Toward the end of the Payments onboarding process from the 1CONNECT Portal, you will have a choice to either go live with a Soft Launch or a Full Launch option. We've provided some information below to help you choose which option may be best for you to start your journey with 1VALET Payments.

Soft Launch

We recommend that all buildings start with a Soft Launch to verify that the setup and configurations related to rent payments, and/or paid amenities are working as intended. With a soft launch, you can:

Choose up to three suites to test Payments
Choose which residents in the selected suites will be able to make payments

Process for Rent payments (available to Yardi customers only)

When setting up Rent payments for Yardi customers, you need to set up a test resident in Yardi, and then add some charges to the ledger for the account. We recommend small amounts not adding up to more then $10 to keep the transaction amount low when testing as the service fees applied are no refundable when performing these transactions. Alternatively, you can add a "friendly" resident or staff who live on-site and have a Yardi profile in 1VALET to the soft launch suite list.

The Soft Launch feature will allow you to verify the following Yardi Integration items:

A resident’s Yardi ledger outstanding balance and charges match from Yardi to 1VALET
A payment made from 1VALET will be applied to the resident’s Yardi ledger
A refund made from 1VALET will be applied to the resident’s Yardi ledger

Additionally, you can use the Soft Launch to ensure you have applied the intended settings properly during payments onboarding for the following items:

Whether or not residents can do partial payments
The autopay withdraw date is as intended
The proper refund charge code is configured
The intended payment methods are presented and can be used by residents
The intended service fee percentages that will be paid by the residents are applied

Keep in mind that only the suites selected for a soft launch (and additionally, residents selected within those suites), will be able to:

See their rental balance and charges from their resident ledger
Add payment methods
Make a payment

All other residents will not see this information or be able to make payments while in soft launch.

**PLEASE NOTE, once a charge is completed, even when in soft launch mode, the charge will incur all fees in accordance with your payment contract with 1VALET**

Amenity Payments (available to both Yardi and non-Yardi buildings)

All customers looking to add amenity payments should first create a test resident, or alternatively use a "friendly" resident or staff living on-site to test the functionality as required.

For non-Yardi buildings, you can create a test resident directly in the 1CONNECT Portal by adding a new resident.

For Yardi customers, you will need to create the test-resident in Yardi, and then add a few test charges on their resident ledger (this could be a nominal amount). Next, import into 1CONNECT by clicking on the "Sync" button - located on the resident screen in the portal.

Alternatively, you can add a "friendly" resident or staff who live on-site and have a Yardi profile in 1VALET to the soft launch suite list.

Once this is done, please follow these steps:

Add the test-resident's suite to the soft launch list
Create a test amenity with payments enabled
Set the price and the rules around cancellation for this amenity

If your preferred flow for amenity bookings is to require approval within the 1CONNECT portal first, then you should also set up the amenity this way. However, we do recommend you switch to automatic approval to take full advantage of the 1VALET amenity payments feature once you have verified that everything is working as intended.

Please note that only the test resident in the suite added to the soft launch suites list will be able to add a payment method (a valid credit or debit card), see the test amenity, and complete a test booking on it.

After completing the booking, you can view the booking (or approve it) from the 1CONNECT Portal. After you have verified that the charge has gone through, you can refund the payment to recoup the amount charged.

**PLEASE NOTE, once a charge is completed, even when in soft launch mode, the charge will incur all fees in accordance with your payment contract with 1VALET***

Full Launch

We recommend that you start with a Soft Launch before going to a Full Launch.

If you choose to start with a Full Launch, we recommend that you proceed only after you have verified the following:

You have the appropriate user accounts set up so that the staff you require to manage payment settings and disputes, perform refunds, and set up paid amenities will be ready and onboarded within 1VALET's 1CONNECT Portal.
The payment withdrawal dates for rent payments are correct
The payment methods allowed, and the percentage of service fees to pass on to the resident are correct
Payments made by residents appear on the resident ledger; this includes setting up rules within Yardi for how a payment is applied to various charges on the ledger in a specific order
A refund appears on the resident ledger
A resident ledger is showing the correct amount before and after a payment
The charges showing on the resident app under the balance details are correct and reflect what is displayed in Yardi
For Paid Amenities, ensure you have the proper amenity configuration and pricing for the amenity
For Yardi customers, ensure you have verified the correct charge/accounting codes are set for the amenity so that the charge and payment are posted correctly on the resident ledger when a payment is made

If you need more assistance while testing during your soft launch, please contact us to further assist you.