on a monthly or annual invoice frequency.
For details on configuring AutoPay per customer, see CRM - AutoPay. For information on automatically applying unsettled payments to invoices, see CRM - Auto-Settle Payments.
Auto Settle Payments Setup
This process is designed for a one-time setup, eliminating the need for revisiting this part of the guide in the future. To enable this feature for all upcoming payments, follow these steps:
Navigate to Company Settings in the left-hand navigation panel.
Click on the Outlet Defaults tile.
Within the General section, activate the Payment Auto Settle option.
For marinas with multiple outlets, this process must be repeated when switching between TRS and REIT if both outlets require this functionality.
To activate this feature for CURRENT unsettled payments, proceed as follows:
Access CRM from the left-hand navigation panel.
Click on Payments in the top ribbon.
Click on the Filter icon located to the right of the Search bar.
Adjust the Status to unsettled to filter for current unsettled payments.
Choose a payment, then click on Auto Settle Settings in the top right corner.
Enable the Auto Settle option.
Select the Type as All, POS, or Reservation:
All: Applies the payment to all invoices generated under the customer's name.
POS: Applies the payment to invoices generated from the POS under the customer's name.
Reservation: Applies the payment to invoices generated from any reservation under the customer's name.
If you intend to apply the payment only to reservation invoices, select the Reservation by reservation number in case customers have multiple slips or spaces.
Click Save and repeat Steps 5–9 as needed.
Generating the Invoices
Invoicing your customers in SharperMMS is simple, but there are important steps to take to ensure accuracy!
It is best practice to run and save a current Rent Roll report to verify what you are about to invoice.
Generation steps:
Using the navigation pane on the left, click CRM.
Click Invoices using the menu ribbon at the top.
At the top right-hand corner select Generate Invoices.
Once you click Generate Invoices you will be greeted with a pop-in on the right.
This table below will show what each field can do.
Field | Function |
Invoice Through | The date entered here means any reservation with a Next Invoice Date matching the date entered or before will be generated. |
Customer | Search for specific customer or leave blank to generate for all customers that match the Invoice Through date and any other parameters. |
Booking Type | Ability to narrow down invoice generation by booking type. Can leave blank if wanting to generate for all booking types. |
Marina Reservations Toggle | This toggle must be on if you wish to generate any invoices out of the Marina module. |
Campground Reservations Toggle | This toggle must be on if you wish to generate any invoices out of the Campground module. |
Power Meter Readings Toggle | This toggle must be on if you wish to generate any invoices from meter readings. |
Booking Reservations Toggle | This toggle must be on if you wish to generate any invoices out of the Booking module. In most cases you will not need to do this as invoices are generated on check in. |
Include Transients Toggle | Includes any transients from the campground or marina modules. |
Email Invoices Toggle | Will mass send all invoices that were generated only. |
Email Statements Toggle | Will mass send customer statements after invoices are generated. |
Override Invoice Date | Overrides the invoice dates of the generated invoices. |
5. Fill out the necessary fields in this selection form and select Preview or Generate in the bottom right. Let this page run until invoices are finished generating.
Remember to use the Preview function in combination with the Rent Roll to check billings prior to using Generate for invoicing!
6. Once Rent Roll and Preview Invoices have been reviewed - Generate invoices!
For detailed instructions on how invoices and statements are emailed please refer to: Emailing Invoices and Statements
For related invoice automation settings refer to: Managing and Troubleshooting Invoices: Creation, Duplication, and Automation Failures
Running Autopay
With invoices generated, run the autopay batch to charge customers with saved payment methods. In order to run autopay it must first be set up for each customer. If this is your second or more time running autopay it should already be set up. Please visit this link if you need to set up autopay: Saving Credit Cards & ACH Payment Methods
While in the CRM module, click the Payments button on the menu ribbon at the top.
At the top right-hand corner, click the Auto Pay button.
Field | Functionality |
Date Selection | Due date is the due date of the invoices. Invoice date is invoice date of the invoices. This selection works hand in hand with the Auto Pay Through field. |
Auto Pay Through | If Due Date was selected the date entered here will run autopayments for any invoices with this due date or before. If Invoice Date was selected the date entered here will run autopayments for any invoices with this invoice date or before. |
Customer | Can specify customer or leave blank to run autopayments for all customers that have a default payment method. |
Itemized Payments Toggle | If there are multiple invoices that are set to autopay you can charge the card per invoice if this toggle is on. |
Fill this out to your liking and click Pay in the bottom right.
Dealing with Declined Payments
Naturally, payments will decline for a number of reasons after running autopay. To quickly find your declined autopayments there are a couple of ways to do so.
The cleanest way is to run the Declined Payments report found in Reports → CRM. If there is not one there, try making it or put in a ticket.
Another way is to remain inside CRM → Payments and filter to unsettled payments by clicking the Filter button directly to the right of the search field.
Once you find the declined payments, Sharper will give various reasons as to why the card was declined, but it usually just comes down to 2 solutions.
The payment method has expired or needs to be updated.
The customer needs to be contacted.