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AppFolio

APM Help has 60 posts about AppFolio, covering move-ins and move-outs, tenant credits, general-ledger cleanup, owner statements, management fees, 1099 filing, and financial diagnostics. AppFolio is one of the core platforms our bookkeeping and trust-accounting teams work in every day.

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60 Articles

Trust accounting in AppFolio vs Buildium: how the two systems handle it differently
June 1, 2026
2 min read

Trust accounting in AppFolio vs Buildium: how the two systems handle it differently

This comes up a lot when PM companies are evaluating platforms or transitioning between them. Both AppFolio and Buildium support trust accounting but the architecture and workflows are different in ways that matter for compliance.
AppFolio security deposit mismatch diagnostic: what causes it and how to fix it
May 18, 2026
2 min read

AppFolio security deposit mismatch diagnostic: what causes it and how to fix it

The Security Deposit Funds Mismatch diagnostic in AppFolio compares two numbers: the GL balance for your security deposit account and the total shown in the Security Deposit Funds Detail report.
Management fees and trust account compliance in AppFolio: the 25-day rule and how to stay clean
May 14, 2026
2 min read

Management fees and trust account compliance in AppFolio: the 25-day rule and how to stay clean

Every state has a rule about how long earned management fees can sit in the trust account before they become commingling.
AppFolio 1099s: how they calculate, why amounts come out wrong, and how to correct them
May 11, 2026
2 min read

AppFolio 1099s: how they calculate, why amounts come out wrong, and how to correct them

AppFolio generates two types of 1099s and they calculate completely differently. Getting this wrong is one of the most common year-end problems in PM accounting.
How owner distributions work in AppFolio and what causes negative balances
May 7, 2026
2 min read

How owner distributions work in AppFolio and what causes negative balances

Owner distributions in AppFolio go through the Pay Owners function. Before you run it, you need to know what your Adjusted Cash Balance is.
How trust accounting actually works inside AppFolio: the full structure
May 4, 2026
2 min read

How trust accounting actually works inside AppFolio: the full structure

Most AppFolio users know the platform handles trust accounting. Fewer understand how the structure actually works, which matters when something goes wrong or an auditor asks you to explain your books.
AppFolio's 9 financial diagnostics explained: what each one means and how to clear it
April 30, 2026
3 min read

AppFolio's 9 financial diagnostics explained: what each one means and how to clear it

AppFolio runs nine financial diagnostics that flag accounting errors in your books. They live under Reports and most PM companies either don't know they exist or see the flags and ignore them. Here's what they are and what to do.
AppFolio bank reconciliation won't balance: common causes and how to fix them
April 29, 2026
2 min read

AppFolio bank reconciliation won't balance: common causes and how to fix them

AppFolio's reconciliation works on a triple tie-out. Three numbers have to match exactly: the Statement Ending Balance you enter manually, the Cleared Balance from the items you check off, and the Adjusted Cash Balance (ACB) that the system calculates.
Handling Bad Debt in AppFolio
June 14, 2025
2 min read

Handling Bad Debt in AppFolio

AppFolio bad-debt handling—write-off decision, GL account setup, collection-agency referral via Hunter Warfield integration, and tenant-ledger procedures.
Moving Out Tenants in AppFolio
June 14, 2025
6 min read

Moving Out Tenants in AppFolio

AppFolio move-out flow for property managers—notice date and reason, charges/credits posting, refund payables, and the cash/bank setup considerations.
Bank Switches in AppFolio
June 13, 2025
3 min read

Bank Switches in AppFolio

Best practices for switching bank accounts in AppFolio—prep work, reconciliation requirements, and what you can and can't edit after the switch.
Trust Account Balance Reports in AppFolio
June 13, 2025
3 min read

Trust Account Balance Reports in AppFolio

AppFolio Trust Account Balance (TAB) report—how to filter by All Properties, group by owner, surface unused prepayments and unpaid bills, and catch commingling.
AppFolio Acronyms You Should Know
June 12, 2025
4 min read

AppFolio Acronyms You Should Know

A cheat sheet of essential AppFolio acronyms—ACB, TTO, RUBS, CAM, BS—decoded so property managers can navigate bank reconciliations and reports.
Adjusted Cash Balance Issues
June 11, 2025
2 min read

Adjusted Cash Balance Issues

What causes Adjusted Cash Balance issues in AppFolio bank reconciliation—the formula, common discrepancies, and how to troubleshoot the three-way balance.
Financial Diagnostics in AppFolio
June 11, 2025
4 min read

Financial Diagnostics in AppFolio

How to use AppFolio's Financial Diagnostics report to find Security Deposit, Escrow Cash, and Clearing Account issues affecting trust accounting.
Transparency With Owners in AppFolio
June 11, 2025
3 min read

Transparency With Owners in AppFolio

How property managers can maintain transparent Owner Statements in AppFolio—reconciling ending balances against property cash and addressing common discrepancies.
Don't get audited! Are you reporting THIS in your 1099s?
June 9, 2025
4 min read

Don't get audited! Are you reporting THIS in your 1099s?

How prepayments and suppressed fees in AppFolio can cause inaccurate 1099-MISCs—and how property managers can spot and fix the issue before audit season.
General Ledger and Property Performance Reports in AppFolio
June 6, 2025
4 min read

General Ledger and Property Performance Reports in AppFolio

How to master AppFolio's General Ledger and Property Performance reports—custom views for tracking edits, troubleshooting ACB issues, and more.
AppFolio: 5 Features You May Not Be Using
June 5, 2025
6 min read

AppFolio: 5 Features You May Not Be Using

Five powerful AppFolio features property managers often overlook—from the Financial Diagnostics Report to advanced marketing tools—and how to use them well.
How to File 1099s in AppFolio
June 3, 2025
6 min read

How to File 1099s in AppFolio

How to file 1099s in AppFolio—preparation steps, bank reconciliations, Diagnostics review, Prepaid Rent settings, and Taxpayer info for IRS submission.
Delivering Outstanding Customer Service in Property Management
February 28, 2025
4 min read

Delivering Outstanding Customer Service in Property Management

How property managers can scale customer service with self-service portals, proactive maintenance, and clear SLAs—without being on call 24/7.
Avoiding Common Pitfalls When Adopting New Tech in Property Management
February 4, 2025
5 min read

Avoiding Common Pitfalls When Adopting New Tech in Property Management

How property managers can avoid common pitfalls when adopting new tech—software transitions, integration checks, and training to keep operations seamless.
Selecting the Best Property Management Software: A Comprehensive Guide
September 6, 2024
3 min read

Selecting the Best Property Management Software: A Comprehensive Guide

Comprehensive guide to choosing property management software—key features, tenant/maintenance/financial tools, and comparison of Buildium, AppFolio, and others.
Accurate Owner Distributions in AppFolio
December 13, 2022
2 min read

Accurate Owner Distributions in AppFolio

How property managers using AppFolio can prevent illegal commingling of funds when one property runs negative—reports, transfers, and reserves to use.
Additional Fee Diagnostics in AppFolio
December 13, 2022
2 min read

Additional Fee Diagnostics in AppFolio

AppFolio's Additional Fee Diagnostics—negative and positive balances, suppressed fees, and how to troubleshoot owner statement imbalances for property managers.
Customizing Online Payments in AppFolio
December 13, 2022
1 min read

Customizing Online Payments in AppFolio

How to set up online payments per property in AppFolio—enabling bank accounts for online payments and toggling tenant-level payment permissions.
Marketing Tips to Find Renters Fast
December 13, 2022
2 min read

Marketing Tips to Find Renters Fast

Marketing tips for property managers competing for tenants—online applications, fast inquiry response, automation, and AppFolio tenant-communication features.
Reimburse or Collect NSF Fees in AppFolio
December 13, 2022
1 min read

Reimburse or Collect NSF Fees in AppFolio

How property managers can reimburse or collect outstanding NSF fees in AppFolio—Pay Management Fees, Diagnostics, GL adjustments, and bank transfers.
Switching Property Management Software
December 13, 2022
3 min read

Switching Property Management Software

Resources for property managers switching software—AppFolio, Buildium, and Propertyware training, practice databases, and YouTube channels for ramp-up.
Vacation Rentals in AppFolio
December 13, 2022
4 min read

Vacation Rentals in AppFolio

How property managers can use AppFolio's new Vacation property type—tracking renters via ledger options, reporting, and short-term rental accounting.
Cash Vs. Accrual
December 6, 2022
1 min read

Cash Vs. Accrual

Cash vs. accrual accounting for property management bookkeeping—how they differ, why AppFolio defaults to cash basis, and when each method makes sense.
Sending Accurate Owner Payments
December 6, 2022
3 min read

Sending Accurate Owner Payments

How to use the Trust Account Balance report to verify owner payments are accurate—plus the reports that answer the most common owner statement questions.
How do I correct negative or positive additional fees in AppFolio?
April 13, 2022
3 min read

How do I correct negative or positive additional fees in AppFolio?

How to correct negative or positive additional fee balances in AppFolio—the Diagnostics report, creating offsetting receipts, and excluding from management fees.
How do I return overpayment to a tenant in AppFolio?
April 13, 2022
1 min read

How do I return overpayment to a tenant in AppFolio?

How to return a tenant overpayment in AppFolio—charge the clearing account, reapply the receipt, create a tenant payable, and issue the refund check.
How do I post management fees in advance in AppFolio?
March 23, 2022
1 min read

How do I post management fees in advance in AppFolio?

Why property managers can't post AppFolio management fees in advance—and how the flat fee workaround works, plus the negative-balance risk to watch for.
Deposited a closing check in trust account instead of company operating account
January 5, 2022
1 min read

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

How to fix a closing check accidentally deposited in the trust account instead of operating—the journal entries to record in AppFolio without affecting owners.
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
December 16, 2021
1 min read

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

AppFolio procedure—run a General Ledger with Created By and Created At columns to surface staff entries within the last 24 hours up to 30 days.
How to Enter Pet Information in AppFolio
December 14, 2021
1 min read

How to Enter Pet Information in AppFolio

How property managers handle pet info fields in AppFolio—why custom tenant-fillable fields can't be added to lease addendums, and where to enter them instead.
AppFolio and leasing CRM
December 9, 2021
1 min read

AppFolio and leasing CRM

Why AppFolio routes vacancy leads to the user who posted the listing—not the property's leasing contact—and how property managers can fix the routing.
AppFolio Questions: Bank Transfer
December 9, 2021
1 min read

AppFolio Questions: Bank Transfer

Why a tenant deposit bank transfer doesn't appear on the AppFolio reconciliation page—and how to complete pending transfers from the Bank Transfers menu.
AppFolio User Question #1
December 9, 2021
1 min read

AppFolio User Question #1

How property managers handle partial ownership in AppFolio—creating a separate owner profile as a workaround, plus implications for 1099 reporting.
Can emails post to multiple portals / user accounts in AppFolio?
December 9, 2021
1 min read

Can emails post to multiple portals / user accounts in AppFolio?

How AppFolio tracks emails from the work order tab—only on the main recipient's page—and the workaround for sharing them to tenant and owner portals.
How billable Items are meant to be used in a work order
December 9, 2021
1 min read

How billable Items are meant to be used in a work order

How billable items work in AppFolio work orders—using labor and supplies as line items so owners or tenants pay the correct amounts on the resulting bill.
How can I pick and choose which units to notify of a work order in AppFolio?
December 9, 2021
1 min read

How can I pick and choose which units to notify of a work order in AppFolio?

How property managers handle multi-unit work order notifications in AppFolio—single-unit limitations and workarounds with Letters or per-unit work orders.
How do I get the "Payment Services" to update the bank Account information to create a NACHA OR CSV File?
December 9, 2021
1 min read

How do I get the "Payment Services" to update the bank Account information to create a NACHA OR CSV File?

How property managers configure Payment Services in AppFolio to generate NACHA or CSV files for bank account updates and bill payment workflows.
How do I invoice multiple CAM charges on once invoice?
December 9, 2021
1 min read

How do I invoice multiple CAM charges on once invoice?

How property managers can invoice multiple CAM charges in AppFolio—using CAM Reconciliation, expense GL groups, and percentage allocations across tenants.
How do I override the automatic late fee and create an on demand association late fee for the bulk of past due in AppFolio?
December 9, 2021
1 min read

How do I override the automatic late fee and create an on demand association late fee for the bulk of past due in AppFolio?

How to override automatic late fees in AppFolio—disabling auto-posting in Manage Accounting Settings, or using property-level Late Fee settings for HOA dues.
How do you show an itemized breakdown of all the new charges in AppFolio?
December 9, 2021
1 min read

How do you show an itemized breakdown of all the new charges in AppFolio?

How property managers can show an itemized breakdown of new charges in AppFolio—Tenant Statements as a workaround when Rent Increase letters fall short.
How to Add An Administrative Fee into AppFolio
December 9, 2021
1 min read

How to Add An Administrative Fee into AppFolio

How to add an Administrative Fee to the move-in flow in AppFolio—creating an Admin Fee Income GL account and configuring property-level Additional Fees.
How to close out a lease only property in AppFolio
December 9, 2021
1 min read

How to close out a lease only property in AppFolio

How to close out a lease-only property in AppFolio—the move-out flow, Clearing Account charge, and Owner Held Deposit credit to release security funds.
How to disable a specific tenant to not allow pre-payments in AppFolio
December 9, 2021
1 min read

How to disable a specific tenant to not allow pre-payments in AppFolio

Why AppFolio doesn't allow disabling prepayments per tenant—and the recommended Move Out flow that disables online payments without using Evict status.
Is there a report in AppFolio that will show new properties for a specific month?
December 9, 2021
1 min read

Is there a report in AppFolio that will show new properties for a specific month?

How property managers can find new properties added in a specific month in AppFolio—use the property directory report sorted by management start date column.
Is There a Way to Customize a Widget in AppFolio Dashboard?
December 9, 2021
1 min read

Is There a Way to Customize a Widget in AppFolio Dashboard?

Can you customize AppFolio dashboard widgets? Use the Lease Expiration Detail by Month report with an adjustable Lease Range as the workaround for PMs.
What the End of the Eviction Moratorium Means for Property Managers
December 9, 2021
3 min read

What the End of the Eviction Moratorium Means for Property Managers

Analysis of the 2021 Supreme Court ruling ending the CDC eviction moratorium—AppFolio screening-report changes and post-moratorium screening compliance for PMs.
How can I delete a tenant altogether and reenter as new in AppFolio?
December 1, 2021
1 min read

How can I delete a tenant altogether and reenter as new in AppFolio?

How property managers can effectively delete a tenant in AppFolio—the Hide Tenant task, plus how to transfer existing deposits and payments to a new ledger.
How can I fix general ledger in AppFolio?
December 1, 2021
1 min read

How can I fix general ledger in AppFolio?

How to fix general ledger discrepancies in AppFolio—identifying Bank Adjustments that aren't on the GL report, and the Bank Account Activity workflow to find them.
How can tenant rent/HAP charges be changed or edited 3-6 months back in AppFolio?
December 1, 2021
1 min read

How can tenant rent/HAP charges be changed or edited 3-6 months back in AppFolio?

How property managers can edit past tenant rent or HAP charges (3-6 months back) in AppFolio—adjustment credits versus reapplying receipts via prepayments.
RUBS is a Beautiful Thing
August 16, 2021
2 min read

RUBS is a Beautiful Thing

RUBS (Ratio Utility Billing) in AppFolio—how to enable it, permissions, state-law caveats (e.g., Idaho restrictions), and setup considerations for property managers.
Allocating A Payable
August 15, 2021
2 min read

Allocating A Payable

How to use AppFolio's allocation feature to split a single payable evenly across multiple properties—saving time on bill entry and GL coding.
How APM Help Cleans Up Your Books
August 10, 2021
3 min read

How APM Help Cleans Up Your Books

How APM Help cleans up property management books—free 30-minute consultations with AppFolio or Propertyware experts, plus typical 2-4 week cleanup timelines.