The Auto-Lock Unit feature automatically restricts access to storage units when customers fail to pay their invoices. This saves you valuable time, reduces manual errors, and helps you consistently enforce your payment policies. With configurable grace periods and automatic restoration of access upon payment, it offers flexibility while maintaining control over your units.

This feature is available only for locations with configured smart entry systems that are integrated and connected with Kinnovis.

Step-by-step guide to enabling Auto-Lock

Step 1: Enable Auto-Lock in your settings

Navigate to Location Settings in your Kinnovis Manager.
Go to Unit Management Settings.
Activate Auto-lock units by toggling it ON.
Set your preferred Grace Period (the number of days after an invoice becomes overdue before the unit is automatically locked).

What happens after I have turned auto-lock on?

Once auto-lock is enabled and a grace period is set, the system will automatically check for bookings with unpaid invoices that meet the conditions for blocking access. Units are not locked immediately. Instead, the system schedules the lock to happen the next day at 1am.

Step 2: Automatic locking and unlocking process

When does a unit auto-lock?

Units lock automatically if the grace period elapses after an invoice is marked “past due”.
Only invoices that are linked to a unit rental are considered for auto-lock. Invoices that are not linked to a specific booking do not trigger an auto-lock, even if they are overdue.
Access is revoked for the unit and any associated shared accesses.

Important: Set a Grace Period to Avoid Immediate Auto-Lock

If your 'Invoice Due In' setting under Location > Manager Billing is set to 0 days, and/or your manual payment links are also due immediately (0 days), we strongly recommend setting a grace period for auto-lock.

Without a grace period, customers may be locked out after an invoice is issued, without any opportunity to pay. A grace period ensures customers have a fair chance to settle their invoices before access is restricted.

When does a unit automatically restore access?

Upon receiving payment (invoice status marked as paid or voided), the system instantly restores unit access.
If multiple invoices associated to a booking are overdue, all must be resolved before access is restored.

Important: Access is only restored after all overdue invoices are paid in full

If there are multiple overdue invoices: Manually marking one overdue invoice as paid will not restore access if other invoices remain overdue.
Units that were auto-locked due to disputed direct debit invoices will not be automatically restored (see next section).

How do manual actions interact with auto-lock?

Manual locks or unlocks can override the auto-lock system — but timing matters.

If you manually lock a unit before the auto-lock is triggered, the system will still apply auto-lock based on the overdue invoice. Your manual lock does not prevent the automated lock (and automated restore) from being recorded.
If you manually unlock (restore access) after the auto-lock was applied, the system will no longer attempt to auto-lock or auto-restore that same invoice. Your manual action takes priority and stops further automatic changes.
If a new invoice becomes overdue in the future, the system will evaluate it separately. If it meets the auto-lock criteria, the unit will be locked automatically again at 1am the following day.

This ensures that units remain secure in cases of non-payment, while still allowing you the flexibility to intervene manually when necessary.

Step 3: Managing Auto-Lock notifications and tasks

Operator Notifications (Direct Debit failures only)

A new task titled “Auto-Locked Unit Due to Payment Dispute” is created in your Task Dashboard whenever a direct debit payment fails and/or the invoice is past due.
If the dispute is resolved and the invoice is market as paid, the customer will receive access again. You can also manually restore access via the provided action button in the task (button becomes inactive once clicked). Units with disputed invoices due to direct debit failures will not be automatically restored unless you restore access or the invoice is marked as paid.

Customer Notifications

You can set automated email notifications for your customers under Email Settings:

Access revoked (trigger: manual or automatic access revocation): Inform customers immediately when their unit access is restricted.
Access restored (trigger: manual or automatic access restoration): Notify customers once their access has been reinstated.

Additional Considerations

Timestamp Management

The Booking Overview always shows the date when access was initially revoked.
This timestamp remains consistent, even if additional invoices later become overdue or auto-lock triggers again.

Multiple Units & Entry Gates

Auto-lock applies to individual units linked directly to overdue invoices.
If an entry gate controls multiple units, the gate will also lock, potentially affecting other units held by the same customer.

Identifying Locked Units

A filter on the booking overview can be applied in order to filter for locked units.
The units list will include manually revoked units and automatically locked units by this feature.