Welcome to APM Help’s Blog

Here you can find helpful tips and tricks for AppFolio, Buildium, and Propertyware as well as general Property Management Industry tips. Please reach out to us if you are unable to find the answer to your question - we are always looking to expand our knowledge base!

You Probably Have The Wrong Property Management Bank Account
You Probably Have The Wrong Property Management Bank Account
You Probably Have The Wrong Property Management Bank Account

Trust accounts are used to hold money for other people until a trigger of some kind releases it. In the property management industry, these accounts hold funds for customers who are entitled to the money being held there. However, some bankers make a common mistake by opening a general business account and calling it a trust account. This article covers the terminology and regulation of trust accounts in the property management industry to ensure that property management companies and their clients are protected.

Discover These Top-Rated Services Property Managers Can’t Stop Raving About
Discover These Top-Rated Services Property Managers Can’t Stop Raving About
Discover These Top-Rated Services Property Managers Can’t Stop Raving About

We are thrilled to announce that APM Help has received over 70 reviews on Trustpilot with a TrustScore of 4.9/5! We couldn't have done it without our amazing customers, and we wanted to take a moment to thank them for their continued support and gracious comments on our services and outstanding team members.

Pricing & Business Update
Pricing & Business Update
Pricing & Business Update

Our very first recurring Trust Bookkeeping client using AppFolio went live in July 2017 and since then we've brought to market additional products & services such as Daily Audits, Daily Bank Recs, Corporate Bookkeeping, After Hours Call Center, Maintenance Coordination. When we introduced these new offerings, we didn't know how to price them so we went with whatever was easy. Along the way, even our Trust Bookkeeping pricing was adjusted to account for clients of different size, location, and business (SFR, MFR, HOA, commercial, etc) and we ended up with over 60 different pricing models and a billing nightmare.

Client Spotlight: Brandon King with DK Property Management
Client Spotlight: Brandon King with DK Property Management
Client Spotlight: Brandon King with DK Property Management

Client Spotlight: Brandon King with DK Property Management We are back with another edition in our Client Spotlight series! This month we got the chance to talk to Brandon King, the CEO of DK Property Management out of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

How do I post management fees in advance in AppFolio?
How do I post management fees in advance in AppFolio?
How do I post management fees in advance in AppFolio?

You can only pay management fees once the rent has been received. The system will not calculate percentages before income has been paid on the property

Reimburse or Collect NSF Fees in AppFolio
Reimburse or Collect NSF Fees in AppFolio
Reimburse or Collect NSF Fees in AppFolio

Collecting and reimbursing NSF fees from tenants in AppFolio is easy! Here are our step-by-step instructions.

A Respectful Distance: Separating Tenant-owed Liability Banking for Painless Audit
A Respectful Distance: Separating Tenant-owed Liability Banking for Painless Audit
A Respectful Distance: Separating Tenant-owed Liability Banking for Painless Audit

Ideal bookkeeping is good judgment and intelligent organization within the bounds of regulation. While consolidation is often the key to organization, in some cases modest additional detail, or extension of a process can drastically improve property bookkeeping processes. Sensible choices when setting up the company banking and chart of accounts will put the books on track for smooth upkeep and painless auditing, internal or third party, but not all best practices are applied through the bookkeeping itself.

Where to find. 1) All staff entries into AppFolio within the last 24 hours up to 30 days. 2) All entries into AppFolio sorted by staff member
Where to find. 1) All staff entries into AppFolio within the last 24 hours up to 30 days. 2) All entries into AppFolio sorted by staff member
Where to find. 1) All staff entries into AppFolio within the last 24 hours up to 30 days. 2) All entries into AppFolio sorted by staff member

1. Run a General Ledger, add a "Created By" and "Created At" Columns, and under Grouping select "Created By". Set the date range to your desired window of time, check "Show Reversed Transactions" and that will provide a report of every entry and reversal in the system in your 30 day period.

Deposited a closing check in trust account instead of company operating account
Deposited a closing check in trust account instead of company operating account
Deposited a closing check in trust account instead of company operating account

We recommend recording the deposit via JE on your corporate property (a zero unit multi-family property for recording errors like this) by debiting Operating Cash/your main cash account, crediting some offset like Retained Earnings (it doesn't matter because it will cancel out)

How to Track Credit Cards in Propertyware Copy
How to Track Credit Cards in Propertyware Copy
How to Track Credit Cards in Propertyware Copy

1. Go to Setup > Customize > Charts of Account 2. Click on New AccountAccount Type = Credit Card 3. Fill out the remaining fields

How can I fix general ledger in AppFolio?
How can I fix general ledger in AppFolio?
How can I fix general ledger in AppFolio?

You can also check for Bank Adjustments by running the Bank Account Activity report for All Time > Run the Report > Double click the "Type" column to group all of the transaction types together. Scroll until you find the group of bank adjustments. These should net each other out to $0.00. If they do not, that's what is causing your discrepancy.