Software to help landlords and agents manage their properties makes all the difference when it comes to organising the work involved. Many landlords run their businesses on a part-time basis, making it all the more important that time spent managing property is done as effectively and as time-efficiently as possible.
Letting Agents need to be organised when it comes to managing properties for their landlords, and they need to be reminded when essential management tasks are due.
Property ownership and management is both a business and an investment, so it's important that you are aware of the performance of your investment over time. The software therefore includes ongoing property investment analysis reports which keep you totally in the picture.
In particular, tax-return time can be a very stressful time of year for landlords and property investors. It's a time when, not only have you got your routine work to do, but there's a tremendous amount of additional work involved in organising files and paperwork and preparing figures, even if you use an accountant to do the final work for you, before filing the tax return.
At tax-return time of the year you need to get all your affairs in order so that you can present your annual return to the HM Revenue and Customs in an accurate and timely manner. The Revenue is quite unforgiving of procrastinators who file returns late, imposing fines, which ultimately affect your business profits and investment returns.
In addition, because they are so very busy with late coming returns in the final month or so before the deadline, accountants are now starting to add a premium to their fees in this period.
Investors often try to work through their annual incomes and expenses manually on paper, going through hundreds of receipts, bank statements and chequebooks etc.
This annual chore can become extremely tedious and prone to errors, potentially leading to mistakes in the tax-return. This in-turn can lead to your tax inspector doing an investigation into your affairs - something you want to avoid at all costs, because it's a very time consuming and expensive process, even if ultimately everything is in the clear.
In addition to the annual tax calculations, landlords and property investors need to treat their investments as a business. They need to account for the capital values of their assets so that taxation matters are simplified on disposal and so that capital allowances are claimed when necessary. Back of the envelope methods make this a hit and miss affair.
The good news for property investors is that there are far better alternatives. Good Property Management Software is designed to organise all your property related transactions so that preparation of your tax matters becomes a piece of cake - well almost!
In addition, good software helps you organise all the routine management matters and financial analysis such as:
produces maintenance schedules, gas check reminders etc.
generates tenancy agreements and notices.
gives lease renewal times and notice reminders etc.
issues and tracks invoices, rent payments, late payments and issues final demands.
manages property keys.
manages projects and tasks
supports foreign currency conversions.
supports VAT records.
reports on the profitability of your lettings and investments.
gives you finance tools including mortgages and in-depth investment analysis
imports transitions from MS Money, Quicken and your own bank (QIF format)
exports data to Excel spread sheets.
gives you reports for exporting to your accountant or straight into the tax-return.
searches and matches tenants to properties.
able to send SMS messages to tenants and contractors.
Good Property Management Software has been around for a long time and there are many alternative ones on the market. Here are two reliable packages that have constantly developed and have stood the test of time: at LandlordZONE we have dealt with both these companies for years and we have no hesitation in recommending them.
Property Management Packages all have numerous features, but perhaps the most important one of all is the accounting facility: you need any easy to follow and straightforward accounting system which will assist you in making the entries into the correct categories and linking these to individual tenants and properties. Where you have regular and repeat entries you want your package to automate the entries to save you time.
The package must also be capable of generating reports and customised reports on the specific information you will need: by tenant, by property, by income and expense items etc.
When you set-up the system in the first place, it's very important that you align the accounting categories with related tax return entries. If, for example, all your total income and expenses categories produce the correct totals for the tax return forms, then completing tax returns will be simplified and speeded-up.
So, by choosing a good reliable Property Management Package with extensive features, your property management, accounting and tax administration become almost one operation - you enter data once, minimising the risk of mistakes, and the tax income and expenditure reports are done for you automatically.
Completing your tax return becomes a piece of cake compared to the old methods, and the system puts you in complete command of your investment lettings business. You can produce numerous reports which allow you to analyse your data and your investment's individual and portfolio performance, cash-flow, individual building expenses and capital values etc.
By building a complete record over time you keep track of your buildings' asset valuations and capital expenditures. These become so vital in your capital allowances claims, capital gains tax and family estate tax planning calculations, or if you operate under a limited company, your company affairs. When you eventually sell assets, or, God forbid, when your estate is dealt with, everyone knows exactly where you stand!
