Allocating A Payable

Have you used the ALLOCATION feature in a Payable?

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I have one word for this, WOW! Funny how one little word, at the simple flick of a check mark, can make you so happy.

Here’s an example of true bliss. You have a client with a $15.00 payment that wants the expense distributed amongst 14 properties. You’re like “what?!”, is that really necessary?

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And then you calm down and remember that you can allocate this amount amongst a property group that is already set up in the AF system, pre-assign the coding, and distribute evenly. Oh my gosh, there is a heaven.

Some of you may be wondering if I could just please speak English. I sure can and here we go. We’ll use that $15.00 wire payment as our example.

You navigate to the PAYABLE screen and ENTER A BILL. Enter the payee, amount, and any reference or remarks; those things are old hat and you’ve probably done that a million times before.

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The next step is where it gets interesting. You absolutely do not want to have to enter 14 transaction lines for 14 different properties. Sure if you code the first line, the subsequent “add another line” function will pre-fill in that same accounting code, but then you have to type through everything 13 more times and get out the trusty calculator to figure out each property’s cost. That’s just too tedious, so instead… click on that box beside the word Allocate, skip over to the GL Account field and in this case, it will be in this example some 8000000 account, fill in a Description if you like (but it will repeat), and click on Allocation Type to choose an “Even Spread”. Now go back to the properties section and select a property group, as that is when the magic happens.

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This gives me almost the same feeling that I get when I achieve the pivotal three-way bank reconciliation. The allocation feature is a “Work Smart” method that is effective when you have an applicable Property Group, Owner, or Portfolio already set up in your database.

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Hope this information is helpful,

Theresa Conway
PM Evangelist @APMHelp