Property Management Add-on: Setup (Areas, Properties, Units, Equipment, Agents, Taxes, Integrations)

The Property Management add-on tracks the properties you lease: the areas they sit in, the buildings and their units, the equipment kept on site, the leasing agents who work them and the real estate taxes you pay on them. This article walks through the setup screens in the order they are normally completed. Day-to-day work orders and loans are covered in Property Management Add-on: Work Orders, Loans and Imports.

Requirements

The Property Management add-on. Most setup screens follow the same pattern: pick an existing record and click Edit, or click Add for a new one (until the first record exists only Add is offered); Save stores it, Back returns without saving, and Delete (on an existing record) removes it after a confirmation. Areas, property types and tax types that are still attached to a property or tax entry cannot be deleted ("Area Attached To Property" and similar); properties, units and equipment are deleted without such a check, so make sure nothing still uses them. Areas, property types, properties, units and equipment are shared across the companies on the install and listed as "Company - Property"; the Company field on each record says which company owns it. Users who are neither a Company Supervisor nor a Property Management Portal Admin see the Property screen read-only (the button reads View and the form has no Save).

Areas

Where: Property Management, Setup, Area Add/Update

1) An area groups properties (a neighborhood, campus or town). Enter the Name and pick the Application form prospective tenants complete for properties in this area (the dropdown lists your customer-type forms; both are required), with its Application Fee (0 by default). Until a customer form exists the Application row shows only a Create An Application Customer Form link to the Form Manager, and the area cannot be saved ("Please Include An Application"), so create the form first. An area can also be added from a popup on the Property form.

Property types and properties

Where: Property Management, Setup, Property Type Add/Update and Property Add/Update

1) Create the Property Types you need (apartment building, house, student housing) with a Name each ("Property Type Added Successfully"). A type can also be added with the Add link beside Property Type on the Property form.

2) Add each property with its Company (the active company by default), Name, Address, City, State, Postal Code, Area, Description and Property Type. The General Info section also holds the billing rules: First, Second and Final Late Notice Days, Late Fee, Management Fee (%), Months Before Move-in Date First Invoice Due (0 to 11), Transfer Fee, Monthly Pet Fee, the Utilities Charge method (All or Overage Cap) and the Rate Basis for electric, gas and water. Name and Property Type are required. Save shows "Property Added Successfully".

3) The electronic-signature section holds the template IDs and document names used for leases (Lease Template ID - 4 Signers, 3 Signers, 2 Signers and the Lease Document Name), guarantors, pet agreements, amendments and terminations (also with 3- and 2-signer variants), with their Document Days To Expiration.

4) An existing property also lists its Equipment (name, notes and company), has Property Documents and General Tenant Info Documents upload sections, and shows a Current Leases list once lease documents have been stored for it.

Units

Where: Property Management, Setup, Unit Add/Update

1) Choose the Property (the Add link beside it opens the property form), enter the unit Name (and optional Subname), Description, Square Feet, Beds and Baths, then the Rent Amount and Rent Period (Weekly, Semi-Monthly, Monthly, Semester, Semi-Yearly, Academic Year or Yearly; there is no blank choice).

2) Tick the amenities the unit offers (air conditioning, dishwasher, washer/dryer hookup, fireplace, furnished and so on) and set Under Repair (No by default) to Yes when the unit is temporarily unavailable. Save shows "Unit Added Successfully". An existing unit also has a Unit Documents upload section.

Equipment

Where: Property Management, Setup, Equipment Add/Update

1) Record equipment kept at a property (mowers, tools, appliances) with its Name, Description, Property (with an Add link), Company, Cost, Serial Number, Purchase Date and PO # (start typing the purchase order number and pick it from the list); Name, Property and Company are required. When a PO number is entered, the existing record shows the Vendor from that purchase order and a View PO link.

2) Use Sign Out This Piece of Equipment (the link at the top of an existing record) to record who has it, the related Work Order and any Notes, then click Sign Out ("Equipment Signed Out Successfully"). While it is out, the record shows who signed it out and when, and the person who signed it out sees Sign In This Piece of Equipment to return it. Anyone who can use Equipment Add/Update can sign equipment out and back in. The Equipment Signed Out report lists what is currently out.

Leasing agents

Where: Property Management, Setup, Agents

1) Pick the Leasing Agent (a NolaPro user who has been given Property Management portal access; until one exists the page says "Assign Property Management Portal Access To Users First") and click Edit. The properties already assigned are listed with their commission figures.

2) Click Add Property, choose the Property and set the agent's commission for that property: New Lease Flat Commission or New Lease Percent Commission, Renew Lease Flat Commission or Renew Lease % Commission, and the Over 30/60/90 Days Late % Commission Reduction. Click Save ("Agents Added Successfully"). Adding the same property twice is refused with "This Agent Already Has An Association With This Property".

Real estate taxes

Where: Property Management, Setup, Real Estate Tax Types and Real Estate Property Tax

1) Create the Property Tax Types you pay (county, school district) with a Name each; the tax entry form's Tax Type list is empty until you do.

2) For each property, add a tax entry: Tax Type, Property and the Pay To Vendor Name - ID (all required; an Add link creates the vendor), Name on Bill, Account Number, How Tax is Calculated, the GL Expense Account, Assessment Date (today by default), Assessment Amount and Status (Active or Inactive). Delete on a saved tax entry removes the entry after a confirmation; payments already posted for it stay in the General Ledger.

3) Before recording payments, assign the Real Estate Tax Escrow and Real Estate Tax Liability accounts in the General Ledger section of Admin -> Payables -> General Setup (a Real Estate Tax Expense account is offered there too). These fields appear only when the Property Management add-on is active, and this setup screen is normally available to administrators.

4) Payments are recorded on the saved entry under Tax Payments: enter the Date Paid and Amount Paid on the blank line and click Save. A line left at 0.00 is ignored. Each payment posts a General Ledger voucher, "Real Estate Tax Paid", between the escrow and liability accounts; once posted (or voided) a payment line becomes read-only. If the escrow or liability account has not been assigned, the save stops with "Please Select The Real Estate Tax Liability And Escrow GL Accounts Before Recording Tax Payments" and nothing is recorded.

Integrations and notifications

1) AssureSign Setup stores your AssureSign User ID and Context Identifier so leases can be sent for electronic signature. The values are shared by every company on the install; the screen has only a Save button ("Configuration Updated Successfully").

2) On-Site.com Setup stores the Originator ID, Username, Password and numeric Property ID used for tenant screening. There is one setup for the install: the screen shows the saved values, and Save updates them.

3) Work Order Notifications (Assign Users and Groups) lets you tick the users assigned to the company and the groups that are emailed when a work order is added or set active; at least one must be ticked ("Please Include Users or Groups"). The page only offers the list when the Construction feature is also active.

Notes

• Set up in this order: areas, property types, properties, units, then equipment, agents and taxes. Each later screen picks from the records created on the earlier ones.
• Leasing agents must have Property Management portal access before they appear in the Agents dropdown.
• The Setup menu also has Work Type Add/Update (the work types offered on work orders, by name) and Revenue Recognition, a schedule of the month offset and percentage of a semester lease (six rows) and an academic-year lease (twelve rows) recognised after the invoice date; each schedule's percentages must add up to 100 or the save is refused ("The Total Percent for Semester Must Equal 100").