Payments & Billing
The worst part of running a storage facility isn’t the storage. It’s the first week of every month: generating invoices, emailing them one at a time, matching checks to renters, and wondering whether the guy in space 14 paid cash to your weekend employee. LeaseLlama’s billing exists to make that week disappear.
Recurring billing that actually recurs
When a renter checks out a space, billing is configured on the spot: monthly, quarterly, or annual. From then on, LeaseLlama generates each invoice on schedule. If the renter has a card on file, it’s charged automatically on the due date. No invoice run, no reminder emails to write, no “did I bill everyone this month?”
If a charge fails, LeaseLlama retries automatically (three attempts by default; you can change that), flags the invoice as Payment Failed, and it shows up red on your dashboard instead of hiding until the renter is three months behind.
Cards through Stripe, cash and checks by hand — both first-class
Card payments run through Stripe. Card numbers never touch LeaseLlama. They go straight to Stripe’s vault, and you see the brand and last four digits, which is all you need. Renters can keep multiple cards on file with one set as the default for auto-pay. Test mode lets you verify the whole flow with fake charges before you flip to live keys.
Plenty of storage customers still pay with a check or a stack of twenties, and that’s fine. Record the payment against the invoice with the method, amount, date, and a reference number (like the check number), and it lands in the same payment history as every card charge. One record, regardless of how the money arrived.
Invoices that tell you their status at a glance
Every invoice carries a status you can read across the room: Draft, Sent, Payment Due, Payment Overdue (red), Payment Pending, Payment Failed (red), Paid (green), Partial Paid, Voided, or Uncollectable. The billing dashboard splits “due” from “overdue” (money that’s coming versus money that’s late) with counts and totals for each.
Need a one-off charge? Manual invoices handle damage fees, lock cutting, prorated adjustments, whatever. They take line-item types for rent, deposits, late fees, discounts, and refunds, and due-date terms from “upon receipt” to Net 30.
Late fees you configure once
Set the percentage, a minimum, a maximum, and a grace period (say 1.5%, $5 minimum, $50 cap, after a 10-day grace) and LeaseLlama applies late fees to overdue invoices automatically, recurring every 30 days while the balance sits. No awkward mental math at the counter, no inconsistent enforcement between renters.
Reminders are automated too: pre-due reminders (3 days before, by default), overdue reminders at 7, 14, and 30 days, and a delinquency warning at 45. You choose the cadence; the software does the nagging.
Deposits and credits, tracked to the penny
Security deposits are collected at checkout and tracked facility-wide: how much you’re holding, and for whom. That’s a liability, and LeaseLlama treats it like one instead of a number in someone’s head.
When money flows back to a renter (a mid-cycle move-out with prepaid rent, an overpayment, a goodwill credit) it becomes a credit memo with a status (Open, Partially Settled, Settled). Credits auto-apply to that renter’s future invoices, refund to the original card when Stripe allows it, or get logged for a manual payout. Nothing gets resolved with a shrug.
What it doesn’t do
- No customer payment portal. Renters don’t log in to pay; auto-pay runs on the card you keep on file, and manual payments are recorded by you. If your business depends on renter self-service, that’s not here yet.
- Cards require Stripe. No Stripe account, no card processing. Cash and check tracking still works fine without it.
- Invoices can’t be edited after creation. Corrections go through credits or voids, which keeps the audit trail honest.
Common questions
Do my customers need to create an account or download an app? No. Payments run on the card you keep on file (stored with Stripe, not with us), or you record cash and checks as they come in. Renters never log into anything.
What happens when a card is declined? LeaseLlama retries automatically (three attempts by default, spacing configurable), then marks the invoice Payment Failed so it shows up red on your dashboard. You’ll know the same day, not at month-end.
Can different renters be on different billing schedules? Yes. The billing interval is set per rental at checkout: one renter monthly, another quarterly, another annual, all at once.
How do refunds reach the renter? In order of least hassle: back to the original card when Stripe allows it (roughly 180 days), as an account credit that applies to future invoices when it doesn’t, or as a logged manual payout for cash and check renters. Every path leaves a record.
Where to go deeper
The docs cover invoices, recording payments, payment methods, credits, deposits, and Stripe setup. Every payment also lands in the accounting suite, where the totals live.