Clearing lets you invite vendors to their own portal, where they can upload or create invoices to submit to you for payment, manage their bank account information, and get paid via ACH directly out of Clearing. This article walks through how to invite a vendor and what they can do once they're set up with portal access.
Inviting Vendors to Clearing
Inviting vendors takes just a few clicks. Here's how:
Step 1: Go to Payables & Vendors
Click Payables & Vendors in the left menu, then open the Vendors tab. Click "Invite Vendors" to get started.
Step 2: Choose how to invite each vendor
Not Invited tab
The Not Invited tab lists every vendor who doesn't have portal access yet. From here you can:
Send an individual invite: the vendor gets an email with a link to create their own account and password.
Bulk send invites: invite every vendor on the list at once.
Create account: set up the portal account yourself and assign a temporary password. The vendor is emailed the password, and you're cc'd. They can reset it after logging in.
Tip: Onboarding a large list of vendors? Use Bulk Send Invites to invite everyone at once instead of sending invitations one by one.
Invited (No Account Created) tab
This tab shows invites that have been sent but not yet accepted. From here you can:
Resend the invite: send the email again if it was missed or the link expired.
Delete the invite: remove the pending invite and return the vendor to Not Invited, where you can re-invite them or create their account instead.
Invited (Account Created) tab
This tab shows every vendor with an active portal account, including whether they've added bank account information. You can fully remove a vendor's portal account here if needed.
Note: Removing a vendor's portal access does not delete them from Clearing. You can re-invite them anytime from the Not Invited tab.
Step 3: You're set!
Once a vendor accepts the invite, they can log in to their portal to upload or create invoices and track their payment history.
What's in the Vendor Portal
A vendor's portal has an Invoices section and a Payments section. From the top of the page, they can also add and manage their bank account information, so once that's added, you can process payments to them via ACH directly out of Clearing.
Uploading or Creating an Invoice
Vendors can add an invoice two ways: upload one they already have, or let Clearing generate one from the details they enter. Once it's added, the rest of the process is the same either way.
Option 1: Upload an Invoice
If a vendor already creates invoices in another app or piece of software, they can upload the file directly instead of recreating it in Clearing. Click "Upload" and choose the invoice file. Clearing uploads the PDF and automatically pulls in the description, invoice ID, amount, status, and invoice name (the name can always be edited to make it easier to track).
Option 2: Create an Invoice Manually
A vendor can also create an invoice directly in Clearing instead of uploading one:
Click "Create a New Invoice." This generates a PDF based on the information the vendor inputs. If it's not ready to finalize, it can be saved as a draft and completed later.
The generated invoice automatically includes the vendor's logo, name, and address, pulled from their profile (editable from the top right corner of the main page).
The customer field is pre-filled with your property management company.
They fill in the invoice details: a description, the relevant asset, and a category.
The due date defaults automatically but can be changed. There's also an optional footer for any extra notes.
Reviewing and Sending
Whether uploaded or created, the vendor can open the invoice to review the details: name, ID (the invoice number), status, date, amount, due date, and description. These fields can be edited before sending. From here, they can delete the invoice, save it as a draft, regenerate it, or download it.
Clicking "Send to Customer" asks them to confirm publishing. Once published, the invoice can no longer be edited (though it can still be deleted), and its status changes to "Sent to Client."
Once finalized, the invoice shows on the vendor's main page with its name, description, invoice ID, amount, status, and due date, all still editable except the amounts. If the invoice was created in Clearing rather than uploaded, Clearing generates its own PDF, including the invoice number, date of issue, due date, the vendor's name and email, your company name and email under "Bill To," the description, the property, quantity, price, and total amount due.
Once an invoice is sent, a new Payments section appears on it, this is where the payment will show up as soon as the property management company initiates payment for that invoice.
Tip: An invoice isn't limited to one line item. If a vendor has multiple tasks or several cleanings to bill in one go, they can put them all on a single invoice, Clearing breaks it out into separate line items automatically.
Payment History
The Payments tab at the top of the portal shows a vendor's full payment history for any payments you've processed: the date it was initiated, its status, the account, the amount, a memo, and the associated asset, if there is one.
Vendor Mobile App
Vendors can also do all of this from their phone with Clearing's mobile app: download for iOS or download for Android. From the app, they can upload or create an invoice and view their payment history without needing a computer. See How to Download and Use the Clearing Mobile App for more.
For how you, as the property manager, initiate and send these payments, see Learn How to Effortlessly Pay Multiple Vendors and Expenses.
🙋 Need more help?
We hope you got the Clearing help you needed! If not, reach out to a human via that little chat box on the bottom right corner of your screen. We're always here for you and your Clearing needs.
Clearing is a Financial Technology Company, not a bank.