Online sign-up is the flow where a new customer books a unit from your public storefront, with no intervention from your team. The customer picks a unit, fills in their details, pays, and receives their contract by email. This article describes the customer journey, what Stortech triggers in the background, and the difference between online sign-up and a rental created manually by the operator.

Common questions

How does a customer book a unit online? On the storefront, they pick a unit type with Rent this unit, fill in the sign-up form (details, payment method), pay via Stripe, and receive their contract by email.
Why isn't the amount charged today the full monthly rent? Based on your billing cycle: in First of the month mode, the first rent is prorated between the move-in date and the end of the month; in Anniversary mode, the first rent is full. The deposit and one-off fees are always added at full price.
What's the difference between Card and Pre-authorized debit at checkout? Card is processed instantly by Stripe and access is provisioned quickly. Pre-authorized debit (PAD/ACSS) requires bank account verification that takes 1 to 5 business days; access is only provisioned after the first payment confirms.
The customer paid but no rental appears in Stortech. What now? Check the Activity tab, the Stripe dashboard (was the payment received?), and the Inngest runs (was the webhook processed?). If the webhook failed, contact support for a replay.
The customer got a date error at checkout. Why? The unit type has an advance booking limit. The customer must pick a closer move-in date, or you adjust the limit on the unit type.
Why isn't the deposit applied to the monthly invoice? The deposit is a separate amount, held until the customer moves out to cover any damages. It's neither a credit nor a rent advance.

Who this article is for

Online sign-up is used by your customers, with no authentication or role. The operator-side view of rentals created via the storefront is available to all roles. Manually creating a rental (an alternative to online sign-up) requires the Owner or Manager role.

Before a customer can sign up

The facility must have at least one unit type with active pricing and publicly visible.
The facility must have an active Stripe Connect account to process payments.
To offer pre-authorized debit, ACSS must be enabled on the Stripe account. See the Pre-authorized debit (ACSS / PAD) article.

Customer journey

1. Pick a unit

The customer visits your facility's storefront.
The list of unit types is shown with dimensions, prices, and features.
The customer filters by Size (Small, Medium, Large) or Features (Climate-controlled, Drive-up access).
They click Rent this unit for the desired type.

2. Fill in the sign-up form

The Sign-up page shows:

Move-in date, date picker (today by default).
First name, Last name (required fields).
Email address (required).
Phone number (required).
I'm renting for a business checkbox (optional).
Payment method:
- Credit or debit card (default);
- Pre-authorized debit (PAD/ACSS), shown if ACSS is enabled on the Stripe account.
Charges summary:
- Today, total charged now (first rent + deposit + one-off fees).
- Future rents, date of the next charge, amount, and cadence.

3. Submit

The customer clicks Continue.
Stortech creates a contact (or finds an existing one by email) and a portal account.
Based on the payment method, the customer is redirected to Stripe Checkout (card) or an ACSS mandate.
Once the payment is confirmed, the customer is redirected to the confirmation page.
The Stripe webhook triggers the Stortech actions: rental creation, welcome email send, access provisioning.

What happens automatically

With card

Stripe Checkout processes the card instantly.
The Stripe webhook arrives and Stortech:
- creates the rental (status Preparing then Active); - generates the first rental invoice and marks it paid; - creates the deposit invoice if applicable; - sends the welcome email with the contract to the customer; - kicks off access provisioning via the configured provider (ICT, OpenTech, PDK).

With pre-authorized debit (PAD/ACSS)

The customer signs a pre-authorized debit mandate.
The mandate must be verified by Stripe (1 to 5 business days).
The first invoice is issued but stays Processing until settlement confirms.
Meanwhile, the rental is in Preparing status.
Once settlement confirms, the rental moves to Active and access is provisioned.

First rent vs deposit

Rent is charged via the Stripe subscription invoice.
The deposit is charged separately and is not applied to the monthly invoice. It's held until the customer moves out to cover any damages.

Billing cycle

Based on your configuration:

Anniversary, the first period is billed at full price on the move-in date, and the next charge is on the anniversary date (1 month or 4 weeks later).
First of the month, the first rent is prorated between the move-in date and the end of the current month; the next charge is on the 1st of the next month for a full month. The deposit and one-off fees stay at full price.

Online sign-up vs manual rental

Aspect	Online sign-up	Manual rental (operator)
Who fills it in	The customer themselves	The operator
Payment method	Card or ACSS via Stripe	Card or offline (cash, cheque, Interac, transfer)
Contact	Created automatically	The operator creates or picks the contact
Lease	Generated and sent automatically	Based on the facility configuration (paper or digital)
Access	Provisioned automatically after payment	Provisioned automatically after creation

See the Rentals article for manual creation.

Important statuses and fields

Item	Meaning
Today	Total charged at checkout time.
Future rents	Date and amount of the next automatic charge.
Credit or debit card	Stripe Checkout; immediate payment.
Pre-authorized debit	PAD/ACSS; mandate to sign; first settlement in processing.
Preparing	Rental status between creation and payment confirmation.
Active	The rental is confirmed, access is provisioned.

Common issues

Situation	What to check	What to do
The customer clicked Continue but nothing happens. What now?	Is there an error message on screen? Does the browser console show an error?	Ask the customer to refresh and retry. If recurring, contact support.
The customer paid but no rental appears in Stortech. What now?	Was the Stripe webhook processed? Do the Inngest runs show an error?	Check the Activity tab. If the webhook failed, contact support for a replay.
The rental stays Preparing for several hours. Why?	For ACSS, that's normal up to 5 business days. For card, that's not normal.	If card, contact support. If ACSS, see the Pre-authorized debit (ACSS / PAD) article.
The chosen unit is no longer available after sign-up. Why?	Another sign-up booked the unit in parallel.	The storefront falls back to Join the waiting list or suggests another unit. See the Waiting list article.
The customer didn't receive the welcome email. What now?	Check the facility's Emails tab and Resend status. Did the customer check spam?	Resend the email from the rental record.
The Today amount doesn't match what the customer expected. Why?	Check the cadence (anniversary vs. first of the month), whether a deposit and one-off fees are included.	Explain the breakdown to the customer. Proration is normal in First of the month mode.