Tenant Transactions

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Screen Location... Tenants main screen > Transactions 
  • This topic primarily deals with items unique to tenant transactions.
  • See the main Transactions topic for common items.
  • The Tenants > Transactions grid is where the financial records for a tenant are added, edited and deleted.  
  • The transactions are displayed in period groupings with the current period at the bottom of the grid. 
  • The major division is period which starts with a yellow B/Fwd (Brought forward) line.
      4 Within each period the transactions that occurred during the period are arranged in date order whether the date is within the period date range or not.
      4 Where multiple records occur on the same date the records are arranged in transaction number sequence.  
  • New transactions can only be added in the current period with the exceptions of the Bond Transfer (BondXfer) and Write Off (WriteOff) records:-
      4 If a transaction is entered with a date before the beginning date of the current period it will sort to the top of the transactions but will remain in the period in which it was entered and will not move to the period the transaction date occurs, with the exceptions of the Bond Transfer (BondXfer) and Write Off (WriteOff) records.
      4 If a transaction is entered with a date after the ending date of the current period it will remain in the period in which it was entered and will not move to the period the transaction date occurs, with the exception of Rent Invoice and Debt records.


    Tenant Transaction Types
    The transaction types seen in this grid are :-
      4 B/Fwd (Brought forward)
      4 Rent Inv 
      4 Receipt
      4 Debt
      4 Payment
      4 BondXfer
      4 Bond Ref
      4 WriteOff


    B/Fwd
  • There is a yellow B/Fwd record at the start of each period.
  • It is created when a tenant is added, or when the End of Period processing is run.
  • It carries "running total" information as at the opening of each period and the content will be set by one of the following:-
      4 The data entered when setting up a new system.
      4 The data entered when adding a new tenant.
      4 The End of Period processing. (Most common).
  • The content may be changed if the details associated with setting up the tenant are altered such as the start of tenancy date or the starting rent or prior period transactions are changed.

    Rent Inv
  • A Rent Inv record is an "invoice" to the tenant which is used primarily to carry rent information, hence its name "Rent Invoice".  It shows:-
      4 the amount of Rent to be paid in the Rent field
      4 the date the rent is due to be paid in the Date field
      4 the number of days occupancy the rent amount will buy
      4 the starting date of the rent period in the From field
      4 the ending date of the rent period in the To field
      4 any rent amount received which does not fully pay the amount required for the rent period being paid as "Amount in Credit" Rent. 
  • It is also used to show any letting fee and bond the tenant is due to pay on the transaction date of the record. 
  • Rent Inv records are created by :-
      4 The End of Period processing. (Most common).
      4 Adding a new tenant.
      4 Running First Period Details. (Only when setting up a new system).
  • Rent Inv records are deleted and replaced by new records (with a different transaction number), from the beginning of the period in which the change occurs, by:-
      4 Changing the start of tenancy date.
      4 Vacating or unvacating a tenant.
      4 A rent change in the current or a prior period.
      4 Data entered in the Tenant Opening Rent Status entry screen. (Only when setting up a new system).
  • Rent Inv records are display only records from V3.17.x.x onwards and can no longer be modified.
    Tip  If you wish to add a few Rent Invoices beyond the end of the current period, perhaps to see the effect of "using up" overpaid rent, temporarily vacate the tenant at a future date.  Afterwards remember to remove the vacate date.
  • When a tenant has left with balances owing which are not recoverable, clear the account using the Tenants > Transactions > Add > Write Off Tenant Balances.  You may be selective in which values of Rent, Debt, Letting Fee or Bond to write off.  The write off process creates a WriteOff record in the last period in which there is any transaction.  This record contains opposite signed values so the selected "column" balances are cleared to zero. 
  • Held amounts can not be written off - see Clearing Tenant Held Balances for the recommended processing.
  • Tenant accounts should be cleared as soon as you can, as it determines how soon a tenant may be deleted from the system.  See XXXX.

    Receipt
  • The total amount of any receipt may be split into any one, or a combination, of rent, debt, letting fee, bond or held amount.
  • They also show how the money was received - Cash, Cheque or which electronic funds transfer method was used - AP, DD or EFTPOS.
  • A receipt containing Rent advances the Paid To date according to the following rules:-
  • If the Rent amount in a receipt is equal to the Rent amount in the Rent Inv record due to be paid the Paid To date will be advanced.
  • If the Rent amount in a receipt is less than the Rent amount in the Rent Inv record due to be paid the Paid To date will not be advanced but the Amount in Credit will be increased.
  • If the Rent amount in a receipt is more than the Rent amount in the Rent Inv record due to be paid the Paid To date will be advanced and the Amount in Credit will be increased by the "extra amount".
  • Rent is passed directly to the landlord account less any fees and GST which are credited to the appropriate control account.
  • Debt is passed directly to the landlord account without any fees and GST being deducted.
  • Letting fee goes to the letting fees control account less the GST portion which is credited to the GST account.
  • Bond goes to the bond control account "tagged" to the tenant.
  • Held goes to the Tenant Held control account "tagged" to the tenant.
  • If a tenant receipt has "bounced", it will generaly be a day or so later than the original receipt.  A minus value receipt should be entered with the new transaction date, containing the same values of any original split into rent, debt, letting fee, bond or held amount but with negative signed values.  Make a note in the Text and/or Memo fields.  This will / may move the Paid To date backwards.  Tip  Use the [Reversal] button then edit the new transaction and change the date.
  • If a receipt is received for a vacated tenant a warning is issued.  If the receipt allocation overpays any rent, debt, letting fee or bond outstanding, the system will only allow allocating the amount owed and will place any overallocation into Held.  This avoids passing (new) overpaid money into the landlord account which then has to be recovered.

    Note  If the tenant had already paid past the Vacate Date any overpaid rent or debt, will have been credited to the landlord account.  When the Vacate date is entered those amounts will automatically be recovered from the landlord account by means of a minus receipt.  If the landlord account has insufficient funds you will receive a warning message and need to recover that directly from the landlord or rent receipts from other properties or the next tenant.  Where you have lost the management of the property and the landlord refuses to return overpaid money you will need to transfer money from your trading account and receipt it into the landlord account.
  • If a tenant receipt was allocated to the wrong tenant enter a minus value receipt withe exactly the same details as the original, that is the same transaction date, containing the same values of any original split into rent, debt, letting fee, bond or held amount but with negative signed values.  Make a note in the Text field "Data entry error" (this will appear on the landlord statement imediately below the wrong entry.  In the Memo field enter "Transaferred to T1234 Brown" and make the correct entry in "Brown's account with the original transaction date.  The two receipts can then be presented at the same time when doing the bank reconciliation.

    Bond Returned Receipt
  • This is a special receipt used to keep the tenant's bond records correct.  See XXXX Bond Processing Check link.
  • It functions in the same manner as a normal receipt except that no allocation can be made to Bond.
  • A Bond Ref record is created in the Tenant Transaction grid to reduce the money held at the bond centre.
  • If the tenant is not vacated it is assumed the tenant will need to repay the returned bond so that it is the re-disbursed to the bond centre.
    This caters for the situation where the tenant is in arrears but continuing with the tenancy and some of the bond money is to be returned to "catch up" and the tenant then repays in smaller amounts.
  • If the tenant is vacated the system assumes the tenant will not be repaying the bond and a "Write Off" record will be automatically created so the system will not report the tenant as owing bond and providing erroneous information.

    Debt
  • A Debt transaction charges the tenant's account with non-rent amounts for which the tenant is responsible such as water rates, damage repairs etc.
  • When a Debt is created a Tenant Invoice and a Tenant Statement may be printed.
  • If the debt is large and a number of regular payments are to be made a schedule of Debt transactions can be established.
  • Debt records will most often be created during Supplier Invoice entry which is the way the system is intended to be used.  However, they may be created manually from the Tenant Transactions > Add menu when the landlord has paid for something the tenant is responsible for and wants reimbursing.
  • A Debt may be modified or even deleted at any time, in any period, because they only alter how much the tenant owes and do not affect the bank reconciliation.

    BondXfer
  • A bond transfer is a "non-money" credit for bonds transferred into the tenant account from a previous tenancy.  Most often this will entail documents being transferred to an from the bond authority.
  • As it is a "non-money" transaction no money passes through the trust account and thus has no part of the bank reconciliation.  Like a Debt record it too may be modified at any time, in any period.
  • It does affect how much bond the system says the tenant owes and should obviously not be entered until the transfer documents are received from the bond authority.
  • This transaction is unusual in that it will locate itself in the period in which the date entered is located rather than being limited to the current period.

    Payment
  • A tenant payment is used ONLY to refund the tenant for any overpaid amounts.
  • When a tenant payment is created you must nominate what was overpaid which establishes where the money is to come from.  Rent and Debt come from the landlord's account, Letting Fee from the Letting Fee and GST control accounts, Bond from the Bond control account and any Held amount from the Tenants Held control account.

    Reversing Transactions
  • See Transaction Reversals temporarily.     XXXX     

    General
  • The Hide/Show Rent Invs button works as a toggle to hide or display the Rent Inv records.
  • The columns with the grey background and headed Balance, PaidTo, Amount in Cr and Rent Due summarise the tenant's rent status as at the transaction date in the Date column.
      4 Balance..............The total amount of rent, debt, letting fee and bond less any Held amount
      4 PaidTo................The date to which full period rents have been received.
      4 Amount in Cr.... Any rent amount which is insufficient to pay for a full rent period.
      4 Rent Due...........The amount of rent owing.  Only rent as opposed to the Balance figure.

    Menu Items
    See the main transaction topic for common menu items.

    Recalculate
    See the Recalculate topic

    Tenancy Tribunal Report
    Found on the Print menu the Tenancy Tribunal Report this is the same report as the Tenants > Reports > Tenancy Tribunal Report.

    Write Off Tenant Balances
    This screen is used to clear rent, debt, letting fee and bond balances from the tenant's account, see Write Off Tenant's Balances.
    Any Held balance is "real" money which should be used to pay any amounts owing then returned to the tenant, see the next section and the Tenant Held topic.



    Clearing Tenant Held Balances
    As stated elsewhere, any Held amount is money that has been received from the tenant which should be used to reduce any rent, debt or letting fee the tenant owes and any balance left returned to the tenant by means of a Tenant Payment.

    If it is impossible to return it to the tenant the balance should be transferred from the tenant account to a special landlord account so the tenant account can be cleared and ultimately the tenant be removed from the system in the purge and delete unused tenants processes.


    Related Topics 
    Transactions
    Tenant Receipt
    Tenant Debt
    Tenant Rent Inv
    Tenant Bond Transfer
    Tenant Payments
    Add, Change and Delete Records
    Purge
    Landlord Transactions
    Supplier Transactions