Commercial properties are often considered sound investments with the potential to yield good returns but they don’t come cheap. Purchasing a commercial property is usually quite a bit more costly than adding a residential one. With more on the line increasing your ROI becomes that much more of a priority.

Property managers are wise to utilize software in the quest for maximizing returns. Not all software is created equal. Shop around for the right software which can help you build the ROI on your commercial property.

1. Take Advantage Of Automation

Increase your ROI by saving time and improving productivity with automation. Reduce errors and manual data entry with powerful software which can manage predictable tasks better than your staff. The right software can free up a lot of time by allowing you to set the conditions for automatic actions.

Use specific events as triggers which set off predetermined actions. A missed payment on any invoice can trigger an automatic email reminder for the tenant. Approving a maintenance ticket automatically contacts your preferred vendor. Or set notifications for yourself when a lease is about to come up for renewal.

2. Accept Payments Without Fees

Getting paid on time is a crucial part of property management. It directly impacts your cash flow and the overall health of your business. It’s a good idea to make it easier for tenants to pay their bills by offering the convenience of options such as credit card payments. These services can improve your cash flow but they often come with a price tag.

The right software can allow tenants to make secure and easy payments online without costing you anything. Property Matrix ACH payment system allows tenants to pay bills through the portal with no transaction or processing fees for them or for you. Tenants aren’t limited to paying just their rent. The system will allow any invoice to be paid right through the software.

Really good software should go above and beyond. Improve your ROI even further by reducing the number of man hours needed to keep records of payments. The ACH payment system makes automatic updates to your tenant invoices and streamlines the bills that need to be paid to your vendors.

3. Split The Bills With Tenants

Commercial properties often include common areas which may be shared by the employees or patrons of multiple tenants. It is usually the landlord’s responsibility to arrange for the maintenance of these spaces. The standard practice is that these costs are shared among the tenants who benefit from these spaces.

The utilities that you pay for commercial properties can also be shared with tenants. This includes items such as electricity, water, gas, trash collection, and snow removal. Introducing shared utility bills can encourage tenants to be less wasteful and more mindful of how much resources they are using.

Split your maintenance bills and utility costs with your tenants and pass on expenses to them with CAM and RUBS charges. Manually adding up expenses and allocating them to tenants is a time consuming process. Good software should help you divide up what is due with customizable parameters that make it easy to split the bills among all parties.

4. Eliminate Third Party Software Costs

Most organizations use all sorts of tools to manage their business. There is accounting software, systems for accepting payments, document management, spreadsheets, workarounds, and more. The right software can consolidate all of the tools you use, make everything more functional, and reduce your overall costs at the same time.

Instead of spending on multiple software solutions that don’t quite fit, take some time to look for a more comprehensive software that can do it all. The problem is that most software that you’re using probably isn’t designed for property management. Most of us are adapting generic software for a very specific job.

The right software should be adaptable and customizable to fit all of your business needs. Keeping everything in one place instead of scattered among platforms will help your business be more organized and give you a better picture of how your operations are doing. Paying for the right software can actually save you money as you eliminate the need to pay for all the tools you use just to get by.

5. Cut Back On Manual Data Entry

Another benefit to using the right software is the way it cuts back on data entry. Using multiple programs for different aspects of your business means a scattering of data. But if all your data is in one place the software can use it for various purposes without the need of further data entry.

A rent increase affects the lease, invoicing, accounting, and payments. If you are using different software for each of these areas you will have to account for that rent increase four times. The right software will take the information from the lease agreement and use it to automatically adjust the invoice, allow the tenant to pay the invoice, and make a record of any discrepancy in payment.

Good software is intuitive, making it easier and less tedious to manage your books. Cut back on manual data entry and manage all of your transactions in one place. Free up employee time for more important tasks and improve your ROI.

6. Understand Your Finances

The best way to improve your ROI is to have a really good understanding of your finances. It comes down to accounting, record keeping, and a solid set of books. Having valid and reliable data on your finances allows you to spot trouble and areas for improvement.

It’s crucial that the right solution includes powerful accounting software that understands property management. You need a program that breaks down transactions such as invoices, bills, and management fees into line items. The right software should make it easy to manage your finances and view all aspects of your business.

Property Matrix is your one stop solution to property management software. All aspects of your business on one highly intuitive platform. The software built for property managers to operate their business better.