Periodic Processing

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This section deals with the general system administration and the periodic processing that needs to be done on a daily/weekly/monthly and annual basis.

One of the things you should do is to establish a schedule of things to do that suits your business.  You probably already have one but consider using the Administration menu > Notes function to bring these to your attention by entering each regular task as a Bring Up.  When the  task has been completed simply advance the Bring Up date to next date it needs doing again.

You could set up a list of items on one Note or have several separate Notes.

Daily Processing

If you are not entering transactions each day adjust these comments to suit your circumstances.

There is no specific process which must be carried out on a daily basis.

Create new landlords, properties, tenants, and suppliers as they are needed.

There will also be letters to write and periodic reports that should be run.

You may find that some reports can be viewed on the screen and other need printing.

Whenever transactions are entered from a bank statement it is advisable to perform a bank reconciliation.

By doing this immediately after entering receipts from your bank statement you have the opportunity to fix entry errors while things are fresh in your mind and at the same time keep the system correct and in balance.

Two tasks that should be run each day are printing the Audit Trail and doing your daily back-up.

It is best to synchronise these two tasks because when you have to restore your system you can use the audit trail(s) to work out what needs to be reentered without recourse to the original documents.

The following "time-line" is intended to demonstrate how you might organise your processing from day to day.

9.00am

Get overnight transactions from your electronic banking system.

Enter A/P receipts, including bounced tenant or landlord receipts.

Enter bank charges into special Bank Charges landlord account.

Enter unidentified items into special Unidentified Items landlord account.

Run Enter Bank Statement details and reconcile the system to the closing balance on the electronic banking system transaction list. You may need to deselect any "new" receipts which were paid as cash or cheque "over the counter".

Yesterday's banking and bulk payments made by DC will each appear as a single lump sum on the Enter Bank Statement Details screen.

Assuming you reconcile this is a good time to print the Audit Trail and do a back-up since you know the system is right at this point.  Other users can continue using the system while you do your back-up, i.e. they do not need to closed out of the Aspect Property Manager.

9.00am to 3.00pm

Create new tenants etc.

Enter any new receipts which were paid as cash or cheque "over the counter".

Do any other processing required, such as running Tenant Arrears report, Inspection letters, entering supplier invoices paying landlords and suppliers, doing other housekeeping tasks and so on.

3.00pm

Stop entering any new "cash/cheque over the counter" receipts.

Run the Banking List.  Deselect any items not being banked today.

Check the cash and cheque amounts in hand agree with the Banking List.  Missing amounts may have been received as an A/P instead of cash or cheque. Extra amounts should have been A/P or EFTPOS.  Edit the appropriate transaction and change the type of money received.

If necessary reprint the Banking List.

When the cash and cheque amounts in hand agree with the Banking List use the "Mark as Printed" button.

The cash and cheque value on the Banking List will now appear as a lump sum amount on the Enter Bank Statement Details screen when you reconcile the system again tomorrow.

If you haven't done a back-up and audit trail earlier, do one now and take the copy off-site or store it in a fire and vandal proof place.

You can now start entering any new "cash/cheque over the counter" receipts and deselect them when doing the bank reconciliation tomorrow, or, hold off entering them until after reconciling the system tomorrow after entering your bank statement details.

Carry out any other processing as required.

Weekly Processing

Once again there are no specific weekly tasks required by the system.

Some of the tasks that relate to your management would include looking at tenant arrears, property vacancies and inspections coming up.

There may be bonds that need remitting weekly or fortnightly or even less often as demand dictates.

If you are not reconciling your system each day, see previous topic, definitely do so weekly.

Make use of the Notes Bring Up facility to remind you of regular tasks.

Monthly Processing

The major task tasks each month will be paying your landlords, suppliers and yourself which will generally occur at the end of a calendar month.

If you have been keeping your data entry up to date and reconciling your system as suggested elsewhere, this bit should be a doddle.

Before making payments to anyone you should ensure that all receipts and invoices have been entered into the Aspect Property Manager and always make sure your system is reconciled.

Fix any discrepancy before going any further.  

Only if the system is reconciled go ahead and make the payments you want.

Most organisations will print and mail landlord and supplier statements at this time too.

You may like to print and file hard copy reports or do a special back-up which you retain "forever".

In New Zealand you will also need to complete the return to the REINZ.

See End of Period In Depth for discussion topic and tasks to perform at the end of a period.

Other regular tasks often performed during the month include mid month payments, future rent reviews, property inspection letters, a check on expiring leases and any properties with a chimney which requires sweeping to keep the insurance valid.

These tasks can be regularised by making use of the Notes Bring Up facility to remind you of these regular tasks.

Annual Processing

There is no special annual processing required by the system.

Housekeeping should not be a once a year task but be performed throughout the year to avoid a mad rush at the end of a financial year.

Tidy up accounts as soon as you can after the tenant has left or the management has ceased.

However, at the end of each tax year you should print the Landlord Summary Statements which summarises the activity on each property as well as the overall account activity.

The smart thing is to print them straight after the normal monthly statement run and mail them in the same envelope.

In New Zealand the current tax year will be selected by default.

Another group of jobs which are best done at the end of the tax year is to run the Archive process followed by the Purge and the deletion of defunct accounts.

The Archive can be run immediately after End of Period but the Purge is best left until you have cleared all the "dead" accounts to zero balance.  If you have been doing your housekeeping on a regular basis there should be nothing further to do before deleting unwanted landlord, properties, tenants and suppliers.


Related Topics
Housekeeping 
Archive
Purge