OPEX v1.11.9 — digital reservation & settlement upgrades 📲

This release is about the moments either side of the contract. Digital Reservation lets buyers enter their own details on their phone and turns them straight into a draft contract, so there are no PDF forms to re-key. And the settlement calculator picks up upgrades for big settlement runs: lock a lot when its figures are final, flag lots settling outside PEXA, set up your own categories and record how each payment is made.

What's new

Digital Reservation: from the buyer's phone to a draft contract

Each project can now have its own reservation form: a phone-friendly web page where buyers enter their details themselves. When they submit it, OPEX creates a draft contract on the project with every answer filled in. No paper or PDF forms, no re-keying and fewer typos.

• One link per project. The link never changes. Send it by email or SMS, or download the QR code for signage and brochures in the display suite.
• Mobile verified first. Before they start, the buyer enters a 6-digit code sent by SMS. It keeps bots out and gives you a confirmed mobile number for Purchaser 1.
• Asks only what you want. Choose which fields show and which are required: extra purchasers, capacity (with guarantors for companies and trusts), purpose, tenancy, colour scheme, checklists, upgrades with prices, solicitor and finance. Buyers can also pick a preferred lot if you allow it.
• Straight into OPEX. The buyer sees a confirmation with a reference number, and the draft contract is waiting on the project.
• Alerts and receipts. Your team gets an email for every submission, with an Open Draft Contract button. It never includes contact, ID or tax details. You can also send Purchaser 1 a receipt with their reference number and what happens next.

A reservation is a draft, not a contract: your team reviews it as usual. The form doesn't ask for price, deposit, dates or special conditions, and it doesn't take payments.

Set it up in the new Digital Reservation tab in Project Settings. Switch the form on or off, choose the fields, set the maximum number of purchasers and the address that gets alerts, and brand the background with your login image or a colour. The form follows the project's State, so it says Purchaser and Vendor, or Buyer and Seller in Queensland. Developers can see the settings but can't change them.

Settlement calculator: built for big settlement runs

When your team works through a project's lots one by one, the lot list now shows where each one is up to.

• Lock a lot when it's done. Once a lot's figures are final, lock it. Its calculator becomes read-only, and project-wide updates (such as a change to GST liability) leave it alone. A lock icon shows in the lot list.
• Settling outside PEXA. Flag the occasional lot that settles on paper. A paper icon marks it in the lot list.
• See which statements have gone out. An email icon in the lot list shows which settlement statements have been sent, without opening each lot.

Your own categories for adjustments and payment directions

You can now set up your own categories for adjustments and payment directions in Settings. Penalty Interest, GST Withholding and Vendor's Funds stay as they are, because OPEX's automation relies on them. Renaming or deleting a category doesn't change calculators you've already saved.

How each payment is made

Every payment direction now records how it's paid: EFT or Other (BSB, account number and reference), BPAY (biller ID and reference), or PRN for GST Withholding. The details are included in the Excel export. They aren't sent to PEXA workspaces yet.

API improvements

• Payment details in the settlement API. The settlement API now includes how each payment direction is paid, with the same details as the calculator.

All API documentation, including code examples, can be found in our Developer.OPEX portal.

General improvements

• More reliable PEXA project set-up. A stray space in an address, such as "QLD ", could make PEXA reject a project. OPEX now trims these before sending.
• Settlement Days label. "Settlement Days" is now labelled the same whichever settlement wording option you choose. It sometimes read "Days from Contract".