Innovation might not be the first word that comes to mind when you think of real estate. After all, real estate is a traditional industry; as a rule, traditional sectors are typically slow to adopt new technology. However, things are changing. Today, 61% of real estate companies have already adopted an automation solution, and 35% are actively piloting or evaluating the potential of automation. 

Where Does RPA Come In?

Robotic process automation, or RPA, is a type of automation that uses computer software to simulate human actions. These smart bots can interact with software to perform high-volume, repeatable tasks governed by business logic and structured inputs. RPA bots can perform a variety of office functions, essentially working like a digital worker or assistant, and doing all of the routine, tedious tasks that would otherwise eat up employees' time. For example, RPA can leverage optical character recognition (OCR) to scan and extract text from invoices in a matter of seconds. Then, it can input this information into the necessary systems and move invoices through the approvals process. And this is just one example. 

Critically, the property management sector is full of back-office tasks RPA excels at. These tasks include tenant onboarding, payment reminders, portfolio management, reporting, and more. By deploying automation in these areas and others, property management companies can improve efficiency, eliminate human error, reduce turn-around time, and save money. 

With this in mind, let's dive into how you can leverage RPA innovation for property management reporting. 

Property Delinquency Report

As a property manager, it's vital to know the current late amount each tenant owes on the properties you look after. This is typically handled using a delinquency report - A monthly summary of overdue payments, amounts, and any actions taken to collect. 

Let's face it; sometimes renters fail to pay their dues on time. This can happen for various reasons, including unexpected financial outgoings, unstable employment, or simple negligence. Regardless of the reason, property managers need an up-to-date report of the current situation so they can take appropriate action.

The Property Delinquency Report bot prints the delinquency report each week and sends it to the property manager via email. This saves time while ensuring property managers have what they need to do their job. 

HOA Board Members Report

Financial reports enable Home Owner Association board members to see the fiscal health of the HOA and determine its overall strength at a glance. For example, the report provides critical insight into the assets and liabilities of the association. This can include cash accounts, accounts receivable, prepaid insurance, reserve funds, rental fees, long-term loans, and more. Armed with this information, HOA board members can reevaluate their association's finances regularly and make better decisions on how to manage the HOA today and in the future. 

Generating these reports manually is time-consuming and error-prone. HOA board members are busy people, and while reporting is critical, it can often become a chore without the help of automation. The HOA Board Members Reports bot prepares financial reports for each association, each month, and distributes them to each board member. 

Rent Roll Reporting

A rent roll report lists all current tenants at a property and contains other important information about each tenant's lease. This report helps property managers monitor the status of each property and typically includes information like the monthly rent amount for each lease, the unit number of each tenant's space, the rent commencement date, and the lease expiration date. However, some property management companies also include additional information like lease renewal options, free rent periods, and delinquent payments. 

The rent roll report is critical because the information in this report is used in key rental property financial performance formulas like net operating income (NOI), internal rate of return (IRR), gross rent multiplier (GRM), and cap rate.

Why generate this report manually when an RPA bot can do the hard work for you? The Rent Roll reporting bot prepares and distributes the rent roll reports for each investor every month, all without human input. 

Tenant Aging Reports

An aging report, also called an accounts receivable aging report,  lists unpaid customer invoices along with the duration for which they've been outstanding. Therefore, a tenant aging report will list all outstanding payments from tenants and the time that has passed since the payment was due. For example, the report may include categories for current payments due (due immediately), due in 1-30 days, 31-60 days (a month overdue), and 61-90 days (two months overdue). 

Aging reports are critical resources for property companies because they provide vital insight into which accounts are delinquent and which are in good standing. This information is invaluable in projecting the business's financial future and evaluating tenant-property manager relationships. 

However, while tenant aging reports are critical, they're also time-consuming. The Tenant Aging Report bot helps combat this issue. Each month, the bot will print and distribute the Property Aging Report for each investor or owner by logging into the Property Management Software and extracting the necessary information. 

Property Reports

RPA can help with other property reports too. Reporting is a vital process for all property management companies because it helps the business gain insights into finance, growth, employees, and customers. 

At the same time, reporting is a repetitive and time-consuming task. For example, a study by Deloitte found that 51% of departments have to deliver the same set of data several times across different reports. This means that employees have to enter the same systems over and over to gather necessary data for each report. It also means switching back and forth between documents to copy the information. Robotic process automation solves this problem by extracting and collating the information for each report through automation, saving precious time. 

Wrapping Up

RPA has a significant role to play in the transformation of the property management sector. RPA allows companies to automate arduous, manual tasks, allowing workers to spend more time on tasks that add value to the business. Why spend countless hours manually handling reports when a smart bot can do it for you?