LetMC.com Training Support Part 2 Issue /05/09 Accounting Irish Edition

Transcription

1 LetMC.com Training Support Part 2 Issue /05/09 Accounting Irish Edition (Tantum eruditi sunt liberi)

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3 INTRODUCTION... 8 Payments and Deposits Taking Payments Make a Bank Deposit Taking Credit Card Payments Reconciling Card Payments Banking Credit and Debit Cards Make a Cheque Payment Online Payments Make a BACS Payment Draw Down Sales NRL Draw Down Make a Card Refund View and Search History Download your bank statement Upload your statement onto the LetMC System Reconcile Bank Statements Electronic Payment References Management Electronic Payment References by User Manage Electronic Payment References Manage Payment Groups Manage Bank Accounts Associate Bank accounts with selected branches Manage Custom Accounts Associate Custom Accounts with selected Bank Accounts Apply a Transfer Maintenance Deductions Make a Property Maintenance Deduction Make a Landlord Maintenance Deduction Make a Transfer Between People Make a Manual Rent Transfer Make a Manual Rent Refund Make a Manual Float Refund Make a Journal Transfer Manage Person's Auto Transfers Manage Auto Transfers by Property Manage All Auto Transfers Guaranteed Rent Activate Guaranteed Rent Setting the Landlord Charge for the Guaranteed Rent Service How the System Makes a Guaranteed Rent Payment Find Tenants Rent covered by Guaranteed Rent? What Happens when Tenant Pays Rent Covering Guaranteed Rent Payments Guaranteed Rent Balances Report Applying Charges or Refunds Charge/Refund a Tenant Charge/Refund a Contractor Charging Landlords Charge Landlord by Property Refund Landlord by Property Make a Deduction from Tenants Bond Account Disputed Bond Deduction Agreed Bond Deduction Chase Money Tenant Money Owed Chase Chase Tenant Tenant Details Tenant Statement Tenancy Details Chase History Tenants Notes View Account Activity View a Person's Accounts View a Branch's Sales Accounts View Your Company's Accounts Manage Invoices View All Invoices View a Person's Invoices Create an Invoice (LetMC Only) Tax Reports NRL Quarterly Return NRL Annual Return Page 3

4 Section 19(1)(c) Tax Report Send Self Assessment Tax Report Head Tenants and Accounting Accounts Reports Bond Deposits Held Bond Deposit Held by DPS Tenants Bond Deposits Outstanding Debtors and Creditors Bank Transactions System Balance Reconciliation Retired PDQ Transactions Control Panel My Account Change Password Company Settings System Details Lettings Accounting Sales Accounts Staff Create a staff Member View a Staff Member Modify a Staff Member Staff Job Details Security Details Upload a Staff Signature Delete a Staff Member Reset Staff Password (Administrators only) Branches Branch details Opening hours Internet advertising and up-loaders Branch trading account Object Types Tenancy Service Types Tenancy Agreement Types Tenancy Cancel Types Tenancy Special Requirements Facility Types Inventory Item Types Contractor Types Certificate Types Appointment Types Recommended Tenant Contact Details Applicant Source Types Applicant Status Types Tenant Account Status Types Tenant Chase Methods LETMC.COM ACCOUNTS AND SAGE Page 4

5 ACCOUNTING Next to lettings, accounting is the second biggest section of the software and if not kept up to date and reconciled every day, the accounts will soon become out of date. The Golden Rule of the accounts section is; What happens on the system must be mirrored outside the system and what happens outside the system must happen in the system, LetMC does not integrate with your bank account. The menu you see and the actions you can perform within the accounts section of the system is dependent on your log in level Client Colleague Logon This level has no access to accounting Accounting Payments and Deposits Client Staff Login Apply Charges or Refunds Manage Invoices Chase Money Staff Branches Take a Payment Charge a Tenant Charge a Contractor Charge Landlord by Property Charge a Landlord Refund a Tenant Refund a Contractor Refund Landlord by Property Refund a Landlord View a Persons Invoices Tenant Money Owed Chase View a Staff Member View a Branch Accounting Payments and Deposits Bank Reconciliation Electronic Payment References Apply Transfer Apply Charge or Refund View Account Activity Manage Invoices Chase Money Tax Reports Client Manager Login Take a Payment Make a Bank Deposit Banking Debit & Credit Cards Make a Cheque Payment Make an Online Payment Make a BACS Payment Make a Card Refund View and Search History Upload a Bank Statement Reconcile Bank Statements Manage Payment Groups Manage Bank Accounts Manage Custom Accounts Make a Property Maintenance Deduction Make a Landlord Maintenance Deduction Charge a Tenant Charge a Contractor Charge Landlord by Property Charge a Landlord Refund a Tenant Refund a Contractor Refund Landlord by Property Refund a Landlord View a Person's Accounts View a Branch's Accounts View Your Company's Accounts View a Persons Invoices Tenant Money Owed Chase NRL Annual Return Section 19(1)(c) Tax Report Send Self Assessment Tax Report Page 5

6 Client Finance Login Accounting Payments and Deposits Bank Reconciliation Electronic Payment References Apply Transfers Apply Charges or Refunds View Account Activity Manage Invoices Chase Money Tax Reports Take a Payment Make a Bank Deposit Banking Debit & Credit Cards Make a Cheque Payment Make an Online Payment Make a BACS Payment Make a Card Refund View and Search History Upload a Bank Statement Reconcile Bank Statements Manage Payment Groups Manage Bank Accounts Manage Custom Accounts Manage References by User Manage all References Make a Property Maintenance Deduction Make a Landlord Maintenance Deduction Charge a Tenant Charge a Contractor Charge Landlord by Property Charge a Landlord Refund a Tenant Refund a Contractor Refund Landlord by Property Refund a Landlord View a Person's Accounts View a Branch's Accounts View Your Company's Accounts View a Persons Invoices Tenant Money Owed Chase NRL Quarterly Return NRL Annual Return Section 19(1)(c) Tax Report Send Self Assessment Tax Report Page 6

7 Client Administrator Login Accounting Payments and Deposits Bank Reconciliation Electronic Payment References Apply Transfers Apply Charges or Refunds View Account Activity Manage Invoices Chase Money Tax Reports Take a Payment Make a Bank Deposit Banking Debit & Credit Cards Make a Cheque Payment Make an Online Payment Make a BACS Payment Make a Card Refund View and Search History Upload a Bank Statement Reconcile Bank Statements Manage Payment Groups Manage Bank Accounts Manage Custom Accounts Manage References by User Manage all References Make a Property Maintenance Deduction Make a Landlord Maintenance Deduction Make a Manual Rent Transfer Make a Manual Rent Refund Make a Manual Float Refund Make a Journal Transfer Manage Person's Auto Transfers Manage Auto Transfers by Property Manage All Auto Transfers Charge a Tenant Charge a Contractor Charge Landlord by Property Charge a Landlord Refund a Tenant Refund a Contractor Refund Landlord by Property Refund a Landlord View a Person's Accounts View a Branch's Accounts View Your Company's Accounts View All Invoices View a Persons Invoices Create an Invoice Tenant Money Owed Chase NRL Quarterly Return NRL Annual Return Section 19(1)(c) Tax Report Send Self Assessment Tax Report Page 7

8 INTRODUCTION Accounts can include collecting and paying money, credit cards, bank deposits, receipts, and reconciling the clients account to meet strict criteria. Then there is invoicing, VAT and NRL (Non resident landlord) tax. LetMC.com accounts system works very similarly to a personal bank account. Landlord, tenant and contractor has an account within your system. Each A tenant s LetMC account can become overdrawn when rent is due, or if you have applied charges or a bond deposit. When they are in credit, money such as rent and your fees are automatically moved to the landlords account and the agents sales account. Payment Priority Order given to Outstanding Money. When a tenant has money paid into his LetMC account the order that the system distributes this from Main Account to outstanding accounts is:- Outstanding Bond This is bond deposit money to be held by the Agent (or passed to the Agent s DPS account) any outstanding bond amounts here are first to be paid Outstanding Rent This is usually rent collected for Managed Landlords, this has second priority in the system for payment. Outstanding General These are usually bond deposits and rent collected for letonly/tenant-find landlords. The Letting Agent s administration fees charged to the tenant is effectively paid last. This movement of money in the system TOTALLY relies on an electronic copy of your bank statement uploaded to LetMC.com. This statement will need to be downloaded from your bank via online banking and saved to a folder on your computer then uploaded onto the LetMC system. This allows the set of transactions (rent in and money out) on LetMC.com to be compared to the uploaded bank statement (rent in and money out). When these amounts are reconciled within the system payments to creditors will be authorised. Tip: Without the electronic bank statement you will need to enter each payment by hand from a paper statement. If available always remember to download the statement daily from your bank and upload it onto the LetMC system. You will probably need to speak to your bank to enable this service. Page 8

9 The movement of rent and fees through LetMC.com accounts Rent Rent owed becomes due The tenancy agreement payment schedule sets the amount and due date per tenant Tenants account can become over drawn The tenant account becomes overdrawn (owing rent). Once rent paid, money moves to landlord account The money automatically moves to the landlord account when a tenant's rent clears into the agent's bank (after it s authorised ) Management Fees automatically taken As this money is moved the management fees are deducted and transferred to the agent s sales account Landlord in credit and ready to be paid Once the landlord is in credit they are ready for the invoice to be created and paid. Page 9

10 Payments and Deposits Taking Payments If anyone comes in and pays you by cash, card or cheque this must be recorded on the system that you have taken the money, you can then create a receipt. These payments could be for: Agency fees Damage charges Bond Cleaning charge Rent Paying a maintenance invoice Reference fees In the accounting menu select Payments and Deposits/Take a payment. Using the search criteria locate the person that is making the payment. Tick the box next to the person and click the next action button. Enter the payment details, from the drop down menu select the Type of deposit, (Cash, Cheque, Card or Bankers Draft) Fill in the amount and finally a good description of the payment. For Card Payments make sure that you enter the description and the authorisation code from the Debit or Credit card slip. The next screen will prompt you to confirm the payment. Click on the next action button and print the receipt. You should then sign the receipt and pass it to the payee. Effect on Account: When the amount is shown on the persons account in the description the wording un-made will show in the transaction. This is to indicate that the payment has been recorded on the system but not yet banked or reconciled. No money is available in the system to be paid out to recipients. If one cheque is paying for more than one person then each tenant/landlord benefiting should be added separately. The total of the cheque should be added into the Description. For example John Smith pays a cheque for 100 of which 50 is rent for Peter Davies and 50 is rent for John Smith. John Smith is added to the "Deposit Batch Payment" list with an amount of 50 and in the Description you should write "Cheque for 100 paid by John Smith, 50 for Peter Davies and 50 for John Smith". Peter Davies is then added to the "Deposit Batch Payment" list with an amount of 50 and the same description. Page 10

11 Make a Bank Deposit With the cash and cheques you have collected, at some point you will need to pay them into the bank. LetMC.com creates the paying in slip, saving time by adding up all the separate amounts of payments from customers. Select Payments and Deposits/Make a Bank Deposit in the accounting menu and enter the paying in slip number. Select the payments to bank by ticking the check box next to the payment. Click on update Total, this will total all payments selected for you. The next screen will ask you to confirm the deposit. This is the final step for you to check before the deposit is entered onto the system. Clicking on the next action button will now display the print deposit slip facility. By clicking on print you will be prompted to download a pdf file of the paying in slip. There will be one file copy for you and one copy that may be of use for banking. Effect on Account: When the deposit has been made through the LetMC system the persons account description will indicate that the payment has been made. The system now knows that the money has been banked, but still the money is unavailable to be moved to the recipients account as it is yet to be reconciled. Page 11

12 Taking Credit Card Payments Activating card payments. (Call LetMC) The ability to take card payments is activated by going to Accounting > Bank Reconciliation > Manage Bank Accounts and then clicking the edit button on the bank account. You will then need to alter the setting Card Payments to Standard Card. This will have been automatically activated if the Letting Agent has used Take a PDQ Payment at any point in the past. Accounting>Take a Payment then shows Card Deposit as a one of the payment types. Using Take a Payment Card Deposit without activating reconciling means that card payments collected will immediately be Authorised this would mean that the money is immediately available to transfer to the landlord as rent. Reconciling Card Payments (If the option is unavailable contact LetMC) To take a card deposit go to Accounting/Payments and Deposits and search for the payee on the system. In the Deposit Details Type select Card Deposit then enter the amount being paid. In the description make sure that you enter the authorisation code from the Debit or Credit card slip. You will then be prompted to confirm the payment and finally print a receipt. It is possible to subject card payments to the same reconciling discipline applied to cash and cheque payments. This is activated in Control Panel>Modify Company Details Accounting (Call LetMC to have this functionality activated)*. With this activated payments taken by card will not become Authorised transactions until they are reconciled in Reconcile Bank Statements. This means that for example, rent collected from a tenant would not be transferred to the landlord until the Card Company had paid the money into the Client Bank Account and reconciled in LetMC. *On activating Enable Credit & Debit Card Reconciling a new option appears in Accounting called Banking Debit & Credit Cards which is similar to Make a Bank Deposit. This option is shown to staff members set to the security level Client Manager and above. Page 12

13 Banking Credit and Debit Cards Group together the day s card payments in Banking Debit & Credit Cards. (The card payments should be grouped together to match the amount expected to be paid by the Card Company into the Letting Agent s Client Bank Account) A good method of working would be to check the merchant slips from the card machine against the entries in Banking Debit & Credit Cards and then attaching the merchant slips to the summary printed on completing the Banking Debit & Credit Cards steps. Banking Debit & Credit Cards adds a Payment Group into Manage Payment Groups in readiness for reconciling in Reconcile Bank Statements. Only once the card payment group is linked (and posted) against a bank statement entry does the money become Authorised on the tenant s account and therefore be made available to transfer to the landlord as rent. Page 13

14 Make a Cheque Payment Select Make a Cheque Payment. You will now see options as to whom or what you are going to pay: Individual Person From a list of People in Credit Company Draw Down NRL Draw Down People in Credit Click on People in Credit and you will see a list of people that are in credit on the system. This can be filtered by All Landlords Tenants Contractors Tick the box next to the person to be paid and click next Select invoicing method from the drop down menu, enter the cheque number and a description of the payment then click next Confirm the payment and click next, print payments and invoices if required (the invoice will go to the postbag anyway). Click finish This method of payment can also be used with: People in Credit Draw Down Sales NRL Draw Down Page 14

15 Online Payments Carrying out online payments will take you through a similar process as to cheque payments, but you must make sure that the person has bank details entered on the system. Click on People in Credit and check the bank account details list and select the people to pay, click next In the payment details screen enter the payment description. If a selected person does not have bank details the entry will show in pink. You will then have to delete them of the list and pay them by another method. Click Next and you will be prompted to confirm the payment the screen will display all details of the transaction Invoicing settings are also shown. Click next to continue and an option to print Payments and/or Invoices will be displayed if you have used the online banking to pay several people then. printing out the payments list will assist you when you are doing your on-line banking. It will show all details of the transactions for you to follow whilst carrying out on line banking Page 15

16 Make a BACS Payment (If the option is unavailable contact LetMC) Accounting/Payments and Deposits BACS Payment Select Create Invoices and send to Postbag, tick the boxes next to the people that are to be paid under People in Credit and click ok. Select the people you are going to pay by BACS by ticking the box next to their names Payment details screen will show all the payments selected. if any appear on a red background this means that the recipient does not have any bank details, if any payment shows in bold red this means that the default payment threshold has been exceeded and gives you a warning of such Select Invoicing details and enter a description then click next The following screen will prompt you to confirm your transaction, if all is ok click next. By clicking on the Export BACS Payments button you will create a BACS file ready to be sent to the bank, save this to your PC first in readiness to upload it to your bank account. Once you have uploaded this file to the bank payments will be made automatically to the recipients. Page 16

17 Draw Down Sales The Draw Down Month Sales view is split into two sections. The top section shows the balance of the Company s Sales Control Account as of today s date. The second section shows the Invoiced Sales amounts of any selected month. This then pre-fills the Draw Down Amount with the selected month s Invoiced Sales. Any amount up to a maximum of the month s sales can be entered. If an uncompleted month is selected then the sales amount up to today s date is shown. It should be noted that the amount suggested for the month will always be a complete month s sales even if a mid month draw down was previously carried out. If the Company carries out draw downs mid month then the balance of the Sales Control Account should be taken into consideration to avoid drawing down too much money. A separate payment is created for Sales Net and Sales VAT for each Branch. If the Letting Agent actually transfers the total by one transaction (e.g. an online transfer) then the individual payments in LetMC can be combined to create one Payment Group in order to allow the transfer to be reconciled by using Accounting>Bank Reconciliation>Manage Payment Groups. NRL Draw Down Click on Draw-Down NRL, Select Quarter and enter amount. This draw down will be used in conjunction with the NRL quarterly tax report. Make a Card Refund (Call LetMC to enable) This allows a refund onto a tenant s card to be recorded (or a landlord or contractor). A receipt can be printed to show the refund. If the Letting Agent has Reconcile Card Payments activated in Modify Company Details then the refund appears in Accounting>Payments and Deposits>Banking Debit & Credit Cards. A new transaction type called Refund Card has been introduced to enable card refunds. This appears in places such as Reports>Accounts Reports>Bank Transactions. Page 17

18 View and Search History5 The history option will show you a history of payments and deposits made. This list shows most current on the last page. A search tab enables a user to search for a specific amount or a cheque number reference code. When searching for an amount it must be entered exactly as it appears in their accounts. The search will only return amounts that match the value entered into the search exactly. Match correct to 2 decimal figures; if no decimal point is entered then the results will only include matching round figures (e.g. no decimal point). Take into account whether a plus or minus sign has been entered (outgoing payments must be pre-fixed with a minus sign). Search for 200 The search will return all payment groups which contain the matching amount entered in the search i.e. when a Paying In slip has a total of 500 that is made up of 2 items of 200 and 300 then a search for 200 will display the paying in slip with an advice saying: 'This includes a 200 amount within it'. System returns all activity with a 200 transaction Open print job for details If you search by Cheque Number then you must put the whole number. You cannot search by a partial number. Page 18

19 Download your bank statement The first stage of Bank reconciliation comes by downloading your bank statement from your bank. By logging on to your online banking system you can download a current statement this will show entries up until midnight from the day previous. This file will be in the format of an xml file (Extensible Markup Language, as used by excel) or a csv file (comma-separated values). These data files contain all the transaction data from your bank account. Once you have downloaded the statement from your bank save it to a folder on your PC. Upload your statement onto the LetMC System To upload your bank statement onto the LetMC system select: Accounting > Bank Reconciliation > Upload a Bank Statement In the upload screen you will now have to click on the Browse button this will take your PC s folders where you now need to navigate to the location where you saved the bank statement. When you have found the statement highlight it by clicking on it once then click on the open button. You should now see the file name appear in the upload statement screen in the LetMC System you should now click on the upload button to load it into LetMC. Finally click finish on the Actions toolbar. Page 19

20 Reconcile Bank Statements Note; if you are not using the reconcile Bank Statements option this section will not appear on the software. To begin the bank reconciliation process you should select: Accounting > Bank Reconciliation > Reconcile Bank Statements You should see a similar graphic to the one below. A list of bank statement entries will be displayed. By default, the list is filtered to show Unposted entries with a date within the last month. You can set this date period to suit. Looking at the statement now in the system you will notice that the figures show some positive and some negative. The positive amounts are monies being paid to the system and the negative amounts are monies that are being paid out. There are likely to be multiple pages of statement entries. All these figures now need to be linked with their corresponding Payments or Payment Groups within the system. (See explanation below for payment groups) Payment Groups 1) Take a payment then make a bank deposit and make an online/cheque/bacs payment all create PAYMENT GROUPS on LetMC.com. You can see these in Manage Payment Groups or when you link as payment or deposit in the bank reconciliation. So, anything coming into the office and banked and any payments you make and record on LetMC.com create PAYMENT GROUPS. The system will expect to see these in the bank statement in the next few days. Page 20

21 Selecting payments to reconcile Payment or Deposit Click on the Edit button The next screen will show you summary details of the statement entry. There are three options to link the payments. Cheque payments and paying in slips as Payment or Deposit. Standing orders and BACS are always linked to Person as Electronic Payment. Anything else is usually linked to a Special Account. This is for things not related to landlords, tenants or contractors. i.e. bank interest/charges. When you have selected the correct method click the button On the link payment screen locate the corresponding payment and tick the box next to it and click ok in the Actions box. (Make sure that the amounts match, if they do not match the system will show a warning and not allow you to reconcile) Page 21

22 Once the ok button is clicked a Statement Entry Status screen will open. On here you will see that the entry has been resolved yet still un-posted within the system. Also the system will have linked it to the person connected to the Payment Group. You may also unlink the entry if required. Click Finish on the Actions bar to continue You will now have been returned to the statement screen where you should notice that the statement entry has now changed to blue text. This is showing that the entry has been resolved but not yet posted. Electronic Payments (Standing Orders) When a standing order shows on the statement you will not find a payment group on the system to link it to as it has happened solely outside of the system. For instance a tenant has set up a standing order to pay their rent. So you now need to link it to the person. Then click on the Edit button On the entry Status Screen select Person as Electronic Payment and click Using the search criteria enter the persons name to link the payment to. Tick the box next to their name then click the ok button on the Actions bar Page 22

23 The Entry Status screen will now show that the entry has been resolved but not posted. You may also unlink the entry if required. Click Finish on the Actions bar. The statement screen will now show Un-Posted - Resolved This standing order will now be logged as an electronic payment reference. This can be verified by opening Accounting > Bank Reconciliation > Electronic Payment References > Manage References by User When you are in here use the search criteria to find the person. Tick the box next to their name and click next. The next screen will give you a list of electronic payments that have been recorded in the system. This Electronic reference will enable automatic recognition of the standing order payment next time it shows on your uploaded bank statement. The system will then automatically resolve the payment and it will show as blue ready to be posted. These electronic references will be automatically cancelled when the tenancy is closed. Electronic references can be cancelled at any time by ticking the box next to the one you want to cancel and then clicking the Cancel button. Page 23

24 Special Account Payments to the Special Account will be monies that not related to landlords, tenants or contractors. i.e. bank interest/charges. These custom accounts can be created in Accounting > Bank Reconciliation > Manage Custom Accounts Click on the Edit button On the entry Status Screen select Special Account and click On the Select Account page you now need to place a tick in the Interest and Bank Charges box. Now click on ok on the Actions Bar Statement Entry Status will now show Un-Posted Resolved. You may also unlink the entry if required. Click Finish to return to the statement page The payments that have been resolved will now need to be posted. That is, telling the system that all these payments can now be directed to the correct accounts and debits and credits applied. Page 24

25 To post the resolved items tick the boxes next to the payments then click the Post Button. You can do these individually or as the example shows select all the resolved items and post them all together. Posting the Statement Entry will debit the Company 'Clearing' Account and credit the Person s 'Main' Account or Company Account, depending on how the entry has been linked. The transaction displays the Statement Entry Description. The statement will now show only payments left to resolve Continue the process until all payments have been resolved and posted Click Finish on the Action Bar when done Effect on Account: Once the payments have been reconciled the corresponding transaction on an account will now show that the payment has been reconciled which means that the system recognises that the payment is agreed but they may still be subject to an authorisation period, or authorised. This means that the money is now available to be transferred to the recipient. E.g. A tenants payment of rent is now available to be transferred to the landlord automatically. Page 25

26 Electronic Payment References Management Electronic Payment References by User Electronic Payment References enable a transaction to be linked to a Person automatically when Reconciling Bank statements. There are two steps in this wizard: Select a Person: Select whether to view References for a Landlord, Tenant or Contractor using the User Type drop-down list. Then search for and tick the box next to the person required. When selecting a Tenant, make sure you choose the tenant record for the correct property and tenancy. Click next action to view the selected person's References (you will only see EPR in here if it has been set whilst reconciling). Then click finish. Manage Electronic Payment References The list displays Electronic Payment References that have been linked to the person (when the person s first Electronic Payment Reference was recognised on a bank statement). You can cancel a Reference by ticking the box next to it in the list and clicking Cancel at the bottom of the list. Note: Cancelling a Reference means that any future transaction on a bank statement will not be automatically linked to the person. Click the finish when you have finished viewing and cancelling Electronic Payment Reference Page 26

27 Manage Payment Groups Take a payment then make a bank deposit and make an online/cheque/bacs payment all create PAYMENT GROUPS on LetMC.com. You can see these in Manage Payment Groups or when you link as payment or deposit in the bank reconciliation. So, anything coming into the office and banked and any payments you make and record on LetMC.com create PAYMENT GROUPS. The system will expect to see these in the bank statement in the next few days. Within the Manage Payment Groups screen you can; view, combine, split and delete Payments and Payment Groups. Initially, a list of Payments and Payment Groups created within the system against the Default bank account is displayed (as set up in Manage Bank Accounts). There may be multiple pages of Payments Information included in the list: Date; This is the date the bank deposit was created; it displays the Payment or Payment Group Description, Type and Reference. Amount Outgoing money such as cheque, BACS or online payments are negative amounts. Incoming money such as deposits are positive Payment Groups Payments may be combined to form other Payment Groups. Any groupings may subsequently be split back into their constituent Payments. Combining and Splitting Payments Combine Payment Groups Click the Combine Button to combine two or more Payments in the list into a single Payment Group. Select the payments to combine by ticking the box next to the required Payments and then click the OK Action to combine them. Split Payment Groups Click this Action to split a Payment Group into its constituent Payments. Select the Payment Group to split by ticking the box next to it and clicking the Split Button. Delete Payment Groups Use the delete button to delete Payments and/or Payment Groups. Select the Payments or Payment Groups to delete by ticking the box next to each one required and then click the delete button click OK to make the deletion. Deleting a Payment Group will contra every Payment contained within the Payment Group. (This will credit/debit the Company Clearing Account and debit /credit the Person s 'Main' Account (or other relevant Account). The transaction will have the description 'Payment Cancellation: Statement-Entry-Reference'). Editing Payments and Payment Groups It may be that a mistake was made in the amount when a Payment was initially created using an option under Payments and Deposits. In this case, the Payment must be edited to match the Statement Entry it corresponds to so that they can be linked. To view and edit a Payment or the Payments within a Payment Group, click the name in the Reference column. Click the Finish Action when you have finished working with Payments and Payment Groups. Page 27

28 Manage Bank Accounts Use this option to amend details of your bank account or add a new Bank Account Details that can be amended: Bank Name and Type Card Payment Type BACS Details Direct Debit Details Associate Bank accounts with selected branches. For multi-branch companies, it is possible to restrict the bank accounts that are available for use by each individual branch. This will be useful to multi-branch companies that have separate bank accounts for each branch. This affects most views in the following sections:- Accounting>Payments and Deposits section:- Take a Payment Make a Bank Deposit Banking Debit and Credit Cards Make a Cheque Payment Make an Online Payment Make a BACS Payment Make a Card Refund Call Direct Debits Manage Direct Debits. In the Bank Reconciliation section:- Upload a Bank Statement, Manage Payment Groups, Electronic Payment References>Manage all References The standing order mandate (usually in the Tenancy Agreement) is also affected. *If the Tenancy Agreement relates to a Let Only/Tenant Find tenancy then the bank details listed in the standing order will be the landlord s own bank account details. In cases where no bank account details have been recorded for the landlord, the details will be left blank and can be filled in by hand. By default, new bank accounts are available for all branches. Client Administrators (call LetMC Client Support for assistance) are able to restrict bank accounts from being used by selected branches by going to Accounting>Bank Reconciliation>Manage Bank Accounts and editing a bank account and then select or de-select the tick boxes for each branch in the Branch Usage section. Page 28

29 Manage Custom Accounts This option allows customisation of special accounts If you need to use these options it is advisable to call the LetMC Support team for assistance Associate Custom Accounts with selected Bank Accounts. Custom accounts can be restricted to only apply to selected bank accounts. The default setting will allow custom accounts to apply to all bank accounts registered; this can be restricted by Client Administrators(or LetMC Client Support) who can set custom accounts to show for selected bank accounts, for example only the bank accounts that are associated with a particular custom account. This is done by selecting the relevant custom account in Accounting>Manage Custom Accounts and selecting or de-selecting the tick boxes for each bank account in the Bank Usage section. Page 29

30 Apply a Transfer Maintenance Deductions Make a Property Maintenance Deduction The selection of Make a Property Maintenance Deduction means that the system can split the maintenance deduction levied between the landlords, according to their % Ownership and the invoice lists the deduction under the appropriate property. Search for the property to make the maintenance deduction on and click the next action button. Search for the Contractor to be paid and click the next action button Enter the maintenance invoice amount and a more comprehensive description if required. If this payment is exempt from NRL, tick the box (it is ticked by default). If the box is cleared, NRL will be applied to this payment. If the Landlord must have tax deducted from them (under the Inland Revenue Non Resident Landlord Scheme) then you should apply NRL to this Pay a Supplier transaction in order for the Landlord to be refunded NRL for this expense. The only type of expense that NRL should not be refunded against is Capital Expenditure (this is usually building work which constitutes an improvement to the property). The next screen will ask you to confirm the deduction. Click finish on the action buttons Each Landlords account will show a deduction corresponding to their percentage share. Page 30

31 Make a Landlord Maintenance Deduction Selecting Make a Landlord Maintenance Deduction is not a deduction to be linked to a specific property. This deduction is taken straight from the landlord. Search for and select the landlord whom the deduction is to be levied on. Click next on the action buttons Select the Contractor as the recipient of the payment and click the next action button Enter the amount of the deduction and a description. Click the next action button Confirm the payment to be made and click the finish action button Page 31

32 Make a Transfer Between People Select a Person (From) Using the standard search criteria select the person from whose Main Account the transfer should come. When applying a transfer from a tenant, make sure you choose the tenant record for the correct property and tenancy that this transfer is related to. Click Next to continue. Select a Person (To) Using the search criteria select the person to whose Main Account the transfer should be made. Click Next to continue. Enter the details of the transfer: Amount, Transfer Type (This is automatically filled in and shows the people that the transfer is to be made between). Amount (mandatory) Enter the amount of the transfer. Enter a description of what the transfer is for, and when you are sure that the details are correct, click Finish to make the transfer. (If you need to modify any details, click Back to return to Step 2. Effects in accounting: Person From; Main account is Debited Person To; Main Account Credited Page 32

33 Make a Manual Rent Transfer Paying the Landlord direct from the Tenants account. Using the standard search criteria select the tenant that you are going to transfer rent from and click next. Enter the amount to transfer in the Rent Transfer Details, and then click next You will be required then to confirm the transfer then click finish. The rent will now be transferred to the landlord Effects in accounting: Tenants Outstanding Rent Account is debited Landlords Rent Collected Account is credited Make a Manual Rent Refund Landlord returning rent (overpayment) Using the search criteria find the tenant and click next. Select the amount of refund and click next then finish Select the amount of refund and click next to confirm the transfer then finish to complete the transaction. Effects in Accounting Tenants Main Account is credited Landlords Rent Collected Account is debited Page 33

34 Make a Manual Float Refund Returning Float Account Money to Landlord Using the standard search criteria search for the Landlord to make the transaction on, tick the box next to their name and click on next Enter the amount to be refunded click next then click finish to confirm the transaction. The landlords Float account will be debited and his main account credited. Effects in Accounting Landlord Float Account is debited Landlord Main Account is credited. The landlord now appears in people in credit. Make a Journal Transfer Transferring money between different accounts, for example the transaction shown below is for transferring an amount from a tenant s Main account to their Outstanding Rent account this will make rent due on the tenants account if for some reason the payment schedule is not picked up. This schedule may not have been set or the tenancy was signed more than 20 days after the first rent due date. click on Create Person Posting to go to the person search screen Using the standard search criteria select the tenant who is going to have the rent deducted from their account, and click next on the action buttons. The next screen will be the first screen of the transfer process this is to select the account you are taking money from. In this case the rent which was paid by the tenant, but missed by the late signing of the tenancy, is still in the Tenants Main account. So it is from this account that the rent has to be taken, enter the rent amount in the appropriate box as a negative amount which will deduct the money from the selected Main account. Click finish to continue. Page 34

35 On the postings screen you will see the first part of the transaction confirmed. To complete the transaction of rent transfer you will now need to select, Create Person Posting again Once again you will need to search for the tenant using the standard criteria and click next on the action buttons. On the next screen you will need to enter the amount to add to the Outstanding Rent account. When done click on the finish action button. On the postings screen you will now see both parts of the transaction. To complete this transaction click ok. The transaction will now be complete and rent due if at a negative value will have been satisfied. Page 35

36 Manage Person's Auto Transfers If the tenant, landlord or contractor has got a transfer that is due monthly (apart from rent or fees) auto transfers can be used. This may be for a monthly service charge to a contractor. In the following example you will be shown the setting up of the auto transfer and how to manage them. First select the person that is the payee of the auto charge using the standard search criteria, select the person you want and click next on the action buttons. On the next screen click the Add button to set up a new auto charge When you have selected Add you will need to search for the recipient of the Auto Charge. Tick the box next to the name and click next Enter a description of the auto charge, the amount to transfer the recurrence factor how long you want the Auto Charge to run for and click Finish. At any time you can return to this screen and amend or cancel the auto charge. Cancelling will not delete the auto charge but it will leave you with the option to restore it at any time. Page 36

37 You will now see a list of Auto Charges that are set. If you were now to click on the edit button you will see a screen showing the auto charge details. This time you may notice an extra button; Transfer Cancel. Selecting this cancel will stop the Auto transfer but it will remain on the system if required at a later date. The button now shows Restore. Clicking the finish action button will take you back to the menu screen. Manage Auto Transfers by Property This function will list auto charges by property cancelling and restoration of auto charges can also be carried out here. Search and select the property you want to look at auto charges for. A list of auto charges that are set to the property selected will be displayed. From here you can edit, cancel or restore by clicking on the Edit button. Filter by User Type, Transfer Person (Sender or Receiver and expired transfers) Manage All Auto Transfers This function will list all auto charges, cancelling and restoration of auto charges can also be done here by clicking on the edit button. Filtering is by User Type and if required tick the Expired transfers box to show those transfers that have ended. Page 37

38 Guaranteed Rent The system automatically operates a Guaranteed Rent Scheme. This means that when the rent due date is reached and the tenant has still yet to pay or funds or they are not yet authorised then a guaranteed payment is made to the landlord from the Company Guaranteed Rent Account. (View Account Activity/ View Company Accounts or View Branch Accounts When the tenant eventually pays the outstanding rent or it has now become authorised. Instead of the usual route of rent money, because the landlord has already been paid, then the money paid by the tenant is transferred to the Company Rent guaranteed account. The money is transferred to the Company Guaranteed Rent Account to replace the money already paid to the landlord. Activate Guaranteed Rent To activate the Guaranteed Rent Functionality go to Control Panel>Object Types>Tenancy Service Types. Click the add button to create a new service type or open an existing one. Name the new service type something like Fully Managed Rent Guaranteed Tick the Guaranteed Rent box and in the Fee put a percentage that you as an agent are charging This service type is now available to be set up per landlord Setting the Landlord Charge for the Guaranteed Rent Service. If an Agent wants to charge a landlord a monthly fee for the rent guarantee service then the system will apply this charge in the same way as it applies the rent collected management fee. A new income type has been added called Guaranteed Rent Fees. This income type has been added to all Agents and cannot be removed. It can however, be re-named in Control Panel>Company Settings>Modify Company Details. On applying the charge to a landlord the transaction description appears as: Guaranteed Rent Fee Charge at 2.50% + VAT If the Agent applies a different % charge to some landlords then this can be set by going to Modify Landlord Details Management Fees. The system does not record the history of any changes to the percentage charge set and it s not possible to set a different percentage to be applied from a future date. Page 38

39 How the System Makes a Guaranteed Rent Payment. System: Makes rent due Tenant: Insufficient authorised/cleared funds System: Debits the Company/Branch Guaranteed Rent Account System: Credits the landlord s Rent Collected Account Tenant: Account remains unaffected they still owe rent in the normal way Landlord: Account transaction appears as: Guaranteed Rent Payment for '71 High Street, CF24 4ET' from 'William Jones' for period 01/04/2009 to 30/04/2009. Find Tenants Rent covered by Guaranteed Rent? A Tenancy Service Type filter can be found in the Money Owed Chase View in order to only display the tenants whose landlords have been paid Guaranteed Rent. There is also a report called Guaranteed Rent Balances that provides a list of all tenants. What Happens when Tenant Pays Rent When the tenant pays their rent money in or funds are now authorised the following happens in the system: System: Refunds Rent Guarantee account Tenants Rent Outstanding Account Is debited Company Rent Guaranteed Account Credited The First rent due on a New Tenancy is not covered by Rent Guarantee. Therefore the system will not instigate a Guaranteed Rent payment to the landlord if a tenant fails to pay the first month s rent on a non-renewal tenancy. Covering Guaranteed Rent Payments The balance of the Company /Branch Rent Guarantee Account at any point in time is the total amount of Rent Guaranteed transactions made to Landlords. In order to comply with good practice, this amount of money should be transferred into the Client Bank Account from the Letting Agents Office or alternative account. Guaranteed Rent Balances Report. Shows all tenants who owe Rent Shows all Landlords that have had funds transferred from the, Rent Guarantee Account. Shows the number of days the rent has been outstanding. This will be useful where the Letting Agent must report to their insurance company if a tenant s rent has been outstanding for more than 30 days. Page 39

40 Applying Charges or Refunds Charge/Refund a Tenant Search for and select the tenant that you are going to apply the charge on. Complete the details of the charge. Be aware that the charge applied is subject to VAT Confirm the charge and click finish To refund the tenant select refund tenant from the menu and the procedure is similar to applying a charge but this time you are giving money back. Remember that you should deduct the VAT before entering the refund amount as the system will add VAT to the amount that you enter. Charge/Refund a Contractor Search for and select the contractor to be charged. Click the next action button. Enter the details of the charge and click the next action button. Confirm the Payment and finally click finish. With refunding remember to deduct the VAT before entering the refund amount as the system will add VAT to the amount entered. Page 40

41 Charging Landlords Charges applied and refunds applied on the system are slightly different to the other Charges and Refunds, with multi-landlords the system splits any charges between the landlords according to the percentage of ownership. Charging a single ownership landlord is the same as other charging procedures. Charge options available: Charge Landlord by Property Charge a Landlord Refund Landlord by Property Refund a Landlord Charge Landlord by Property This should be used to apply property related charges to multi ownership properties because it splits the charge as per the % ownership and the invoice lists the charge under the appropriate property. Each landlord will be invoiced separately. Search for the property that the charge is to levied on, tick the box next to it and click next. Enter an amount, set the sales charge type and enter a description to appear on the invoice. Landlords will now be charged, based on % of ownership, unless one is set as Zero Financial Share. The following screen will ask to confirm the charge. Click the finish action button to confirm. If you were to now check on the respective landlord accounts in View a person s account you will see transactions on each landlord account for their share of the charge. Activity numbers and Transaction numbers will be the same. Page 41

42 Peter MacMahon account Patrick Murphy account Opening up the Activity/Transaction will show full details of what has happened with the accounts Refund Landlord by Property Similar screens as in Charge by Property but transaction going the other way. Page 42

43 Occurrence Person(s) Affected Action Agent Refunding Agency Fee Agent/Tenant Accounts > Apply a Refund Agent Refunding management or set up fee Agent/Landlord Accounts > Apply a Refund Landlord giving rent back as compensation Landlord/Tenant Accounts > Make a Transfer between People Landlord returning an overpayment of rent Landlord/Tenant Accounts > Make a Manual Rent Refund Agent giving rent back Agent/Landlord Accounts > Make a Cheque Payment > Agent giving back and overpayment of rent Agent/Tenant Accounts > Make a Cheque Payment > Contractor refund or discount from a maintenance invoice Contractor/Landlord Accounts > Make a Transfer Between People Landlord pay maintenance invoice Landlord/Contractor Accounts > Make a Maintenance Deduction Refund of NRL Tax Agent/Landlord Accounts > Make a Journal Transfer Make a rent payment become due Tenant/Tenant Accounts > Make a Journal Transfer (Tenant Main to Tenant O/S Rent) Landlord paying management fees that were not set Landlord/Agent Accounts > Apply a Charge Pay Rent to Landlord Tenant to Landlord Accounts > Make a Manual Rent Transfer Page 43

44 Make a Deduction from Tenants Bond Account There are two ways to open this screen to make a bond deposit deduction. 1. Lettings/Instruction and Tenancies/Modify Instruction/Tenancy/Record Bond Deposit Deductions. Search for the property and click ok 2. Lettings/Inventories and Inspections/Deposit Management Disputed Bond Deduction Search for the property and click ok on the actions buttons. Enter the deduction type, who the deduction is applicable to and the amount that has been claimed. Type in a description, and then click the add button. On the next screen if the charge is disputed by the tenant then the amount that they are prepared to pay is entered in the dispute box and the Go button clicked. This charge is now marked as being in dispute. The matter and original full amount money is now handed over to the dispute service for arbitration When the decision has been reached by the deposit scheme you can close the dispute by clicking on the Resolved Go button and then the Close Go button Two messages will appear in succession on clicking the Close button OK both of these and finish the Item is now closed. Page 44

45 Agreed Bond Deduction Search for the property that you need to make a deduction on and click on next Enter the details of the amount Claimed and click Add This time, as the tenant is agreeing with the deduction there is no need to make any changes. Click the Agrees Deduction Go button Finally click the Close Go button After clicking the close button the following two messages will appear. OK both of these and finish the item is now closed with the deduction amount credited to the landlord. Page 45

46 Chase Money Tenant Money Owed Chase On selecting the Chase option you will see a total amount of rent outstanding and a list of tenants that owe money. This list is gained by selecting search criteria. At the bottom of the list is a send method and letter type drop down set this to the required send method (these methods can be amended by letmc staff at the request of the agent), tick the boxes next to the tenants you are sending a chase /letter etc to (this can be multiple tenants) and click the Go button. The Chase criteria can be filtered and ordered. Criteria available: Branch/Area When Rent Became Due Last Chased Tenancy Stage Staff Member Involved Order By Page 46

47 Last Chase Method Finally set the status of the tenant you are making the enquiry on. Chase Tenant To access the tenant chase details click on the edit button on the left side next to the tenant. These details are split into 6 Tabs. Chase Tenant Tab: Information that is available here is: Debt details: When the tenant first went into debt The outstanding amount Account Status Member of staff involved Details of last payment When last chased SMS From, this will be your company Mobile Number as assigned by LetMC. Send, What is being sent. Message content Send Button, By clicking on the send button you will send the text message. Page 47

48 and Letter Clicking on the send button for each option will activate each method. s will go immediately and letters will be sent to the postbag for Authorisation. Landline Contact If you are making contact by landline record what you have discussed with the tenant in the Available box, when you click on Record Telephone Call this will be stored in the tenants notes, and chase history. Charging and Refunding If it is required that you charge the tenant for overdue payment you will do so here. Click on the Charge Tenant Go button. This will take you into the make a charge screen where you can now apply a charge to the tenant and add a description. Use the Apply a Refund button as required. Page 48

49 Tenant Details The Tenant Details tab will give you access to the tenants quick view Tenant Statement Available to access separately instead of using the Quick View is the Tenant Statement Tab, giving details of all transaction for a given filter selection. Tenancy Details The Tenancy Details tab will access the tenancy Quick View Page 49

50 Chase History The Chase History tab will list all the rent chasing that has been carried out on the tenant. All methods will be listed here and by clicking on either the Icon or the edit button you can open the note. Tenants Notes In the Tenants Notes tab you have the ability to add a note to the tenant or view any notes from a given set criteria Page 50

51 View Account Activity LetMC has a double entry book keeping system; there must be a positive and negative for every transaction so that the total is 0. Whenever you Take a Payment and put some money on to a tenant account on LetMC (put them into credit) the system has to put an opposite value for the negative somewhere. This somewhere is your client account on LetMC, under View Company Accounts. So as you collect more and more money in to your real world bank account, your LetMC bank account will go more and more into the minus figures. The balance should always be the exact opposite of your real world balance. View a Person's Accounts Selecting this option will allow you to view the LetMC accounts of the selected person. Using the standard criteria search for the person whose account you want to view. You will now be able to look at any of their LetMC accounts by ticking the box next to it and depending what date periods you set the transactions carried for that period will be shown If you are viewing landlords accounts and they own more than one property you will be able to use the search criteria selection of to view the accounts on a per property basis View a Branch's Sales Accounts By select this option you will be able to view you branches sales account for a selected period. Select search criteria to drill down further This will give you full details of the account viewed. Page 51

52 View Your Company's Accounts Allows you to view all your company accounts on the system Select search criteria to drill down further Contra Transactions. When a contra action is performed on an account the system will ask for a reason as to why this action has been carried out. Process of applying a contra If a contra action needs to be carried out on a person s account you should go to View Account Activity View Persons Account, select the person, then locate the transaction you want to contra. Click on the transaction number and the contra screen will open. Tick the box next to the transaction and type in the reason for carrying out this contra. Finally click the contra button. The Reason field is not mandatory, but it can only be added at the time the contra is applied to the transaction - it is not possible to edit old or existing contra transactions to amend or add a reason. Confirm that this is the action that you want to carry out. A Contra Summary will be displayed showing exactly what you have done. Page 52

53 Manage Invoices This menu provides options for viewing Invoices and manually creating an Invoice. View All Invoices This page allows you to view invoices that have been created within the system Filter Number of Results As there will potentially be a large number of past invoices, the results are initially limited to 50 invoices. To display more invoices (within the Show From - Show To range), select a higher number from the drop-down list. If you select a very large number, expect a delay of a few seconds after clicking the Search button to update the list. To see invoices within a specific date range, set the date on the from (Calendar) icon, then set the date on the To calendar. After changing one or more of the filter options, click the Search button to display the new set of invoices. The invoices list displays the following information: Invoice Number A Unique invoice reference. Clicking on the invoice number will take you directly to this invoice. You can also print the invoice out at this stage Date This is the date on which the invoice was generated. Name The name of the person that the invoice is for. Opening Balance The person's account balance at the start of the invoice. Closing Balance The person's account balance at the end of the invoice. This is the amount being invoiced. Page 53

54 View a Person's Invoices This page allows you to view invoices that have been created within the system for a specific person in the LetMC system. Using the search criteria select the for the Landlord, Tenant or Contractor that you want to view When viewing invoices for a tenant, make sure you choose the tenant record for the correct property and tenancy that the invoices are related to. Click Next to continue Viewing the Invoices The invoices that have been created within the system for the selected Person are listed. The invoices list displays the following information: Invoice Number The unique invoice reference. Clicking on the reference number will take you directly to this invoice. Date The date on which the invoice was generated. Opening Balance The person's account balance at the start of the invoice. Closing Balance The person's account balance at the end of the invoice. This is the amount being invoiced. Printing Invoices To print a particular invoice, click its Reference in the Invoice Number column click Print Invoice to print the invoice out. Click OK when you have finished printing. Click Finish to exit this function Page 54

55 Create an Invoice (LetMC Only) This page allows creation of an invoice for a Tenant or Landlord. You can choose which transactions you wish to include on the Invoice. Create an Invoice will rarely be used as Invoices for Landlords should be generated using Accounting > Payments and Deposits > Pay People in Credit. However, Landlords' accounts which are not in credit will not appear on the Pay People in Credit List. Create an Invoice must therefore be used if there is a requirement to raise an Invoice for a Landlord who has a zero or negative balance. It will rarely be necessary to raise an Invoice for a Tenant as an Invoice is automatically generated (but not sent to the Postbag) when Accounting > Payments and Deposits > Apply a Charge or Apply a Refund is used (even if the Tenant has a negative balance). Select whether to create an invoice for a Landlord, Tenant or Contractor using the standard search criteria. When creating an invoice for a Tenant, make sure you choose the tenant record for the correct property and tenancy that the invoice is related to. Click Next to continue. Choose Invoice Entries If any un-invoiced transactions exist in the selected person's Main Account, a list of these transactions is displayed. If no such transactions currently exist you will see the message "No Un-Invoiced Entries for this Person". This means that you do not need to create an invoice for this person so should click the Cancel Action to leave Create an Invoice or click Back to select a different Tenant or Landlord. If you wish to proceed with creating an invoice, select how you wish to send the invoice to the selected person by choosing an option in the Send Method drop-down list. Your options are: Automatically Send to Postbag: The invoice, that will be generated when you click Next at Step 3, will be sent to the Postbag for authorisation for posting in the usual way. Send Myself: When you reach Step 4, you can click the Print Created Invoice Action to print out the invoice generated when you clicked Next in Step 3. This means that the invoice is not going to be sent. Next, select the transactions you wish to include in the invoice by ticking the box next to each required transaction. All transactions are ticked by default. When you have changed your selection of transactions, click Update Total at the bottom of the list to see the balance of the Invoice you are going to generate. Click Next to proceed. Confirm Invoice Entries You are shown a confirmation screen of your chosen Send Method and the transactions you selected to be included in the invoice. You can click the Back Action if you need to make any changes to your selections. When you are certain that the details are correct, click the Next Action to generate the invoice and proceed to print Page 55

56 Print Invoice If you selected the Automatically Send to Postbag Send Method, the invoice will have now been sent to the Postbag for authorisation and sending in the usual way. Click the Finish Action when you have finished printing the invoice. Page 56

57 Tax Reports NRL Quarterly Return Payments to HM Inspector of Taxes: Shows balance of what is to pay. After printing the report go to 'Make a Payment', select 'Company Accounts: Add' and drawdown the NRL account by the Quarter End Balance shown on this report. NRL Annual Return NRL payments To HM Inspector of Taxes Section 19(1)(c) Tax Report This report is required by the HMRC each year. It shows all the landlords that you have collected rent on their behalf. A branch filter is available in the 19(1)(c) Tax Report this allows branches to be displayed individually. This is particularly useful for Letting Agents which have separate companies set up as branches on the LetMC system. Restrictions can be placed on the user access level to determine who is able to view All Branches (users may be restricted to viewing their own branch reports). The user level access constraints can be changed by Client Administrators (contact LetMC Client Support for assistance with this) in the Control Panel. Only Client Manager level users and above are able to view the Section 19 report and if the Multi-Branch Staff Restrictions>Finance Reporting setting is set to Client Administrator then Client Managers will be restricted to viewing the report for their own branch and only Client Administrators will have access to other branches. *The Branch filter is deactivated until the Year End date has been selected. The Section 19 report is only available as a download report and does not display results on screen. The download report includes a branch column, the landlord name is split into 4 columns (title, first name, middle name, surname), landlord address is split into separate columns, and property address is also split into separate columns. Send Self Assessment Tax Report Creates and sends to postbag a self assessment tax report (Land and Property Section Only) to the landlord. Page 57

58 Head Tenants and Accounting Effects in accounting with a Head Tenant Selected Under the payment schedule you should notice that the rent is now attributable to the Head Tenant. On signing a tenancy any auto charges are now filtered through the Head Tenants account Tenant Statement If you check one of the other Tenants statements you will receive notification that their account cannot be shown and transactions are being handled by the Head Tenants account, which will be shown. Rent Payments When Tenants pay their rent, monies will be routed through the Head Tenants account. When all payments have been made and reconciled through the bank transactions will appear on the Head Tenants account Page 58

59 Transactions That Route Through Head Tenants Account If a non-head tenant is chosen when applying transactions then the transaction is applied to the Head Tenant. A red panel is shown advising that the transaction will be applied to the Head Tenant rather than the selected tenant. This happens in the following:- Take a Payment Make a Card Refund Apply a Charge or Refund Apply a charge example shown Transactions that can be routed through a non-head Tenant Transactions that are used by higher level users to view and correct Accounts that do not divert to the Head Tenant are:- Accounting>View a Person s Accounts, Accounting>Apply Transfer all transfer options. Electronic Payments (Standing Orders) Tenancy Renewal Existing Electronic References used to automatically link incoming standing order payments in Reconcile Bank Statements will be re-assigned from non-head tenants to the head tenant when a Head Tenant is set on a tenancy. New Tenancy When linking a first time Electronic Payment the payment will be linked to the Head Tenant even if you try linking it to a non-head Tenant. Page 59

60 Accounts Reports Bond Deposits Held This report shows all tenants with a balance in any of their Bond Held accounts. This means that bond money has cleared and the Letting Agent holds the money in their bank account. To calculate the total funds held by the Letting Agent on behalf of tenants, landlords or other people, use the Debtors and Creditors Report. Clicking on the Download button will give you a spreadsheet file of the information in regard to the Bond Deposits held. Bond Deposit Held by DPS This report shows all tenancies (except closed tenancies) which have a DPS Deposit ID entered in Modify a Tenant. The bond deposit amount shown is the Bond Payment Required which may not be the same as the actual amount held by the DPS To view a list of each DPS bond deposit export this report to Excel by clicking on the Download Go button. Page 60

61 Tenants Bond Deposits Outstanding Summary listing of service type Bond/Deposit held. Export to Excel for full details The report lists all tenants with a balance in one of the Bond Outstanding Accounts. The bond deposit will still appear in Outstanding in the situation where a tenant has paid the money but the funds have not yet cleared. Debtors and Creditors In the Debtors and Creditors report you can filter by Date, then Contractor Landlord, Tenant and creditors only, debtors only or both. Report can be exported to Excel. Bank Transactions Filtered by month this report will display a summary of all Outgoing and incoming monies for each month. Below that you will have a list of individual transactions. Click the edit button beside the transaction and you will have displayed details of the transaction. Information can be exported to Excel. Page 61

62 System Balance Reconciliation This report is only used by your accountant when auditing the clients account. For any further details please contact LetMC Retired PDQ Transactions Card payments that are not subject to reconciliation are listed here. You can use this list to manually reconcile card payments Page 62

63 Control Panel My Account The My Account screen will show you details of the LetMC package that you are using Change Password This allows you to change your current password Company Settings View Company Settings Information on System, Lettings, Accounting and Sales accounts. If you require any changes within the Company settings call LetMC Support System Details System details shows clients short, full and marketing name. The Applicant deletion period and password encryption strength are set up on this tab (call LetMC). Page 63

64 Lettings On the lettings tab details for Homelet (if used), TDS and NRL are stored. Periodicity of sending landlord management reports can be set. Trading statement. Option to automatically close renewed tenancies. For any alterations to the above (call LetMC). Accounting Payment authorisation periods Landlord float accounts, entering an amount in here will make a float due on all your landlords. Set the method of dealing with funds. Company registration details Payment warning threshold, this figure is to set a warning for your information so that when paying a person over this amount it will be flagged up in red Sales Accounts Page 64

65 Staff Create a staff Member (Adds new staff to the system, available to Administrators and Managers only) Enter the details of the new staff member. Add Job Details Safety Security Details Enter Personal Details Upload a signature if required Enter Dezrez Username if using Dezrez This information can be used to further personalise letters. Please contact LetMC if you wish to show this information on any letters. View a Staff Member Allows viewing of the selected staff member s details and their logon details. Nothing can be changed in this option. Available to all staff levels Modify a Staff Member Allows changes to staff details. Available to Client Administrators and Client Managers only Search for the staff member to modifying by entering name, tick the box next to their name and click next. You can now amend Job Details Security details Personal Details Upload a Signature Dezrez Username Page 65

66 Staff Job Details Enter branch of staff member and their job title Security Details This shows: log in name Log In Level This sets what the Staff member can and cannot access in the system Log in active If a staff member leaves your employment remember to un-tick the Log-in Active box so that the software cannot be accessed. Shown in Diary Staff member will be seen in the Office Diary Personal Details Only surname is mandatory, you can however enter other details such as personal mobile number and address. These will then be recognised if the staff member calls or s to the system. Upload a Staff Signature To personalise system generated letters it is possible to add a staff member s signature. Any letters generated whilst that staff member is logged on will contain their signature. Scan a signature and save it to your PC, click on the browse button and search for where the signature is saved on your PC then click the upload button. Delete a Staff Member Deletes selected staff member, only if they have not been linked with anything in the system. Available to Client Administrators and Client Managers Only. Search for the staff member to delete and click next the screen will then either allow deletion or not. Reset Staff Password (Administrators only) Enter new Password and confirm. When staff member logs on with this Reset Password, they will be prompted to change it Page 66

67 Branches View a Branch Branch details All the details that are entered here are not available for amendment by agency staff. To have any of the details changed then call LetMC support to facilitate. Opening hours Internet advertising and up-loaders Internet up loaders available are: Property Finder, Right Move, Rent Right, Prime Location, Fish 4 Homes, Find a Property, Property Jungle, Globrix, EzyLet, Property News, Letting Web and any FTP up loader. Page 67

68 Branch trading account Branch Bank Details Branch default bank account overrides company default bank account. The Branch default bank account can now be set by Client Administrators (contact LetMC Client Support for assistance) in Control Panel>Branches>Modify a Branch. The branch default bank account overrides the bank account that is set as the company default bank account (the company default bank account is set in Accounting>Bank Reconciliation>Manage Bank Accounts ). This allows multi-branch companies to ensure that branch-specific bank account details are used in rent chase s and letters generated through the Accounting>Chase Money>Tenant Money Owed Chase tool (it will also apply to standing orders). Page 68

69 Object Types Available to Administrators and Managers Only Use the various Object Types to amend the drop down lists in the system to suit your needs Tenancy Service Types The option allows you to set up your default Service Types. On first use click on the Add button and fill in the details required. You can set up as many different serve types as you wish. Call LetMC for assistance in setting up the Service Types. Rent Schedules The system can be set so that new tenancies automatically expect the first month's rent to be paid by cash/cheque/card and then produce a standing order mandate for the second month onwards. Please contact LetMC Client Support to switch this on for you. The default rent payment schedule is set up using a drop down selector menu called Rent Schedule which has been included in Control Panel>Object Types>Tenancy Service Types (this can be amended by Client Administrators or LetMC Client Support). Automatic payment for whole tenancy, one rent schedule paid by standing order Manual payment for whole tenancy, one rent schedule paid by Cash, Cheque or Card Manual first collection and then automatic, two rent schedules, first manual then the next by standing order from 2 nd payment When a tenancy is renewed only one rent schedule is carried forward to the renewed tenancy (even if the first let or re-let tenancy had two rent schedules on it). In most cases this would usually be the monthly rent collected by standing order. Tenancy Agreement Types Default Agreement is the Standard Assured Shorthold Tenancy Other Types can be set, please call LetMC Support for assistance Page 69

70 Tenancy Cancel Types Prior to Signing a Tenancy if it is to be cancelled you will need to state why. If your reasons are other than the default then you can use this option to add others Tenancy Special Requirements Add any special requirements here Facility Types Facility Types are used when adding a property. If the facility you want to show is not available add it here. Inventory Item Types Inventory Types are used when compiling an Inventory. If the item you want is not listed add it here. Page 70

71 Contractor Types Contractor types should already be set for you by default, however if you wanted to use this facility to set up for example an EPC surveyor to facilitate payment to them then add it here. Certificate Types Certificate types should be set by default but if you have a certificate that is not listed add it here Appointment Types Once again Standard appointment types will already be listed, any new types you need, add here Recommended Tenant Contact Details With this option you can set what you want to appear when adding tenant s contacts. Page 71

72 Applicant Source Types Add sources that applicants have come to your business from. This will assist in how well your marketing is working. Applicant Status Types This status types are set by default, however if you have your own wording you can add more here Tenant Account Status Types These status types are used in conjunction with rent chasing Tenant Chase Methods In the rent Chase Methods you can add new and amend Text Messages and s Page 72

73 LETMC.COM ACCOUNTS AND SAGE Most agents will use Sage Accounting software to account for their trading accounts (not the clients). Sage will require certain financial information so the sales can be accounted for. Step 1 Go to the Reports section and draw down of the sales of the previous month, select Reports >> Sales. This report gives you a number of sales accounts (pots), which you can add to by selecting Control Panel >> Modify a Branch and allowing you to analyse sales types in your company accounts. Sales Account can include; Agency Fees Compensation Contractor Commission Landlord Fees Late Payment Charges Management Fees Step 2 Setup the clients account as a customer in Sage (only once). Step 3 Raise a sales invoice using the customer account for the total sales from the Sales Report on LetMC.com (analysing sales type if appropriate). Step 4 In Accounts >> Make a Online Payment use Add Company Account and enter then net sales and VAT that you have raised on the Sage invoice. Step 5 Go to your banking and transfer the total invoice amount from the clients account to your business account. Tip: Some banking systems do not allow large sum of money to be transferred, for example only in 5,000 lots. This will come through the bank upload as separate payments Page 73