A Good Close to the Year: EOFY Tips for Property Managers
With the end of the financial year fast approaching, property management departments may begin to feel an enhanced sense of pressure to hit their KPIs while providing landlords with the support they need to have their investment property accounting ship-shape. In this blog, Love&Co partner Michael Love offers property managers helpful tips to reduce the stress of the ‘EOFY’ by being prepared in advance.
Get Organised
Set aside time in your schedule solely for organising administration files for the EOFY. Doing so now will mean the final week of June will be streamlined. When dealing with printed invoices and hard copy documents, ensure they are stowed together in a secure, well-arranged and easily accessible manner by all team members. Remember – a filing system needs to work for everyone! When utilising a server-based system, check that all digital data and assets are backed up in order to prevent losing valuable information should a software error occur.
Review Financial Statements
Errors in end of financial year statements are problematic for property owners and property managers. And it goes well beyond looking unprofessional as a property management department – it costs clients and colleagues serious time in correction. Before delivering your landlords’ financial year statements, make sure your software will produce accurate, standardised reports. Revise financial statements for any errors specifically around income, expenditure and up-to-date contact information. Take careful note of any landlord requests that specific accounts are not presented or paid this financial year.
Reconcile Accounts
Ensuring that all trust accounts are correctly reconciled is at the heart of every property manager’s end of financial year preparation. Every property management department will have their own rhythms around reconciliation – and whatever is your standard process is, it should be adhered to. It’s also pragmatic to have your trust accounts audited prior to the close of the financial year, helping you to detect potential fraud – or simply to identify where internal systems need improvement.
Office Stocktake
How often does a busy PM department have time to stocktake? Not often – so make sure it’s done comprehensively once a year! Calculate expenses on all office stationary and tech – The Australian Taxation Office have provided a handy guide to office assets that can be claimed for tax deduction.