Payment References

This sounds like such a trivial thing. Yet it is so vitally important. Some might not know what we are referring to so I will explain in detail.

Your Personal reference

If you receive an account from a Body Corporate, that generally means you are either the owner of a Section in the building or a tenant residing there. Each account has its own unique number.

It is absolutely imperative that you attempt to use this number EXACTLY as it is shown on your statement. Why is this important?

How about an example?

Most people have some sort of an account, Foschini, Edgars or maybe a rates account from your local Council. Lets use the local council as an example. To make a payment you need some information:-

1. The bank account number of the institution, that would be the bank account number stated on your COJ, Ekurhuleni or Tshwane statement.
2. Your Account number, this is important because Council receives millions of payments every month into the same bank account. You need to MAKE SURE that council knows this is YOUR payment for YOUR account.

Paying your Levy account is exactly the same. You have a unique account number that must be used to the letter, by doing this you avert any mistakes. This saves you having to call your managing agent because your payment does not reflect. This saves you time!!

Why must the Reference be exact?

There are various reasons which we will get into in a moment.

Take this reference number for example. (This is an example of what your account number looks like on all Gauteng Management Agents Levy statements)

At this building this refers to Section 53, but the Unit has a totally different Door number, something like J203, a door number could indicate its block J, floor 2 and Unit 3 on that floor. (These are made up examples and simply some information, please DO NOT use your door number)

We also make use of a naming convention broken down as follows.

1. CP - To reference the complex name in some way.
2. A - To indicate that this is an owner account, it would be CPT053 for a tenant account

Let's discuss what can potentially go wrong if you don't use CPA053 (in this example which is made up for all intents and purposes).

If you use this reference - 53

1. Automated systems that normally allocate this automatically will not capture this. Because it is not exact
2. Secondary automated allocation can also not be used, since 53 is too general a number, sometimes receipts include mobile numbers, 53 can easily be included in a mobile number and thus misallocate it.
3. The only option left is manual Human allocation, and let's face it, Humans make mistakes. In addition to that, the person does not know if 53 belongs to the Tenant or the Owner account.

If you use this reference - Capricorn53 (This would indicate the Complex name and the unit number)

This depicts the complex name and unit number.

Automated systems that normally allocate this automatically will not capture this. Because it is not exact

1. This could potentially be allocated with teaching a secondary automated system, but we still do not know it this is a Tenant or Owner account.
2. The only option left is manual Human allocation, and let's face it, Humans make mistakes. In addition to that, the Person does not know if 53 belongs to the Tenant or the Owner account.

If you use this reference - 082123456753 (This is often found with Cash transactions)

This depicts the mobile number of the depositing party and if you look closely, the number 53 at the back.

1. Automated systems that normally allocate this automatically will not capture this. Because it is not exact, if it was 0821234567CPA053 it would have worked, the system will find the CPA053.
2. This could potentially be allocated with teaching a secondary automated system, but we still do not know it this is a Tenant or Owner account in addition, if the mobile number changes, we can't capture it.
3. The only option left is manual Human allocation, and let's face it, Humans make mistakes. In addition to that, the person does not know if 53 belongs to the Tenant or the Owner account, this is also not normally missed by data capturers.

If you use this reference - WE53 Jackson

This depicts a payment that indicates it's for Water & Electricity (potentially), the unit number and potentially the name of the owner.

1. Automated systems that normally allocate this automatically will not capture this. Because it is not exact, we need CPA053.
2. This could potentially be allocated with teaching a secondary automated system, but we still do not know it this is a Tenant or Owner account in addition.
3. But this will again fail if Jackson is not found in next month's payment description.
4. Indicating that it is for Water and electricity can be confusing, potentially meaning that it's for a tenant account and is not needed in the description, the payment will be allocated to the oldest debt.
5. Jackson could be the owners name, or not, our system could maybe only show the Surname or Initials such as WJS Botega. All of this creates uncertainty.

If you use this reference - Capricorn Levy

This is potentially the payer that simply mixed up his (My reference) and (Beneficiary Reference) While this seems silly, this happens often.

1. We have no way of allocating this, it will simply be moved to unclaimed.

What about if I own multiple units and want to make a single payment.

This is also a fairly common occurrence. Lets break this down

Please DO

1. Make the reference "SPLIT [MOBILE]" eg. - SPLIT 0821234567
2. SPLIT to indicate that this is for more than one unit.
3. [MOBILE] should be replaced with your mobile number so that we can get in contact with you if needed.
4. Send us a document with a breakdown of how we should split the amounts to accounts1@gmacc.co.za

Please remember to send the breakdown and ensure payment reflects in the complex bank account, before the 7th of the month so that payments can be allocated prior to credit control.

Please DO NOT

1. Include an account number such as CPA053 in the Description.  The system will recognize the Account number and allocate the full payment to that account.
2. Include multiple account numbers. eg. CPA053 CPA090 CPA153.  The system will recognize the first Account number and allocate the full payment to that account.
3. Forget to send the breakdown.

What happens to my payment if it is not allocated to my Account

Your payments get allocated to an Unclaimed account on the books. The complex still received your payment, but since we could not determine that the payment belongs to your account, it was added to a list of unknown receipts.

It will remain there until you contact us and claim the payment.  To claim the payment the following is required.

1. We need you to provide us with all the information of the payment you made .  That means the proof of payment. This includes the date, the amount and the Description you used.
2. Once this is confirmed, the payment can be allocated to your account.

Please note that we cannot allocate payments without this information. There are individuals that will try to claim these receipts without having paid it.

What do you need to make a successful payment?

1. The Complex bank account details (Found on your Account Statement)
2. Your Reference number that will look similar to the image below.
3. The amount you need to pay (Indicated as the Total Due at the bottom of your monthly statement)

In summary

If you use your exact reference, you will have no trouble. You will never need to look for your payments. No accidental credit control because you payment is not allocated.

We understand that all our clients are busy, and no one wants to do the admin of tracking down payment you have already made.

We also know for a fact that humans are flawed, which means if your payment reference is not exact, a person at Gauteng Mangement Agents needs to use their judgement to allocate it. It is easy to criticize judgement and easy to make a mistake in this situation. If the reference is correct this step is averted.

I hope that this provides some context and assists you in providing a correct reference that will make your life easier.