Leases

Goldenseal is property management software which tracks leases and rent payments from tenants.

Use Leases to record rental agreements with tenants, in properties that you own or manage. You will create a lease transaction for each rental term, whether or not you sign an actual lease document.

HINT-- Leases are an important part of Goldenseal's rental property management software features.

You can also use a Lease for equipment leasing, if you are in the business of leasing equipment to other people.

HINT-- For more about leasing property or equipment that belongs to other people, click here.

WEBSITE INFO LINKS
Property Management Software | Rental Management Software | Rental Property Software

Entering Leases

To enter a Lease, follow these steps:

Choose Leases from the Income menu.
Click the New button, or choose New Record from the Edit menu.
Enter details for the lease.

QUICK SETUP HINT-- You only need to enter Tenant, Property, Rental Unit, Lease Start and Lease End.

Data Fields

Enter the following information for each Lease:

Tenant-- Use the clairvoyant field to select the tenant. You must set them up as a Customer Account.
Property Type-- Choose the type of property that is being rented.
Property-- Use the clairvoyant field to enter the Real Estate or Equipment account that is being rented.
Rental Unit-- Use the clairvoyant field to enter the unit that is being rented. This field is available only for Real Estate leases.
Brief Description-- Enter a brief description for this lease.
Rent Amount-- When you select a unit, its normal rental amount is entered automatically. Change the field if you're actually renting for a different amount.

Entered-- Today's date is entered automatically for the date the lease was created.
Record Number-- A record number is entered automatically.
Lease Start-- Enter the first day of the lease period.
Lease End-- Enter the last day of the lease period.
Action Taken-- If you have done anything with the lease document, enter the Action Taken here.
Action Taken By-- Enter the Employee who took action on this lease.
Comments-- Enter any comments you'd like to make about this transaction.

More Info

Click the More Info to enter additional details for each lease:

Lease Details
First Month Partial-- Turn on the checkbox if the lease starts with a partial month's rent that is different than the base rent amout.
Last Month Partial-- Turn on the checkbox if the lease ends with a partial month's rent that is different than the base rent amout.
Damage Deposit-- If you hold a damage deposit, enter its amount. You can base the deposit on either a number of months rent, or a fixed dollar amount.
Last Month Prepaid-- If you collect last month rent in advance, enter its amount. You can base the amount on either a number of months rent, or a fixed dollar amount.
Key Deposit-- If you hold a deposit for keys or similar items, enter its amount.

Payment Details
Payment Terms-- When you select a unit, the usual payment terms are entered automatically. Change the field if you are using different terms.
Escrow Account-- If damage deposits are held in an escrow account, enter the account here.
NOTE-- Goldenseal will check current leases for the selected unit, and it will warn you if there is a conflict.
Sales Rep-- If an employee receives a commission or credit for this lease, enter the employee account here.
Contract Package-- Enter the contract package to use when writing lease documents.

Lease Status

When you first create a lease, its status will be Entered.
When the lease is signed, change the status to Active.
After a lease expires, its status will automatically be changed to Completed.
If a lease is canceled, change its status to Void.

Using Leases

When you've signed a lease, choose Billing from the Bank menu, and choose Rentals from the submenu. Goldenseal will create Rental Transactions for the deposit, last month rent, and any rent that is currently due.

Use the rental billing command each time rent is due.

If you need to send out a printed bill for rent, create a Billing Record for it. The easiest way to do that is to enter Billed as a payment method when you use the rental billing command.

Leasing from Other People

When you pay rent for business property or lease equipment from someone else, you do not need to enter a Lease for it.

To handle rent that you pay for your office or other business properties, follow these steps:

Create an Other Cost account for the landlord.
When you owe rent, create an Other Cost transaction for the amount that you owe. Rent payments are an ordinary business expense that you can job cost against overhead or any other job account.
You can create a Recurring transaction to automatically enter the rent when it is due.

To handle equipment leases for equipment owned by someone else and used by you, follow these steps:

Create an Other Cost account for the equipment owner.
When you owe a lease payment, create an Other Cost transaction for the amount that you owe. Lease payments are an ordinary business expense that you can job cost against overhead or any other job account.
You can create a Recurring transaction to automatically enter lease payments when they are due.
If you'd like to track useage and expenses for the equipment item, create an Equipment account for it. Enter zero for the equipment value, since you don't actually own it.