AP Processing Workflow

Vendors email invoices to the EMA accounting email. The mailbox forwards them automatically into AppFolio Smart Bill Entry, where REA (our third-party accounting firm) reviews and posts them. Approvers work the bills in AppFolio, and payments go out Thursday.

Hard copies and invoices sent as links are the exception. Those run through the Document Preprocessor and land in the REA Invoices folder.

Temporary: REA MRI posting

For the next few weeks, REA should post Elliot properties to both MRI and AppFolio, and all other properties to AppFolio only. This is a temporary arrangement. Once it ends, all properties go back to the standard posting flow. See REA Posting.

Who Does What

Role	Person	Responsibility
Office Manager / Data Manager	Lily / Joe	Scan hard copies and download link invoices, run them through the preprocessor, retain stubs/envelopes
Accounting Firm	REA	Review and post non-mortgage invoices in Smart Bill Entry, pull utility statements, confirm autopay
Approvers	Anna, Mike, Rachana	Approve bills in AppFolio on Tuesday and Thursday
Payment Authorization	Rachana	Send the weekly payment report Thursday morning
Payment Processing	Odeirre	Process approved payments
Mortgage Invoices	Rachana, Odeirre	Post and process mortgage invoices in AppFolio, not handled by REA

Intake

1. Vendor emails the invoice
   One invoice per PDF attachment, sent to EMA accounting email.

2. Auto-forward to Smart Bill Entry
   The mailbox forwards it to AppFolio. Nothing is saved to the server on this path.

3. REA reviews and posts
   The bill shows as Ready to Review in Smart Bill Entry. REA corrects the pre-filled fields and saves it, which sends it to the approval queue.

Next-day rule

REA posts each invoice to AppFolio by the next day. Preprocessed invoices must be run on the day they are received. This keeps the approval and payment cycle on schedule.

Exceptions: Hard Copies and Invoice Links

Mail that arrives at the office and invoices sent as a link (QuickBooks, vendor portal) cannot forward on their own. These run through the preprocessor and land on the server. Small share of total volume.

Preprocessor path

1. Hard copies
   Lily or Joe scan the mail and run it through the Document Preprocessor. Stubs and envelopes stay at the front desk in case a vendor address or remittance detail is needed later.

2. Invoice links
   Lily or Joe download the PDF, then either email it to EMA accounting email so it forwards automatically, or run it through the preprocessor directly.

3. REA picks it up
   Files land in a dated subfolder of the REA Invoices folder. REA uploads them into Smart Bill Entry, then moves each file to Posted\. Anything REA cannot post moves to OTS\ for EMA to clarify.

Z:\Shared\BBT Asset Management Inc\Accounting\REA_Invoices\

• DirectoryREA_Invoices/

  • REAEntities.xlsv Entity list
  • Directory05-20-2026/

    • DirectoryPosted/

      • …
    • DirectoryOTS/

      • …
  • Directory05-21-2026/

    • DirectoryPosted/

      • …
    • DirectoryOTS/

      • …

Invoice Preprocessing Run invoices through the Python dashboard and save to the REA Invoices folder.

REA Posting

1. Review the bill in Smart Bill Entry and correct the pre-filled fields. See Review and Save a Bill.

2. Save the bill
   It leaves Smart Bill Entry and enters the AppFolio approval queue.

3. Open questions
   Tag Anna or Rachana in the bill Notes. Use the OTS\ folder only when a preprocessed invoice cannot be posted at all.

Mortgages are excluded

REA posts non-mortgage invoices only. Mortgage invoices are handled internally by EMA (Rachana, Dee, Odeirre).

Approval

Anna, Mike, and Rachana review and approve pending bills in AppFolio (Accounting > Payables) on Tuesday and Thursday.

Payment

Rachana sends Odeirre the weekly payment report Thursday morning. Odeirre processes the approved payments through AppFolio’s Pay Bills workflow.

AP Schedule Weekly AP calendar and the daily open invoice log.

Utility Invoices

Utility invoices follow the same posting and approval flow, but REA pulls them from vendor portals instead of waiting for a vendor email.

1. EMA shares the account list
   The full list of utility vendor portal accounts goes to REA.

2. Credentials go through Keeper
   Portal logins are shared with REA in Keeper. See Keeper Password Manager.

3. REA pulls invoices on the 1st and 15th
   REA logs into each portal twice a month and routes the statements through Smart Bill Entry.

4. REA confirms autopay
   REA maintains the utility account log and enrolls any account not already on autopay.

Set utility vendors to the Utility type

Smart Bill Entry only pulls the account number and statement service dates for vendors set up with the Utility vendor type. If a utility vendor is typed as General, those fields come back empty and the bill has to be corrected by hand. See Vendor Setup.

Working in Smart Bill Entry

Review and Save a Bill

1. Click Ready to Review next to the invoice.

   

2. Click Full Screen View to enlarge the PDF preview.

3. Check each pre-filled field against the PDF: Payee, Total Amount, Bill Date, Due Date, Reference Number, Property, GL Account, Work Order. Utility bills carry an account number and service dates instead of a reference number.

   

4. Click Save & Review Next to move to the next invoice, or Save to return to the bill index.

   

Property is required

A bill will not save without a Property. If it is unclear, tag Anna or Rachana in the bill Notes.

Split a PDF With Multiple Invoices

1. Click Split PDF above the PDF preview.

   

2. Each page starts as its own invoice. Use the plus icon to join pages that belong together, the scissor icon to separate them again. The Save button shows how many files you will end up with.

   

Upload Invoices Manually

Use this for preprocessed files (hard copies and invoice links).

1. Go to Accounting > Payables > Smart Bill Entry.

2. Drag the PDFs into the Attachments field, or click Choose Files to Add.

3. Click Process Invoices. Each invoice takes about 30 seconds.

Find Our Invoices Email Address

The accounting mailbox forwards to this address. Vendors do not use it.

1. Go to Accounting > Payables > Smart Bill Entry.

2. The address is in the Upload Invoices block, in the format [database-name]@invoices.appfolio.com.

Turn On New Invoice Alerts

1. Click your name in the upper right, then My Settings.

2. Under Email Notifications, go to Payments and Accounting.

3. Check New Smart Bill Entry emailed invoices are received.

4. Scroll down and click Save.

Troubleshooting

Common Smart Bill Entry issues

Vendor gets “No valid attached PDF files were found”
The PDF is encrypted, corrupted, an image renamed to .pdf, or the email was forwarded without the attachment. Ask the vendor to resend a clean PDF.

A bill is not visible in Smart Bill Entry
The user needs Smart Bill Entry access, and access to the property once one is assigned. Bills with no property yet are visible to everyone with Smart Bill permissions.

Duplicate warning on save
AppFolio flags a matching vendor and reference number from a prior bill. Confirm it is not a resend before saving.

Junk email in the queue
The address cannot be changed and senders cannot be blocked. Delete statements, notices, and marketing directly from the queue.

What to Tell Vendors

1. Send invoices to EMA accounting email.
   Vendors do not get the AppFolio address. Everything routes through our mailbox.

2. One invoice per PDF attachment.
   Smart Bill Entry only reads the first page of a file, so stacked invoices get missed.

3. Put the work order number on the invoice.
   AppFolio links the bill to that work order and marks it Completed on approval.

Vendor Setup Add a vendor in AppFolio: contact details, portal activation, compliance documents, and vendor type.

Quick Reference

Invoice Preprocessing Run hard copies and link invoices through the preprocessor.

Server Directory REA Invoices folder location and broader server structure.

Naming Convention Filename format for invoices saved to the REA folder.

Keeper Password Manager Sharing utility portal credentials with REA.