How do I fix accounting entries linked to the wrong person.

Fixing money linked to the wrong tenant

A step-by-step guide for correcting misallocated payments in AgentOS

The issue, in plain terms

Sometimes a payment (rent, a card payment, a bank statement entry) gets linked to the wrong tenant's account instead of the right one. This usually happens because of:

• Linking a bank statement entry to the wrong person by mistake — for example, two tenants with similar names, or the wrong row selected on a busy statement.
• The bank feed auto-matching a payment to the wrong tenant based on payee name or reference.
• The mix-up not being spotted until after the money has already moved on — for example, it's already been paid out to the landlord, or registered with a deposit scheme.

Example: A rent payment is posted to “Tenant B” instead of “Tenant A” — two different tenants, sometimes on entirely different properties. Or a payment intended for one payee is accidentally linked against a different one with a similar name.

Why it's worth doing properly, not just moving the number

Simply transferring the visible balance across isn't always enough. If the incorrect entry has already triggered something further down the line — such as being paid out to the landlord, registered with a deposit scheme, or used to clear an existing charge, you can end up with a duplicate a mismatch unless or a large non rental deficit unless it's unwound in the right order.

Rule of thumb: work out how far the money has already travelled before making any changes.

Step 1 — Establish what's actually happened

Before making any correction, confirm:

1. Which entry is wrong — get the exact date, amount, and reference for the payment.
2. Where the money currently sits — is it still just a balance on the wrong tenant's account, or has it already:

• been paid out to a landlord,
• been registered with a deposit scheme (DPS/TDS),
• cleared an arrears balance or charge on the wrong account,
• triggered a further payment or invoice?
• Don't forget to review the "current balances" to look at persons sub-accounts as deductions may have been made due but not completely fulfilled. 

         3.  Where it should have gone — the correct tenant, tenancy, and period.

If the money has already moved beyond the tenant's account, follow Path B below rather than Path A.

Path A — Caught early: the money is still just sitting on the wrong tenant

This is the straightforward case — nothing has moved on yet.

1. Confirm the correct tenant and tenancy. Don't rely on name alone — check the property/address too, as name mix-ups are a common cause.
2. Use Transfer to Another Person to move the balance from the wrong tenant's account to the correct one.

Once this has been carried out

1. Check the correct tenant's account now reflects what was actually paid.
2. Check the wrong tenant's account has returned to its correct balance, with nothing left over.
3. Check nothing else was triggered while the balance sat on the wrong tenant's account (for example, rent being auto-called, or the amount being matched against an invoice).

Path B — The money has already moved on (paid to a landlord, or registered with a deposit scheme)

This case needs a bit more care to unwind correctly.

1. Reverse it at the point it left.

• If it was paid to a landlord as rent: Check that it wasn't taken for a maintenance deduction or other deductions from the landlord as these will first need to be reversed before you can proceed with correcting the tenant's account. 
  process a manual rent refund on the tenant for the incorrect entry. This brings the money back off the landlord and returns it to the tenant's account.
• If it was registered with a deposit scheme: use Transfer to Another Person from the deposit scheme contractor to return the amount to the tenant's account.

1. Once the refund/return is in an authorised state, move the money to the correct tenant using a journal transfer or Transfer to Another Person.
2. Re-trigger the correct next step — don't leave it sitting as a balance:

• Use Make Rent Due on the correct tenant for the correct period and amount.
• Once authorised, use Manual Rent Transfer to send it to the landlord (or re-register it with the deposit scheme, if that's where it should end up).

1. Check for duplication before considering it resolved:

• Does the landlord (or deposit scheme) now show the amount exactly once, not twice?
• Is the wrong tenant's account back to its correct balance?
• Is the correct tenant's account showing the right position?

This last check is the step that's easiest to miss, and it's what causes a payment to appear correctly in one place while still lingering somewhere else. Always check the destination (landlord or deposit scheme account) after making the fix, not just the two tenant accounts.

Quick decision checklist

Question	If yes →
Has the money already been paid to a landlord?	Manual rent refund first, then transfer to the correct tenant, then make rent due and transfer to landlord
Has it already been registered with a deposit scheme?	Return it from the deposit scheme contractor first, then transfer to the correct tenant
Is it still just sitting on the wrong tenant, untouched?	A straight transfer between accounts — no refund step needed
Was it linked to the wrong type of account (rather than the wrong person)?	Unlink and re-link as the correct type before transferring between tenants
Did the incorrectly posted entry clear an arrears balance or charge when linked to the incorrect person?	These entries need to also be reversed and corrected before carrying out any upstream corrections

 

If you're ever unsure which path applies, or the payment has already gone through more than one of these steps, please get in touch with support@agentos.com before making changes — it's much easier to correct a payment that hasn't moved yet than one that has already been unwound part-way.