Overview
PayGuest is the operating system for your PG, hostel or co-living property. It replaces the register, the WhatsApp broadcast list and the calculator you use every rent cycle.
Instead of tracking beds in a diary and chasing rent by hand, you manage everything in one place: who lives in which bed, what each tenant owes this month, who has paid, and who is moving out. PayGuest generates invoices automatically on the right day, sends payment reminders on WhatsApp, and keeps a clean ledger you can trust at settlement time.
How it works, end to end
- Set up your propertyAdd your property, then its floors, rooms and beds. This mirrors your building exactly, so a bed is the smallest unit you rent out.
- Onboard tenantsAssign a tenant to a bed and record their rent, security deposit and billing day. The deposit is locked at onboarding so it can never drift.
- Invoices generate automaticallyOn each tenant's billing day, PayGuest raises that month's invoice — pro-rated for the first partial month. You can also raise one manually any time.
- Collect & record paymentsTenants pay by UPI or cash. You mark the invoice paid (in full or partially) and a receipt goes out. Overdue invoices trigger WhatsApp reminders.
- Move-out & settleWhen a tenant leaves, PayGuest settles the deposit against dues and any deductions, and issues a no-dues certificate.
The golden rule: every rupee in PayGuest is tied to a specific bed, tenant and invoice. If you always work through the app instead of a side-register, your books reconcile themselves.
What you'll find in these docs
Property structure
The four-level hierarchy and how bed statuses work.
Pro-rata rent
The exact formula, with worked examples in rupees.
Settlement
How deposits, dues and deductions net out on move-out.
Property structure
PayGuest models your building as a four-level hierarchy. Everything you do — assigning tenants, billing, occupancy reports — hangs off this structure.
The four levels
- PropertyThe building itself — for example Sai Residency, Kondapur. Holds the address and defaults.
- FloorA level within the property — Ground Floor, First Floor. Used to organise rooms and to navigate the bed map.
- RoomA physical room on a floor — Room 101. A room contains one or more beds.
- BedThe smallest unit you rent. A tenant is always assigned to a specific bed, and rent is charged per bed.
A single occupancy room has one bed; a triple-sharing room has three. You always rent beds, never rooms — this keeps sharing arrangements and occupancy accurate.
Bed statuses
Every bed carries a live status you can see on the bed map:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Occupied | A tenant is currently assigned and billed for this bed. |
| Vacant | Empty and available to assign a new tenant. |
| Reserved | Held for an incoming tenant. Not yet billed, but not offered to others. |
| Notice | The occupying tenant has a move-out in progress; the bed will free up on the vacate date. |
Plan limits
The number of beds you can manage depends on your subscription plan. Beds count across all your properties.
| Plan | Properties | Beds included |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | 1 | Up to 70 beds |
| Growth | Up to 3 | Up to 200 beds |
| Pro | Unlimited | Unlimited beds |
If you try to add a bed beyond your plan's limit, PayGuest blocks it with a PLAN_LIMIT_REACHED message and prompts you to upgrade. Existing beds are never affected.
Tenants & onboarding
Onboarding a tenant assigns them to a bed and sets up their billing. Take a minute to get the numbers right — the security deposit locks the moment you save.
Fields you fill in
| Field | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Full name | The tenant's name, shown on invoices and the bed map. |
| Phone number | Used for WhatsApp reminders and the secure payment link. Changing it later requires an OTP to the new number. |
| Parent / guardian name | Optional emergency contact name. |
| Parent / guardian phone | Optional. Must be different from the tenant's own number. |
| Bed | Which vacant or reserved bed the tenant occupies. |
| Monthly rent | The full-month rent for this tenant's bed, in rupees. |
| Security deposit | The refundable deposit. Locked at onboarding — see below. |
| Move-in date | The day the tenant actually moves in. Drives the first pro-rated invoice. |
| Billing day | The day of month (1–28) each future invoice is raised. |
| Address attestation | You confirm you have verified the tenant's address against their ID. Required to save. |
Security deposit is immutable. Once a tenant is onboarded, the deposit amount cannot be edited — not by you, not by support. This protects the tenant and keeps settlement honest. If it's wrong, the tenant must be re-onboarded. Everything else (name, phone, rent) can be edited later.
A note on tenant IDs
PayGuest does not store Aadhaar, driving-licence or other government ID numbers. You attest that you have verified the tenant's address against their ID, and PayGuest records only that attestation — never the document itself. This keeps you compliant and your tenants' sensitive data off the platform.
What happens the moment you save
- The bed is marked occupiedThe assigned bed flips to Occupied and leaves the vacant pool.
- The deposit is lockedThe security deposit is frozen at the amount you entered.
- The first invoice is raisedA pro-rated invoice for the partial first month is generated immediately (see Pro-rata rent).
- Reminders switch onThe tenant enters the WhatsApp reminder schedule for that invoice.
How invoices work
An invoice is a single month's charge for a single tenant. PayGuest can create them three ways, and it will never create a duplicate for the same tenant and month.
The three creation paths
Automatic
On each tenant's billing day, the next full-month invoice is raised for you — no action needed.
On onboarding
The first (pro-rated) invoice is created the instant you save a new tenant.
Manual
You can raise an invoice on demand for any tenant, for example an extra charge.
Idempotency — no duplicates
PayGuest guarantees that a tenant has at most one invoice per billing period. If a billing job runs twice, or you tap "generate" after the automatic run already fired, the system detects the existing invoice and does nothing new — it returns the invoice that already exists rather than creating a second one. You will never accidentally double-bill a tenant for the same month.
This is why you can safely re-run billing or tap "generate" without worry — the worst case is a no-op, never a duplicate charge.
Reading the invoice number
Every invoice gets a human-readable number so you can trace it at a glance:
| Part | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
PG | Fixed PayGuest prefix. | PG |
{owner_id} | Your owner account ID. | 142 |
{YYYYMM} | The billing month, year then month. | 202607 |
{seq} | A running sequence number for that month. | 0087 |
So PG-142-202607-0087 is the 87th invoice raised by owner 142 in July 2026. The number is stable — it never changes once assigned.
Pro-rata rent
A tenant who moves in mid-cycle shouldn't pay a full month. PayGuest charges only for the days from move-in up to the day before their next billing day.
The formula
The first invoice covers the move-in date through the day before the next billing day. From the second invoice onward, the tenant is on full-month cycles aligned to their billing day. The number of days in the cycle is taken from the actual calendar, so February and 31-day months are handled correctly.
The first billing cycle is keyed off the move-in day. Its period ends on the day before the billing day of the next cycle — not on the last day of the calendar month.
Worked examples
Assume monthly rent ₹8,000 and billing day = 1st in each case.
Example 1 — move in on the 15th
Priya moves into a bed at Sai Residency on 15 July. Her billing day is the 1st, so the first cycle runs 15 Jul → 31 Jul.
| Billable days (15 Jul – 31 Jul) | 17 days |
| Days in July | 31 days |
| Calculation | ₹8,000 × (17 ÷ 31) |
| First invoice | ₹4,387.10 |
From 1 August she pays the full ₹8,000 each month.
Example 2 — move in on the 1st
Rahul moves in on 1 July, exactly on the billing day. There is no partial period.
| Billable days (1 Jul – 31 Jul) | 31 days |
| Days in July | 31 days |
| Calculation | ₹8,000 × (31 ÷ 31) |
| First invoice | ₹8,000.00 |
A move-in on the billing day is simply billed as a full month.
Example 3 — move in on the 20th, billing day 1st
Anjali moves in on 20 July. Her first cycle runs 20 Jul → 31 Jul.
| Billable days (20 Jul – 31 Jul) | 12 days |
| Days in July | 31 days |
| Calculation | ₹8,000 × (12 ÷ 31) |
| First invoice | ₹3,096.77 |
Her next invoice, on 1 August, is the full ₹8,000.
You never calculate any of this by hand. PayGuest works it out the moment you onboard the tenant and puts the exact figure on the first invoice.
Billing day
The billing day is the day of the month each tenant's recurring invoice is raised. It's the anchor for their whole billing cycle.
What the billing day controls
- When invoices generate. On the billing day, PayGuest automatically raises that tenant's next full-month invoice.
- Where the cycle starts and ends. A full cycle runs from the billing day of one month to the day before the billing day of the next.
- The pro-rata cut-off. The first partial invoice runs from move-in up to the day before the first billing day.
Full-month period formula
period end = ( billing_day of month M+1 ) − 1 day
For a billing day of the 5th, the August invoice covers 5 August → 4 September. The September invoice covers 5 September → 4 October, and so on. Each tenant can have their own billing day, so your invoices are spread across the month rather than all landing on the 1st.
Why only the 1st–28th?
Billing day is restricted to 1 through 28. This is deliberate: not every month has a 29th, 30th or 31st. If a tenant's billing day were the 30th, February would have no matching date and the cycle would break.
By capping the billing day at 28 — the shortest month's last guaranteed day — every month has a valid billing date, and cycles never skip or double up. It's a small constraint that removes an entire class of edge-case bugs from your books.
Recording payments
When a tenant pays, you record it against their invoice. PayGuest supports full and partial payments, by cash or manual UPI, and sends a receipt automatically.
Marking an invoice paid
- Open the invoiceFind it under the tenant or in the invoices list.
- Record the paymentEnter the amount received and choose the method — Cash or UPI (manual). Manual UPI is for payments made to your own UPI ID outside the app.
- The status updatesPay the full amount and it becomes Paid; pay part of it and it becomes Partial.
- Receipt goes outA payment confirmation is delivered to the tenant on WhatsApp.
Partial payments
Tenants don't always pay in one go. Record whatever they've paid and PayGuest tracks the remaining balance (the amount due) on the same invoice.
Partial payment example
Rahul's August invoice is ₹8,000. He pays ₹5,000 in cash on the 3rd.
| Invoice total | ₹8,000 |
| Paid so far | ₹5,000 |
| Amount due | ₹3,000 |
The invoice sits at Partial. When he pays the remaining ₹3,000, you record it and the invoice flips to Paid.
Every recorded payment — full or partial — triggers a receipt to the tenant, so they always have written confirmation of what they've paid.
Invoice statuses
Every invoice moves through a small set of statuses. Knowing what each one means tells you exactly where a tenant stands.
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Draft | Created but not yet issued to the tenant. Not counted as owed. |
| Issued | Sent to the tenant and now due. The clock starts. |
| Partial | Some money received, but a balance remains. |
| Paid | Fully paid. Nothing outstanding. |
| Overdue | Issued, still unpaid, and past its due date. Triggers reminders. |
| Cancelled | Voided — for example a mistaken invoice. No longer owed. |
The lifecycle
- Draft → IssuedA new invoice starts as a draft, then is issued to the tenant and becomes due.
- Issued → PartialIf the tenant pays only part of the amount, it moves to partial while a balance remains.
- Issued / Partial → PaidOnce the full amount is received, the invoice is marked paid. This is the happy ending.
- Issued → OverdueIf the due date passes with money still outstanding, the invoice goes overdue and WhatsApp reminders kick in.
- Any → CancelledAn invoice raised in error can be cancelled so it stops counting toward dues.
Only Issued, Partial and Overdue invoices represent real money owed to you. Draft and Cancelled never count toward a tenant's dues.
Move-out & settlement
When a tenant leaves, PayGuest walks you through a clean settlement: net the deposit against any dues and deductions, refund or collect the difference, and issue a no-dues certificate.
Two ways a move-out starts
Owner force-vacate
You initiate the move-out yourself — for example when a tenant leaves without notice or must be asked to vacate.
Tenant self-notice
The tenant gives notice through their payment link; you review and accept it to begin settlement.
The four-step settlement flow
- Initiate / accept the noticeThe move-out is opened (by you, or by accepting the tenant's notice) and a vacate date is set. The bed moves to Notice.
- Tally outstanding duesPayGuest totals any unpaid invoice balances up to the vacate date.
- Apply deductionsYou add any deductions against the deposit — damages, cleaning, a final electricity bill — each as a line item.
- Settle & certifyThe deposit is netted against dues and deductions. PayGuest shows the final refund (or amount still to collect) and issues a no-dues certificate.
Worked example
Settling Priya's move-out
Priya is vacating. Her deposit was locked at ₹16,000 on onboarding. She has one unpaid invoice, and there's minor wall damage.
| Security deposit held | + ₹16,000 |
| Outstanding rent (unpaid invoice) | − ₹4,000 |
| Deduction — wall repair | − ₹1,500 |
| Deduction — deep cleaning | − ₹500 |
| Refund to tenant | ₹10,000 |
Priya is refunded ₹10,000. If dues and deductions had exceeded the deposit, PayGuest would instead show a balance for her to pay before the account can be closed.
No-dues certificate
Once settlement is complete and nothing is outstanding, you can issue a no-dues certificate for the tenant. It's a clean written record that the account is fully settled — useful for the tenant's own paperwork and for your records. Fetch it any time from the completed move-out.
Because the security deposit was locked at onboarding, there's never a dispute about how much was held. Settlement always starts from a number both sides agreed to.
WhatsApp reminders
PayGuest chases rent for you. Five automated WhatsApp messages keep tenants informed, and a secure OTP-gated link lets them see and pay their invoice without an account.
The five automated messages
| # | Message | When it's sent |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | New invoice | When a fresh invoice is issued — the tenant sees the amount and the pay link. |
| 2 | Payment reminder | A gentle nudge as the due date approaches. |
| 3 | Overdue notice | When an invoice passes its due date still unpaid. |
| 4 | Payment receipt | Confirmation the moment you record a payment (full or partial). |
| 5 | Move-out / settlement | Settlement summary and no-dues confirmation when the tenant vacates. |
How the secure payment link works
Each message carries a link to that tenant's invoice. The tenant does not need a PayGuest account — but the link is not open to the world either:
- Tenant taps the linkIt opens a lightweight page for their invoice only.
- OTP verificationBefore any details show, the tenant confirms a one-time password sent to their registered phone number.
- View & payOnce verified, they see the invoice, the amount due, and can pay via your UPI. They can also give move-out notice here.
Why the OTP matters: the link is tied to the tenant's phone number. Even if a link is forwarded, only someone who receives the OTP on the registered number can open the invoice. Tenant data stays private.
Plans & limits
Three plans, priced per month, scaling from a single property to an unlimited portfolio. Upgrade or downgrade any time.
For a single small PG.
- 1 property
- Up to 70 beds
- Auto invoices & pro-rata
- WhatsApp reminders
- Cash & UPI payment recording
For a growing operator.
- Up to 3 properties
- Up to 200 beds
- Everything in Starter
- Move-out & settlement
- No-dues certificates
For multi-property portfolios.
- Unlimited properties
- Unlimited beds
- Everything in Growth
- Finance & expense tracking
- Priority support
Subscription statuses
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Trial | You're in the free trial window — full access, no charge yet. |
| Active | Subscription is paid and current. Everything works. |
| Grace | A renewal payment is pending. You keep access for a short grace window. |
| Cancelled | The subscription has been cancelled and will not renew. |
| Expired | The plan has lapsed. Access to paid features pauses until you renew. |
Your data is never deleted when a plan lapses. Renew and everything — beds, tenants, invoices, history — is exactly where you left it.