This time out we are going to take a look at the three “Auto-Post” utilities from the Owner Management à Owner Posting Tools submenu. Many of you likely use one or two of these but they are all very powerful and you should be familiar with their capabilities even if they are not a regular part of your procedures today.
(A)uto-Post Owner Charges: This is designed to be used in posting to a group of Owner Contracts in two different ways: batch posting a flat amount or batch posting an amount derived as a percentage of existing postings. Most commonly, properties that are not able to post House Commission on a nightly basis because it is calculated against INCOME netted with other transactions, use this to create a single COMMIS value for the period. Another frequent use is to create or reallocate FF&E Reserve contributions to the (E)scrow folio during end-of-period processing. Many properties employ this utility to create Owner charges based on other transactions that are not present until the end of the accounting period.
Auto-Post (R)ecurring Charges: Almost all properties have some fixed amount charges that repeat on a schedule - monthly, quarterly, annually – and this is the tool that turns that task into a one-button process. Once the posting details and amounts are defined, they are linked to the individual Contracts. Because the system tracks each posting and its schedule, the potential for creating duplicates is eliminated and, for the majority of properties that enable back-dating, the transactions will be created with their scheduled date eliminating the need to run the process at inconvenient times. Prior to posting, Users can print a projection listing which is Excel-friendly and this same report is produced afterwards. Four different aging controls are also available.
Auto-Post (C)redit Card Payments: This utility enables a property to batch post payments to credit cards stored on-file for Owner Contracts. The charges to be settled on any single Contract can be defined as the open balance on a specified folio (e.g. the (M)aintenance folio) or postings from designated transaction codes (e.g. the quarterly HOA expense). Several years ago, this utility received an upgrade making it much easier to use and more comprehensive in scope. If your property had previously dismissed it as too awkward or confusing, you really should take another look at how you might use it to offer your Owners optional payment benefits.
Next time, we will look at a variety of posting tools you might want to use… and a couple you shouldn’t.
