Glossary: Property Management Software Terms & Vocabulary

Commonly used property management software terms and vocabulary to help Rentec Direct clients and users.

Rentec Pro

  • A version of Rentec Direct property management software is designed for landlords and investors who self-manage their properties. The only features not included in Rentec Pro are ones specifically designed for managing properties for others. Learn more: Rentec Pro

Rentec PM

  • A version of Rentec Direct property management software is designed for property managers and agents who manage properties for owner clients. Rentec PM offers all the features of Rentec Pro plus trust accounting, owner management, designated managers, and owner portal access. Learn more: Rentec PM

Rentec Direct Administrator

  • The administrator is the individual who signed up for the Rentec Direct account whose payment information is in Your Account billing information
  • If you are the account administrator and hire someone to help manage your properties, you can add them as Managers and Users to the account with full permission-level access.
    • Even if the administrator does not actively use Rentec Direct, they should still maintain a username and password so they can always access the account for billing and security purposes.
  • The administrator can make changes and cancel the Rentec Direct account
  • Providing every employee with their username and password is the best way to keep your account secure.

Subuser

  • A Subuser is an individual that has been added to a Rentec Direct account with their own username and password
  • An unlimited number of Subusers can be added to both Rentec Pro and PM accounts
  • Access permissions can be customized for each subuser based on their access needs and tasks

    Learn more about how to  Add Subusers, Managers, and Additional Users to Your Account

Managers

  • Rentec Direct PM provides the option of assigning subusers to the following tasks:

Rentec Direct Property Manager

  • A property manager can be assigned to a corresponding property in your Rentec Direct account
  • The property manager's name will appear on tenant invoices
  • You can customize the permissions for each property manager so they only have access to parts of your account that are relevant to their tasks

Rentec Direct Maintenance Manager

  • A maintenance manager can be assigned to a property
  • The maintenance manager's name will appear on workorders
  • You can customize the permissions for each maintenance manager so they only have access to parts of your account that are relevant to their tasks

Rentec Direct Marketing Manager

  • The marketing manager designation typically belongs to someone who will be marketing, filling vacancies, and tracking leads
  • The marketing manager's contact information will appear on rental listings
  • You can customize the permissions for each marketing manager so they only have access to parts of your account that are relevant to their tasks

Electronic Payments or Online Payments

  • Electronic payments are any payment processed online through your Rentec Direct account. Online payments can be used to accept tenant rent payments and application fees, pay owner disbursements or vendors, and receive owner contributions.
  • Types of electronic payments made through Rentec Direct can include:
    • ACH payments
    • Credit card and debit card transactions
    • Electronic cash payments with PayNearMe + Rentec Direct
  • A manual payment is considered a cash payment or a paper check payment
  • You will need to be approved for a merchant account from CSG Forte in order to process electronic payments
  • Learn more about Online Payment Processing | Overview

Merchant Account/Merchant Services

  • You need a merchant account to accept any electronic or online payment. A merchant account with Rentec Direct is provided by CSG Forte, allowing you to facilitate electronic payments.
  • With a merchant account, you enable merchant services in your Rentec Direct account, allowing you to:
    • Collect rent online
    • Pay Vendors
    • Pay out owner disbursements
    • Allow owners to make contributions

CSG Forte

  • Rentec Direct partners with CSG Forte as our merchant services provider to process electronic payments such as ACH or credit card/debit card payments for online rent collection or ACH owner disbursements.
  • Rentec Direct will facilitate the application process with CSG Forte for our clients to add merchant services to their accounts.
  • Learn more about CSG Forte

ACH

  • Automated Clearing House (ACH) is an electronic fund transfer between banking institutions
  • Used to process requested withdrawals from a financial institution and deposit them into another financial institution using bank accounts and routing numbers (checking account)

Bank Routing Number

  • A nine-digit number used to identify a financial institution
  • The first four digits indicate which financial institution it is
  • The second four refer to which Federal Reserve bank it uses to process transfers
  • The ninth digit validates the first eight digits to detect errors that may have been introduced during the transmission

Batch Processing

  • Merchant service providers use batch processing to bundle transactions into a group(s) to be transmitted simultaneously at set intervals in batches.

Unrecorded Funds

  • A bank ledger that can be added and used to track physically received payments such as a check, money order, or cash, but is most commonly used to track payments received via ACH or CC. While the merchant account must be linked to the property, this allows deposits to be documented from unrecorded funds to the bank account to match the batch deposit from the CS Forte to keep accurate ledgers and ease of reconciliation. Unrecorded Funds

Transation ID

  • A number unique to a transaction that helps financial institutions, merchants, and/or consumers identify a transaction that occurred between parties

NACHA

  • The National Automated Clearing House Association, known by the acronym NACHA manages the development and administration of the ACH Network. As the administrator, they develop rules and standards and manage the development and governance of the electronic movement of money and data in the United States.

Dropbox Sign

  • Rentec Direct has integrated Dropbox Sign (formerly known as HelloSign) directly into the software, allowing you to send out documents such as leases and agreements that will auto-fill information from your Rentec Direct account and allow you to collect signatures and initials electronically. Learn about Forms, Leases, Agreements, and Eviction Notices

Envelope

  • When emailing or sending forms for signatures, the complete document is referred to as an envelope and is considered one.
  • The complete document is counted as one "signature."
  • Learn about Electronic Signatures

Chart of Accounts

  • A Chart of Accounts is a financial organizational tool that provides a complete listing, by category, of every account in a company's general ledger. Over time, using the same COA format contributes to more accurate accounting for your company and provides the same format for accurate period-to-period comparisons. The most common categories are available by default in Rentec Direct, including:
    • Assets - Resources owned by the company (e.g., cash, bank accounts, real estate, equipment).
    • Liabilities - Debts or obligations the company owes to others (e.g., loans, accounts payable, security deposits).
    • Equity - The owner's interest in the company (e.g., common stock, retained earnings, opening balances).
    • Income - Income generated from business activities (e.g., rental income, tenant reimbursed expenses).
    • Expenses - Costs incurred in operating the business (e.g., utilities, repairs, legal, interest, owner distributions).

      Learn more about Full Accounting Chart of Accounts (COA)  with Rentec Direct

Note: You may want to speak with your accountant about the recommended categories for your account.

Products & Services

  • Charges to tenants, such as rent, late fees, and CAM, can be assigned an industry standard or unique category for detailed accounting.

Surcharges

  • Other charges to tenants would be scheduled to go out with a product or service. An example would be rent + pet fee. They would both be charged to a tenant with their own category and scheduled on one invoice. Doing this lets you or your accountant pull more detailed accounting reports.

Reminders

  • Stay organized by setting reminders. Seasonal maintenance, reminders to renew contracts with owners, reviewing scheduled service rates, inspecting properties, and preparing for tax time are just a few of the benefits of setting reminders. Notifications and Reminders | Notes

Undeposited Funds

  • Funds that are physically received, such as a check, money order, or cash, that have not yet been deposited. Deposits can be created in Rentec Direct to be deposited or recorded to match the deposit. Undeposited Funds & Bank Deposits

Unrecorded Funds

  • A separate account that is linked to a bank account, functioning much like undeposited funds allowing you to create deposits in Rentec Direct software to match deposits made electronically and physically for accurate accounting and bank reconciliation. Unrecorded Funds

Reconciliation

  • Reconciling your bank account is the act of verifying that the transactions within your Rentec Direct account match those on your bank statement. Reconciliations are saved for you in the bank account notes and history. Bank Account Reconciliation

File Library

  • A built-in electronic filing system affords safe storage for documents and reports. Files can be saved, and uploaded, and automated transactions such as reconciliation reports, insurance verification, leases, and contracts that were signed using Rentec Direct's electronic signature process can be stored in File Library | File Storage

Sticky Notes

  • Notes and History are on each property, tenant, owner, and bank account automatically documenting changes made such as move in/move out, changes in rent, when reconciliations were done with copies of reconciliation reports. This is also a great place to manually place notes that you can look back on. Sticky Notes

Transaction History

  • In the event that transactions need to be updated, if you would like to verify who made a change or what specific change was made, there is a transaction history log that will display all of this information, allowing you to review it and verify for accurate accounting and even as a training tool. Transaction History Audit Log

What are other Rentec Direct specific terms that would be useful to know?

Card 

  • A "card" is a snapshot of information designed to keep you informed and save time. Each card has clickable links to post income and expense transactions, email or call individuals, access menus, edit information, and more. There are six "Cards" in Rentec Direct software; Account Card, Owner Card, Property Card, Work order Card, Tenant Card, and Lead Card

Rentec Labs

  • New features or pages within Rentec Direct that are just leaving the 'lab", our software developers' workshop. The new features have gone through rigorous internal testing and limited testing by clients outside our office.

Rentec Direct Client

  • Every user of Rentec Direct's software is considered a Rentec Direct Client.

Rentec Direct Success Team

  • The Rentec Direct Success Team provides customer service and ongoing support to your software. The Success Team can be reached at success@rentecdirect.com or (800) 881-5139 or via the chat tool in your software.

Rentec Direct Account Setup Assistance or onboarding

  • Every Rentec Direct client is offered a dedicated account setup specialist who will assist with getting your account setup accurately and quickly so you can get started right away. New clients can schedule time with an account setup specialist  at a time that is convenient.

Breadcrumb

  • As you navigate through your Rentec Direct account, you will notice in the upper left corner there are identifying details of the screen you're on. For example, if you edit a tenant, you will see "Edit Tenant"; directly below that, you will see Tenants/their address/Edit Tenant and, if enabled, the tenant's account number. The word "tenants" as well as their address are clickable. Clicking on "Tenants" will take you to the tenants list; clicking on their address will take you to the tenant's ledger.

Pagination

  • The ability to customize and select how many line items to display on a page.

More standard industry terms can be found here RENTAL REAL ESTATE TERMS TO KNOW ABOUT PAYMENT PROCESSING

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