AppFolio Tutorials - Ep. 22 Reporting

Hello everyone, welcome back to APM Help Academy. In this video, we cover all things reporting in AppFolio.

1. Accessing Reports

• From Dashboard → scroll down → Reporting → Reports
• Or type “Reports” in the search bar

Once on the reports page, you will see the main section: Accounting Reports, which tracks financial data for properties and owners.

2. Accounting Reports Overview

a. GL Account Balances

• View account totals for specific GL accounts (e.g., 1150 Operating Cash)
• Shows each property’s net and ending balances
• Useful for snapshots of individual property accounts

b. Balance Sheet Reports

• Shows assets, liabilities, and cash in one view
• Variants:
  • Standard balance sheet (per owner or property)
  • Year-over-year comparison
  • Property-to-property comparison
• Date level detail: Detail view (default) or Summary view

c. Bank Account Activity

• Tracks transactions for a specific bank
• Options: Bank beginning balance (preferred) or GL beginning balance
• Matches bank statements for reconciliations

d. Bank Account Association

• Shows which bank accounts are tied to which GL accounts or properties
• Useful for troubleshooting reconciliations

e. Cash Flow Reports

• Tracks net cash in/out during a period
• Recommended: Exclude suppressed fees to avoid showing management fees collected
• Variants:
  • Cash Flow 12-month → month-over-month view
  • Cash Flow Property Comparison → compare multiple properties
  • Cash Flow Detail → itemized report with individual payments

f. Chart of Accounts

• Snapshot of all GL accounts, subaccounts, and offset accounts
• Useful to see account setup and fee applicability

g. Expense Distribution

• Shows spending per expense account for a given period
• Useful for budgeting and tracking management fee collections

h. General Ledger (GL)

• Access: via Reporting, search bar, or property page
• Shows property balances in real-time
• Useful for reconciliations, audits, or triple-way rec forms
• Tip: Check “Show Reverse Transactions” for accurate bank-aligned balances

i. Income Statement

• Shows revenue and expenses per GL account (not cash-based)
• Variants:
  • 12-month Income Statement
  • Comparative Income Statement → compares year-over-year
  • Property Comparison → compares multiple properties
  • Date Range → customized time periods

j. Loans Report

• Tracks all property loans
• Shows: interest paid, principal remaining, last payment date

k. Trial Balance

• Shows year-to-date balances for all GL accounts
• Variants: per property, owner, or consolidated
• Useful for CPAs or owner-operators

l. Trust Account Reports

• Trust Account Balance
  • Shows beginning-to-current balances for all properties
  • Helps identify negative balances that must be corrected
  • Can filter by bank, owner, or specific trust account
• Trust Account Detail
  • Simplified view for a specific cash account and period
  • Useful for reconciliations and audits

3. Recommendations

• Always exclude suppressed fees for owner-facing reports
• Use bank beginning balances for reconciliation accuracy
• Regularly monitor trust accounts to avoid negative balances
• Use comparative and detailed reports for owner transparency and CPA requests

This concludes the Reporting section in AppFolio.

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