Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa June 2015 | Page 49

MANAGING

Property Management

Software

How to choose the right
property management system
BY MEGAN DIENER

O

ften overlooked in property management are
the systems that are involved in integrating
leasing, billing and financial management. It
is for this reason that property management systems
form an integral aspect of managing property in the
retail, commercial and industrial sectors.
The speed and accuracy of computerised property
management software in reviewing, sorting, filtering
and reporting relevant information make it an invaluable
tool. Computerised systems make the processing of
massive amounts of data easier and quicker. This leads
to cost savings through less repetitive work, improved
cashflow, accurate information and quicker client
response with improved services.
It provides a platform for various analysis on a
property or portfolio level. Most of these systems are
cloud based.
For the hospitality sector, booking management
systems can help property and facilities managers to
determine how man rooms are currently occupied.
Ensure that all rooms are occupied to get the best
return on your long term investment.
Tailor made and designed to suit each sector’s
requirements, having a software tool on a portal or
website platform is especially essential in managing the
retail segment.
For the retail sector, utilising systems is becoming
more crucial in effective property management
and influences the need to have information at
your fingertips. Clients and asset managers are no
longer interested in reporting and analyzing off a
monthly management pack but will rather work with
information in real time.
Having property management systems in place
affords a competitive advantage on your client offering,
providing this portal presents as a one stop shop for
clients to access all relevant and real time information
on their properties and portfolios.
Whilst it is important to note that certain systems
may only support 90% of what you will expect and like
them to do, this is an opportunity to develop additional

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integrated tools that address the missing 10%. This is
particularly relevant to off the shelf systems which are
built around standard business principles.
Retail and commercial property managers can better
manage tenant leases of more than 20 000 – 200 000,
via suitable property management software.
Information about the tenants and the property can
be captured into a database which can be imported into
the property management system to better manage the
property. Information can include:

“Ensure that all rooms are
occupied to get the best return on
your long term investment.”
Building or Property: Building data, lease
agreement administration, credit control, cash flow
control, compatibility with accounting principles and
practices and existing systems, accurate bookkeeping,
owner reporting and identifying of key performance
indicators.
Tenant: Name and contact details, finding space for
a tenant, accurate rent billing and collection, handling
of payments, accounting and general ledger functions.
Space or Unit: Unit number, available date,
responsible date, unit size, letting rate, remarks,
description, key number, parking, value added tax
details, finding a tenant for a space, space management,
maintaining the spaces individually as well as
collectively and common spaces. Managing cleaning
contracts, security contracts, help desk facilities,
asset register, creation of work orders and the regular
maintenance of equipment.
Landlord, Client or Body Corporate: General
contact details and shareholding data (if applicable).

RESOURCES
Van Den Berg, S and Cloete, C.E. ‘The Selection Of Property Management Software’, (2004) SA Journal Of Industrial
Engineering Vol 15 (1): 83-101, Periscopic Masingita
JUNE 2015 SA Real Estate Investor

47