Understanding Tenant Related Transactions
Tenant-related transactions are any transaction that you or the system will post that display on either the tenant ledger rent or deposit ledger.
Tenant Transactions
Before we dive into the different tenant transactions, it's important to know that your Rentec Direct software was designed with a built-in category specifically used to post automated rent and late fee charges on the tenant ledger.
This category is designed as a 110 Charge. This category is not considered an income nor expense as no funds are moving in or out of a property, owner, nor bank ledger.
System Advice: Posting a tenant charge is a simple process but can disrupt bookkeeping throughout the program if a tenant charge is modified incorrectly. 110 Charge category items should always have the bank account and property set to NONE as this transaction is only used to indicate what a tenant owes. The system will never add the property, owner, or bank account to these tenant charges. If you see a 110 Charge on any property, bank, or owner ledger the transaction should be edited to correct.
Rent Charges
A rent charge means you are charging the tenant an amount for rent due. When you move a tenant into a property the system prompts for a Begin Date to start charging rent.
- If you enter a future date, the system will place a 110 Charge on the tenant ledger for that future rent charge.
- If you enter a past date, the system will place as many 110 Charges on the tenant ledger for each time period rent was due since that begin date.
These charges will display on the Debit column of the tenants' ledger only. A 110 Charge will never post to any other ledger.
Late Fees
The 110 Charge category is also used by the system to automatically post late fees to a tenant ledger based on your specified late fee settings.
More information on late fee settings and options can be found here: Late Fees
Other Charges
The system also designates the 110 Charge category automatically when you manually post or create a single or recurring tenant charge for other items such as utility charges or pet fees.
More information on adding other charges can be found here: Adding Other Tenant Charges
Income from Tenants
In most circumstances, all money received from a tenant (with the exception of deposits) should be posted directly by going to Tenants and choosing that tenants ledger. This ensures that the transaction flows to all the appropriate ledgers.
Important Note: An income transaction displays on the Credit column of the tenant ledger as it credits that tenant for their payment. It off-sets the charges on the debit column and creates a rolling balance for that tenant.
The Tenant portal will display the same information and rolling balance so they know at a glance their account status.
If the income was entered from Tenants, it will automatically display simultaneously to the correct property ledger.
Discounts and Concessions
There are a few ways to offer a tenant a discount, waive a late fee, or apply some other concession (also known as a rent discount, tenant credit, or write-off).
Again, because it is tenant-related, it's important to make those adjustments directly from Tenants.
More information on applying a concession can be found here: Rent Discount, Concession, or Write Off
Refunds
There are times when you will want to give a refund to a tenant. In this case, an expense from the Property will need to be created because it holds the original funds. More information on creating a tenant refund can be found here: Tenant Refunds
Tenant Deposits
Deposits received by a tenant are held in a separate ledger and are not considered income while held.
Access to the tenant deposit ledger is found by going into the regular tenant ledger. Other items that may be posted to this stand-alone ledger could be cleaning fees, pet deposit, key deposit, utility deposit, and last month's rent.
More information about deposits can be found here: Tenant Security Deposits