Landlord statements
A landlord statement that is right the first time
The statement is an agency’s main document, and the commission is where the arguments start. Estate Ledger works both out from what was really collected, line by line.
Commission on every bill
A percentage or a flat amount, set on the landlord, the property, the unit or the lease. It is worked out on each bill: a part payment carries its share, and once the bill is paid in full the commission adds up to exactly what was agreed.
- Fees beside the rent carry commission only when you tick them.
- A change of rate runs from a date you choose, for one lease or for a whole landlord. Bills already raised keep theirs.
- A commission report shows the rate it really came to, and what looks out of line.
The statement
For any period: what was brought forward, the rent collected unit by unit with its commission, the expenses charged to the landlord, the payouts and what is owed at the end, with the occupancy and the arrears by unit, as a PDF.
Closing a month
Month end shows the month before it is final: what to look at, its figures beside last month’s, and each landlord’s row. Close it once, and money dated in that month stops and every landlord gets a numbered statement that stays as it was issued.
- Money that comes late is dated today and marked for the month it belongs to, so a sent statement stays true.
- Only the account owner reopens a month, with a written reason. A new statement then says which one it replaces and what changed.
- Send them from your own phone: one by one on WhatsApp or SMS, or all of them as one PDF.
Landlords are owed what is collected
A landlord is owed rent once it is collected, not when it is billed, which is how agencies pay landlords. Unpaid rent shows as arrears on the statement, not as money owed to the landlord.
Payouts and expenses
Record a payout by cash, bank or mobile money, and Estate Ledger checks the money is there first. Pay many landlords in one run, with a sheet to take to the bank and an advice for each. An expense is charged to the landlord, such as a repair at their building, or kept as the agency’s own.
- An advance needs a tick and a reason, and the landlord’s balance goes below zero until it clears.
- A limit on repairs: above what the landlord set, they are asked first. An emergency can still be paid, with the office’s reason.
- Whose money this is: cash in all accounts against what is held for landlords and tenants, and what is the agency’s own.
When things change
The everyday things that do not fit a simple rent book.
- A property changes hands: from a date, with old bills staying with the old landlord and old statements as they were.
- A tenant pays the landlord directly: record it, the bill is settled, nothing comes into your cash, and the commission comes off the landlord’s balance.
- Rent paid ahead: hold it as credit, or bill the next months now and pay the landlord today.
- A room the landlord or caretaker uses: neither let nor vacant, and no rent counted as lost.
- Holding money back for a landlord, if your agency does this: off until you turn it on, at your own percent for each landlord. It states no law and works out no tax, so confirm the rate with an accountant.
A landlord on their own
In own-property mode there is no commission and no landlord screen: the statement becomes a property income statement, and money you take out is an owner’s drawing.
Questions about landlord statements
More on the questions page.
Can each landlord have a different commission?
Yes, and each property, unit and lease too. A lease keeps the rate it started with until you change it. A new lease takes the unit’s rate, else the property’s, else the landlord’s, else the account’s.