When a rental invoice stays Open or Overdue when you expected it to be paid, a payment has failed: card declined, insufficient funds, a revoked pre-authorized debit mandate, or simply a pre-authorized payment still processing. This article helps you diagnose the cause and take the right action.
Who this article is for
Diagnosing a failed payment needs access to invoices and payment methods. Every role can view them. Issuing a refund, changing the payment method, or unblocking access requires the Owner or Manager role.
How an automatic billing cycle works
For a rental on automatic billing:
1. On the renewal date, Stripe generates an invoice for the rent.
2. Stripe immediately attempts the charge on the customer's default payment method.
3. Success: the invoice moves to Paid, the customer gets a receipt, and access is restored if it was suspended.
4. Failure: the invoice stays Open, a failure timestamp is recorded, the customer gets a failure email, access may be suspended, and Stripe may retry depending on your Stripe Connect account's settings.
The failure timestamp on the invoice triggers the late fee grace period and, depending on the configured provider, access suspension at the gate.
Diagnosing an invoice that isn't Paid
Step 1 — Identify the invoice
Step 1.
Open the customer's record.
Step 2.
Go to the Invoices section.
Step 3.
Find the invoice in question (number, amount, date) and open its record.
Step 2 — Check the local status
On the invoice list, the Open and Overdue tabs filter directly to the invoices that need attention:
The invoice list filtered to Open: each invoice shows the customer, the unit, and the status badge.
On the invoice's own record:
Status in the Summary section (Open, Overdue, Paid). Recent activity shows payment attempts and their outcomes. Payments lists the payments actually applied (card, PAD, offline).
An Open invoice's record: the status badge sits at the top next to the invoice number, with the history in Recent activity.
Step 3 — Check the payment method
If the invoice is Open after a failure:
Step 1.
Go to the customer's record, Payment method section.
Step 2.
Confirm there's a valid default payment method (card or PAD).
Step 3.
If the card expired or the PAD was revoked, the record may show no default method. See the Payment methods and automatic billing article to add or change a card.
The rental record's Billing panel also shows the current payment method and the next invoice date:
A rental's Billing panel: this is where the payment method, frequency, and next invoice date live.
Step 4 — Check in Stripe
For cases where Stortech says Open but the customer insists they paid:
Check the matching Invoice object in the connected account's Stripe dashboard. Check the exact decline code (card declined, insufficient funds, etc.). For a PAD payment, the object may show processing for 1 to 5 business days; that's normal.
Step 5 — Check gate access
Step 1.
On the rental record, go to the Activity tab.
Step 2.
If access was suspended, the history mentions it with the date.
Step 3.
Access is only restored automatically once every other rental invoice for that customer is paid.
Safe actions (no approval needed)
Explain the situation to the customer (PAD delay, card declined, etc.).
Ask the customer to update their payment method via their portal.
Resend the portal link if the customer can't log in. See the article Customer can't log in.
Wait for Stripe's next automatic retry.
Actions that require approval
Refund an already-paid invoice (the Refund button on the record).
Cancel or archive an unpaid invoice — goes through support.
Waive an already-issued late fee. See the article Late fees.
Manually edit an invoice amount or status — goes through support.
Reactivate gate access while unpaid invoices remain.
Common issues
Invoice Open after a card failure. What to do?
What to check: what payment method is on the customer's record? Has the card expired?
What to do: ask the customer to update their card via their portal.
Invoice Open with a recent PAD payment. Is that normal?
What to check: add 1 to 5 business days to the PAD timeline.
What to do: wait for confirmation. See the article Pre-authorized debit (ACSS / PAD).
Stripe shows Paid but Stortech says Open. What to do?
What to check: does Recent activity show the webhook arriving? Did the Inngest runs go through?
What to do: the webhook may have failed or still be processing. Contact support for a replay if needed.
Access wasn't restored after payment. Why?
What to check: is any other rental invoice for that customer still unpaid?
What to do: if every invoice is paid but access stays blocked, contact support.
The customer paid cash or by cheque. How do I mark the invoice Paid manually?
What to check: was the offline payment actually received?
What to do: record the payment from the invoice record. See Recording an offline payment on an invoice. If in doubt, contact support to avoid a double payment.
The customer says they paid twice. What to do?
What to check: does the Stripe dashboard show both payments?
What to do: issue a refund via the Refund button on the invoice (if the same invoice was paid twice) or via the Stripe dashboard (if the payments landed on different invoices).
Frequently asked questions
Why is the customer's invoice Open when they have a payment method on file? — Stripe attempted the charge and it failed: expired card, insufficient funds, revoked mandate, or another decline code. Check the invoice's Recent activity for the exact code.
The customer pays by pre-authorized debit. The invoice has been pending for several days. Is that normal? — Yes, up to 5 business days for confirmation. PAD is slower than a card. See the article Pre-authorized debit (ACSS / PAD).
Stripe says the invoice is paid, but Stortech says it's Open. Why? — The Stripe webhook may have failed or still be processing. Check recent Inngest runs; if the webhook failed, contact support for a replay.
The customer's gate access is blocked after a failed payment. How do I restore it? — Once the payment succeeds, access is restored automatically, provided no other rental invoice for that customer is unpaid.
How do I retry a failed payment? — Stripe retries automatically per your settings. To force a retry, ask the customer to pay manually via their portal, or click Retry payment from the invoice record if available.
The customer says they paid twice. What do I do? — Check the Stripe dashboard: if the invoice was paid twice, issue a refund via the Refund button on the invoice. If the payments were applied to different invoices, contact support.