Step-by-step guide — taking over another person’s property accounting

Open the Properties list and confirm every property in your scope is present.

For each property confirm:

Export the Chart of Accounts and review every ledger name, type (income/expense/asset/liability/equity).

Remove or inactivate truly unused duplicate accounts (keep a backup of the original). Aim for a tidy chart — many single-service property accounting shops operate with under 100 accounts.

Consolidate similar accounts (e.g., multiple “Repairs” accounts) and ensure consistency (e.g., “Repairs & Maintenance” vs “Maintenance – Grounds”).

Create / confirm standard accounts you’ll need: Rent Income, Other Income (late fees/parking), Security Deposit Liability, Prepaid Rent Liability, Accounts Receivable (by type if needed), Accounts Payable, Bank/Cash (Operating & Trust), Management Fees, Repair & Maintenance, Utilities, Insurance, Property Taxes, Owner Payable/Receivable (owner equity or distributions).

Document any changes you make to the chart (reason, who approved).

Confirm the system opening balances match the last reconciled bank statements and the owner ledgers at the scope start date. If not, create adjusting journal entries with explanation and supporting documents. If you need to import opening numbers please reach out to [email protected]

Pull the first month’s bank statement(s), tenant payment reports, AP aging and AR aging for that period.

For the first month in scope, check that all rents due that month for each unit have been posted If not run the rent roll for the property (If your Autopay is active you won't be able to run a rent roll. You will need to toggle off the properties in Autopay settings to allow a rent roll to be created. Please remember to toggle the properties back on before the end of the month. Verify the lease rent amount matches charges in the system.

Post each rent invoice/charge (if your system requires a charge) if the transat. Then record payments: for each payment set the payment date, payment method (EFT, check, cash, credit card), and deposit account.

For partial payments: allocate to oldest invoice first and leave clear notes. For NSF/returns, reverse the payment and create the NSF fee invoice if applicable.

Reconcile posted rent receipts to bank deposits for that month.

Review vendor invoices and bills for the month in payables filtering for the month you are working on (maintenance, utilities, insurance, taxes).

If a bill was already created and paid, mark it as paid and record the actual payment date and payment method (bank account, check number, EFT trace). If unpaid, leave it as payable and note payment terms.

Check vendor contracts for periodic charges (insurance, management fees) to avoid duplicate entries.

Create management fees using the management fee task in Accounting per each property active for that month.

Post management fee entries and, if the company did in fact pay the fee out of the operating account, mark those fees as paid using the operating bank account and include payment date/method. If fees are withheld from rent receipts rather than paid from operating, document how the system handles that and adjust owner ledgers accordingly.

Run the Owner Payout report for the reporting period you just processed. Compare the report totals to actual bank transfers or printed checks.

Verify each owner payout amount against the owner ledger. Resolve differences by investigating unapplied charges, unpaid bills, or unapplied credits.

Complete the owner payout task in the system (mark as confirmed/paid) and include a link or attachment to the bank transfer or check stub.