Everything you can do in the Owner Portal

1 Getting started

Signing in, finding your way around, and setting up the landing page you'll look at every morning.

Signing in

Sign-in is two steps: you enter your email, Return Grid works out which sign-in methods your organization offers, and then it shows you those options.

1. Enter your email. Press Continue.
2. Enter your password. A password is always available, on every plan. If your organization has Zoho SSO enabled, a Sign in with Zoho button appears above it — SSO is layered on top of passwords, it never replaces them.

If you've forgotten your password, use Forgot password on the second step. If your account is locked after too many failed attempts, wait 15 minutes or ask an admin to use Unlock account on your user record. If your email was never verified, the sign-in screen offers a Resend verification email button inline rather than leaving you stuck.

The main menu

The menu runs down the left side of the screen. Select an area's name to open or close it, and use Collapse menu at the bottom to shrink the menu to icons; it stays the way you leave it. A slim bar across the top shows where you are, with search and your profile menu on the right. The page you're on is highlighted, and its area stays open.

Opening Settings turns the left menu into the list of settings, with a Find a setting box at the top and Back to Return Grid to return to the main menu. Typing in the box also lists matches from the main menu, so typing "bank" finds Bank Connections and Bank Rules under Banking.

The three Banking quick actions ask which account first. Search by the account's name, bank, last four digits, owning entity or type, then pick one with the arrow keys and Enter or by clicking it. New Bank Entry opens that account's New entry form set to a withdrawal, Transfer Money opens it set to a transfer out of that account, and Reconcile an Account opens its Reconcile tab, with accounts that need reconciling listed first.

Your landing page

The landing page is a stack of widgets, each one answering a question you'd otherwise have to go looking for.

Use Customize my view on the landing page to hide or reorder widgets for yourself. Admins can set the organization-wide default under Settings → Landing Page. A personal layout always wins over the org default, and saving a new org default doesn't disturb anyone who has already personalized theirs.

2 The property lifecycle

Every property in Return Grid sits in exactly one of four phases. Phase determines what the record can do.

Moving between phases

• I bought it — Analyze to Own. Captures your actual close terms (see Closing the purchase).
• Move to Sell — Own to Sell. Opens a sell attempt with your default checklist.
• Complete sale — Sell to Sold. Locks the financials.
• Undo purchase and Cancel sale — reverse a transition you made by mistake.
• Re-underwrite — rerun the analysis on a property you already own, against today's numbers.

3 Analyzing a deal

The underwriting calculator, the metrics it produces, and the pipeline that tracks your deals.

Starting an analysis

From Properties → Analyzing → Create new analysis. Purchase price, current rent, rehab cost, property taxes and unit count are deal-specific and required every time. Everything else — closing costs, down payment, interest rate, loan term, vacancy, maintenance, CapEx reserve, management, other expenses, insurance per unit, comp radius and lookback, appreciation, rent growth and projection length — starts from your organization's saved defaults.

Property tabs

The metrics

The Deal Score formula

Under Settings → Defaults → Deal Score formula, admins control the weighting. Cap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCR and cash flow each get a weight (they must total 100%), plus a Low value that scores 0 and a High value that scores 100, scaling linearly in between. Raising a High value lets that metric keep earning credit past the old ceiling instead of capping out. Grade thresholds are the minimum score for each letter and must strictly decrease A through D; anything below D is an F. On an all-cash deal with no debt service, DSCR falls back to the cash-on-cash score.

The pipeline

Every analysis carries a status: To Review Reviewing Offer submitted Offer accepted Offer lost Not Interested. Statuses drive the landing-page pipeline widgets, the Dashboard and Map default filters, and which deals count toward the average cap rate.

Under Settings → Defaults you control three separate status lists: Average cap rate statuses (which deals feed that one KPI — by default it excludes To Review and Not Interested so unvetted and passed-on deals don't skew it), Portfolio defaults (the pipeline KPI boxes and the starting filter on Dashboard and Map), and Properties list default view (which checkboxes are ticked when someone first opens the saved-analyses list). Anyone can change the filter for their own session; these only set the starting point.

Bulk editing and sharing

• Bulk edit — select several properties and update assumptions across all of them at once. Leave a field blank to leave that value untouched.
• Share with teammates — sends the link by email, text, or both, based on each person's own notification preference in Settings → Users.
• Public share link — a read-only copy anyone can open with no sign-in. They cannot edit or delete anything. A signed-out viewer sees a prompt to sign in and lands back on the same page afterwards.

4 Data feeds & comps

Where the numbers come from, how long they're cached, and how to force a refresh.

Return Grid pulls property taxes, rent comps, sale comps, and price & sale history from RentCast, plus listing imports from the major portals.

• Pull Remote Data respects the cache — if the data is fresh, it reuses it and doesn't spend an API call.
• Sync data feeds forces a bypass and refetches everything.

When a refetch produces values that differ from what's in your form, Return Grid does not overwrite you. It opens Fresh values that differ from yours — a field-by-field list showing your current value next to the new one, with a Replace current value button per row and a Replace all remaining values shortcut. Blank fields are filled in automatically. Replacing a value only puts it into the form; you still have to Save changes.

Comp radius and lookback

Set organization-wide under Settings → Defaults, and overridable per property on the property edit page. Changing the default updates the starting point for new properties and for any existing property that hasn't set its own override.

Unit Info source of truth

Rent Roll is unconditionally the source of truth for Unit Info — there's no setting to turn this on or off. Any property that has real Rent Roll unit records shows its Unit Info tab as read-only display (with a link through to Rent Roll to edit), and those unit records feed underwriting math, comp lookups, and PDF/Excel exports directly. Properties with no Rent Roll units yet are unaffected.

5 Search Watch

A recurring scan that finds new for-sale listings matching your buy box and drafts the analysis for you.

Under Properties → Search Watch, create a job with the criteria you actually buy on:

On each check, matching new listings are automatically saved as draft analyses and emailed to your recipients. Listings where a unit count isn't published are included anyway and flagged in the email, rather than silently skipped — the alternative loses you deals.

Search Watch activity is recorded against a system address built from your organization's email domain (search-watch@your-domain), which you set under Settings → Organization Settings. That domain does not restrict who can sign in — the Users list does that.

6 The Deal Inbox

A private email address for your account. Forward a listing to it and Return Grid reads the listing for you.

Search Watch goes out and finds deals on criteria you set. The Deal Inbox is the other direction: deals that come to you — an agent's MLS alert, a broker's blast, a partner forwarding something they spotted — land in one reviewable queue instead of in your email.

Getting an address

Open Deal Inbox from the main menu and go to the Addresses tab. + Create address mints one, and Copy puts it on your clipboard. Give each one a label you'll recognize — most accounts want one, but a separate address per market or per agent makes the queue easier to read.

Three things you can do to an address after it exists:

• Senders — who this address accepts mail from. Anyone, or an approved list. Mail from outside an approved list is held, not deleted — nothing is bounced back to the sender. Adding someone to the list releases their mail from then on, and Trust this sender on a held message in the Inbox tab also releases whatever of theirs is already waiting.
• Rotate — shuts the current address off and issues a replacement in one step. Use this if the address ends up somewhere public.
• Revoke — switches the address off for good.

Pointing an MLS auto-notification at it

You don't have to change where your existing alerts go. In Paragon, open the auto-notification you already have on your saved search and add your inbound address as a Cc recipient. You keep getting your own alerts exactly as before, and Return Grid gets a copy it can read. The same trick works for a Zillow saved search, a broker's mailing list, or just forwarding a message by hand.

What we can read

Return Grid reads the listing sites below. The authoritative list for your account is on the Deal Inbox screen itself, under What you can forward — it is generated from what your installation can actually fetch, so it is never out of date the way a page like this one can be.

The two Paragon rows are different products. Paragon brands both of them "collaboration," which is why they are easy to mix up, so go by the web address rather than the name: a link on paragon.ice.com is one your agent sent you by hand, and a link on paragonrels.com came out of an automatic alert. Forward either one — you do not have to work out which is which.

Tracking and redirect links are fine. Alert emails almost never contain the listing URL directly — they wrap it in a click-tracker — and Return Grid follows those through to the real listing before deciding whether it recognizes the site.

Send it even if the source isn't listed. Nothing is thrown away. An email we can't read still appears in the queue as a card, with the links it contained and the reason each one didn't work, and you can paste a listing link into the card to bring the numbers over by hand.

The queue

Mail is picked up on the hour, so a forwarded listing shows up within about an hour rather than instantly. Each one becomes a card on the Inbox tab showing what we could read from the email itself — address, price, beds, baths — along with who sent it and when.

From a card:

• Enrich & create fetches the full listing and opens the same review-and-apply screen a pasted URL would, then creates the analysis.
• Create from the email instead makes the analysis from what the email itself said, with no fetch. Faster and free, but you only get the fields the email happened to include.
• Dismiss clears it from the queue. Nothing is deleted.

If we couldn't read a listing, the card says which link failed and why, and offers whichever next step actually helps: Try again when the problem looked temporary, such as a site that timed out, and a paste box otherwise. A link that failed because it points somewhere we don't read will fail the same way on a second attempt, so no retry button is offered for one — pasting the listing is the way through.

A second email about a property already in the queue updates the existing card rather than adding another. If the price changed, that is called out, and the people listed under Notify on the Addresses tab get an email about it. Leave that list empty and it goes to the account owner.

7 Offers & contract deadlines

Getting a deal under contract, and the deadline clock that starts when you do.

Move a deal to Offer submitted, then to Offer accepted when the seller signs. Accepting an offer creates the property's contract deadlines automatically, from your organization's template.

The deadline template

Under Settings → Closing Setup. Each row is a deadline with an offset in days from an anchor date:

• Accepted counts forward from the offer acceptance date.
• Closing counts from the target closing date — use a negative offset for "days before closing".
• Protects earnest marks a row where walking away before that date still gets your earnest money back. Return Grid uses the last such date to work out when your deposit becomes non-refundable.

Saving the template replaces the whole set at once. Editing it only affects future contracts — properties already under contract keep the deadlines they were given.

Deadline reminders. The organization owner gets an email 7 days, 3 days and 1 day before each open deadline, and again 1 day after it passes. Deadlines you have marked done, waived or not applicable are skipped. The email names the property and the deadline, flags the ones that protect your earnest money, and links to the property. These are Workflow Rules named Contract deadline in 7 days, Contract deadline in 3 days, Contract deadline tomorrow and Contract deadline 1 day past due (Important dates). Change who is told, the timing or the wording, or turn any off, under Settings > Workflow Rules.

Renters insurance reminders. Tenants on a lease that requires renters insurance get an email 30 days before the policy expires and another the day after it lapses. These are Workflow Rules named Renters insurance expires in 30 days and Renters insurance expired (Important dates), sent to The tenants on the lease. The wording is the message template of the same name under Settings > Message templates. Two matching rules that copy the property manager are created switched off; turn them on if you want the copy. Leases with an open legal case are skipped.

Unsigned leases. When a lease has been sent for signature and is still unsigned, tenants who have not signed are reminded 3, 7 and 14 days after it was sent, and the property manager is told at 7, 21 and 30 days. These are Important dates rules, so you can change the timing, the recipients or switch any of them off. The Resend button on the lease still works.

Move-in inspections. Tenants who have not submitted a move-in inspection are reminded 3 days and 1 day before it is due. The property manager is warned 7 days before a stored inspection video is deleted under your plan's retention window. Each is an Important dates rule you can edit.

Closing tasks and Closing Setup

Settings > Closing Setup has two tabs. Deadlines is the deadline template above. Task Templates is the reusable closing checklist used every time a deal moves to Offer accepted. Templates are grouped by Category: Pre-close, Post-close - Ownership & Records, Post-close - Utilities and Post-close - Vacant Units. Each row shows its Timing, whether it is Enabled, and Edit. Use Search templates and the category filter to find one. A new organization with no templates can choose Load starter templates.

To add a task of your own, choose + Add custom, give it a Task label, a Category and a Timing (Pre-close or Post-close), then Add template. A template you added also has Delete.

When a deal falls through

Moving a property back out of Offer accepted prompts the Contract fell through form: what happened, and whether your earnest money was returned. You can skip it — the status change is never blocked on the form — but it's worth filling in. The contract and its deadlines are kept as history rather than deleted, so next year you can look back at why a deal died.

8 Closing the purchase

The "I bought it" transition — one modal that turns a pro-forma into an operating asset.

Every field defaults to the pro-forma value when the modal opens, and the label shows what the pro-forma said, so you can see exactly what you're overriding. Confirm the required four and you're done; expand the sections if you want to capture full close terms in the same pass.

Bringing in properties you already own

Open Properties > Owned > Owned Properties and press Create Property for a building you have owned for years and for one you just bought. The steps are the same. Only admins can bring in and activate properties.

Every property you bring in starts as Pending. A Pending property can be incomplete. You can save it, leave and come back. Nothing posts to your books, no invitation or email goes to a tenant, and the property stays out of your rent roll and owned-property reports until you press Activate property.

Two ways in

• One property by hand. On Create Property, type the address and press Start and save as Pending. The page saves as you type. Come back to a half-finished property from Continue a pending property.
• Many at once. Press Upload spreadsheet (on Create Property or on Pending properties). Only the properties file is required. Loans, improvements, units and tenants, and opening balances are optional files, and each has a template to download. Rows are matched by a property_key you make up. In the properties file, the financing_mode column is financed or cash (leave it blank if you are not sure); any other word is returned to you as a row to fix. A row with a problem waits with a plain message and the rest go ahead. Fix the file and upload it again: properties already brought in are updated, never duplicated.

Just bought, or owned for a while

The property page opens with one question: did you just buy this property, or have you owned it for a while? It is answered for you when you came from I bought it or the closing date is in the last 90 days, and you can press Change. The answer saves with the property, and the address shows it as mode. The Pending properties list tags each property Just bought or Owned.

• Owned for a while. The page asks for what you have today, as above.
• Just bought. Depreciation taken to date and past improvements are hidden behind Show more, because a new purchase has none. The loan asks only for the amount at closing, the term, the amortization, the rate, the monthly payment and the first payment date. The balance, its date (the closing date) and the number of payments are worked out for you. The property is read as of the closing date, so a payment made before you activate is entered afterward as a normal loan payment. A new Closing money section asks for the earnest money you paid when the offer was accepted (amount, date, and the chart account you coded it to, which defaults to Earnest Money Deposits), the escrow deposit you paid the lender, the tenant security deposits the seller handed over, and the credits from the seller.
• Credits from the seller. Prorated rent, prorated property tax and prorated HOA dues, plus any lines of your own: give each a description and the account it posts to. For each one say whether the seller credits you or you reimburse the seller. A credit makes the closing withdrawal smaller, and a reimbursement makes it larger. For rent, the page shows a check from your units' rent and the days left in the month. It is only a check and never stops you.

Escrow and security deposits are different. The escrow deposit is money the lender holds for your taxes and insurance, so it is an asset. Security deposits are money you owe back to tenants, so they are a liability. Nothing here posts until you activate. Then the bank account the closing money came from shows one withdrawal on the closing date, and the page shows that amount as you go.

What the property page asks for

• History. How you acquired it, the date, price, down payment, closing costs that count toward basis, loan costs that do not, initial rehab and when it was first ready to rent. This is a record. It posts nothing. Pick the owning entity here too, and a Property Manager if you use one.
• Where the closing cash came from. For a property you bought recently, answer whether the cash was taken from a bank account Return Grid tracks and pick that account. For one you have owned for years, answer that you have owned it for years.
• Basis. The land share and, if you know it, the depreciation taken to date from your tax returns. Return Grid starts the land share at 20 percent and shows the source as an estimate. That is a starting guess, not a measured number. Change it to your own figure and the source changes with it. Past improvements go in as a list.
• Current loan. Enter what you owe today, not the original loan: the principal balance and its date from your latest statement, the rate, the monthly principal and interest, the next due date and the payments left. If your payment includes escrow, enter the monthly escrow too; it is optional, and it is the part of the payment held for taxes and insurance. Choose No loan, paid cash if there is none. The loan saves by itself once those fields are filled in, or you can press Save loan, and it shows again when you reopen the property. For a loan with a balloon, such as a 5/25 loan, enter Loan term (years) 5 and Amortization (years) 25; leave the amortization blank when it is the same as the term. If you entered loan costs, also fill in Loan term (years) (for example 30), which is optional. Return Grid writes the costs off over that term, and without it the loan costs are left out of the opening entry and the preview says so. In the spreadsheet this is the original_term_years column of the loans file. Choose How interest is calculated to match your lender. 30/360 is the default and charges the same interest every month. Many commercial lenders use Actual/360: each month is charged for its real number of days over a 360 day year, so a 31 day month costs more than a 30 day month. Actual/365 uses a 365 day year. If your statements show a different interest amount each month, ask your lender which one applies. In the spreadsheet this is the optional interest_method column (write 30/360, Actual/360 or Actual/365). On the Loan payments list, a payment on an Actual/360 or Actual/365 loan shows how many days its interest was counted over. Return Grid does not replay past payments.
• Extras, all optional. Units and tenants are saved as draft leases. Add more than one person to a lease with Add another person on this lease and give each a role: Primary, Co-tenant, Guarantor or Occupant (minor). One person on a lease is the Primary. Opening balances (escrow held by the lender, deposits you hold, what tenants owe you, rent paid ahead and unpaid vendor bills) are saved with the property and posted when you activate it. If you bought the property this month and will activate it in the month you closed, each unit with a tenant also has a Rent to charge this tenant for box that names the month. Leave it blank to charge the full month, type 0 if the tenant already paid the seller, or type a smaller amount if the seller collected only part. The units table shows the same figure per lease, with a search box, a Show only the units I changed filter, and tick boxes with Set ticked units to $0, Set ticked units to this amount and Back to the full month. When you activate the property, that amount is posted to each tenant's ledger as the month's rent, and a lease left blank is charged the full month by the daily rent job as usual. A $0 line shows on the tenant's ledger as the month at $0.00 and sends no notice. The seller credit in the closing section is separate: it records what the seller handed you, and this box only decides what the tenant owes.
• More closing details, all optional. A collapsed section for the insurance policy, parcel ID and tax authority, HOA, tax reassessment, loan details (loan ID, balloon date, prepayment penalty), how closing costs split between basis and expense, and the closing documents. The checklist at the top of the page counts them separately from what is required, and none of them blocks Activate. They are saved where Edit acquisition details keeps them.

Fill in from your documents

At the top of the property page, Fill in from your documents saves typing. Choose the closing disclosure (or settlement statement) from your purchase and your most recent mortgage statement. A PDF, a photo or a scan works. Skip the mortgage statement if the property has no loan.

First answer the question under the files: keep copies in this property's Files, or read them and delete them. There is no default, and Read my documents stays grey until you answer. Return Grid never reads a file until you press that button. Reading uses the same document reader as the Files tab and counts toward your account's daily reading allowance. If you choose not to keep the files, they are deleted as soon as they are read. If you keep them, they appear in the property's Documents and the suggestions are still there when you come back.

Each number the documents state appears as a suggestion under its own field, with the document and page it came from. Press Accept to fill the field. Nothing changes until you do, a field you typed yourself keeps your value, and Undo puts it back. Ignore hides a suggestion. Accept all that are empty fills only empty fields. Amber means check this one: the print was unclear, the two documents disagree, or it is the closing cost split, which depends on your tax return. The split adds the taxes and fees and the other costs from the closing disclosure and leaves out prepaids and escrow. Loan numbers you accept are saved with Save loan, like loan numbers you type.

If a file cannot be used you see why, in plain words: a blurry photo, or a document of the wrong kind such as a lease. Type the numbers yourself and carry on. The original loan term in years is suggested from the closing disclosure. The monthly escrow is suggested from the mortgage statement when it shows one. Escrow balances, deposits and the number of payments left are never suggested.

Pending properties

Pending properties lists every property you are bringing in, with what is done and what is missing, so you can finish them one at a time. Search by address, entity or lender, and filter by entity, whether it has a loan, and its Source: spreadsheet upload, entered by hand or from Analyzing. A property you do not finish stays on the list until you activate it.

Activating one property

When everything required is filled in, Activate property on the property page turns on. Press it and an Activate box opens on the same page. It is not a popup. Before anything posts it shows:

• Opening balances, all optional. Escrow balance held by the lender, tenant security deposits held, tenant balances owed to you, rent tenants paid ahead and unpaid vendor bills. Deposits you entered on the units fill in the deposits amount for you. Leave an amount blank for none.
• The bank account that holds the tenant deposits. Choose an account Return Grid already tracks, add a new one (it is added as a pooled trust account with an opening balance equal to the deposits), or press Skip for now. For an account Return Grid already tracks, the deposit cash must already be in its balance. Nothing is added to it here.
• The opening entry, by account. Land, building and improvements, escrow, unamortized loan costs and tenant balances on the debit side. Accumulated depreciation, the loan, deposits held, rent paid ahead and unpaid bills on the credit side. The balancing amount goes to the bank account the closing cash came from, or to Opening Balance Equity for a property you have owned for years. The entry is dated the as-of date you gave, except when the closing cash came from a tracked bank account: then it is dated the closing date, so it lines up with the withdrawal when you reconcile. Change an amount and the entry updates.
• The leases. How many of the draft leases from your units will be activated with the property, and which stay drafts and why. A lease is activated when it has an adult tenant, a lease start date and a monthly rent. One that lacks any of these stays a draft and is listed by unit, for example "Unit 2 has no monthly rent". Activated leases send no portal invites and post no move-in charges. If you bought the property this month and activate it in the month you closed, the leases are activated too, and the box adds a line such as "October rent that will be charged to tenants: $4,350 across 3 leases (1 at the full month, 1 at $0, 1 at another amount)", so you can check it before you press Activate. What each tenant is charged for that first month is set on the unit (see Extras above).
• Notes. Anything that needs a look, such as an estimated land share, and how many optional closing details are still empty. Those are only notes. They never stop an activation.

A Property Manager (a person or a group) must be chosen before the property can be activated. Press Activate property in the box to post the entry and switch the property on. When it finishes, the message tells you how many leases were activated and lists any that were not. Back to edit returns to the property without posting. Activating twice is safe: the same entry is never posted twice.

Activating several at once

On Pending properties, only properties with nothing missing can be ticked. The Select all button picks every ready property (up to 500). Press Activate selected and a box confirms how many will post. Each property posts one opening entry dated its own as-of date. Any opening amounts saved on a property (escrow, deposits held, tenant balances, rent paid ahead, unpaid bills) are posted with it, and a property with none saved gets none. The batch does not ask for the bank account that holds the deposits. To choose it, activate that property by itself.

A long selection is sent in groups of 25. One property failing never stops the others. When the run ends the box says how many were activated and lists each property that was not, with the reason in plain words. The common reasons are a missing Property Manager, something still missing on the property, and a closed period. Fix the reason and activate that property again.

A closed accounting period

The opening entry is dated the as-of date, or the closing date when the closing cash came from a tracked bank account. If the accounting period that date falls in is closed or locked, nothing posts and the property stays Pending. The message says that date is in a closed or locked accounting period and gives two ways out: reopen the period, or change the date. In a batch, that property is listed as not activated with the same message, and the others still go through. Then activate again.

Reversing an opening entry

If an opening entry was wrong, reverse it from its journal entry. The original stays in the ledger and a reversing entry is posted. With nothing posted in its place, the property goes back to Pending, so you can correct its numbers and activate it again. If you post a corrected opening entry instead, from Opening balances, the property stays Active and follows the new entry.

Needs information

Once a property is Active, Return Grid may still want to know a few things about it. Properties > Owned > Needs information lists them. The menu entry shows only while some Active property still needs something, with how many properties. Nothing on this list stops a property from working.

Each property can have these items: whether the land share is your own number, a current loan statement, the bank account that holds tenant deposits, depreciation taken before Return Grid, a Property Manager, and the seven optional closing details from Create Property (insurance policy, parcel ID and tax authority, HOA, tax reassessment, loan details, the closing cost split and closing documents). An item that already has its answer is not shown as missing, and the closing details follow the same rule as the checklist in Create Property.

Search by address or entity, filter by entity, by item and by status (needs, snoozed, not applicable, complete), and sort from the column headings. Open a property to see each of its items in a side panel. For each one you can go straight to where it is filled in, Snooze it for 7, 30 or 90 days or until a date, or mark it Not applicable with an optional reason. Undo reverses either. A snooze that has run out asks again. To set one item aside for many properties, tick them and use Snooze or Not applicable on the bar (up to 500 at a time).

After it is active

Open the property and choose Basis and depreciation from More. It shows the cost basis by component, depreciation taken, adjusted basis, the amount suggested for this year, depreciation by year and the improvements list. Land and building are split on this tab. Use Change land share to move cost between Land and Building. The change posts as an adjusting entry that you review first. The original opening entry is not changed. Properties activated before land had its own account show Split land from building.

Tax depreciation assets

Below the book numbers, Tax depreciation assets lists what your accountant needs for the tax return: the building, any rehab, each past improvement and each tax class of a Capital Project, one row each. This is separate from the depreciation you post to your books, and nothing here posts to the ledger. Everything on it is an estimate: confirm with your accountant. Use Fill from property records to create the rows, then Add them to confirm.

Open a row to edit it. You can change the tax class, the in-service date, cost basis, method, convention, bonus percent and the depreciation taken before Return Grid. The year table shows the computed amount for each year; type an override and a reason to replace a year's amount, and clear it to go back to the computed one. Mark reviewed when you have checked a row. Sorting is from the column headings. The whole portfolio, by filing entity, is on Reports > Tax package.

When an asset is sold or scrapped, enter its Disposed date. Depreciation stops in that year: real property takes the months through the middle of the month, and 5- and 15-year property takes half of that year. Then enter the Amount realized (what this asset sold for) and any Selling costs. For a whole-property sale, split the price across the property's assets with your accountant. Leave a field blank if you do not know it; the worksheet shows Not entered instead of guessing. The worksheet shows the adjusted basis, the gain or loss, and how much of a gain is depreciation recapture: ordinary income for 5-year property, or unrecaptured Section 1250 gain (taxed up to 25 percent) for buildings and land improvements, with the rest of a gain as Section 1231 gain. It is an estimate for your accountant and is not Form 4797.

When the whole property is sold, use Split the sale price above the assets table instead of typing each asset by hand. Enter the total sale price, the total selling costs and the sale date. Land comes off the price first, using the land share saved on the property (from your own split, or the county, or 20 percent as an estimate when neither is set, and the page says which); you can change it. The rest is split across the assets in proportion to their cost basis, or to their adjusted basis at the sale. Selling costs are split the same way. You can find an asset by name, filter by class or by whether it already has an amount, and edit any amount before you apply it. The check line shows that the amounts add up to the price. Assets that already have an amount are kept unless you check Replace amounts already entered. Apply fills in the amount realized and selling costs on each asset, and sets the sale date on assets that have no disposed date. After a split, a line above the assets table says when it was done, by whom, for what price and across how many assets. Estimate. Confirm with your accountant. It is not Form 4797.

Depreciation is posted once a year from Accounting > Depreciation. See Year-end depreciation. The loan's monthly payments are proposed for you to confirm under Loan payments. Pick the bank account the payment comes out of on the property's Basis and depreciation tab.

If the loan details do not match your lender's paperwork, open the property's Loan tab. The Loan details card shows the loan amount, interest rate, term, amortization, how interest is counted, the monthly payment and escrow, the first payment date, the balloon date and the payment due day. The term is for your records; the payment schedule follows the amortization and the balloon date. The payment due day is the day of the month of the first payment, so change the first payment date to change it. Choose Edit, change what is wrong, and choose Review changes. The review lists each figure as it was and as it will be, and nothing is saved until you choose Save changes. For a loan entered from a lender statement the card shows the next due date, the payment, the rate, the months remaining, the escrow and how interest is counted instead, because a statement loan has no loan amount of its own. A figure Return Grid calculated is marked Calculated; type your lender's figure over it to use that instead. Saving rebuilds the payment schedule, and months you have not confirmed yet are proposed again from it. When the first payment is due more than a month after the loan funded, the first payment can be smaller than that long first period's interest. The card, and that first month on Loan payments, then say how many days the period was, what the interest was, and how much was added to the balance. The loan history, the refinance history and the amortization schedule are folded under the card; choose Show to open one.

If you change the loan amount and the property's opening entry is already posted, Return Grid reverses that entry and posts it again with the new loan amount, built the same way it was first posted. Both entries stay in the journal. The change is all or nothing: if the opening entry cannot be posted again, for example because the ledger refuses it, the loan amount goes back to what it was and the screen says why, so the loan and the ledger never disagree. Other details you changed in the same step are kept. A property that is still Pending has no opening entry, so only the loan record changes. Every detail can be changed until the first loan payment is recorded. After that, the card still lets you correct the details that are easy to key wrong at the start: the loan amount, the term, the amortization, how interest is counted, the interest rate, the monthly payment and escrow, and the loan, first payment and balloon dates. Choose Correct loan details. Posted payments are never changed, because each one was matched to the bank. The review lists them, marks each one Lender statement or Schedule split (a Schedule split month was posted from the schedule rather than a statement, so its principal and interest may be slightly off), and says where the opening entry will be posted. The corrected opening entry keeps the date of the original. If that date is in a closed period, the reversal and the corrected entry are both dated the first open day and the closed months are left as they are. A corrected amount or length keeps the monthly payment you have been paying and changes how many payments are left. A corrected loan date, first payment date or interest rate works the monthly payment out again, unless you type the lender's payment in the same step. The months still to come are worked out again from the corrected details. Return Grid refuses a first payment date that would leave a posted payment off the schedule, and a loan date after the first posted payment. On a property you marked Just bought, the loan date can be corrected even after its opening entry is posted, because that entry follows the closing date. To check the result, type the principal balance and date from your lender's latest statement under Lender statement date: the review shows what the books say and the difference, if any, without posting anything. If you reverse every posted payment, the loan opens fully again.

When your books do not match your lender's statement, open the property's Loan tab and choose Check balance under Check against lender's statement. Enter the date and the principal balance printed on the statement. Return Grid shows what the books say Loan Payable was on that date and the difference. If the books are higher than the lender, the entry debits Loan Payable and credits Mortgage Interest Expense. If they are lower, it is the other way round. Choose change to use a different account for the other side, for example an escrow account. The entry is dated the statement date. If that date is in a closed accounting period, it is dated the first open day instead, and the closed months are not changed. Nothing is posted until you choose Post adjusting entry. After that the entry is listed under the check, and its account opens the journal entry. A difference over 1% of the loan shows a caution, because the usual cause is a month that was posted from the schedule rather than a statement; uploading that month's statement is the more exact fix. To undo an adjusting entry, reverse it from the journal.

To find a loan without opening its property, go to Banking > Loan payments and choose the Loans tab. It lists every loan, 25 to a page. Current is the default and shows every property you own, including one still Pending, which is marked. Past shows a loan that is paid off or whose property is sold. A refinanced loan stays Current; the older loans are in the property's loan history. Search by address, lender or loan number, or filter by entity or paying account. Each row says Editable until the first payment is recorded and Locked after, with the number of payments. Choose a row to open the loan in a popup. It shows the property address, the lender and loan number, and a link to open the property’s Loan tab. The details are laid out as Loan details (amount, rate, term, amortization, how interest is counted, monthly principal and interest, monthly escrow, dates and payment due day) and Lender and loan details (lender, loan number, loan type, points paid at close, prepayment penalty). Choose Edit to change them, then Review changes to check them before they are saved, or Cancel. Until the first payment is recorded the popup says so and every field can be changed. Interest counted as offers 30/360, Actual/360 and Actual/365. The loan type is a list: Conventional 30-year fixed, DSCR (investor), Portfolio / relationship, the commercial balloon options, SBA 7(a), Seller-financed, HELOC / cross-collateralized and Other. The penalty rate, amount, expiry and notes are greyed out while Prepayment penalty is None. While a loan has no payment of its own, the Monthly P&I box follows the details above it, so you can see the figure before you save; typing a figure in the box stops it following. The Escape key and the close button close the popup; clicking outside it does not. The Balance column is what your books say you owe: the Loan Payable balance after the opening entry and every payment you have posted. Point at it to see where it came from. A loan nothing has been posted for yet, such as a Pending property, shows the payment schedule's figure marked est., because the schedule is only a forecast. The Loans report shows the same balance. The address of the page keeps your filters and the open loan, so you can send someone the link.

9 The owned property record

What changes once a building is yours.

• Actual vs. projected — a new tab comparing what you underwrote against what the building is actually doing. Reported gross rent, reported operating expenses, trailing-twelve NOI, and monthly cash flow after debt service.
• Returns view — a switch at the top of the Overview and Metrics tabs picks which returns you see: Actuals (what really came in and went out since purchase, without reserves) or Current assumptions, with reserves (today's assumptions as edited, plus the maintenance and capex reserves). Both tabs follow one choice, saved on the property. It opens on Actuals once there is an actuals log, and a line under the switch shows what the other view would read. The PDF and Excel exports print both. The properties list and the dashboard always show the saved figures from today's assumptions, so an owned property there carries a small Assumptions tag; open the property to switch views.
• Rent Roll — real units, leases and tenants (see below).
• CapEx reserve — monthly accruals post automatically on the 1st for any owned property with a CapEx Reserve % set.
• Tenant Portal — leases on this property can provision renter accounts.
• Maintenance — tenant requests route to this property.
• Documents — tagged, searchable document storage, with an AI classifier that suggests the tag.

Insurance policies

Properties → Insurance policies lists every policy term across your organization, one row per term, so you can see what needs doing without opening each property. A policy is entered once on its property (Add policy on the Insurance card of the Renewals & Expenses tab); a renewal is a new term, and both show until the old one ends. The page is for admins.

The chips above the list filter it, and each shows how many rows it holds: Needs attention (the default), Renewal not recorded, Payment with no policy, Amount differs, No policy on file, No certificate on file and All policies. A policy that ends within 60 days with no renewal recorded appears under Needs attention on its own. The search box finds a property, carrier or policy number, every heading sorts, and the filter, search and sort stay in the page address, so you can bookmark or share a view.

Each row shows the carrier and policy, when it ends, the premium, how much has been written off so far, how much is still prepaid, and what needs attention. Written off and Prepaid left show what is already done on that term. Open a row to see its Write-off schedule, one line per month.

An insurance payment that no policy is linked to appears under Payment with no policy with a Pick policy button. Choose the policy and press Link payment. For a yearly, 6-month or 3-month policy the payment moves to Prepaid Insurance and is written off month by month; if the entry is already reconciled or in a closed period, a reclass dated today does it instead. A monthly policy records the link; if it covers several properties, each payment is also split across them by share the same day, so every property carries its own part of Property Insurance. If no policy fits, add it on the property first.

Under the No certificate on file chip the list is grouped By agency (switch to By policy for the plain list). Each agency shows how many current and upcoming policies are missing a certificate or a policy number, and a status: Not sent, Sent, Received, Accepted, Link expired or Revoked. Press Review and send… to preview the email, edit anything, choose which saved contacts receive it, and send it to the agency one message with one secure link; the agency uploads the certificates and types the policy numbers on a page that needs no login and shows only its own open items. The link works for 30 days. Use Resend… for a fresh link, which also adds anything newly missing, or Revoke to stop the link at once. If an agency has no email on file the button reads Add agency email. The email comes from Return Grid under your organization’s name, and replies go to the person who pressed the button.

Nothing an agency sends changes a policy by itself. Each item waits as Received, needs review. Open the agency, use View file to look at a certificate, then press Accept to attach it to the policy as its certificate (or to fill in the policy number), or Reject to send it back; a rejected item is asked for again on the next Resend. The wording of the email is editable under Message templates, as Insurance agency: missing items.

Insurance quotes for a property you are buying

On a property’s Renewals & Expenses tab, the Insurance card has a Request quotes button next to Add policy. It opens Insurance quotes. Tick one or more insurance agencies from your vendor directory (an agency needs an email on its vendor record), say what coverage you want quoted, optionally set a date to answer by, and press Email each agency its own link. Each agency gets its own email and its own secure link, valid for 30 days. The page it opens shows only this property and lets it enter the annual premium, coverage, deductible, term and valid-until date, add notes and upload the quote document. It can update the quote until the link expires, and it never sees another agency or its quote.

Quotes appear in a table on the same screen, cheapest first, with agencies that have not answered at the bottom. View quote opens the uploaded document. Choose this quote opens Add policy filled in from that quote (carrier, premium, coverage, deductible and term, starting at the target closing date when there is one); the policy is saved as coming from the buy step. The other quotes become Not chosen. A quote is used only once you choose it and save the policy. Resend sends a fresh link and Revoke stops a link at once. You are notified when an agency answers through the workflow rule Insurance agency responded, and the email wording is editable under Message templates as Insurance agency: quote request.

Files inbox

Properties → Files inbox is one place for every file in your organization. Drag files, or a whole folder, anywhere on the page, or use Add files or Add a folder. Each file is kept on its own and records that you added it from a computer. PDF, PNG, JPEG, WebP, Word, Excel and CSV files up to 25 MB each are accepted, and so are video (MP4, MOV, WebM, M4V) and audio (M4A, MP3, WAV) files up to 400 MB and 45 minutes, the same limits and format list as move-in and move-out inspection videos. A video or audio file is stored right away and AI reads it only when you select it and choose Ask AI to read; anything else in a folder is listed as not added. AI reads Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx) and CSV files as text, the same way it reads a PDF, and files them. A spreadsheet or document with nothing readable in it, or an old .doc or .xls file, stays in Needs a home for you to file by hand.

The page has four tabs, each with a count; the fourth, Trash, is described below. Needs a home holds files that are not filed to a property yet; it empties as you file them. Filed by AI shows what was filed automatically in the last 30 days, so you can check it. All is every file. The search box finds a file by its name, title, who sent it or the text read from it, and you can filter by property, unit, type, who provided it, how it arrived and date. Every heading sorts, and the tab, search, filters and the open file stay in the page address, so you can bookmark or share a view.

Open a row and the file opens in a wide popup over the list (Close or the Escape key closes the popup; on a phone it fills the screen). It shows the file, where it is filed, its type, title and document date, who provided it and how, and its filing history. Use File here (or Move here) to pick a property and, if it applies, units and a lease. Tick several rows to Accept AI guesses, Move to, Change type or Delete them together. Every move and type change is added to the file's filing history.

A deleted file is not gone straight away. It moves to the Trash tab, which shows who deleted it and how many days are left. Files stay there for 30 days. Open one and choose Restore to put it back exactly where it was filed, with its type, title and history. An admin can choose Delete forever on a file, or Empty trash; after 30 days a file is removed for good on its own.

When a newer version of a file arrives, such as this year’s policy, open the new file and use This replaces in its panel to pick the older file at the same property and of the same type, then choose Mark replaced. The older file shows a Replaced label and “Replaced by” the new file, stays under All, and keeps its file and history. It no longer counts as the current document for a card’s source. Undo replaced puts it back.

The inbox learns from your moves. When you move a file AI filed, or file one AI could not place, it remembers what that file showed: a policy or parcel number, its file name without the numbers and dates, and the sender of an email. The next similar file is filed the same way, and its reason names your earlier move. A sender rule only decides files AI was not sure about, because one sender can cover several properties. Open What AI has learned from your moves above the tabs to see every rule, how often it was used and which file it came from, and choose Remove to stop one. Removing a rule never moves a file already filed. It also learns account numbers, such as a utility account, and it can tell apart several properties that one sender writes about: the same sender with the same number or file name goes to the property you chose for that pair, while a sender alone still only guesses on a file AI was not sure about.

While a property is still Pending, a signed lease filed to a unit that has no lease offers a way to start the lease from the document. AI reads the lease terms when it files the document. Open the file and the panel shows Create a lease from this document with the unit, the tenants, the start and end dates, the monthly rent and the security deposit filled in. A tenant who matches someone already in the app is linked, and anyone else is added as a new tenant, without needing an email because the lease is already signed. Check and change anything, then choose Create lease. The lease is made as a draft through the same steps as any other lease, so Activate property treats it like the rest, and the document is attached to it as the signed lease. If you changed a value, the file shows the difference from the document.

A long PDF scan can hold several documents. When AI reads a PDF of six pages or more it also checks for this. If it finds separate documents, the file shows Several documents and its panel lists the parts. Choose Split into to make each part its own file (the original is kept), or Keep as one file. Before you split, you can change the last page, title or type of any part; the parts must still cover every page once, in order. For a PDF under six pages, or one you kept as one file, choose Look for several documents to ask AI to check it; that uses the same scan allowance as any read.

The place a file is filed to, in the list and in the open file, is a link. Tap the property to open its Files tab, a unit to open its page, or the lease to open the lease.

When AI uses a file to update a property's insurance, property tax, HOA fee or management fee, the open file also shows Open the Insurance card (or Property tax, HOA fee, Management fee). It opens that property's Renewals & Expenses tab, scrolled to the card.

You can also attach a file to the HOA fee or Management fee card yourself. Open the file and, under Attach to a card, pick HOA fee, Management fee, Property tax or Insurance. AI reads the file and a review opens with four columns: the field, On the card now, From this file and Will use. Rows that would change the card are highlighted. Type over any value in Will use, or clear it to keep what the card has. Nothing changes until you press Apply; Cancel leaves the card alone. After Apply the file shows old against new with Undo, the same as a change AI made. Property tax works the same way, with one difference: Apply makes a draft bill that waits for approval in Bills, so there is no Undo; reject the draft there if it is wrong. The review warns you when the bill’s parcel number is not the one on the property, or when a bill for that tax year is already on file, and a second bill for the same year cannot be made from here. Insurance reads a renewal notice or declarations page into the carrier, policy number, covers-from and covers-to dates, premium, payment plan and coverage. Apply makes the policy term with the same checks as the policy form, and the file shows old against new with Undo while nothing is paid against the term. If a term for the same dates is already on file with different numbers, the review warns you and nothing is overwritten. A certificate is attached to its term with Attach to this term, and a premium bill is added in Bills instead.

When AI files a lease document (a signed lease, addendum, amendment, renewal letter or notice) to a lease, it also checks the document against the lease record: start and end dates, monthly rent, security deposit, tenant names and unit. Anything the document does not state is shown as not in the document and is not counted as a difference. Differences show as Lease differs on the file’s row, as Document differs in the Status column of the Leases list, and in the file’s panel with the lease value and the document value side by side. The lease record is never changed, because it drives rent charges and the books. Choose Edit the lease to fix the lease (the flag clears by itself when you open the file again and everything matches), The document is right as-is, note it, or Dismiss. There are no lease reminders; lease management already covers them.

When AI files a lease document (a signed lease, addendum, amendment, renewal letter or notice) to a lease, it also checks the document against the lease record: start and end dates, monthly rent, security deposit, tenant names and unit. Anything the document does not state is shown as not in the document and is not counted as a difference. Differences show as Lease differs on the file’s row, as Document differs in the Status column of the Leases list, and in the file’s panel with the lease value and the document value side by side. The lease record is never changed, because it drives rent charges and the books. Choose Edit the lease to fix the lease (the flag clears by itself when you open the file again and everything matches), The document is right as-is, note it, or Dismiss. There are no lease reminders; lease management already covers them. The same check runs when you file a document to a lease yourself, or drop it on a lease. The lease’s Files tab shows the comparison in the file’s side panel; handling a difference is done in the Files inbox. A lease signed on paper and uploaded works the same way: a document AI reads as a signed lease, or one you mark with Mark as the signed copy in its panel, is shown on the lease’s signing card as the signed copy filed in Files. Filing it does not mark the lease signed by itself. On a draft or active lease, the card offers Mark signed (paper copy on file); after you confirm, it does what uploading a copy on the lease does. A lease that has a signed copy filed but is not marked signed shows Signed copy filed next to its Signing status in the Leases list.

When AI reads a file that holds sensitive data (a Social Security number, a bank statement, a tenant screening report or an ID), it marks the file Sensitive. The label shows on its row and in its panel, with what AI found. A Sensitive file stays staff only and cannot be shared with an owner or a tenant. When you are sure it is fine, choose Clear the Sensitive flag; that is recorded in the file’s history, and a later AI read does not flag it again. AI can miss things, so treat a file with no label as unchecked, not as safe. If AI missed one, open the file, tick what it holds (Social Security number, bank statement, screening report or ID) and choose Mark as sensitive. That is recorded in the file’s history too, and it can be cleared the same way.

You can also drop files onto the Files tab of a property, unit or lease. Those are filed to that record straight away.

For a big batch, such as an old archive, drop a whole folder or a .zip on the page (or use Add a folder or Add a zip). Before anything is uploaded, an import card shows how many files there are, how many are photos and how many are documents, and what AI reading them would use from your monthly document-scan allowance, including any overage and its price. Choose Read with AI and file, which uses the folder names as hints (“410 Oak / Unit 2 / 2019 lease.pdf”), or Store only, file by folder names, which reads nothing and uses none of your allowance: a folder that names exactly one of your properties files the document there, and a folder that also names one of its units adds the unit, while everything else waits in Needs a home and you can ask AI to read it later. A progress bar shows the import while it runs. Moving around the app does not stop it, but closing the tab does; drop the same folder or zip again and it carries on, skipping what was already added. Every file is marked as coming from a bulk import, with the name of who ran it. Counts of pages are estimates, and a zip over 4 GB or with more than 65,000 files should be unzipped and dropped as a folder.

From a phone, open the staff app and tap Add. Choose Take photos, Choose from library (pick as many as you like at once) or Scan a document, which takes a photo of the page. The app suggests the property nearest to where you are standing, or, when an open visit such as an inspection is scheduled for today around now, offers that visit with Attach these to the visit too, so the files are filed to its property and attached to the visit. You can also pick another property (type part of its name or address in the box above the list to find it), or choose Let AI decide and the file waits in the inbox. Files send in the background, one after another, and the list shows what is waiting, sending or sent. With no signal they stay on the phone and send when the signal returns; they carry on while the app is open, so open it again if you closed it. A photo keeps the time and place it was taken, and every file shows who added it and that it came from the phone. On Android the installed app also appears in the Share sheet; on iPhone a web app cannot do that, so open the app and choose from the library. An iPhone HEIC photo is turned into a JPEG when it is added, here and on the phone, so it can be viewed and read by AI; the original HEIC is kept too, and the panel offers it as Download the original. The time and place stored inside the photo are not read (the file's own date is used), and a HEIC photo over 4 MB must be exported as a JPEG first.

Some files come in from the Tenant Portal. When a tenant uploads their renters insurance certificate, a copy is filed to their lease and typed Insurance. When you convert an approved application to a tenant, the application's documents (pay stubs, offer letters, bank statements and others) are copied to the property and unit the application was for; bank statements are marked Sensitive. These files show Tenant portal as how they came in and the tenant as who provided them. The tenant never sees the copy, and the application keeps its own documents.

A property has one place for its documents, the Files tab. The old Documents tab is gone: its list, upload and filters are in Files, and a document's AI recap, key points and re-analyze are under Recap and AI details in the file's panel. The Analyze all remaining bar sits above the Files list. The New Owner Intake codes and letters moved to More > New Owner Intake (Own, Sell and Sold properties).

You can also email files in. The page shows your own address at the top, with Copy (Files Inbox Email in Settings opens the page right there); an admin can use Replace address to get a new one, and the old one stops working at once. Forward or send mail there and each attachment becomes its own file, and the email itself is kept as a file too, so the text is never lost. The file shows who sent it, and the email’s subject, sender and text are on its details. If the sender is someone in your org (a staff member, a tenant, a vendor contact or an owner contact) and the sender check passes, the files are read and filed like any other. Mail from anyone else, or from an address whose check fails, is kept in Needs a home and nothing is filed on its own until a person decides. Spam is refused, a file that is too large or not an accepted type is skipped, and a file you already have is not stored a second time.

AI reads each file that arrives with no place and works out the property, units and lease it belongs to, its type, a title and the date on the document. When it is sure, because the file shows the property's parcel number, an insurance policy number on file or the street address, the file is filed and appears under Filed by AI with the reason, such as "parcel 12-345-678 matches 410 Oak St". Otherwise it waits in Needs a home with AI's best guess ready to accept. Each file read counts toward your monthly document reading allowance. A file that is already in your organization, byte for byte, is not added or read again; the upload message names the file it matches. For a waiting file with no guess, open it and choose Ask AI to file it.

When AI files a property tax bill, it reads the bill once more. It looks for the taxing authority, the parcel number, the tax year, the amount, the bill date, the installments, any early-payment discount and the penalty terms. It then makes a draft Government bill on that property, with the PDF attached and the installments filled in, and the draft waits for approval in Bills like any other bill. The property’s taxing authority is filled in when it has none, and so is the parcel number. If the parcel number on the bill is not the property’s, or the bill disagrees with one already on file for that tax year, no bill is made and the file is flagged: Open both shows the bill on file, Replace rejects a bill that is still waiting for approval and drafts the new one, and Dismiss changes nothing. An assessment notice stays with the property’s tax documents and makes no bill.

The same second read applies to HOA and management documents that AI files. An HOA dues letter or annual budget changes the HOA fee card’s amount and how often it is billed, and a management agreement or amendment changes the Management fee card’s percent or flat monthly fee. The file’s panel says what the card was and what it is now, with an Undo button that puts the card back as long as nobody has edited it since. A monthly HOA statement becomes a draft HOA bill that waits for approval in Bills. A document whose numbers cannot be read changes nothing, and its panel offers Read again (it counts toward your allowance). The HOA fee, Management fee and Property tax cards on Renewals & Expenses each have a Documents line. It lists the file AI used, when a filed document set the card, marked as used by AI, and any file you linked yourself. Choose Link a document to search the property’s files and link one, even when AI did not file it, and Unlink to take a link off; the file stays in Files. Linking never changes the card’s numbers.

An insurance document that AI files is read the same way. A renewal notice or declarations page makes the next policy term on its own: the carrier is matched to your vendors, and the policy number, dates, premium, payment plan, coverage, deductible and covered properties are filled in, using the shares of the term before it. The file’s panel shows what changed, for example that the premium went up 18%, with an Undo button that removes the term as long as no payment is linked to it. A certificate attaches to its term and clears No certificate on file. A premium bill becomes a draft bill that names the term it looks like it pays, and waits for approval. If a notice has the same dates as a term already on file but different numbers, nothing is changed and the file says so. On a policy’s own page, Link a file already on this property adds a file you or AI already filed, with its kind (certificate, declarations page, full policy or other). The Kind menu on each row corrects it, and Unlink takes the file off the policy while it stays in Files.

When the file is a photo, AI also writes a short description and tags for it: the room (kitchen, bathroom, exterior), what is shown (water heater, roof) and any damage it can see (water stain on ceiling). They show in the file’s panel under What AI sees. Typing a tag word in the search box of the Files inbox, or of the Files tab on a property, finds the photo. AI only describes what is visible; check a tag before relying on it.

Year-end depreciation

Open Accounting > Depreciation to post a year of depreciation for every active property in one pass. Pick the year at the top. Each property shows its address, entity, the date it was placed in service, its depreciable basis, the suggested amount and the amount to post.

The suggested amount is an estimate: the building and improvements, straight line over 27.5 years from the property's recorded basis. Land is never depreciated, and depreciation stops when the basis reaches zero. Edit any amount before you post. Confirm the figures with your CPA.

Tick the Ready rows you want, or use the link that selects every ready row on every page, then press Preview entries. The preview lists one entry per property: debit Depreciation Expense, credit Accumulated Depreciation, dated December 31 of the year. Nothing is posted until you press Post entries. Posting runs in groups of 25 and one property failing never stops the rest. The preview has its own web address, so reloading the page or sending the link rebuilds the same preview for the same rows and amounts; it still posts nothing until you confirm.

To undo a year, reverse it from the property's row. The original entry stays in the ledger, a reversing entry is posted, and the year can then be posted again. Only admins can post or reverse depreciation.

10 Financing, refis & payoff

Keeping the debt picture honest over a long hold.

Record a refinance

Record refinance logs the event and updates the loan terms while preserving your original underwriting separately. At least one of new rate, new term, or new loan amount is required. You can also capture refinance date, lender name, cash-out amount, new amortization, new balloon date, the prepayment penalty on the new loan (recording "None" clears the old one), and refi closing costs — fees, points and appraisal, tracked for tax basis rather than added to your inputs.

Return Grid stitches the loans together into a single continuous amortization schedule, so remaining balance, equity and LTV stay correct across a refi rather than resetting.

A loan taken after a purchase

When a property was bought with cash and a loan was taken on it later, its Loan tab shows No loan on this property with a Record a loan taken after purchase button. Record the loan terms first, then say where the loan money went. One screen books it all once, so the loan, its costs and the write-off of those costs agree with the closing statement.

1. The loan. Lender, loan number, funded on, loan amount, rate, how interest is counted, payment, amortization, loan term (years to balloon), balloon date, first payment date, escrow, points and prepayment penalty. The screen shows these read-only; Change loan details takes you to the Loan details box on the same tab, which is the one place loan fields are edited.
2. Where the money went. Add one line for each place the money landed, and every dollar of the loan amount must land somewhere before you can review. A line is one of: Bank deposit (the deposit into one of your bank accounts; unmatched deposits near the funding date and amount are offered to match), Applied to another property’s closing (money that paid toward another property you were buying, whether that property is still Pending or already active), Held back: loan costs (kept by the lender at closing), or Costs expensed now.
3. Review. The screen lists the entries that will be posted and the write-off of the loan costs: how many months, how much each month and what posts when you save. Nothing is posted until you save.

Entries you already made by hand

Before posting anything, Return Grid looks on this property for entries within ten days of the funding date that already say what a line says: a bank deposit or a credit to Loan Payable for the line’s amount, a debit to Earnest Money Deposits for an amount applied to another property, and a debit to Unamortized Loan Costs for the loan costs. A line it finds is shown as already in your books and is linked to that entry, not posted again. Anything it does not find is posted. If your books already show more on Loan Payable than the loan amount, for example an entry booked twice, the screen shows the difference and refuses to save; nothing is changed for you.

Money applied to another property’s closing shows Waiting for that property to be activated while that property is Pending, and Used at that property’s closing once its purchase entry has taken the amount.

How the loan costs are written off

Loan costs held back by the lender are written off over the term of the loan, not its amortization: from the funding date to the balloon date, in equal monthly amounts posted at each month-end, the first at the end of the funding month. A five-year balloon loan is written off over 60 months even if it amortizes over 30 years. Months already over when you save are posted straight away. Costs expensed now are booked to Closing Costs Expense at once and are not written off. This is how the books record it, not tax advice; confirm the treatment with your CPA.

After saving

The Loan tab shows a Loan funding block marked Booked: the amount funded, what went to the bank, the loan costs and how far the write-off has got. Where each line went lists each line and whether it was posted by this screen or booked by hand and linked. See the entries lists the ledger entries behind the funding, each with a link: a bank deposit opens in its bank register, a journal entry on the Journal entries page, and the write-off months open the Unamortized Loan Costs account.

Edit funding reopens the same screen with what was booked; nothing changes until you save, and replaced entries are removed through the same delete the app uses everywhere, so they appear in the deletion log. Remove funding takes out only what this screen booked; the loan itself stays, and entries you booked by hand and linked are not touched. After that the loan shows as not booked and you can record where the money went again. Under Banking > Loan payments > Loans, the Funding column shows each loan’s state and the Funding not booked chip lists only the loans still waiting.

Mark a loan paid off

Records that the current loan is paid in full. The amortization schedule and current-loan inputs are hidden, refinance history is preserved as loan history, and it can be undone. Enter the payoff date, and optionally the actual total interest paid from your final payoff statement — leave it blank and the paid-off summary keeps using Return Grid's simulated figure, clearly labelled as simulated. If a prepayment penalty was charged, record the amount actually charged.

Sell one property and refinance the rest of a bundled loan

When the bank refinances a bundled loan, open the bundle from Banking > Loan payments > Loans and choose Sell one or refinance. One screen takes the whole refinance.

1. Properties leaving the loan. The screen lists each property with its share of the loan in your books today. For a property that leaves, choose Paid off and type the payoff the bank asked for. It can differ from the share balance because of a release price or fees, and the difference is shown.
2. What replaces the bundle. Choose A new bundled loan for the properties that stay (the same form as a new bundle, with an amount for each property), A separate loan for each, or No new loan, which pays every property off.
3. Closing costs and cash out. Enter loan costs, costs expensed now, where they were paid from, and any cash out once. They are split across the properties that stay by the shares they carried in the old bundle, to the cent.

Choose Review and refinance. Return Grid checks every step for every property first, and saves nothing if any property refuses. It then records the refinance on each property that stays, the payoff on each property that leaves, ends the old bundled loan on the refinance date and makes the new bundled loan. Everything already posted stays as it is, and nothing is deleted.

A new bundled loan needs at least two properties that stay; with one property staying, choose A separate loan. If a step cannot be saved after saving has begun, the message names the properties already recorded and the old bundled loan stays as it was until every step is saved. A refinance cannot be undone, so finish any property left over from its own Loan tab.

11 Rent Roll, leases & tenants

Units, leases, the people on them, and the documents that bind them.

The Leases list

Go to Leasing > Leases to see every lease in your organization, 25 to a page (10 to 200 are available). Choose + New lease to start one, or choose a row’s unit, property or tenant to open that record. The row’s own link, View lease, opens the lease.

The columns are Unit, Property, Tenant(s), Ends, Rent, Status and Signing. Tenant(s) shows the first name and a count of the others, for example “+2”. A date in Ends followed by out is the move-out date from a move-out notice. Choose the Ends, Rent or Status heading to sort by it.

The search box finds a tenant, unit or property. The filters are Property, Unit, Status, Lease timing and Signing. Status starts with Signed, Active, Month-to-month and Move-out notice ticked; tick Draft, Ended or Terminated to include those. Lease timing is All leases or Ending in 90 days. The Signing column shows where the lease stands on signatures, such as Not sent or Unverified. Renewal due means a fixed-term lease ends within your organization’s renewal window, which is 90 days unless you have changed it.

Starting a lease

A new lease can be started from three places, each with the same result: a draft lease on that unit.

• + New lease on the Leases page opens a unit picker. Type an address or unit and choose one. Occupied units with no move-out notice are not listed; to renew a lease, open the lease itself.
• The Actions column on the Units page shows Start lease, Resume draft or Open lease for each unit.
• The Unit page header shows the same button when a lease can be started or a draft is waiting.

When a unit has given move-out notice, the picker lists it under Move-out notice given, new tenant moving in, so the next tenant's lease can be prepared before the current one ends.

The first month’s rent

Step 2 of the new-lease wizard and the Activate box on a draft lease both show the first month’s rent with its calculated amount. A part month is charged by the day at rent divided by 30.

• Start date today or later. An Amount field sits under the tick box that posts the first month at activation, next to a due date. Leave it blank to use the calculated amount, or type a figure to replace it. Type 0 for a free first month. The charge is posted, and everyone liable on the lease is emailed, when you activate.
• Start date in the past (September 2026 or later). Nothing is posted for move-in and no one is emailed, but the same First month amount field is still offered. Leave it as calculated, or blank in the wizard, and the daily rent job bills the calculated amount as before. Change it, or type 0, and the figure you set is posted as the first month’s rent when you activate, due that day, with no email to the tenants.
• Start date before September 2026. The lease starts before the rent ledger began, so there is no first-month charge to set and no field is shown.

Once the ledger holds the start month’s rent, the lease page shows a First month rent card with what was Charged and the dates it Covers. If you set the amount yourself, the card also shows the amount Return Grid Calculated. Before that charge exists, the lease page shows the older First month proration card, which is an estimate.

The lease drawer

Open a property, go to Rent Roll, and add or open a lease.

Lease documents

Each document is typed — Signed lease, Addendum, Amendment, Notice, Deposit letter, House rules, Move-in report, W-9 — and each carries a Visible in Tenant Portal toggle. Nothing reaches the renter until you tick it.

Lease actions

• Save as draft / Activate lease — a lease that starts after the current lease ends can be activated while the current lease is on notice. If the current lease runs until or past the new start date, or has no end date, activation is refused and the message says which date to change.
• Send for signature… and Continue — requires Zoho Sign connected. Once signed, the tenant's portal account is provisioned automatically.
• End lease — either Expire (ran its term) or Terminate early.

Lease templates

Under Settings → Documents → Templates, upload the PDF you already use as your lease. Tag it as a new lease or a renewal, optionally scope it to a jurisdiction (for example WI), and set one default per type — those defaults are what the lease and renewal send actions reach for.

Return Grid does not ask you to edit the PDF. You tell it where on the page each piece of information belongs, by drawing on the document itself.

Drawing the layout

Edit layout on any template row opens the page as you'll print it, and you drag a box wherever something should be filled in. Each box is one of three kinds:

Field

A value Return Grid already knows — tenant name, rent, lease dates, deposit. Pick which one from the panel on the right.

Signature

Where somebody signs. Tenant signature regions are handed to Zoho Sign; the landlord's is filled in by Return Grid before the lease is ever sent.

Special condition

Wording that changes lease to lease — a pet clause, a parking stall, a concession. You'll be asked for the text when you draft the lease.

Boxes move and resize after the fact, Prev and Next walk multi-page templates, and nothing is stored until Save layout. A template with no boxes will send as a blank form, so the drafting screen warns you before that can happen.

The tenant directory

Tenants in the main nav lists everyone on a lease at any of your properties, with contact details and active-lease counts. Open a tenant to see their info, financial summary, every lease they are or were on, and all their lease documents — including anything executed through e-sign. Archive hides a former tenant from the default list without deleting their history; Unarchive brings them back.

Portfolio rent roll

Reports → Rent Roll lists every unit across every Own- or Sell-phase property with its current lease and primary tenant. Sold properties are excluded. Leasing → Tenants is the same idea for people, and its Export CSV and Export Excel buttons download every tenant that matches your search and filters, not just the page you are on.

Rent reminders, autopay heads-up and new-charge notices

Every automatic email a tenant gets about rent is a Workflow Rule. You choose the timing, who is told and the wording, and you can switch any of them off. Open Workflow Rules to change them; the wording is the message template of the same name under Settings > Message templates.

Rent due and overdue. Reminders before rent is due and overdue notices are Important dates rules named Rent due in 3 days, Rent 1 day overdue, Rent 5 days overdue and Rent 10 days overdue. They are created switched off. Turn on the ones you want, and change the number of days to suit. A tenant whose rent is already paid is skipped, and so is a lease with an open legal case.

Autopay heads-up. Tenants enrolled in autopay get an email 3 days before the debit, from the rule Autopay charge in 3 days (Important dates). It is on by default. It only goes to a tenant whose autopay would really be charged that day.

New charge. When a charge is added to a tenant's rent ledger, the tenants on the lease get an email the same day, from the rule Rent charge created (Rent ledger). It is on unless you had turned off the old “also notify the day a rent charge is created” tick box before this moved. The monthly rent charge is sent once per charge, and not for a $0 charge or a lease with an open legal case. The same rule also sends the email for a charge you add by hand from the lease page (New charge posted), for a security deposit charge (Security deposit charge posted) and for the move-in payments email when a lease is activated. Turn the rule off and none of those emails go out.

Tenant tax forms

Leasing > People > Tax forms fills in the state rent form your renters need for their own taxes. Wisconsin is the first state: its Rent Certificate (I-017) goes with the renter’s homestead credit claim. Wisconsin requires the landlord to complete and sign it when a renter asks, and no fee may be charged. Nothing is sent to the state.

Pick the Tax year and State. The list has one row per adult renter on each lease that year, so two roommates get two forms. Children are never listed. Search by tenant, unit or address, filter with the status chips, and sort by any column. The address keeps the year, filters and any open popup, so a link or a reload opens the same view.

Open a row to prepare it. The popup shows every line of the form and where each number came from. Line 4a counts rent received during the year for that year’s months while the renter lived there. It leaves out late fees, deposits and other fees, rent for an earlier year, and rent paid directly by a housing agency or rental assistance program. Each payment’s Paid by can be changed in the popup. Line 5a counts the adults on the lease; change it if two of them are married. Line 6 splits the rent equally unless the lease sets each renter’s share. Line 8b comes from the unit’s Heat utility.

The property’s Subject to property tax? and Type of residence answers are set in the Edit property tax popup. The owner name is the property’s owning entity; the address and phone come from your organization settings.

Save and download (PDF) saves the filled form and downloads it. Save and share with tenant also puts it in the renter’s Tenant Portal. The renter’s Social Security number and the signature are left blank. Print the form, sign it by hand, then use Upload signed copy on the form’s record so the renter can download the signed copy. Prepare again replaces the filled form and keeps the earlier copy in the history. Prepare all ready fills in every ready row at once without sharing any, and Download all prepared (one PDF) downloads them together for printing.

Units

Properties > Owned > Units lists every unit across all properties with its occupancy, tenants, rents, lease end date and repairs. Search it, or narrow it by Property, Status and Beds. The columns are Unit, Property, Beds, Baths, Sq ft, Status, Tenant(s), Actual rent, Market rent, Lease end, Repairs and Actions. The action on a row depends on where the unit is: Start lease for a vacant unit, or Resume draft when a lease has been started but not finished. The Finishes tab beside the list shows unit finishes across properties.

Choose a unit to open its page. The top shows the unit’s status and address, its tenants with View lease, the rent, when the lease ends, open work and the next visit, with buttons to Create maintenance request, start a lease, add a New visit and Serve a notice. The tabs are Overview, Leases & tenants, Maintenance & repairs, Documents, Notices, Visits, Finishes, Supplies and parts and Details & utilities. The Overview adds the current lease, a rent position that compares actual rent with market rent, and recent activity.

Intake forms

An intake link lets someone give you their details before a lease is set up, through a hosted page at returngrid.app/i/<org>/<unit code>. Settings > New-Owner Intake Forms lists your forms, each with its status (published or unpublished), code expiry and follow-up. Search them with Search forms and choose one to edit.

A form’s Form settings are the Form name, Status (Published or Draft), the link, Code expiry (days), a No-response follow-up after a number of days, and Notify emails (comma-separated) for where submission notices go. Choose Save settings. Fields controls which questions the form asks, and Add field adds one. The preview shows the real hosted form and updates as you edit. Duplicate form copies a form and Reset to default goes back to the standard one.

Intake submissions

Leasing > People > Intake Submissions is where completed forms arrive. The tabs are Needs review, Converted, Archived and All. Search, or narrow by Property, Form and a date range, and Export CSV downloads the list. Manage forms goes to the forms. Each row shows when it was submitted, the name, property and unit, the code, the form and its status. Choose Review to open one.

A submission shows what was submitted and which unit its code matched, and you can Match to unit if the code did not. Choose Create new tenant record or Link to existing tenant, then Create new lease or Add to existing lease with the Lease start date, Monthly rent and Security deposit, and choose Create tenant & lease. If the person asked for ACH auto-pay, no bank details are collected on the form, so set up payment after converting. Archive submission puts one away and Mark invalid rejects it.

12 Security deposits

Holding a deposit, and the four-step wizard for giving it back correctly.

The deposit lives on the lease: amount held, the date you started holding it, and which account it sits in. When the lease ends, Return security deposit opens a guided wizard.

Open a deposit payment in the lease's Deposit tab and the entry panel shows the Bank account it was recorded in. To fix a wrong account, choose Edit, pick the right one from the Bank account list, review the change and save with a reason. The cash side of the payment in the general ledger moves to the new account. It can't be changed when the payment is already reconciled, falls in a closed accounting period, was matched to a bank item (unmatch it first), or was received before bank tracking started, and the new account can't be a reserve, credit card or payment clearing account.

When a deposit arrived after bank tracking began and was recorded as rent income, choose Record payment on the lease's Deposit tab and tick Already recorded as rent income. Pick the rent income bank deposits it came from (search by memo or amount); the amount becomes their total, and the pop-up shows the entry it will post: rent income down, deposit receivable down, with your bank balance unchanged. The payment row on the ledger then reads Paid from rent income with the dates and amounts. An entry can be applied to one deposit at a time, and voiding the payment reverses the entry and frees them. Leave Received before we started tracking this bank account unticked for this case, or the deposit is counted twice.

1. Review. Confirm the deposit facts before you withhold anything. The statutory deadline is computed automatically from the property's state and shown here.
2. Deductions. Add every withholding. Each row needs a category, a description of at least 20 characters, and a positive dollar amount. Attach receipt URLs where you have them.
3. Preview letter. The return letter the tenant will receive, citing the state-specific statute and itemizing every deduction line.
4. Payout method. Electronic payout by ACH through your payments provider, a paper check to the forwarding address, or other with notes. Then Submit & issue refund.

The Security Deposits list

Accounting > Tenant money > Security Deposits lists every unreturned deposit in your portfolio, overdue ones first. Cards above the table show the total held and how much of it is overdue, pending return and held but not yet due. Narrow it with Status (Held or Pending return) or search by property, unit or tenant. The columns are Property, Unit, Primary tenant, Status, Deadline, Days over, Deposit held and Balance owed, and Export CSV and Export Excel download the list. The deadline is the date by which the deposit has to be returned, and Days over shows how late it is.

Editing the deposit letters

The security deposit return letter and the Florida notice of claim are document templates like your lease: every organization starts with a ready-made copy under Settings → Documents → Templates, tagged “Security deposit return letter” and “Security deposit notice of claim”. Open Edit layout to move a box, or upload your own letterhead PDF and place the fields on it. The letter carries your organization’s name at the top, not Return Grid’s.

The itemized list prints in a box on the first page. If the list is longer than the box, the box ends with a note and the rest continues on added pages at the end of the letter, so a list can be any length. The statutory paragraph of the notice of claim is filled in by Return Grid as one field. To use your own wording, delete that box (Return Grid asks you to confirm) and type your wording into the document; you are then responsible for it. Every organization has its own copy of both letters, and a copy is created automatically if one is ever missing. There is no built-in version: if a letter cannot be drawn, the deposit action shows an error instead of sending a different letter.

When the deductions use the whole deposit, the return letter says that no refund is due and leaves out the return method. When you return a deposit, the email-the-tenant tick box controls whether the tenant is emailed; the letter is saved to their Tenant Portal either way.

Adverse action and entry notice letters. The letter sent to a denied applicant (the adverse action notice) and the scheduled entry notice, both the paper copy and the copy saved to the lease, are document templates too. Each organization has its own copy under Settings → Documents → Templates, tagged “Adverse action letter (FCRA)” and “Scheduled entry notice”. The legal paragraphs are filled in by Return Grid as fields. If your own reading of the law differs, delete a box and type your wording into the page. Return Grid cannot check the legal language for every state, so you own what these letters say. The emails that carry them are editable under Settings → Message templates.

Deposit interest: the annual disbursement

Accounting > Tenant money > Deposit Interest shows the interest accrued on security deposits, one row per lease per year. Pick the Year, and a line at the top totals what has accrued, what is settled and what is still pending. The tabs are All, Pending, Paid out, Credited and No interest due, and you can narrow by Property or by a minimum amount, or search by tenant, unit or property. Each row shows the tenant, unit and property, the accrued interest, its status and the last action.

To settle interest, tick the rows and choose Pay out to pay it to the tenant, or Credit to account to put it on the tenant’s account. The counter beside the buttons shows how many rows are selected.

13 Listings & syndication

Publishing vacancies to a public page and feeding them to the rental portals.

Under Leasing → Rental Listings. Turn on Enable public listings page and your published listings become visible at returngrid.app/rent/your-org — or on your own domain if you've set one up. No login is required for applicants.

Creating a listing

Headline

What prospects see first

Rent, available from

Monthly rent and the date it's ready

Application fee

Pre-filled from your default, overridable per listing

Contact email and phone

Required before a listing can syndicate

Pet policy, laundry, parking

The three questions every prospect asks

Photos

Up to 12. Save the listing first to enable uploads.

Published

Visible to the public

Share with Zillow, Trulia and HotPads

Include this listing in the syndication feed

Syndication

Return Grid publishes a live XML feed. Give the feed URL to Zillow Rental Network once, and your published listings stay synchronized automatically as you edit, unpublish, or delete them — there's nothing to resubmit.

14 Applications & screening

Reviewing what comes in off your listings, and running background and credit checks.

Leasing → Applications lists every rental application submitted through your public listings, with the applicant, the listing, the fee, and the submission date. Open one for the full detail.

Denial reasons are structured: Credit, Income, Eviction history, Criminal history, Incomplete application, plus internal notes that the applicant never sees.

Screening

Connect Checkr Tenant or TransUnion SmartMove under Settings → Providers → Applicant screening. Then use Start screening on an application and Open provider report to read the full result on the provider's site.

Prospective tenants

People > Prospective Tenants tracks people who are interested in a unit before they apply. Add one with + Add prospect. The Status tabs run New, Scheduled, Shown, Applied, Gone and Waiting, with All active as the default, and you can narrow by Property or search by name. The columns are Status, Name, Wants, Last showing and Open.

Choose Open to see a prospect. Besides the name, email and phone, you record what they are looking for: the cities, an Upper / Lower preference, a minimum of bedrooms and bathrooms, and notes. Tick Follow up with this prospect and pick a date to create a task due that day, and unticking it removes the task. A box lets you say whether it is OK to email them about matching available units. Under Interested in, add the units they care about. Under Showings, create a new showing or link an existing upcoming one. Save changes keeps your edits and Delete prospect removes the prospect.

15 Setting up the Tenant Portal

Branding, the providers behind it, and serving it from your own domain.

Branding

Settings → Branding. Included with every plan — no upgrade required.

Portal URL

tenant.returngrid.app/your-slug — lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens

Portal display name

What renters see as the name of the place they're signing into

Welcome message

Your copy on the dashboard

Logo

PNG or SVG, at least 200 × 60 px, up to 2 MB

Accent color

A preset or a custom hex. Return Grid checks it for WCAG AA contrast and warns you if it's unreadable.

Contact information

Contact name, email, phone, emergency phone, office hours

Footer

Legal or disclosure text

Invite link is good for (days)

How long a Tenant Portal invite works before it expires: 1 to 30 days, 7 by default. It applies to every invite you send, including the Workflow Rule that invites renters with no portal access. Invites already sent keep their original expiry.

Move-in / move-out inspections

Let tenants complete a move-in condition checklist within 7 days of moving in

Tenant two-factor authentication

Require a second factor — authenticator app or text message

A live preview updates as you type. Open Tenant Portal shows you the real thing.

Providers

Settings → Providers, admin-only. Every one of these has a manual or native mode, so you can run the Tenant Portal without connecting anything.

Manual payments

If you don't connect a payment provider, write your own instructions in Instructions shown to tenants — accepted methods, recipient details, and what reference to include. Then record what arrives against the lease: open the lease and record the payment from its rent ledger, or record it from the aging list under Collections Aging, choosing a method (Check, Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, Cash, or ACH recorded manually) with an amount, a date received, and a reference.

Adding a charge

For a one-off charge such as a pet fee or a repair bill-back, open the lease and use Add charge: pick the line, set an amount and a due date, and save. The charge posts to the lease's rent ledger and the tenant is emailed about it. It appears on their Rent & Invoices page with a running balance, and a PDF invoice is produced from the ledger whenever the tenant or you view it. There is no separate stored invoice to edit; to change a charge, edit or reverse its ledger entry.

Recording who paid

When you record a rent payment, from Record payment on the lease’s rent ledger or from Record payments on Collections Aging, choose who paid in Paid by: Tenant (the default), Housing authority or government agency, Rental assistance program or Someone else. Anyone other than the tenant can also get an optional Payer name. A renter’s Wisconsin Rent Certificate leaves out rent a housing agency or an assistance program paid, so setting this when you record the payment keeps the tax form right. You can still change it later in the tax form’s popup.

Seeing and changing the bank account on a payment

Open a payment, refund or NSF reversal in the lease's rent ledger and the entry panel shows the Bank account it was recorded in, by name and last four digits. A payment recorded with no account says Not recorded. To fix a wrong account, choose Edit, pick the right one from the Bank account list, review the change, and save with a reason. The cash side of the payment in the general ledger moves to the new account, and the change appears under See what changed.

The account can't be changed when the payment is already reconciled, falls in a closed accounting period, or the new account is already reconciled past the payment's date. A payment that was created from a bank item has to be unmatched from that item first. In those cases add a reversing entry and record the payment again in the right account. Charges and credits have no bank account, so the field doesn't appear for them.

Credit reporting

Custom domain

Settings → Custom Domain. Requires Team or Enterprise. Serve the Tenant Portal from something like portal.yourcompany.com instead of the Return Grid subdomain.

1. Add the domain. Enter a fully qualified hostname.
2. Add the DNS records shown on the domain's own card, at your registrar — Cloudflare, Namecheap, GoDaddy, wherever the domain lives. Every value has a Copy button, and Copy all records takes the whole table at once. Propagation takes a few minutes.
3. Check now. Once the records resolve, Return Grid issues a free SSL certificate automatically and provisions the bot-check widget.

Your own mail relay

By default Tenant Portal email goes out through Return Grid's shared mail account. To send from your own domain instead, supply the outbound SMTP relay your organization already uses — your Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 relay, typically. Enter host, port, connection security (STARTTLS on 587 is the usual answer), from address, username and password, and use Send test email before you rely on it.

Zoho payouts: the transfer into your bank

Online rent payments first land in your Undeposited, payment processor clearing account. Zoho Payments then pays the batch, less its fees, into your bank account a couple of business days later. Return Grid records that move for you as one transfer from the clearing account to the bank account, so the clearing account does not keep growing. You can see every payout, and anything that needs a look, under Banking > Zoho payouts. Owners and admins only.

When a transfer is recorded

• Zoho tells Return Grid the payout is paid, or the daily check finds it. Failed payouts and withdrawals are never recorded.
• Return Grid reads the payout's payments from Zoho and checks them against the rent payments it already has, line by line: each payment amount, each refund, and that Zoho's own lines add up to the payout. When everything matches, one transfer for the payout amount is dated the day Zoho paid it.
• The bank account is the one whose last four digits match the bank Zoho paid into. If none match and you have exactly one operating account, that one is used. Otherwise the payout is listed for you to choose.
• When Zoho takes its $1.00 fee for verifying a customer's bank account out of a payout, Return Grid books that fee first, to the same processing-fee expense account as Zoho's other fees, so the transfer still matches the payout. A dispute or any other unexpected item still stops the payout and is listed under Needs attention.
• Each payout is recorded once, keyed on Zoho's payout id, so a repeat of the same notice or a second check never posts it twice. Nothing posts into a closed accounting period.

The Zoho payouts page

Search by Zoho payout id or amount, and filter by the date paid. Open a payout to see exactly what it covers. A panel slides in from the right with the pieces below, and the payout stays in the address, so you can send the link to someone.

• How it adds up. The payments from tenants, Zoho's fees on them, any refunds and the bank account verification fee, ending at what Zoho paid out. It says whether those lines come to the payout amount.
• Payments this payout covers. One row per rent or deposit payment with its date, the tenant, the property and unit, what the tenant paid, Zoho's fee and what reached the bank. A badge shows whether it is Matched to a payment Return Grid recorded, has a Different amount from the one recorded, or is Not in our books. A matched row has an Open link to that lease's rent or deposit record.
• Finding one. Search by tenant, property, unit, amount or the Zoho payment id, narrow the list with the status buttons, and sort by Newest first, Tenant A to Z or Largest first. Large payouts show 25 payments a page; the totals always cover the whole payout.
• Refunds and other items. Refunds and fees such as the bank account verification fee are listed apart, below the payments, so they are never lost on another page.
• Download CSV saves every line of the payout, not just the page you are on, for your bookkeeper.

Fixing a payout that needs attention

• Check again runs the same check right now. Use it after you have fixed the cause, for example after recording a missing payment or reconnecting Zoho.
• Record anyway records the transfer yourself. Choose the bank account the payout landed in and write why you are doing it; the note is saved with your name and the time. The payout amount moves from the clearing account to that bank account, and any difference stays in the clearing account until it is sorted out.

Pulling payouts from earlier days

The daily check only looks back 7 days. To pick up older payouts, for example after connecting Zoho Payments for the first time, choose Last 7 days, Last 30 days or Last 90 days next to Pull from Zoho and press Look back. It records the payouts that are missing and reports how many it checked, recorded, flagged and found already recorded. Running it again is safe.

16 Communications & broadcasts

Reaching all your tenants at once, and knowing whether it landed.

Settings → Providers → SMS provider. Choose Twilio or ClearlyIP and enter your own account details: for ClearlyIP, your API token and the number tenants see texts from. For ClearlyIP the card shows the full inbound webhook URL (it includes a secret) with a Copy URL button; in the ClearlyIP portal, link every number you text from to that whole URL, including numbers you add later. Use Send a test text… to check it works. Until your organization has its own sender, texts to tenants are off (tenants still get email and portal notices) and the SMS option is disabled when you broadcast. Then set your organization time zone and send announcements from Broadcast Tenants.

Broadcast delivery history shows every broadcast sent or scheduled, its audience, channels, and per-channel delivery results.

Saved replies

A saved reply is a message you write once and reuse. Go to Settings > Saved replies. They are shared across your organization, so anyone on staff can use or edit any of them. Choose + New saved reply, give it a Title such as “48-hour acknowledgement” and a Body, and choose Save. Each row has an Edit button. The only placeholder is {{visit_date}}, which is filled from the request’s own scheduled visit when you insert the reply.

When you answer a maintenance request, the Insert saved reply picker above the Reply box puts a saved reply into your message, and you can change it before you send.

17 Maintenance & messages

Triaging what tenants report, and answering what they ask.

Maintenance: requests and jobs

Maintenance → Maintenance Requests is one board for all repair work. A request is the conversation and the reason for the work: a tenant report, something you log yourself, an inspection finding, a turnover, or a workflow rule. A job is one piece of work inside it, holding who does it, when, and what it cost. A request can have no jobs (a quick fix like "reset the breaker") or several, and jobs are numbered after their request: 1042-A, 1042-B.

A request moves through these stages, one board column each:

Four tabs sit across the top, each showing a real total:

Requests (open)

Every request that isn't closed

Jobs (open)

Every job not yet complete or cancelled, with the filters the old Repairs list had. The Repairs menu item now opens this tab.

My work

Open requests you coordinate, plus any request carrying an open job that you are doing

Done (last 30 days)

Closed requests, newest first. The badge counts the last 30 days.

Switch to List to see each request's jobs as sub-rows beneath it (past two, they collapse to "N jobs · Show jobs"). Search matches job numbers like 1042-A, job text, and the names of whoever is doing the work.

The filter row works the same way on the Requests and Jobs tabs, and the same way as on the Leases list. Every chip takes several values: pick more than one Property, Status or Priority and a request or job shows if it matches any of them, while a request or job has to match every chip you have set. On Requests the chips are Property, Status, Priority and Coordinator (choose Me for requests you coordinate). On Jobs they are Property, Unit, Status, Priority and Assigned. The less-used filters sit behind More filters: on Requests that is Team (including Anyone on my team), Done by, Source, Type (Maintenance, Turnover, Inspection, Preventive), Tag and Created, and on Jobs it is the target timeframe and the created range. Reset to open sits at the end of the row and puts the filters back to the open work. The filters are kept in the page address, so a copied link opens the same view.

Views keeps and recalls a set of filters: save the current filters for yourself, or share them with your organization, and pick one later. On a phone, More filters and Views open as a full-screen sheet with a Close button at the top.

Planned later

A job that is Scheduled for a date far away does not need to crowd today's list. A Scheduled job due more than the lead window from now is planned for later: it stays out of the default Jobs list, the open counts, My work, the mobile Work tab, the landing count and the due-date reminders, and it comes back on its own on the due date minus the window. Its status stays Scheduled, and nothing is deleted or rescheduled. Set the window in Settings → Defaults → Maintenance Defaults (30 days unless you change it; 0 means never hide).

To see the parked jobs, tick Planned later in the Status filter on Jobs; the list then shows a Surfaces column with the day each one returns. On any one job, Show in the queue overrides the window: Automatic follows the window, On a date picks the day it appears, and Now brings it into the list immediately. Surface now does the same from the Jobs list. Urgent jobs and jobs that already have someone assigned are hidden too, so use Now on any that cannot wait.

Working a request

Open a request to set three roles: the Team whose queue it's in, one Coordinator who owns it and talks to the tenant, and, on each job, who it is Done by (one of your maintenance users, a vendor, or both). Set Priority (Low, Normal, High, Urgent), add work with + Add job, and reply. Every reply has a switch: Internal note, hidden from tenant. Use it for vendor coordination and anything you don't want quoted back at you; leave it off when you're actually answering the renter.

Once a request has jobs, its status follows them: it sits at the least-finished job's stage and moves to Work done when every job is complete. The tenant is then asked "Was this fixed?" and the request closes on its own after the window set in Settings → Defaults → Maintenance Defaults → Close requests automatically (3 days unless you change it, or never), unless they reply. Keep open pauses that on a single request. A + Turnover request instead closes when its jobs are complete and you mark the unit ready.

The technician's view

Whoever a job is Done by sees the whole request: the tenant's description, photos, entry notes and the conversation. A link to one job opens the request with that job pinned at the top of the work panel and a banner such as “You’re doing job A”, followed by the job’s description. My work lists every job you're doing plus every request you coordinate, on the web and in the staff mobile app.

While their job is open, the Done-by person automatically watches the request, so a tenant reply reaches them as well as the Coordinator. Their messages on the thread are tagged with the job, for example “Re: 1042-A”.

Settings → Defaults → Maintenance Defaults → Techs can message tenants is on by default. Turn it off and a tenant reply written by a technician (someone doing a job who isn't the request's Coordinator) is posted as an internal note instead, and the Coordinator is notified to pass it on. Coordinators always reply directly.

Talking to a vendor

When a job has a vendor, the reply box's Send to picker offers the vendor by name and job, for example “Vendor: Acme Plumbing (job A)”, next to Tenant (or internal note). Choosing the vendor emails their contact instead of replying to the tenant. Work orders and these emails carry a private reply address, so when the vendor answers, the reply lands on the request thread, tagged with the job, and the Coordinator and the Done-by person are notified. If the reply carries an invoice, Add as bill starts a bill with the vendor, job and property already filled in.

Reminders to tenants about maintenance

Planned maintenance tasks. A tenant with a maintenance task coming due on their unit gets an email 3 days before it is due, and again 1, 5, 7 and 10 days after it is overdue. These are Important dates rules named Maintenance task due in 3 days and Maintenance task 1 day overdue (and the 5, 7 and 10 day versions). They are on by default. Change the days, who is told or the wording, or switch any off, in Workflow Rules.

Booked repair visits. The evening before a booked visit, the tenant gets one reminder. It is a Workflow Rule named Repair visit tomorrow: on the Workflow Rules page you can switch it off, choose the hour it goes out (your time zone, 5 PM to start), or change who receives it. Under Settings > Defaults > Maintenance Defaults you set the short-notice cutoff in hours. A visit booked or moved with less notice than the cutoff gets no reminder, because the booking email already told the tenant. If the visit moves, the reminder moves with it, and a tenant with two visits the same day gets one reminder listing both windows. The wording is the template Reminder: repair visit tomorrow.

Maintenance history

Every request belongs to a property and, where it applies, a unit, so the history follows the place rather than the tenant:

• Property → Maintenance tab. Every request and job at the property, newest first, grouped by year with a cost total for each year. Filter by unit, system or appliance, category, vendor, status and dates, or tick Show open only. Pick a unit and you can group by tenancy instead, which shows what each tenant reported and what was fixed: useful when deciding a deposit.
• A system or appliance. Its editor shows Service history: how many jobs, their total cost, when it was last serviced, and the latest jobs.
• A vendor. The vendor's Jobs tab lists every job they've been given, with its request and job number, cost and completion date.
• On the request itself. Recent at this unit (or Recent at this property) lists the last few requests at the same place and calls out a repeat, such as a third plumbing request at the same unit within a year.

Inspection campaigns: one round across many properties

An inspection campaign plans one round of seasonal service, such as furnace and air-conditioning service or gutter cleaning, across many properties at once. You pick the work and the days, Return Grid groups nearby properties onto the same day and orders each day to cut driving, and every tenant who must be told gets a notice by themselves at the right time. Open it from Maintenance → Inspection Campaigns, or from the Inspection campaigns button on the Maintenance page.

The list shows every campaign with a status chip: Draft, Planned, Scheduled, In progress, Complete or Cancelled. Each row also shows how far along it is, such as “3 of 8 done”. A stop you skipped on purpose is not counted as done and is not dropped from the total; it is reported on its own, for example “0 of 1 done, 1 skipped”. A stop that was cancelled is left out of the total. Search by name, and press New campaign to start one. A new campaign is a draft until you schedule it, so you can leave and come back; nothing is sent until the last step.

Step 1: What

Give the campaign a name, then fill in the first step:

• Work to include. Tick the kinds of work, for example Heating: service, Cooling: service or Gutters: clean. Work a tenant can do themselves, such as changing a furnace filter, is never included. Work marked Outside needs only a courtesy note to the tenant, not an entry notice.
• Due window. Due within (days) picks up everything coming due in that many days. Leave Include work that is already overdue ticked to include what is already late. You can limit the round by Property owner or by Address contains.
• Why we are coming. Reason shown to tenants is a fixed list (seasonal service, routine, insurance, lender, owner requested or maintenance follow-up), and tenants see exactly that wording in their notice. Internal reason (optional) is for your team and is never shown to a tenant.
• Minutes on site. Each kind of work has its own time, and Setup at each property (minutes) is added once per property.

Press Check what is due to see what these settings pick up before you plan any days: how many properties, how many items of work, and how many were left out. Each left-out item says why, for example that the tenant looks after it, that it is already on another open campaign, that it was done in the last 90 days, that no due date is known yet, or that the property has no map position and needs its address fixed. Nothing is dropped silently.

Step 2: Days and crews

Press Add a day for each day you can work. Each row is one crew on one day: the date, a start and end time, who takes it, and a break. Choose Staff member, Group or Vendor for the crew, or leave it Unassigned. Two crews on the same date are two rows. A day starts at its first stop, so no driving is counted to the first stop or back from the last.

Under What the tenant is told, set how long the arrival window is (Arrival window (minutes), 120 by default) and how far ahead notices go (Send notices (days ahead), 3 by default). Tenants are given a window that opens at the planned arrival time, never an exact time, and the crew does not arrive before it opens. Allow a day to run up to an hour past its end time lets the last stop of a day run a little late without breaking the notice. Notices never go out later than the legal minimum for that stop's town; if the date does not allow enough notice, the stop is held back instead.

The optional heads-up for residents, for stops where the only work is inside the building (a boiler room or dryer vents), is off by default. Nobody's unit is entered for that work, so it is a courtesy and not an entry notice. Turn it on if you want residents to know the crew will be in the building.

The Will it fit meter compares the work and driving with the time you have given. If it is short, it says by how much, so add a day or lengthen one before you build the plan. Build the plan saves the days and moves on.

Step 3: Plan

The plan has one tab for each day and an Unscheduled tab. Each day lists its stops in visiting order with the address, the work, the arrival time, the tenant window, and the work and driving time, beside a map with the stops numbered in order. A stop is one property: every unit that is due there is visited in one trip.

• Open shows one stop with its items, units and notice state. Move moves it up or down, to another day, or to Unscheduled.
• Drag a row by its handle to reorder a day. Undo reverses your last move.
• Re-optimize orders the stops again. A stop you have fixed with Pin to its arrival time (tick it when you open the stop) stays where it is; only the rest move.
• Filter with All stops, Needs attention or Pinned, or search every day by address, unit or tenant name.

Anything that does not fit goes to Unscheduled with a reason, such as that it did not fit on any day or is too far from the days you chose. If the road-time service does not answer, drive times are estimated from straight-line distance and the screen says so under Needs attention.

Step 4: Review and schedule

The last step shows exactly what pressing Schedule will do: how many stops will be booked, and how many entry notices, courtesy notes, paper notices and evening-before texts will go out. Notice preview shows the wording a tenant gets, with the reason you chose and an arrival window; Courtesy preview shows the shorter note for outside-only work. The statutory wording is fixed. Only the date, the window and the reason change, and your internal reason is never included.

Who gets what lists every stop with its entry window and the notices it will queue. Two things can stop a stop from being booked, and both are listed rather than hidden: a stop whose notice would already be too late for the legal lead time is held back, with the latest legal send time shown, and a stop that fails to book is listed under Failed with the reason. Move the stop to a later day, or fix the cause, and press Schedule again.

Pressing Schedule books every stop as a Visit and queues every notice. Each notice then goes out on its own at its planned time, 3 days ahead by default, so hundreds of notices do not go out in a single burst. Everyone on the lease who lives in the unit is noticed, including people with no portal account. A tenant with no email on file cannot be emailed, so their notice appears in the paper notices packet to hand over, and the stop shows Paper notice not confirmed until you press Mark delivered.

Working a saved campaign

Once a campaign is scheduled, it opens as a working screen instead of the four steps. A strip of numbers shows Stops done, Notices sent, Tenant asked to move, Notice not confirmed, Needs attention and No access / retry. Each day has a tab, and you can filter the stops to those that need attention, are pinned, have an unconfirmed notice, or are done.

• Mark done records the work at a stop and moves each item's next due date out by its interval on the maintenance schedule. Work is only marked done when someone marks it, never when a notice goes out.
• Move reschedules a stop. Before its notice goes out, nobody is told. After it goes out, the people at that stop get a new notice for the new time, and if the move leaves too little notice the stop is held back and shows as Needs attention instead of sending anything late. Undo move puts it back.
• Tenant asked to move records that a tenant said the time does not work. Resend notices sends a stop's notices again, and Mark delivered records a paper notice that was handed over.
• Cancel stop cancels one stop, Add a day adds a day, and Cancel campaign cancels the whole campaign.

Download PDFs gives a Day sheet (staff) and a Day sheet (vendor) for each day, the Paper notices packet and a Campaign summary. A day sheet lists the stops in order with the arrival time, address, units, work, occupant, notice state and door codes, with tick boxes for each item. Because it carries door codes, treat it like a key. The vendor sheet leaves out tenant phone numbers unless you tick Include tenant phone numbers.

Running a day from your phone

On the day, open the campaign and press Run today. The phone view shows the next stop with its arrival time and a Navigate button for directions. At the door there are three buttons: Done marks every open item at the stop done, No access records that the crew could not get in, and Tenant not ready records that the tenant was not ready. Each takes an optional note that the office sees. No access and Tenant not ready leave the work due on the maintenance schedule, so it comes round again in the next campaign.

Door codes are not shown until you tap Show codes, and they hide again with Hide codes or when the page has been out of view for a minute. Showing codes is recorded in an audit log.

Messages

Communication → Messages holds general questions from tenants that aren't tied to a maintenance request. Same reply mechanics.

Starting a message to a tenant

You don't have to wait for a tenant to write first. Select Message tenant on a Tenant record, Message tenants on a Lease page, or New message on Communication → Messages (search by name, email or phone). All three open the same form.

1. Check To. From a Lease page everyone on the lease is ticked; untick anyone who shouldn't get it. Everyone you tick shares one thread.
2. Choose Send by: Both (the default), Email or Text. Under each name you can see whether they have an email on file and whether they can be texted.
3. Add a Subject and your Message, and attach files if you need to (up to 5 files, 10 MB each).
4. Select Send message. The result shows, for each person, whether the email and the text were sent, held or failed. Open the thread takes you to the conversation.

The email carries the whole message and any files. The text is the first 300 characters with a short link to read the rest and reply. Every tenant with a Tenant Portal account also sees the message in their portal and gets a bell notification. A tenant without a portal account can only be reached by email.

Replies by email or text land in the same thread. Starting a message needs the built-in message board; it isn't available for organizations that use an outside helpdesk, and texting needs your organization's text sender to be set up under Settings → Providers.

The tenant assistant and emergency alerts

Tenants describe a problem in their own words in the Tenant Portal chat, and an automated assistant asks the follow-up questions, then creates the request for them. It can also answer a few questions about the tenant's own balance, how to pay, deposit and portal sign-in from your records, and it passes anything else to you as a message. The emergency rules are built in. The assistant can raise how urgent a request is but never lower it, and nothing you or a reviewer enters can change the emergency checklist. The assistant has two places: its settings are on Settings → AI Chat, and its conversations are on Communication → Assistant chats. Only admins can change these settings. Everyone else can read them.

Where the assistant screens are

• Settings → AI Chat (under Automation & messages). Every chat setting is here, on the tabs Tenant assistant, What it can suggest, Public website, Usage and Test chat.
• Communication → Assistant chats. Every chat the assistant has had, on the tabs Tenant chats, Public chats and Approved corrections. Chats that look wrong or went unanswered come first.

Some sections below still use the older names Public Chats and Assistant Reviews. They are the Public chats and Tenant chats tabs.

Tenant Assistant: its name and emergency lines

Assistant name, Tagline

How the assistant introduces itself to tenants. The greeting always says it is an automated assistant, whatever name you choose.

Cold line, Hot line

The outside temperatures, in degrees Fahrenheit, at which a heating or cooling failure counts as an emergency: no heat at or below the cold line, no air conditioning at or above the hot line.

Business hours

Shown here for reference. The same hours are used everywhere, set under Maintenance Hours on this tab. A property can set its own on its Maintenance SLA tab.

After-hours charge notice

The wording a tenant must read and accept before the assistant alerts the on-call person for an after-hours emergency. Your attorney reviewed the starting wording. The assistant never states an amount of its own. Clear the box to go back to the reviewed wording.

Select Save. Changes apply to new conversations.

On-Call Schedule: who gets the alert

The On-Call Schedule card is a week grid, with the days across and three rows:

• After hours, 5:00 pm to 8:00 am on weeknights.
• All day, for weekends or holidays.
• Backup, alerted if nobody accepts.

Everyone listed for a day is alerted at the same time. Use Previous week and Next week to move through the weeks. A line under the title says who is on call right now and who the backup is. A weeknight with nobody on call turns red and says "No one on call", and a warning above the grid lists those days, because an emergency then would reach nobody.

To fill a day, select its cell, type a name under Add a person (only people with a mobile number can be added), then select Save day. Copy this day to the rest of the week repeats it on the other days, Copy week to next week repeats the whole week, and dragging a day heading onto another day copies that day. The schedule covers all properties. To give one property its own schedule, type its address under Schedule for, and use Back to all properties to return.

On-Call Alerts: who can be texted, and what went out

When an emergency is confirmed, everyone on call is texted and also gets an app alert at the same time. They reply 1 to accept. If nobody accepts in time, the backup list is alerted, then the owners and managers.

Outside business hours the tenant must tick the box beside your after-hours charge notice and select I understand before anyone is alerted. If they choose No, do not send anyone, the request is still logged as urgent for your team, but nobody on call is alerted.

Who can be texted

Each person's mobile number and whether they have agreed to alert texts: Agreed, Not yet, or No mobile number. People must agree first, and can reply STOP at any time. Select Ask by text beside someone to send them the request.

Send a Test Alert

Sends a test to whoever is on call now and says how many people it reached and how. If nobody is on call or reachable, it says so.

Recent alerts

When it went out, what it was, whether it was Accepted, is still Waiting or ended as Nobody accepted, who was reached and who accepted.

Alert check

A line at the top says the check is running and when it last ran. If it stops, or its last three runs fail, a red notice tells you alerts may not be going out. Phone the on-call person directly if an emergency is open.

The card also has a Setting up your phone to get these note: save the alert number as a contact and allow it through Focus or Do Not Disturb.

Public Website Assistant and Public Chats

Visitors who are not signed in can ask general questions in a chat on your Return Grid listing pages, on your Tenant Portal sign-in page and on any site where you add the snippet. It answers only from your published listings and the web pages you list. It cannot see accounts and never opens a request.

• Public Website Assistant. Type your company web address, add a name if you like, and select Add Web Address. The table shows each page's status and when it was last read. Under Put it on a website is the snippet to paste just before the closing body tag of another site. Listing pages already have it.
• Public Chats. The questions visitors asked, with chats the assistant could not answer first. Open one to read it, then select Add an approved page so it can answer next time, or Mark handled to take it out of Needs review and keep your note. Move back to needs review undoes that.

Chat Usage and Assistant Reviews

• Chat Usage. One row per day showing how many messages tenants sent, how many chats, and whether any were stopped by a limit or fell back to plain questions. A day with either needs attention. Open a day to see its chats, then mark it reviewed.
• Assistant Reviews. Every tenant chat is saved. Conversations that look wrong come first, such as when staff changed the emergency level, the tenant said it was not what they meant, or the assistant did not know. Open one, mark a reply wrong, and write what it should have said. A correction used this way never changes the emergency checklist. Approved corrections lists the ones in use. If the emergency checklist itself looks wrong, use Send as a checklist change and Create the task: it emails the person you pick and does not change the checklist. Use Mark reviewed, nothing wrong when the chat was fine.

18 Repairs, CapEx & reserves

Tracking work, classifying it correctly for tax, and funding it from a reserve.

Categories

A repair item

Status

Not scheduled · Scheduled · In progress · Waiting on vendor · Waiting on parts · Complete · Cancelled · Forecasted

Target timeframe

Month 1 · 1–6 months · 6–12 months · 2–3 years · 4–5 years · 5–10 years · 10+ years

Estimated cost

A low and a high, plus ✨ Estimate with AI and Use as estimate

Cost so far

What it has really cost: the total of the job's Costs list

Done by

A vendor, one of your own maintenance users, or both, for example your technician overseeing a contractor. The internal list is the users you have tagged as maintenance users in Settings, with anyone whose service types match this repair listed first. Assigning a job does not create a task; it appears on that person's My work list.

Request

The one maintenance request this job belongs to, shown as a link. Every job sits on exactly one request; a job you start here gets a request of its own.

Dates

Identified · Due / replacement · Started · Completed

Photos

Two strips: Found for the problem as you found it, Completed for the finished work. Older photos taken before this split all read as Found.

The job popup

Click a job to open it. Under the title you see the address, the status, and four boxes: Estimate, Cost so far, Done by and Due. They update as you edit. The job has four tabs, and the tab you are on is part of the page link, so a copied link opens the same tab:

• Details. What the job is, the property, Where (the unit or area) and Spot, the category, the request it belongs to, notes, and an Equipment this affects section you can open when it matters. The ? beside a label shows its help.
• Who & when. Status, priority and target timeframe; who does the work (Our staff, a Vendor, or both) and the work order; the dates; and the appointment.
• Costs. The estimate, then one list of everything the job cost: vendor bills, hours worked, store receipts, bank withdrawals with a line for the job, and stock used. Each row shows the date, the type, what it was, what paid for it, and the amount. Click a column heading to sort, or a type button (Bills, Labor, Materials, Stock) to see only that kind. The total under the list is the job's Cost so far. A store receipt shows only this job's part, so the rows add up to that total. When some of a receipt went somewhere else, its row says so, for example $3.00 of a $3.75 receipt. Click the row (or Show items) to see what was on the receipt and where each item went; the ones that count here are marked This job. To add a cost, choose + Add cost and pick Vendor bill, Hours worked, Store receipt or Use from stock; a small form opens above the list. A new job has to be saved before it can take costs.
• Files. The Found and Completed photos, and the job's documents. + Add file adds a quote, contract, invoice or any other file.

Delete job, Cancel and Save job stay at the bottom on every tab. When you have changed something, Unsaved changes shows beside them, and Cancel asks before throwing the changes away.

The repairs list itself is a table on a wide screen and a stack of cards on a phone, with a column showing where each item came from — a visit, a tenant ticket, the capital forecast, or logged directly — and who it is currently on. + Schedule a repair at the top of the tab opens a blank repair.

Forecasted items are projections from the capital forecast rather than live work. Promote to Repairs Tracker turns one into a real repair order when the time comes.

When a job is done: the record it makes

A job that replaces or adds a building system or appliance, such as a water heater or a refrigerator, makes a record for it at the property when you complete it. Set Status to Complete and fill in Date completed. The record needs that date.

When you set a job to Complete, an optional question appears: Which item was it? On a computer it sits under the date; on the phone it sits above Mark complete. It lists your equipment items that become their own record. Pick the one that went in, or leave it on Not an inventory item. It only appears while you are marking the job complete, not when you open a job that was already complete. A job completed on the phone updates the property's records the same way as one completed on a computer.

• You pick an item. The new record is made from that item: its type, brand and model, with the item's usual details filled in. It is linked back to the item.
• A bill for the job already names an item. If a bill line that goes to the job (or to a bill that belongs to the job) names an equipment item, the record is made from that item the same way, with no question asked. If you also pick an item, your pick is used. A line on a rejected bill is ignored.
• Nothing is named. The record is made from the job itself, as before.

Either way, you get one record, not a second loose one next to it. The record takes the job's real cost, the completion date and the vendor. If the job replaces an existing record of the same kind, that older record is retired. If the job also bought a different kind of equipment, the older record is left alone. Equipment you already installed on the job from stock is still the record for that job, and is not made again. Moving the job out of Complete takes back a record the job made, as long as nobody has changed it since.

When you Place in service a capital project that has a completed job with such a record, the project links that record. It does not make another. Reversing the in-service entry leaves the record in place.

Unit finishes by property

Open a property, go to Assets, and choose Finishes to see the paint and finish on every unit at once, one row per unit: Walls, Ceiling, Trim, Doors, Cabinets, Flooring (for example LVT: Kitchen, Hall), how many rooms differ from the rest of the unit, and when it was last painted. Flooring is listed by room and is not counted as a room exception. Four numbers sit above the table: units recorded, units not recorded yet, room exceptions, and the oldest paint on the property. Search by unit, color name or color code (for example SW 7008), or narrow the list with Not recorded and Has room exceptions. The table shows 25, 50 or 100 units a page.

Click a unit to open its finishes in a popup. It is the same panel the unit's own Finishes tab shows, so everything works the same way: record a finish, change one (the old one stays in the history), add a room exception, or edit one. A unit nobody has recorded yet can be filled in from the first time. Closing the popup puts you back on the same page of the list.

Flooring, and Finishes filled from inventory

The unit's Finishes tab has a Flooring card under the paint lines. It lists one row per room, or one row for the whole unit, with the material, the product and color, when it was put down, and where the row came from. Choose + Flooring to add one by hand. You pick a material (LVT, Carpet, Tile, Hardwood, Vinyl sheet or Laminate), the room (leave it blank for the whole unit), and if you want, the square feet, brand, product and color. Change on a row records new flooring and keeps the old row in the history. Flooring is its own line, apart from the paint surfaces.

Every Finishes table has a Source column that says what made the row:

• Typed means someone entered it by hand on this tab.
• Inventory use means stock was used on the unit. If the use was on a repair, the words are a link that opens the repair.
• Bill followed by the vendor's name means a vendor bill line bought it for the unit. The words are a link that opens the bill.

You do not have to type paint, stain or flooring in twice. On the item's form (see Inventory: supplies and parts), mark the item as one that fills the unit's Finishes. Then, whenever you use that item on a unit, or buy it for a unit, you are asked Update the unit's Finishes? The answer starts on No, touch-up only, so a quick touch-up never changes the record unless you say so. The question appears in four places:

• Using stock on a repair on the desktop, when the repair is on a unit.
• Use stock in Inventory, when the use lands on a unit (the unit of the repair you pick, or the unit you choose under the property).
• Use on unit in the staff phone app.
• A bill item line whose Where it goes is Straight to a unit, or For a job when the job is on a unit. A job that is not on a unit cannot fill Finishes, and the bill tells you so.

Choose Yes and say what it was. For paint or stain, tick the surfaces (Walls, Ceiling, Trim, Doors, Cabinets) and choose Whole unit or name the rooms. The color comes from the item's Finish library color. If the item has none, type the color name or code, and tick Save this color to the item if you want it kept for next time. For flooring, choose Whole unit or add each room, with its square feet if you know them. If the item is linked to a flooring entry in your Finish library, the material, brand, product and color come from that entry. If it has none, add the brand, product and color if you want, and tick Save this flooring to the item to add them to the library and link the item for next time (it needs a color). You can also set the date it was finished; it starts as today. A new row replaces the current one for the same surface and room, and the old one stays in the history. For a use, Done by shows your name. For a bill line to a job it shows the bill's vendor. When paint is counted in gallons and went on one surface in one place, the gallons are filled in too.

After you save, the screen says what it filled, for example Unit Finishes updated: Walls and Trim in Kitchen. A saved bill line shows Filled Finishes with the same words. If the stock was used or the bill saved but Finishes could not be updated, the screen says so, and you can add it on the unit's Finishes tab.

The rows follow their source. If you return the use or void it, or you change or remove the bill line, the Finishes it filled are taken back out and the earlier finish becomes the current one again. A use that drew from two stock lots shows as two rows in the supplies log; returning or voiding either one takes the Finishes back out. A row that a later change has already replaced stays in the history, and its Source goes back to Typed. If you change a saved bill line, the question is offered again for the new line.

The Finish library

The Finish library holds the paint, stain and flooring you use often. Go to Settings > Finish library. Anyone in your organization can add and edit entries. Picking one while you record a finish copies its details onto the unit. Choose + Add to library to make an entry, search the library, narrow it by Type (Paint, Stain, Natural or Flooring) and tick Show archived entries to see retired ones. Each row shows the color, type, brand, code and how many units it is Used on, with Edit and More.

Inventory: supplies and parts

Inventory → View list is the catalog of supplies and parts your organization keeps on hand, such as toilets, light fixtures and faucets, tracked by storage location and at what they actually cost. Inventory has two kinds of thing: Supplies, which you count, and Equipment, which you keep one at a time. Appliances and building systems such as water heaters are equipment. Choose Equipment to see only them, and search by serial number. Each physical thing is called a piece, and each piece is tracked one by one on the item's Equipment tab, with its own cost, condition and location. The list shows four totals (active items, total value, running low, out of stock) and can be searched by name, SKU, brand, model or notes, and narrowed by category, location and stock status (All, In stock, Low, Out of stock, Archived). Add item creates the item itself, with no stock yet, and asks one question, What kind of item is it? (see below). Open any item to see its own page, which has its own web address you can bookmark or send.

Paint, stain and flooring can also fill the unit's Finishes. On a supply kept in stock, choose Fills the unit's Finishes when used and pick Paint, Stain or Flooring. Flooring needs its material (LVT, Carpet, Tile, Hardwood, Vinyl sheet or Laminate), unless you link the item to a flooring entry in your Finish library under Finish library flooring; then the entry's material is used and shown read-only. Only a supply kept in stock can do this. After that, using the item on a unit, or buying it for one on a bill, asks Update the unit's Finishes? (see Flooring, and Finishes filled from inventory).

An item's page shows what is on hand, its value at cost, its reorder level and when it was last counted, over four tabs: Stock by location, Movements (every receipt, move, use, return, write-off and count adjustment, with who did it and when), Lots and cost and Details. Each receipt is its own lot at its real cost, and stock is always used oldest lot first, so what a repair is charged matches what you paid.

The one question on Add item is What kind of item is it? Your answer decides everything else about the item, so there is no separate switch for tracking by serial number and no required category. It has four answers:

• A supply I keep in stock (toilets, sinks, lights, LVT, paint, filters, shingles). You count it by location and cost. You choose a unit of measure, and you can link a paint or stain to a color, or flooring to a flooring entry, in your Finish library. Category is optional and only groups items in lists and reports.
• Not kept in stock, expensed when bought (screws, nails, tape, blades, cleaning supplies). Nothing is ever on hand, so there is nothing to receive, move, use or count, so it is not shown in the Inventory list under any filter. A link under the list, such as 3 expensed items, opens just those items, where you can rename one, change its account or archive it. What you spent on them shows on the P&L and in the account's ledger. You choose an Expense account for it, and if you do not, it is charged to Supplies (5140). Every organization starts with one of these, called Shop consumables (screws, nails, tape, blades). It comes with the account, is always expensed, and its kind cannot be changed.
• It adds to a count on the unit (smoke detectors, CO detectors, extinguishers). It is kept in stock like a supply, and you choose which count it adds to. Using it on a unit finds or makes that unit's record for you (see Counted items below).
• It becomes its own record at the property (water heaters, furnaces, condensers, fridges, washers). You choose a Record type from the property's own list, grouped under Building systems and Appliances, with any custom types your organization added. Each one is kept on its own, with its own condition, location, cost and serial number if it has one. Things that are built rather than stocked, such as a roof, do not appear in the list.

You can change a supply into a count on the unit, and back, at any time. Any other change is allowed only while the item has no stock or equipment; otherwise the page tells you why. On Receive stock, Create a new item offers the same question without the expensed answer, because an expensed item cannot be received, and the item pickers for receiving, moving, using and counting leave expensed items out. The staff mobile app asks the same question when staff create an item while receiving.

• Receive stock. Choose the item (or create it on the spot), where it is put away, the quantity and the unit cost, then say how it was paid: Paid from a bank account, or Already owned (opening balance) for stock you already had. Stock bought on a vendor bill is not received here; put the item on a bill line and the bill brings the stock in. Stock with a unit cost of $0 (found, no value) goes on the shelf but posts nothing to the books, and using or writing it off later posts nothing either.
• Move. Takes stock from one location to another. The cost and the order of the lots go with it.
• Use stock. Takes stock out for a repair, or for a property. For a repair, pick the open repair item, or choose + New repair to create one on the unit first; the cost is posted to that repair and shows on its Costs tab. For a property, choose the property, an optional unit or common area (a fire extinguisher in the laundry room, say) and the expense account. A detector or extinguisher used in a common area adds to, replaces or creates that area's record, the same way it does for a unit. When you install a piece that has no serial number yet, Use asks for it as Serial number (optional). Type it, scan it on the phone, or tick No serial on this one. Leave it blank and nothing is blocked. The record then reads Serial: not recorded, and you can fill the serial in later from the record. A piece that already has a serial shows it and never asks again.
• Return puts unused stock back, or voids a use you recorded by mistake.
• Adjust stock removes or adds stock for a reason you choose, with a note. Removing stock (Lost, Stolen, Damaged, Expired, No longer has value) is for admins only; anyone with inventory access can add it back (Found, Correction).
• Count. Pick a location (or choose Count on one row of an item), type what is actually there, and leave anything you did not count blank. Finishing posts a correction, with your reason, only for items whose count differs.
• Download CSV. Choose Download CSV beside the filters to get a spreadsheet of everything held, one row for each supply at each location and one row for each piece of equipment, with its serial number, status, location, property, quantity, cost and value. It follows what the list is showing: the location you picked (with everything inside it), Supplies or Equipment, and the words in the search box. To download only the warehouses and shelves that belong to no property, tick Only places with no property (warehouses) first; the other filters are not applied then.
• Void install. Open a piece that is installed (its row on the item's Equipment tab, or its page) and choose Void install. After you confirm, the piece goes back on the shelf where it was and the install cost is reversed. A piece that was used on a repair comes off that repair's costs. If the piece changed while you were looking at it, the page refreshes and tells you.
• Edit a piece. Open a piece (its row on the item's Equipment tab, or its page) and choose Edit, or choose Edit record in the row's More menu. You can record or correct its Serial number, its Condition (New in box, Used, working or For parts), its brand and model, and notes. Two pieces of the same item cannot share a serial number. Where the piece is, what it cost and whether it is installed are not changed here; use Move, Install and the other actions for those. Each edit is added to the piece's history. A piece opens in a popup in the middle of the screen.
• Print equipment labels. On the item's Equipment tab, tick the pieces you want and choose Print labels, or choose Print label on one piece's row or page. The PDF opens in a new tab with each piece's serial number as a QR code, in the small or large size you pick.
• Defaults for new equipment. When you add an item that becomes its own record, or choose Edit details on one, Defaults for new equipment lists the choices that go with its type, such as fuel for a dryer. Pick any you want and every piece you receive for the item starts with them. Receive shows what they are. A piece marked For parts only shows that label beside its status and cannot be installed.

Items on a vendor bill

Each line on a vendor bill is either an Item or an Account line (labor, fees, anything with no catalog item). An item line names a catalog item, a quantity and an amount, then asks Where it goes. The choices depend on the item's kind:

• Into stock puts it on a shelf at the storage location you pick and posts to Supply Inventory. A water heater or other item that becomes its own record makes one shelf record for each piece bought.
• For a job charges it to the property, and to a repair if you pick one, at the account you choose.
• Straight to a unit installs it in the unit you pick. An item that becomes its own record makes a new installed record there, with an optional serial for each piece, and Replaces retires the old record it replaces. An item that adds to a count raises the unit's count.
• Shop, no property is for items not kept in stock, such as screws and tape, used in your own shop. It is charged to no property and no owner, even on a bill for a property you manage.

One purchase, several properties. A job, unit or service line has its own Property; pick another on the same company's books and the line's repair, unit, owner and costs follow it. All Bills then shows 812 Oak Grove + 2 more.

Before you save, the bill shows the journal it will post (what each line debits, and Accounts Payable for the total) and what else happens on save, such as new records or a count going up. Once saved, each line shows what it made or installed. A line's stock or records can be changed only while nothing has used them: if stock from the line was already used, or a record it made was moved, installed or retired since, the bill tells you which one and does not save the change. The Supply log lists the bill's items not kept in stock as Expensed, with a link to open the bill.

The same lines on a bank withdrawal or a receipt

A purchase works the same way wherever you enter it. Three places open the same line editor as a vendor bill, with the same choices for each item, the same journal preview and the same list of what each line made:

• A bank withdrawal. In the bank account's register, choose New entry, then Withdrawal, then List what was bought instead of One category. The preview credits the bank account instead of Accounts Payable. The register row then says What was bought with the number of lines, and opening it lists each line and what it made.
• A repair's materials receipt. On the repair, add a receipt and choose List what was bought. Lines start as For a job on that repair. To keep leftovers, add a second line for them going Into stock. Everything except stock and shop lines counts toward the repair's cost (use For a job, not the shop, for a job's supplies): a line for another repair counts there, and a line straight to a unit counts here, as on a bill. A scanned receipt fills the lines for you; a line with no match in your catalog keeps its text in the item search box. Pick the matching item, or click Create item to add it to your catalog with the receipt's words as its name; the new item is picked on that line. Bills work the same way.
• A materials receipt on the staff phone. Under Log materials, choose List what was bought instead of Just the total. Each line offers what a computer receipt line offers: where it goes, the account, the unit's Finishes for paint, stain and flooring, another repair or property, and Not in inventory lines split across units. The lines must add up to the receipt amount before Log can be pressed. The job's materials total counts the receipt the same way the computer does.

A bank withdrawal with a line for a repair also shows on that repair. Open the repair, then its Costs tab: the list shows the withdrawal as a Bank row with only that repair's share, so the list adds up to Total cost so far. It is read-only there; choose Open in register to void or change it. A project or job that has cost like this cannot be deleted until the withdrawal is voided, or you can cancel the project instead.

Voiding a withdrawal that listed what was bought, or deleting a receipt that did, undoes what its lines made, as long as nothing has used them yet. The same goes for Receive stock paid from a bank account. If stock from a line was already used, or a record it made has moved on, you are told which one and nothing changes. A service line can be split across units in its Units list, as on a bill; the amount is shared evenly.

Receipts and pictures on a bank entry

When you create a bank entry, from New entry or from a bank item, the popup has a Receipts and documents section under the memo. Choose Add files or drop files onto it; on a phone, Take photo opens the camera. An entry holds up to 5 files. Each can be a picture (JPG, PNG, HEIC or WebP), a PDF, or a Word, Excel or CSV file, up to 25 MB. A file that does not fit is left out and the popup says which one and why. The files upload when you save the entry; if one fails, the entry is still saved and you can add it again from the entry.

In the register, an entry with files shows a paperclip and the count. Open the entry to see its files, open one in a new tab, add more while there is room, or remove one. You can add or remove files on a locked or reconciled entry, because the files never change the books; the entry records who added or removed each file and when. Voiding an entry keeps its files. Deleting an entry deletes its files.

The Payee box is still free text. As you type it suggests your vendors, and picking one fills in its name. A name that is not a vendor is saved as typed.

Counted items: detectors and extinguishers

An item that adds to a count already knows what it counts: smoke detectors, CO detectors or fire extinguishers. When you use one on a unit, Return Grid looks for that unit's record of the same type. You do not pick New record or type anything in by hand. What happens next depends on what the unit already has:

• The unit has no record of that type. Use adds one. Its count is the quantity you used, and it is installed today. The popup says so in a line before you confirm.
• The unit has one or more. Use asks whether these were Added (the count goes up) or Replacing old ones. If the unit has more than one record of that type, for example hallway and bedrooms, it also asks which record. A line under the choice tells you what will happen to the count.
• Added. The count on the record goes up by the quantity.
• Replacing old ones. You say how many old ones were replaced. If you replace only some, the record splits. The new ones get a new record, installed today. The old record keeps its dates and drops its count, so its expiry reminder still fires. If you replace all of them, the old record is retired and a new one takes its place.
• Power type. For detectors, Use asks the power type of the new ones. It starts at Sealed 10-year.

Voiding the use undoes it. A record the use made is removed, and a split goes back to the single record it came from. The quantity of a counted item is always a whole number, 1 or more.

Marking a detector reminder done with Replaced the whole detector follows the same rule. The quantity starts at the record's count; leave it and the record's install and expiry dates reset. Enter fewer and the record splits: the new ones get their own record, installed today, and the old record keeps its dates, so its reminders stay due. Undo removes the new record and puts the count back.

Supplies a record uses

A record says which supplies it uses, so a battery change or a filter change knows what to take from stock. Edit the record (the pencil on its row in Building systems or Appliances) and fill in Supplies it uses, under the record's details. Only the lines that fit the record show:

• Smoke and CO detectors: Battery, how many per detector, and Replace with, the detector item a replacement uses. Battery shows only when the power type is Battery or Hardwired. A sealed 10-year detector has only Replace with. The test uses nothing.
• Fire extinguishers: Replace with.
• Furnace (Filter), fridge with a water line (Water filter), recirculating range hood (Filter), water softener (Salt) and sump pump with a battery backup (Backup battery), each how many each time.

A battery is set per detector. A record that counts 3 detectors with 1 battery each takes 3 on a battery change; the popup shows the total. Battery and filter lines list your supplies, with the matching category first; Replace with lists only items that add to that same count, so a CO detector item never shows for a smoke detector.

The line then shows wherever the reminder does: Uses 9V battery x3 (1 per detector): 12 on hand on the record's row and in the Upcoming maintenance report. A line with no item reads Battery: not set with Set on record, which opens the record at Supplies it uses. Supply not set on Building systems and Appliances lists every record with a line still empty. When you mark the reminder done, the popup starts with that item and total; change it if you only did some, and the change is for that time only. Replaced the whole detector starts with the Replace with item. On the staff mobile app, a record's screen has the same Supplies it uses card.

Items has three categories for these: Batteries, Filters and Water treatment.

Set a reorder level on an item and the Reorder view lists everything at or below it, grouped by vendor, with Start vendor bill to turn the ticked items into a bill. The first time an item drops to or below its level, the organization's owner and admins get an email and a push notification. It does not repeat while the item stays low. Manage locations sets up warehouses, shelves, bins and property spaces. A truck is not a location. Print labels makes a sheet of QR labels for items, locations or equipment, and Scan code opens an item or location from its label.

The staff mobile app has the same work for the field. Under the Property tab, Inventory lets staff search or scan an item, then Use on unit, Move, Receive and Count from their phone. A double tap never posts twice, and the app needs a connection: if a save fails, the form keeps what was typed.

Replacing a building system or appliance

Each property has a Building systems tab and an Appliances tab under Assets. Open a record, such as a water heater or a fridge, and choose Replace when it has been swapped for a new one. Replace offers two choices for where the new one came from:

• From stock. The new one is a spare on your shelf. Pick it from the list of spares that match the record's type. If none match, the popup says there are no matching spares in stock. Then say what happens to the old one: scrap it, put it back on the shelf as a working spare, or shelve it for parts.
• Bought for this job. The new one was not in stock. Enter it on the vendor's bill instead: add a line straight to the unit and choose the old record under Replaces. Saving the bill makes the new record with its cost and retires the old one.

The old Brand new choice, where you typed the new record in by hand, is gone. On the staff phone, Replace works the same way: From stock lists spares of the same type (this property’s or unassigned) and asks what happens to the old one, and Bought for this job shows the bill instructions. Neither place sets a lock’s codes during Replace. Set them from the Door codes card on the new lock.

Capital projects

Maintenance → Capital Projects is the home for work that adds to what a property is worth, from a forecast on the horizon to the day it is placed in service. It is separate from the repairs board because the cost is capitalized, not expensed. Six tabs sort the projects by stage: Needs a decision (inspection findings with no cost yet, and components at the end of their life; nothing is created until you decide), Active, Done, not in service, Plan, In service and All. Above them, Views keeps and recalls filters, including Over budget and Next year plan. Plan by year lists Forecast, Planned and In progress projects by target year, with how much of each year the property's reserve covers, and Fixed-asset schedule (CSV) exports the fixed-asset schedule.

New capital project asks for a property, a unit if the work is for one (otherwise it covers the whole property), a name, and whether it starts as Forecast or Planned; you can also start from a saved template. The property and unit pickers are searchable and offer only properties you own or are selling, and an Analyze or Sold property is refused. A project then moves forward with the buttons in its header, through In progress and Complete, and finishes as In service when you choose Place in service. Edit in the header changes its name, description, budget and dates. Cancel project asks for a reason, and if the project already has cost you choose whether to expense it or leave it in account 1700 until someone does.

Open a project to see its Overview, Jobs, Funding, Documents, Accounting and Activity tabs. Funding shows the property's reserve share, the planned draw and what is left after it; going negative flags the project as overdrawn but never blocks it. Documents holds the project's own files plus the job and bill files that belong to it, each linking back to its source.

Made one by mistake? Delete project in the header removes a project in Forecast, Planned, In progress or Cancelled, together with its jobs, as long as nothing has been billed to it, no reserve has been drawn, and none of its jobs has bills, labor, materials, supplies or photos. A job with nothing on it can be removed on its own with Delete job on its card. Once there is cost behind a project, cancel it instead.

The CapEx reserve

Set a CapEx Reserve % on an owned property and monthly accruals post automatically on the 1st, dated as the 1st of the following month (an August 1 entry covers July). Spends post automatically when a capital improvement is marked done. Manual adjustments are also possible.

Reports → CapEx & RUL Report shows open items and the reserve balance for one property or the whole owned portfolio, and the reserve ledger lists every accrual, spend and adjustment with filters by property, type and date range, plus Export CSV.

CapEx Accrual History

CapEx Accrual History lists every accrual, spend and adjustment posted to a CapEx reserve across the properties you own. Open it from the Reports Center, in the Portfolio & Asset category. Monthly accruals post by themselves on the 1st for owned properties that have a CapEx Reserve % set. A job inside a capital project does not draw on the reserve on its own. The project draws once, when you mark it Complete, sized from the real cost of all its jobs.

Narrow the list by Property, Type (All types, Accruals only, Spends only or Adjustments only), From date and To date, and tick Include sold properties if you need them. The cards show the total accrued, the total spent, adjustments and the net movement for what you filtered. Each entry shows its date, property, type, amount, notes and who posted it, and a spend links back to the capital project it came from. Export CSV and Export Excel download the entries.

Capital project cost lines and templates

Settings > Capital projects sets what people are offered when they create a capital project. A change here only affects projects created afterwards. Cost lines are the labels suggested when you add a budget line. + Add cost line adds one, the arrows reorder them, Remove retires one, and Show removed brings retired ones back into view. The Used on column shows how many projects use each line. Renaming or removing one leaves existing project lines as they are.

Templates fill a new project’s budget lines and jobs. Return Grid ships starter templates such as furnace and HVAC replacement and roof replacement, and + New template makes your own. Search them, filter by Purpose (Replace, Improve, Required or Initial rehab), and show Active, All or Archived ones. Each row shows its budget, how many lines and jobs it has, how many projects used it and whether it is a starter. Editing a template never changes projects already made from it.

Keep your reserve in a bank account

On its own the CapEx reserve is a tally: it says how much each property has set aside, but no cash sits behind it. To hold real money against it, add a bank account with the purpose Reserve under Banking → Bank Accounts, then pick where each property keeps its share in the Reserve account box on Repairs & Improvements → CapEx Accrual History.

Linking, moving or unlinking a property never moves money by itself. The popup shows the property's share and, for a reserve account, can add the transfer that funds it to that account's To transfer tab. Move the money at your bank, then press Record transfer there; it posts a normal transfer between your own accounts, with no income or expense. If the cash is already in the account, press Skip instead.

• Monthly accruals add to each linked property's share, so the reserve account suggests a transfer in each month until you record it.
• Moving a property to another reserve account suggests moving its cash from the old account to the new one. The new account waits for that move rather than asking operating to fund it a second time.
• Unlinking suggests moving the property's cash back to operating.
• Top up adds to a property's share at any time, from operating cash or as an owner contribution. It is never required, and a share may go below $0 after a large spend.
• Interest the bank pays on a reserve account is recorded as a deposit coded to other income. It is not shared out to the properties.

A reserve account's Properties tab lists each property's share; its strip shows the cash held and what is still to move in or out. The same figures appear as Cash held under the reserve balance on Plan by year, and the Own dashboard links straight to any transfers still to record.

Duration & aging

Per property, the Duration & Aging tab in the repairs modal; portfolio-wide, Reports → Repair Duration & Aging. Both use the same timing logic, so the two views never disagree.

• Work duration — date started to date completed.
• Turnaround — date identified to date completed. This is the number your tenants feel.
• Open items — not started, in progress, or blocked, aged as of today.

19 Visits & inspections

One form, four purposes, and it changes shape depending on which you pick.

The available types depend on the property's phase — a "Sale showing" filter on an owned property just empties the list, so Return Grid only offers types that can actually exist there.

The condition survey

Diligence and routine inspections walk a sticky section navigation: Exterior & structural · Basement / crawl space · Mechanical systems · Interior (per unit) · Garage & parking · Common areas & grounds · Safety & compliance · Tenant & occupancy observations · Neighborhood / curb impression · Repairs & cost log · Overall assessment.

Shared property details — roof type, siding, window type, driveway — are editable on a diligence visit because you're establishing what the building is. They're read-only on a routine inspection, which records the property's current state rather than redefining it.

Anything you log under + Add repair item in the cost log becomes a real repair item on the property, marked as created from a visit.

Save draft as you walk; Mark complete when you're done. Sold properties won't accept new visits, but everything already logged stays.

Move Inspections report

Reports → Operations → Move Inspections shows move-in and move-out inspection status for every active lease in your portfolio on one page, so you do not have to open leases one at a time. Columns: Property, Unit, Tenant, Type, Status, and Progress, with a link to the inspection. Filter by status, search by property, unit or tenant, and export to CSV or Excel.

Status is one of Not started, Move-in · Draft, Move-in · Submitted, Move-out · Draft, or Move-out · Submitted. A submitted inspection is read-only.

AI Damage Review

On a submitted move-out inspection, Open AI Damage Review compares the unit's move-in and move-out photos and lists the differences the AI found, one item at a time. It appears only on submitted move-out inspections; move-in inspections have nothing to compare.

Each row shows the evidence, the checklist item, the room, the AI suggestion (No change, New damage, or Pre-existing damage), its confidence, and your decision. Filter the list by Needs review, Reviewed, Tagged, or Untagged. Open an item to see the move-in and move-out photos side by side. If no comparison has run for it yet, use Run AI comparison. When a walkthrough video was analysed, a recap and transcript appear above the list, with a download for the video and transcript while it is still retained.

The Inspections page

Inspections > Inspections shows portfolio-wide inspection schedules, due work and completed visits. A card counts the inspections completed in the last 12 months. Search by property, narrow by Status (Due soon, Overdue, Scheduled, Completed, Late completed, Open, Cancelled or No obligation yet) and choose Clear filters to start over. Until a property has an inspection schedule or obligation the page says so.

Export for insurance downloads the completed inspection history an insurance carrier asks for. Pick the Property, optionally a unit, and Completed from and Completed to dates, then choose Export CSV. The export leaves out tenant contacts and internal notes.

Units to walk: walk-throughs

A walk-through is one visit to a unit or a building to photograph the shutoffs, switches, filters and thermostat and to record the equipment. The tenant assistant uses these photos and notes to help a tenant fix a small problem before calling you. Open Maintenance > Inspections > Units to walk to see every unit and building of your owned properties in one list.

Across the top, the status buttons All, Not started, In progress, Photos done and Fully recorded each show how many rows they hold. Search finds a property, unit or address, Property narrows the list to one property, and Show switches between Units and buildings, Units only and Whole buildings only. Each row gives the status, how many steps are done, what is still needed, when it was last walked and by whom. The button on the right reads Start, Continue or Open and takes you to that unit’s or building’s Walk-through tab.

On the tab, Start the walk-through (or Continue the walk-through) opens the steps one at a time. Each step shows Not recorded, Needs a photo, Photo done, Recorded or Not here. Choose Quick: photos and where to take only the photos and note where each thing is, or Full: every detail to record the make, size and other details as well. Mark walked today stamps the visit. On a building, Nothing in this building marks every step you have not started as not there, after you confirm; steps that already have items are left alone and you can reopen any step later.

20 Tasks

Manual to-dos and the ones Return Grid creates for you.

Task List in the left menu. Filter by status (All open & in progress, Done, Cancelled, All), assignee, and property. Create with + New Task — title, due date, property (or "Not tied to a property"), and one or more assignees.

Capital-forecast runs generate tasks automatically and assign them to the teammates attached to that property, which is why Assigned teammates is required when you record a purchase.

21 Reports & dashboards

Where to look when someone asks how the portfolio is doing.

Most tables export to CSV, and property analyses export to PDF and Excel.

Lease Renewal Outcomes

Reports → Operations → Lease Renewal Outcomes shows what actually happened to leases after they came up for renewal: renewed, vacated, or holdover. It is worked out from your existing lease and rent history, so there is nothing to enter.

The summary strip shows the renewal rate, the counts of renewed, vacated and holdover leases, and the average rent change on renewals. Leases still waiting on an outcome are reported separately as Pending and are never counted as a win or a loss. Pick how far back to look with Lease ended (3, 6, 12 or 24 months, or all time), group by month if you want a trend, and filter by outcome or property.

Click a row to open its record with the old and new rent and the decision date; the address of that record can be bookmarked or shared. Export to CSV, Excel or PDF.

Closing an accounting period

Under Accounting → Accounting Periods, each calendar month is either open or closed — there's no separate "locked" state to think about. Closing a period is a signal to the rest of your team that the month's books are done: Close period asks why you're closing it (an audit note like "month-end review complete"), and that reason is required, not optional. Need to fix something afterward? Reopen period is available on any closed period and asks the same kind of question — why it's being reopened — before putting it back to open. Every close and reopen, with its reason, who did it and when, shows right on the period's row in the Activity column, so the audit trail is visible at a glance instead of buried in a log only an admin can query.

Cash and accrual statements

Return Grid keeps one set of books. The Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet can show those books two ways, and the Accrual / Cash switch at the top of each report flips between them. Nothing is posted or recalculated when you flip it. It is a different view of the same entries.

• Accrual shows income when it is charged and expenses when they are billed. Rent that was charged in October counts in October, whether or not the tenant has paid yet.
• Cash shows income when money is received and expenses when they are paid. Rent counts in the month the payment arrives.

Because you never pick which charge a payment goes against, the cash view applies each payment to the oldest unpaid charge first. The Trial Balance always stays on the accrual basis, since it is the raw ledger.

Under the cash view, a panel at the bottom of the Profit & Loss shows how cash net income differs from accrual net income: the unpaid receivables and unpaid bills that explain the gap. Entries that carry income or expense but no cash, such as opening balances, inventory used and write-offs, each get their own line, and a line made of several kinds of entry lists each kind. Click Show the entries under any line to see the records behind it. If something could not be matched, a warning appears above the figures instead of the report quietly guessing, and Show the records behind this warning lists the entries that caused it with their date, renter and unit so each one can be fixed. The cash Balance Sheet removes receivables and payables, and a note says how much retained earnings moved as a result.

On the cash view, click an amount to see the cash behind it: the payments received, the bills paid and the management fees taken from trust that make up that figure, with the same total. The account name still opens the account's accrual journal lines. The same applies to amounts on the Cash Flow, which list the bank movements.

The chosen basis is part of the statement itself. It appears on screen, in the printed page, and at the top of every CSV export, and the word cash is in the file name too. A link to a report with &basis=cash on the end opens the same cash view for whoever receives it.

The Cash Flow statement

Reports → Financial → Cash Flow answers where the money in your bank accounts came from and where it went. It is always on a cash basis. It starts with cash at the start of the period, adds operating activity (money in from tenants and customers, money out for vendors and expenses), investing activity (property and improvements) and financing and money held for others (owners, loans, security deposits, owner payouts), and ends with cash at the end of the period.

• Money still sitting at your payment processor, and funds not yet deposited, count as cash. They show on their own held at payment processor line so you can see how much has not reached the bank.
• Reserve accounts are not counted as operating cash. A move into one appears on its own line, so cash that was set aside is easy to tell from cash that was spent.
• On properties you manage for an owner, the rent and fees tenants pay is the owner's money. It shows under Collected and kept for owners in the financing section, not as operating cash. A management fee moves into operating cash only when you take it out of the owner's trust account.
• Pick a Property to see the money that moved for that property alone. Bank accounts are not split by property, so that view leaves out cash at the start and end of the period.
• A second green check, Operating activities equal cash net income on the Profit & Loss, confirms that the operating total matches cash net income on the cash Profit & Loss. When they differ, the statement shows the size of the difference instead of hiding it.
• A green check, Ties to the cash balances on the Balance Sheet, confirms the closing figure matches the cash accounts on the Balance Sheet. If it ever does not, the statement says so rather than hiding it.

Choosing which basis reports open on

An admin sets the organization's starting basis under Accounting → Accounting Periods, in the Financial reports open on card. Pick Accrual basis or Cash basis and press Save. Lenders and larger portfolios usually want accrual. Small landlords filing taxes on a cash basis usually want cash.

This only decides where a report opens the first time. Anyone can use the switch on the report itself, and the switch remembers each person's last choice, so one person choosing cash does not change what a colleague sees.

Collections Aging

Collections Aging lists what tenants still owe, by how late it is. Open it from the Reports Center, in the Financial category. All receivables, Rent & charges and Deposits choose what is counted. As of sets the date, and the buckets age from each charge’s due date, not the statement date. Narrow the list by Property, Bucket (0-30, 31-60, 61-90 or 90+), Min balance and Status (Open or Partial), or search by tenant, unit or property. Reset filters starts over.

The cards at the top show the total outstanding, how many tenants have a balance, and the four age buckets. Each row shows the tenant, unit and property, the amount in each bucket, the Total due and the Last notice Return Grid sent (“Never contacted” if none). On a row, Record payment opens the payment form, and Collection log shows the tenant’s collection history. A tenant who has paid in full today shows View ledger instead. Export CSV, Export Excel and Export PDF download the list.

Record payments at the top enters several receipts at once. Each row has its own tenant, amount, method, reference and Paid by; a row paid by anyone other than the tenant also takes an optional payer name.

Repair Cost report

The Repair Cost report adds up what each repair item cost across every property you own. Open it from the Reports Center, in the Operations category. The cards show the total cost, how many repair items it covers, and the labor, materials and vendor bills behind it. Narrow it by Property, Category (Repair, Capital improvement, Turnover or Not sure yet) and Completed from and Completed to, or search by description or property. Reset filters starts over, and Export CSV downloads what you see. Each row shows the property, description, category, status, date completed and its Labor, Materials, Vendor bills and Total.

Leases Expiring Soon

Leases Expiring Soon lists every active or notice-given lease that ends within the next 90 days. Open it from the Reports Center, in the Operations category. Search it, or narrow it with Status (Active or Move-out notice). Each row shows the property, unit, primary tenant, status, end date, days left and monthly rent, sorted by end date. Export CSV and Export Excel download the leases that match your search and filters, in the order shown.

Leases Missing a Deposit

Leases Missing a Deposit lists every active lease that has no security deposit entry recorded, so you can find a deposit that was collected but never entered. Open it from the Reports Center, in the Financial category. A lease counts as having a deposit when its deposit ledger holds an initial deposit, a deposit increase or a backfilled deposit; a voided entry does not count, and a pet deposit alone does not count. Search it, or narrow it with Status. Each row shows the property, unit, primary tenant, status, lease start and monthly rent. A lease leaves the list as soon as a deposit entry is recorded on it. Export CSV and Export Excel download the leases that match your search and filters, in the order shown.

Autopay leases

Autopay leases shows, in one place, which active leases have a tenant enrolled in autopay. Open it from the Reports Center, in the Financial category. Each row is one lease with the tenant, the autopay status, the amount, the debit day, the next debit date, the payment method (type and last four digits), the last charge and its result, and a Needs attention column that says what is wrong. A blank amount shows as Missing, because a lease with no amount set is never charged.

The list opens on Active. Use the Autopay filter to see Pending, Paused, Failed or Cancelled enrollments, to show All leases, or to pick No autopay to list the leases whose tenant is not enrolled. The Attention filter keeps only rows that need a look. Search by property, unit or tenant, click any column heading to sort, and use Export CSV or Export Excel to download the rows that match your filters. The report is read only.

Vacancy & Turnover

Vacancy & Turnover lists every unit turnover across your portfolio, from move-out to re-rent, with its turn cost and status. Open it from the Reports Center, in the Operations category. The cards show the average and median days vacant and the average and total turn cost, all for completed turns only, and how many turns have started. Turn cost totals the completed repair items marked Turnover (labor, materials and linked vendor bills) with a completion date between move-out and re-rent. A capital improvement scheduled during a vacancy is not counted, even if it finished in that window.

Narrow the list by Property, Turn status (Complete, Turn in progress or No turn started) and Term ended from and Term ended to, or search by unit, property or tenant. Each row shows the unit, property, the dates vacated, ready and re-leased, days vacant, turn cost and turn status. Export CSV, Export Excel and Export PDF download the list.

Tax package

Tax package gathers the year-end numbers your accountant asks for, one filing entity at a time. Open it from the Reports Center, in the Financial category. Pick the Tax year and the Filing entity (the entity that owns the property). Everything on it is labelled Estimate. Confirm with your accountant, and nothing on it posts to your books.

The Overview tab is where the package starts. It shows the number of properties and depreciable assets in the entity, how many need information, and the tax and book depreciation for the year. The Year-end checklist lists what is done and what still needs a look: the depreciation schedule, book depreciation posted for every property, income and expenses tying to the ledger, every account mapped to a return line, the loan report, W-9s for vendors paid $600 or more, the filing form for the entity, and accounting periods closed through December 31. Each open item has an Open button that takes you to the place to fix it. The Filing form setting on the Overview chooses whether the entity reports on Schedule E (individuals and single-member LLCs) or Form 8825 (partnerships and multi-member LLCs); until it is set, Schedule E is shown. Mark prepared for CPA saves a copy of the key numbers for this entity and year, and asks first if checklist items are still open. After that the Overview shows when it was last prepared and by whom, and lists every number that has changed since, so you can tell your accountant what moved. Each click adds a new saved copy; saved copies cannot be edited or deleted. Download CPA workbook (Excel) gives your accountant one file with a sheet for each tab, Download PDF workpaper gives a printable copy, and each tab also has its own CSV.

The Depreciation schedule tab lists one row per asset: the building, rehab, each past improvement and each tax class of a Capital Project. Each row shows its class, in-service date, cost basis, bonus percent, depreciation taken before, this year and what remains. Rows are grouped by property; with more than eight properties the groups start collapsed. Each property heading shows how many assets are ready, the tax amount, the book depreciation you posted (Dr 6200 / Cr 1510) and the difference. The totals at the bottom cover every asset that matches your filters, not only the page on screen. Search by property, description or class, narrow by Property, Class or Status, and click any heading to sort. Download CSV exports every matching row with the year, entity and date prepared.

The Income and expenses tab lays out the year's rents and expenses in the order of the return: Schedule E, Part I or Form 8825, Part I, chosen with Return form (it starts on the form set for the filing entity, or Schedule E when none is set). There is one column per property, six at a time with More properties to page, then a column for ledger lines with no property and a Total. Click any amount to see the ledger lines behind it. The totals come from the same ledger the profit and loss report reads, so they tie to it. The depreciation line is the tax amount from the Depreciation schedule tab, not the book amount; the book depreciation you posted is shown under the totals so you can see the difference. Download CSV exports every property column.

Each ledger account reports on a default return line based on its type. Account mapping lets you change the line for any account, separately for each form. An account with activity but no line is listed in a notice above the table. Expense accounts count in Other expenses; income accounts are left out of the totals until you place them.

The Loans and other tab gathers the rest of what your accountant asks for, from your ledger and records. The first table has, per property, the interest paid, the loan costs written off, the unamortized loan costs and the loan balance as of December 31 (the balance shows a dash until the property's opening entry is posted), and the owner contributions and owner draws for the year. Loan events this year lists new loans, refinances and payoffs. Vendor payments shows what you paid each vendor and whether a W-9 is on file; a total of $600 or more with no W-9 is flagged, but that is a prompt for your accountant, not a 1099 decision, and payments by card or processor are reported by the processor. Closing statements on file lists the purchase and sale closing statements filed on the properties. Download CSV exports all of it.

If more than 40% of the year's 5-year and 15-year basis was placed in service in the last quarter, a note says the mid-quarter convention may apply. Return Grid does not choose for your accountant. To fill in or fix an asset, open the property and use the Basis tab.

Upcoming Maintenance

Upcoming Maintenance gathers the maintenance reminders for every property you currently own, grouped by urgency. Open it from the Reports Center, in the Operations category. The top shows how many reminders are overdue, due this month, due in the next 90 days and expiring within a year. Search it, narrow it by Property and Category (Heating & cooling, Electrical, Plumbing, Envelope, Life safety, Site & exterior, Access & common or Appliances), or tick Overdue only.

Each row shows what the reminder is for, where, the task, how far it is over or when it is due, the tenant and the action. Mark done records that it was done, and a row that is missing a detail, such as a filter size, offers Set on record. Tick rows and choose Plan a mass inspection to start an inspection campaign from the reminders you selected.

22 Owner payouts & statements

For properties you manage for someone else: pay each owner what is theirs, then show them the month.

Rent for a property you manage for an owner lands in that owner's trust account. Two screens turn that money into something you can act on. Owner Payouts says who can be paid and how much, and records the payout. Owner Statements gives each owner a monthly report of what came in, what went out and what is left to pay. Both are under Accounting → Owners.

Paying an owner

Return Grid records the payout; it does not send the money. Send the ACH or write the check yourself, then record it here. The payout shows in the trust account's register, where it can be matched to the bank line in Find & Match.

The Ready to pay tab has one row per owner for the trust account you pick. The chips filter the list to Ready to pay, Short (the owner is owed more than the account holds) or Paid this month.

Tick the owners you have paid, or are about to pay, and choose Pay selected. The popup fills in each owner's full Available to pay; change the amount to pay less. Enter the date, how it was sent (ACH, check or other, with the check number) and the operating account the fees go to. Take management fees now is on by default: in the same pass, Return Grid moves each owner's fees from the trust account to operating, so the trust account is left holding only money that belongs to owners. Each payout gets a number such as PO-0001.

The History tab lists every payout. Open one to see the trust account's figures at the moment it was recorded and links to its register entries. If a payout was recorded by mistake, Void it with a reason. The register entries are reversed and the money is available again; the payout stays in History marked Voided.

Sending a monthly statement

An owner statement is one month for one owner. It is on a cash basis: it reports money collected and money paid, not rent that was charged. Rent charged but not yet paid is shown as a note at the bottom, outside the totals.

1. Generate. Pick the month and choose Generate for one owner, or for every owner at once. Each owner gets a Draft. Generating again refreshes a draft; it never touches a sent statement.
2. Check the drafts. Open a row to read the statement. The page lists the totals, then each property's rent, fees and bills line by line.
3. Send it. Email sends the PDF to the owner's email on file. For an owner with no email, download the PDF, send it yourself, then choose Mark sent. Download all gives you every PDF for the month in one file.

Lines under each property read the way the owner would say them. A deposit shows where the money came from and its note, not the bank accounts it moved between, and a category shows its name (Repairs and maintenance) rather than its code. This only changes how a line reads; the amounts are the same, and a statement you have already sent keeps the wording it was sent with.

Why a sent statement never changes

Once a statement is sent, it is frozen. You and the owner always see the same numbers, and a later back-dated entry never edits it. The difference shows up on next month's statement as a Changes to earlier months line, so the balances still chain from month to month.

Property owners

A property owner is who holds title to a property, or who you manage it for. It is a separate thing from the operating entity, which runs the property day to day and can change over time. Go to Properties > Owners > Property Owners. Add one with + Add owner, tick Show archived to see retired ones, search with Search owners, and narrow by Type (All owners, Internal or External). The list shows each owner’s type, operating entity, properties, units, money held, a Needs attention flag such as No properties or No contact email, and status. Your own portfolio appears as the Self owner, and money held does not apply to it.

Choose Open on a row to see the owner’s page. The cards at the top show the properties and units, occupancy, the money you hold for the owner, the bank accounts tagged to them and their operating entity. The tabs are Overview, Properties, Bank accounts, Money and Notes. The Overview holds Contact details, Ownership (the owner type and how the owner is booked, for example money we manage for this owner) and the Management agreement with its default fee. Each has an Edit link, and More has further actions.

23 Banking & accounting setup

Keep each bank account in step with your books, and tell Return Grid which account each kind of money belongs to.

Rent, bills, deposits and owner payouts post to your books on their own. This chapter is about the screens where you check that work against the bank, and the few settings that decide where money lands. Banking holds your bank accounts and the matching. Accounting → Ledger holds the books underneath. Settings → Accounting setup holds the rules.

Bank Accounts

Banking → Bank Accounts lists every account your organization holds money in. Four cards sit above the list.

Search by name, bank or last four digits, or use the chips to show only Operating, Trust, Reserve, Credit cards or Clearing accounts. The Status filter shows active accounts by default; switch it to see archived ones. The list puts accounts that need attention first (red, then amber, then green), then sorts by name. + Add account adds one, and Reconcile on a row starts that account's reconciliation.

The type decides how an account behaves. A trust account can hold money for each owner separately, a reserve account holds a property's CapEx reserve (see Keep your reserve in a bank account), and clearing accounts hold money that has not reached the bank yet, such as checks and cash waiting to be deposited, or online payments waiting for the processor's payout. An account whose type Return Grid could only guess shows Confirm classification. It can't be reconciled until you confirm it.

One account's page

Select an account to open its page. The top shows the ledger balance and when it was last reconciled. New entry and Reconcile sit beside the name, and More holds Edit, Make default and Archive. Each tab has its own address, so you can bookmark one.

The register is complete, not just a list of what you typed. Rent payments, vendor payments, transfers, owner payouts and your own entries all appear, so its balance can be compared with the bank's. Search by payee, memo or check number, and filter by date range (the last 90 days by default), type, state (open, reconciled, locked or voided), category, property or unit. Type, category and state filter the rows on the page you are looking at. Select a row to open it in a pop-up, and use Previous and Next to move through the rows on screen. Open a rent payment or a deposit and choose Edit to change its amount, date received, bank account or memo right there, with a note of why. An entry you typed yourself has Edit too, with its date, category, payee, memo, property and amount. So does a bill payment, for its date paid, method, reference and notes, and, when no bank item is matched to it and it is not reconciled, its amount and bank account. A bill payment's pop-up also shows the category its bill was posted to, with Open the bill to change its category; if the bill saves but a closed period keeps the books from changing, the editor says so. Save changes posts the change to the ledger, the register and the bank account together (for a rent payment, the lease balance too). A rent or deposit payment that was changed shows a line under the title with who changed it last, when and why. A reconciled entry or one in a closed period is locked, and the pop-up says why.

Reclassify a locked entry

On a locked deposit or withdrawal, choose Reclassify to move it to another category or another property. Pick the new category, the property if it changes, a date in an open period and the reason; a new entry moves the amount and the original is not changed. If the entry is split into several lines, choose the line to move, and enter a smaller amount to move only part of it (a line moved in part cannot be moved again from the pop-up). Banking → Reclassifications lists every one. The date under Original entry opens the entry that was reclassified, and View entry opens the new entry that moved the amount. Delete takes a reclassification back: after you confirm, the new entry is reversed with another entry dated today, the original is left as it was, and the row leaves the list. A closed period today refuses it.

A bill in a closed period or a completed reconciliation cannot be edited either. Open the bill and, in the Closed period box, choose Reclassify: pick the line of the bill, the new expense category, a date in an open period and the reason. The bill shows a Reclassified tag afterward, and the reclass appears in the same list.

New entry offers three types. A deposit adds money to this account, a withdrawal takes money out, and a transfer moves it between two of your accounts. A bank fee is a withdrawal with the Bank fee category. Rent and deposit payments, entries you typed and bill payments are changed in the entry's own pop-up (a bill payment's date, method, reference, notes, and its amount and bank account while it is unmatched and unreconciled); an entry a bank item created is changed from that item on the Feed tab.

Bank feed, connections and rules

An account's Feed tab lists what your bank reported. Items sort into For review, Matched, Created, Excluded and Exceptions. Two things fill it:

• A bank connection. Banking → Bank Connections lists them. One connection is one bank login and can carry several accounts. Connecting never creates entries in your books. It only fills each account's Feed.
• A file from your bank. Use Import file on the Feed tab if the account is not connected.

For an item you do not need, choose Exclude and give a reason. For one you do, create the entry from the item, or match it to an entry that is already in your books. The match popup first lists only the open entries for exactly the item's amount, nearest date first. When none has that amount it lists every open entry within 30 days of the item, and Show all lists them all when you want to look at the rest. Typing in the search always looks through everything in those dates. An item dated in a month that is already reconciled works the same way. It stays unreconciled until a later reconciliation includes it.

Banking → Bank Rules saves you retyping. A rule says that when a bank item's description contains some text, the Create entry form opens already filled in with the payee, category and repair you chose. A rule never posts, matches or changes anything on its own, so you still review each item. When two rules fit the same item, the one higher in the list wins. The fastest way to make one is to tick Remember this for next time when you create an entry from a bank item. Each rule shows how many entries it has been used for, which is only a count.

Create an entry from one item

Choose Create entry on a For review item. The form opens with the amount, date and account taken from the bank, and the person only says what it was. The top choice depends on which way the money went and on the kind of account:

• Expense or income. A plain bank entry with its category, property, payee and, for an expense, an optional repair to charge it to.
• Transfer. Moves money between two of your accounts. The bank text can suggest the other account with Use it, but it never picks one for you. When the other account's item arrives, it is matched to the transfer by itself only if exactly one open transfer fits and it is dated within 5 days. Anything less certain stays a suggestion for you to accept.
• Rent payment and Deposit received. Offered for money in on an operating or trust account. Pick the tenant (the bank text only ranks the list, and a tenant is preselected only when one clearly leads). A rent payment clears the oldest open charge first, and an amount above what is open is kept as a credit toward the next charge.
• Pay a bill. Offered for money out of an operating, trust or credit card account. Pick the vendor, tick its open bills and set how much to pay on each. The total must equal the bank item to the cent. If any step is refused, every payment already made is taken back, so you never end up with half of it.
• Refund a tenant. Offered for money out of an operating or trust account. Pick the tenant, then whether it is extra rent or extra deposit that was paid. A line with no credit on file is shown but cannot be chosen. When the lease has ended and the deposit has not been returned, the choice also offers handing the whole deposit back. The bank item must then equal exactly what is owed back.

Several items at once

Tick two to ten rows on the Feed tab to act on them together. They must be on one account, go the same way and all be For review, and none may be pending. The bar shows how many are ticked and their total. If a button is off, the line beside it says why.

• Create one entry makes a single expense or income for the total, for example a payment plus its separate service fee. Every item turns Created together, and deleting the entry in the register puts them all back in For review.
• Match to saved entries matches the ticked items to entries you already have, for example two bank items against two bills. A bar shows the bank total, the entries picked and what is still to match. Match stays off until every bank item is fully covered, and every pair is recorded together or none is. Up to 10 bank items and 50 entries fit in one match. When a bank item is short by more than $5.00 (or has no entry at all), Create an entry for the rest beside it opens the Create entry form for the part nothing covers. The entry is made when you press Match, together with the match, or not at all, and Undo takes it back with the rest of the match. The form can charge the entry to a repair and attach receipt files; the files upload right after the match. For money in the form also offers Rent payment and Deposit received, and for money out Pay a bill: choose the tenant or vendor as on Create entry from a bank item, and the payment is for exactly the part nothing covers. It is recorded when you press Match and Undo takes it back too. There is no Transfer here.

When the entries you pick add up to more than one bank item, the difference can be recorded as an adjustment, up to $5.00 per bank item, with Adjust the difference in the match popup for that item.

Correct an entry the feed created

On a Created row, Details opens a popup to correct the entry the item made, and the books are posted again in place. You can change the date, payee, category or account, property, check number (money out only) and memo. A split entry shows its lines or unit shares, and the new split must add up to the bank item before Save and repost turns on. The amount can move by up to $5.00 from the bank item, and the difference is posted to your rounding account. A transfer can change which account it goes to. A bill payment can change its paid date, method, reference and notes, and its files.

A change that affects the books is refused, with the reason, when the entry was cleared in a reconciliation, falls in a closed period, is part of an owner payout or is voided. A memo and files can still be edited in those cases. A rent or deposit payment says where it is changed instead.

Taking a match back

A Matched row has Unmatch in its menu. It returns the item to For review and reverses any adjustment made for it. When the item belongs to a group of several items and several entries, you are asked first and the whole group goes back together. An entry that was cleared in a completed reconciliation refuses the undo until that reconciliation is reopened. Nothing is deleted.

Receipts by email

Vendors email you a receipt for nearly every card purchase. Return Grid reads those emails, finds the posted bank charge that paid for each one, and attaches the receipt to it. Nothing is ever posted, matched to your books or changed on its own. The receipt only becomes a file on the bank item and, once you create the entry, on the entry. You find all of it under Banking → Accounts → Receipts.

Set up your receipts address

1. Make the address. Open Receipts, choose the Mailbox tab, and choose Generate receipts address. There is one private address for the whole organization. Copy puts it on your clipboard, and Label lets you name it, for example for the person who handles bills.
2. Give it to your vendors. The address is the only thing a vendor needs. How you hand it over depends on the vendor, and the next section covers the ones you will meet most.
3. Check the vendor names. Vendors recognised lists the stores Return Grid knows, such as Home Depot, Amazon and Menards, with the names each appears under on a bank statement. Edit names changes them. A receipt only matches a charge when its vendor's name appears in the charge's description, so add the spelling your bank uses if a charge keeps being missed.

Getting each vendor to send receipts

Photos, scans and PDFs

Email a photo of a paper receipt, a scan or a PDF to the receipts address, up to five files in one message. Return Grid reads the store, date, total, last four digits of the card and order number from each file. Because anyone can send a picture, every message with files must pass the provider's sender check first. This confirms the message really came from that address. It is automatic, and an email that fails it is held rather than read. What happens next depends on who sent it:

• Someone you know. Anyone with a Return Grid login in your organization, an address you added under Who can send photos and scans on the Mailbox tab, or a vendor you enabled. The files are read and the receipt waits for its charge.
• Someone new. A store, an insurance company or anyone else you told to send to the receipts address. Their files are read once and parked on Needs a look as New vendor, confirm this read, the same as email text (see Stores that are not built in below). Nothing from a new sender attaches until you confirm it.

A message that is held shows on the Mailbox tab under Skipped messages with the reason. Sender could not be verified has no button, because the fix is on the sender's side. A message with no files at all shows as Not a receipt. A message whose files could not be stored, for example a Word document or a file over 10 MB, shows as Files could not be kept; send it again as a picture or PDF. Skipped messages are kept for 30 days, and the page lists the newest 20.

Each photo is read by Return Grid's AI and counts against your organization's daily AI allowance. A file that cannot be read becomes a row on Needs a look with Could not read. Open it and choose Read again, which tries once more and tells you if it is still unreadable. A sharp photo taken flat, with the whole receipt in the frame and the total visible, reads best.

Stores that are not built in

Home Depot, Amazon and Menards are built in. Any other store works too, because Return Grid's AI reads the email. It counts against your organization's daily AI allowance, like a photo. What happens depends on who sent the email:

• You or someone allowed forward it. An email forwarded by a Return Grid user, or by an address on your allowed list, is read right away and waits for its charge. If the store is not recognised, the receipt shows on Needs a look as Vendor not recognised, and you attach it by hand. An email the AI cannot read shows there as Could not read, with Read again.
• The store sends it straight to the receipts address. If the sender check passes and the email looks like a receipt, or it carries photos, scans or PDFs, it is read once and parked on Needs a look as New vendor, confirm this read. It is never attached until you confirm. Each day, no more than half of your plan's daily AI allowance goes to reads from new senders. Past that, the email waits under Skipped messages as Vendor not enabled, and a count shows on the Mailbox tab.

Open a receipt marked New vendor, confirm this read. The words the AI read the date, total and order number from are marked in the email text, so you can check them. Then choose one of these:

• Confirm and enable this vendor keeps the vendor name and the names on your bank statement you typed, and makes a rule for that exact sender address. The receipt goes on to match its charge.
• Correct a field fixes the date, total, card or order number. A corrected read still waits for your confirm, and it does not count toward trust. The fix is also remembered for that vendor: the reader is shown your three most recent fixes (what it read and what you said was right) the next time it reads a receipt from that vendor, so the same mistake is less likely to come back.
• Not a receipt moves it to Ignored and leaves the sender off, so nothing else from it is read as a receipt.

You can also enable a vendor from the Mailbox tab. On a skipped message marked Vendor not enabled, choose Treat mail like this as receipts, name the vendor and add its bank statement names. The message is read at once and waits for your confirm.

You do not have to wait for a message. In the Vendors view, choose + Add vendor, name the vendor, choose A specific email address or Anyone at a domain, and type the address (for example orders@temu.com) or the domain (temu.com). Add the names the vendor shows under on your bank statement and choose Add vendor. A domain means exactly that domain: mail from mail.temu.com is a different domain, so add it as its own vendor if the store sends from one. Return Grid refuses a sender or a name that another vendor already has, built-in vendors and ones turned off included, and tells you which vendor holds it. The new vendor starts as a confirming vendor, as described next.

An enabled vendor is a confirming vendor. Each of its receipts waits for your confirm. After 3 confirmed reads in a row with no correction, the vendor is trusted and its receipts attach by themselves, like the built-in vendors. A correction, a failed sender check or a file that cannot be read sends a trusted vendor back to confirming, and it needs 3 confirmed reads again.

The Vendors view on the Mailbox tab lists every vendor with its sender, statement names, status, how many emails were read and when the last one was read. Search by vendor, sender or statement name, filter by status, and use Turn off or Turn on on a vendor you enabled. Built-in vendors show their senders as read only. Return Grid staff may add a vendor that many customers use; it appears here with its sender shown as Anyone at and its domain, and, like a vendor you enabled yourself, its first three receipts wait for your confirmation. Turning a vendor off stops its mail from being read as receipts, and nothing already read is changed.

What attaches by itself

A receipt is attached automatically when exactly one posted bank charge fits it:

• the amount is the same to the cent, and the charge is money out of a bank account or a purchase on a credit card account;
• the vendor's statement name appears in the charge's description;
• the receipt's date is within two days of the date the charge posted.

The same receipt arriving twice, for example as an email and a photo, is recognised by its order number and the second copy goes straight to Ignored. A receipt can hold one charge, and a charge one receipt.

The four lists

Search the lists by vendor, order number or amount, narrow them by vendor or date, and open a receipt to work it. Choose the Date or Total heading to sort the whole list by it; choose it again to reverse the order. A receipt has its own link, so you can send a colleague straight to it.

When a receipt needs a look

On any row you can choose Ignore this receipt, with a reason if you want to leave one. Ignoring never deletes the email or the file, and Restore brings the receipt back.

Loan statements

Your lender's monthly statement fills in the split of the loan payment. Email the PDF to your receipts address, or choose Upload a statement on Loan payments. Return Grid reads the statement date, the due date, the amount due, how it divides into principal, interest and escrow, any late fee, and the principal balance. It fits the statement to the loan by the last four digits of the loan number and to the payment by the month of the due date.

1. Open the payment. A payment read from a statement shows Read from statement in the list. Its side panel shows the statement against the schedule for that month, part by part, with the difference.
2. Check it. The boxes start from the statement. Change any of them if the statement is wrong. If the escrow changed, the panel offers Update monthly escrow on the loan. The balance check compares the statement's principal balance with your books for the loan. A difference is a reason to look, never a reason you cannot confirm.
3. Confirm. Choose Confirm and post. Nothing posts before you do. If the statement is not the right one for the month, choose Use the schedule instead and the schedule split comes back.

Some lenders print only the amount due and no split of it. Then the panel says so, shows the amount due beside the schedule's total, and starts the boxes from the schedule. If the two totals differ, the panel shows the difference and warns while the total in the boxes is not the amount on the statement. A statement's period end is read as the statement date, and its New Balance as the principal balance. A late fee that the statement only warns about is not part of the payment.

When a payment is posted from a statement, the statement is also filed under the property's Files as Loan statement with the statement date, tagged Loan Servicing & Payoff, next to your other loan paperwork. It is a copy, it counts toward your storage, and deleting it does not affect the statement kept with the payment. Open the statement PDF from the panel to see the page the numbers came from. A late fee or other charge on the statement is shown with a note: this screen posts principal, interest and escrow only, so code that part from the bank feed.

A statement fits a loan by the last four digits of its loan number. When exactly one loan ends in those digits, that loan gets the statement. When two or more loans end the same, Return Grid also compares the lender, the property line and the amount due: it picks a loan only when exactly one has something that fits (the lender name, the street name, or an amount due equal to that loan's scheduled payment) and nothing that does not. The payment still waits for your Confirm in that case.

A bundled loan has one loan number for several properties, so its statement is kept with the bundle, not with one property. Return Grid does not go by the property line on the statement. The statement shows once on the bundle's popup under Statements from your lender, with the amount due, the principal, interest and escrow, and the balance. Use for the payment fills the bundle's payment form from it, and the payment is split by share across the properties as usual. Use the balance to check fills in the statement date and balance for the bundle's balance check. Nothing posts by itself. A statement with a late fee or other charge does not fill the payment form: enter that payment yourself. When you post the payment from a statement, the statement is also filed under each property's Files as Loan statement, the same way a single loan's statement is.

A statement that fits no loan, because no loan ends in those digits or because the lender, property and amount do not settle which of several loans it belongs to, waits under Statements to look at on Loan payments. When several loans end the same, each is listed with why it does or does not fit, and Use this loan gives the statement to that one. Otherwise add the loan number to the property and choose Try again, or set it aside.

Reconciling an account

A reconciliation proves that the account in your books agrees with the bank's statement. Do it once a month for each account.

1. Start. Choose Banking → Reconcile an Account, or Reconcile on the list or the account page, and pick the account. Enter the statement's date and ending balance under Statement figures, then choose Reconcile this account. For a credit card, use the statement date and balance in the same way. If you have the statement as a PDF, choose it under Statement PDF (optional): Return Grid reads it and fills in the statement date and ending balance, which you can still change. When you choose Open session, the reconciliation opens with the PDF attached, so what it found in your books is already ticked.
2. Tick what is on the statement. The screen is one list of the account's transactions that are not reconciled yet and are dated on or before the statement date. Tick each one that appears on the bank's statement. A tick saves as you go, and nothing is reconciled until you complete. When the account has a bank feed, the posted bank items through the statement date are already ticked, and a banner says how many were pulled in and how many still need review. Untick one that is not on the statement and it stays off. Narrow the list with All, Deposits, Withdrawals, Not ticked or Ticked, search by payee, memo or amount, and sort by any column. The box in the heading ticks the whole page, 50 rows at a time. Items dated up to 5 days after the statement date are kept behind a button under the filters until you want them.
3. Add what is missing. + Add a transaction that's on the statement but not here opens New entry for this account, and the entry you save is ticked for you. Keep the statement itself with Attach statement PDF: Return Grid reads it, ticks what it finds in your books, and lists what is on the statement but missing from them. The strip at the top shows the Beginning balance, Cleared money in, Cleared money out, Cleared book balance, Statement ending balance and the Difference. When one unticked item is exactly the difference, a hint offers Tick it. When a ticked entry was reversed or voided after you ticked it, a notice says so and offers Untick.
4. Complete. The difference is the statement balance less your books. Complete… turns on when the difference is $0.00 and asks you to confirm before it signs off. If your organization has turned on finishing with a difference (Settings → Posting accounts → the acceptance limit row → Turn on), the button reads Complete with an adjustment… for a difference under your limit: under $1.00 posts to a rounding account, and from $1.00 it asks for a written reason first. At or above the limit, it stays off and says so: a gap that large is a missing transaction, not a rounding error, so find and match it.

Save & finish later keeps your place, and the session is still there when you return. Edit statement info fixes a mistyped date or ending balance, and Set aside parks it; resume it from the history. Statements are reconciled in order: a new one must be the statement right after the last one completed, within one statement cycle, and only one can be open at a time. If you reconcile an older statement while one is set aside, the set-aside one is retired: it stays in the history, but you start that statement again. Once an account is reconciled, the work shows on the Reconciliation history tab. View opens a past reconciliation read-only, and Report (PDF) prints it: the beginning and ending balance, what cleared each way, what was left uncleared as of the statement date, who reconciled it and when, and the bank statement on file. If the latest one was wrong, an admin opens it with View and chooses Undo to reopen it. Reopening is what lets you change entries in a month that was already reconciled.

Vendors: the people and companies you pay

Go to Accounting > Payables > Vendors for every vendor in your organization. Add one with + Add vendor. Narrow the list by Category (the same categories bills use) and Service type (Heating & cooling, Electrical, Plumbing, Envelope, Life safety, Site & exterior, or Access & common areas), or search by name. The columns are Name, Category, Types, Quality, Price and Hourly rate, and Open goes to the vendor’s page.

A vendor’s page has three tabs. Info holds the name, address, accounting ID, service and utility types, a quality and a price score, the default hourly rate, the Default GL account (it starts on the category default), Bill approval and notes, and Edit changes them. Below that are the vendor’s Contacts (add one with + Add contact; the starred one is the primary, and Make primary changes it), and a Compliance area for the W-9, Insurance certificates and Licenses. Each certificate and license shows when it expires and flags one that already has. Jobs lists the repairs assigned to this vendor, and Transactions lists their bills, with + New bill, a status filter and Mark paid on a row.

The W-9 can be sent for signature or uploaded once signed. Which expense account a vendor’s bills post to comes from the vendor’s category, or from Default GL account if you pick one. Categories and their accounts are set under Settings > Vendor Categories.

Bills: what you owe vendors

Go to Accounting > Payables > Bills to open All Bills, every bill across every vendor. A vendor’s own page lists only that vendor’s bills.

The tabs are All, Unpaid, Overdue, Paid, Partially paid, Disputed, Pending approval and Rejected. Narrow the list with Vendor, Property, Due (Any time, Overdue, Due this week or Due this month) and the bill number search. The columns are Bill #, Vendor, Property, Date, Due, Amount and Status. A paid bill shows its paid date. A bill whose lines name other properties shows the first one and “+ N more”; point at it for the full list.

Entering a bill

Choose + Create bill. Pick the Vendor and a Category (Maintenance & Repair, Cleaning, Insurance, Utility, Garbage, Government, Lender, Property Management, HOA, Other or Attorney). Everything else is optional except the bill date and amount: a Repair item to link the bill to, a Property (leave it blank for company overhead), the bill number, a due date and notes. Under Line items you can split the bill across categories or GL accounts, or name each item you bought; a line belongs to the bill’s property unless you pick another property on the same books. To start from the paper bill, choose Upload and detect fields and add a PDF, PNG, JPEG or WebP; the fields it finds are editable before you save. Choose Save bill.

Opening, paying and deleting

Choose a bill number or View to open the same form with the bill’s payment history. Change it and choose Save changes, or choose Delete bill. A bill cannot be deleted once its books entry has been bank reconciled. Open vendor goes to the vendor’s page.

Choose Mark paid on a row, or Record payment inside the bill. Fill in the Paid date, the Amount paid, an optional Payment method (Not recorded, Check, ACH, Card, Cash or Other), Pay from (the system default unless you pick an account) and an optional Payment reference, then choose Record payment. A bill paid in full has the button greyed out, and one that is awaiting approval or rejected cannot be paid.

Approving bills

To have large bills checked first, go to Settings > Defaults > Property Defaults and set Bill approvals: bills over the amount you enter wait for approval before payment, and a blank amount switches this off. A vendor can override it with Bill approval: Use org default, Always require approval or Always auto-approve. A waiting bill shows Pending approval with Approve and Reject buttons. Approve moves it to Unpaid. Reject asks for a reason, reverses the bill’s books entry and moves it to Rejected; the reason shows when you point at the status.

Reimbursements: paying staff back for materials

When someone on your team buys repair materials with their own money, log the receipt on the repair, set Paid with to Employee (reimburse me) and choose the Employee to reimburse. The receipt goes to the books at once and counts as owed until you pay it back.

Go to Accounting > Payables > Reimbursements to see every employee who is owed money: Employee, Owed receipts, Amount owed and Oldest receipt. Use Search to find one by name or email. When nobody is owed anything, the page says so.

Choose Pay out on an employee’s row to open their page. Every owed receipt starts ticked and Selected total adds up the ticked ones, so untick any receipt you are not ready to pay, such as one you are disputing. Then fill in Pay from (one of your active bank accounts), Date, Method (Check, ACH, Payroll add-on, Cash or Other) and, if you want them, Reference (optional) and Notes (optional), and choose Record payment for selected. The button stays off while no receipt is ticked.

Under Payment history each payment shows its date, method, how many receipts it covered, the amount and a status of Paid or Voided. Choose Void on a payment, then Void payment to confirm, and its books entry is reversed and every receipt it covered goes back to owed. That cannot be undone.

Vendor Spend

Vendor Spend answers who you paid, how much and for what over a date range. Open it from the Reports Center, in the Financial category. The cards show the total spend and bill count, how many vendors were paid out of how many you have on file, the top vendor’s share, the average bill and any uncategorised spend that needs coding. Choose the dates with Paid from and Paid to, narrow by Category and Property, or search by vendor name or trade, and switch Group by between Vendor and Category. Reset filters starts over, and Export CSV, Export Excel and Export PDF download the table.

Each row shows the vendor, its top category, the number of bills, total spend, share of spend, average bill and when it was last paid. The Compliance column shows the status of the vendor’s W-9 and certificate of insurance, for example “W9 + COI Ok” or “COI Expired”. Uncategorised spend always gets its own row and is never dropped from the total.

Settings → Accounting setup

Return Grid ships with a standard set of accounts for rental property, and most organizations never change where money posts. When you need to, the three screens under Settings → Accounting setup are the place. Only an admin can change them.

On Posting accounts, each bank entry category shows its account and whether it is the default. Choose Change to send a category somewhere else, and Reset to go back to the default. Add a category makes one of your own. The filter shows only categories you changed, categories that need attention, ones you added, or ones you retired. A category you retire keeps its name on the entries that already used it.

The books: Ledger screens

You rarely need these, but they are where to look when a number needs explaining. Most are under Accounting → Ledger. The Trial Balance is a report.

Opening balances: starting the books

Go to Accounting > Ledger > Opening Balances to start the books from where you really are. It has two tabs, Properties and Bank & card accounts. You review a preview on each, then confirm to post.

On Properties, every property you own is listed with its Entry date, Cost basis, Closing-cost expense, Loan, Equity and Status. A line above the table totals the properties that are ready to post. Narrow the list with All, Ready to post, Already posted, Out of date, Closing costs not split or Blocked. Books start date is used only for properties with no recorded close date. A property that cannot post says why on its row, for example that closing costs are not split yet, and links to the property so you can fix it. Tick the properties you want and choose Post opening balances. A property whose posted entry no longer matches its numbers shows Out of date, and Repost out-of-date entries posts the corrected entry.

Properties that posted their cost as one real estate amount, before Land had its own account, appear under Split land from building. Splitting reverses the old opening entry and posts a new one dated the same day, with land on its own line. The balance sheet total does not change.

On Bank & card accounts, enter the Statement balance as of each account’s As-of date. The date starts as the day before the account’s first activity in Return Grid, so nothing is counted twice, and Ledger balance now shows what the books hold today. A cash account posts to Opening Balance Equity, a credit card posts the other way, and a zero balance posts nothing. Add the accounts first under Bank Accounts. Filter with All, Not posted or Posted.

Unposted GL entries

Rent ledger entries sometimes cannot be posted to the books. Accounting > Ledger > Unposted GL Entries lists them: First seen, Source, Date, Amount, the Error and a Classification. Transient means it may clear once the underlying problem is fixed. Permanent means it needs correcting before it can post. Attempts counts how many times it has been tried. The page also opens from the badge on Chart of Accounts when something is waiting.

Choose Retry temporary failures after you fix the problem. It only touches entries still missing a journal entry, so pressing it more than once is safe. An empty list reads “No unposted entries”, meaning the books are fully up to date.

Operating entities

An operating entity is the company that runs your properties day to day and collects rent. Return Grid uses it to segment the books, so reports such as the Trial Balance can be narrowed to one. Go to Properties > Owners > Operating Entities. The list shows Name, Type, EIN (last 4), Properties and Status. Search with Search entities, add one with + Add entity, and tick Show archived to see retired ones. Choose Open on a row, or More for the rest.

An entity’s page shows Properties operated, Owners served, Bank accounts tagged to it, the last four digits of its EIN and its management fees for the year so far. The tabs are Overview, Properties, Owners and Bank accounts. On Properties, Change operating entity moves a property to a different entity.

Choose Edit to change the Entity name, Entity type (LLC, Individual, Trust, Corporation, Partnership or Other) and EIN (last 4, optional). Tick Our management company: receives the management fees charged to the owners we manage for on the entity that charges you fees. Only one entity in your organization can be the management company. Ticking it on another entity offers to move it with Move the flag here. More > Archive retires an entity.

Credits & Prepayments

Go to Accounting > Tenant money > Credits & Prepayments to see money sitting unapplied: a tenant’s overpayments and concessions that have not been used yet, and prepayments you sent a vendor that no bill has claimed. The tabs are Rent ledger, Deposit ledger and Vendor prepayments. Search by tenant, unit, property or reference. The Status filter starts on Unapplied & partial and also offers Unapplied only, Partly applied only, Fully applied, Refunded, Transferred and All. Each row shows the Credit, what has been Applied and what is Available.

Open a tenant credit to work with it. Apply to charges lists the lease’s open charges. Tick the ones to pay, or choose Fill oldest first. A summary shows the available credit, how many charges it is applied to and what remains as credit, and Will post previews the entry before you choose Apply. Transfer moves some or all of the available amount to the security deposit ledger. Refund pays it back, with an optional Effective date (optional). History lists everything that happened to the credit, newest first, and a transfer or refund can be undone from there with Void.

On Vendor prepayments, choose + Record prepayment for money paid to a vendor ahead of a bill. Delete prepayment removes one entered by mistake.

Rent GL

Rent GL is in the Reports Center (the Reports menu), in the Financial category. It shows every lease’s rent position for a period, one row per lease. The cards at the top total Billed, Collected, Outstanding, Past due and Unapplied credits. Choose the Property and the Period start and Period end, or search by tenant, unit or property, and Reset filters starts over. The columns are Tenant, Unit, Property, Billed, Collected, Balance, Past due, Unapplied credits, Last activity and Collections stage, and you can sort from the headings. Export CSV, Export Excel and Export PDF download what you see.

Security deposit ledger (GL)

Also in the Reports Center under Financial, Security deposit ledger (GL) has one row for each lease: what was Charged, Received, Deducted / held back and Refunded, and the Balance held, with a Status of Unpaid, Partly paid, Paid in full or Returned. Open the arrow on a row to see that lease's entries. A pet deposit charged on a lease is counted in Charged because its payment cannot be told apart from the deposit payment. Three cards sit above the table: Held now (balances on leases not yet returned), Charged, not yet received (deposits still owed by tenants), and Books: 2200 Security Deposits Held, which should equal the first two added together; if it does not, the card shows the difference. Filter by Property, Activity in month, Status and Holding account, or search by property, unit or tenant. Every column sorts. View lease opens the lease. Export CSV downloads the leases as filtered and sorted, and Print every entry (PDF) prints the entry-by-entry ledger.

24 Selling a property

The Sell Tracker, offers, and 1031 deadlines.

Move to Sell opens a sell attempt and stamps it with your organization's default checklist. The Sell Tracker tab shows progress through the steps, your list price, offers received, and 1031 details.

The checklist

Edit the org-wide template under Edit default checklist. Editing it only affects future sell attempts — properties already in Sell keep the checklist they were given.

Offers

+ Add offer captures the offer amount, buyer name, offer date, financing type, expiration date, and contingencies or notes. Accepting an offer moves the property to Under contract. Reports → Offers received rolls every offer across every open sell attempt into one list, filterable by Pending, Accepted, Rejected & withdrawn, or All.

1031 exchanges

Flag the sale as a 1031 and record your notes. The 45-day identification and 180-day closing dates are tracked with your other sell deadlines and flagged in red, because those two dates are unforgiving.

Completing the sale

Complete sale records the list price and the actual sale price and moves the property to Sold. Cancel sale reverses a sell attempt that didn't happen; View sale history shows previous attempts on the same building.

25 After the sale

Realized results, and what stops counting.

Sold is terminal. Figures lock at the sale date and never feed the live portfolio KPIs, the dashboard, the map, or the cap-rate averages again — a building you sold two years ago shouldn't be moving this quarter's occupancy number.

The Sold Properties Report gives purchase-to-sale financials for every completed sale, with total sale price, total gain, and per-property annualized return and cash-on-cash at exit.

26 Users, roles & org settings

Who gets in, what they can change, and your own profile.

Users

Settings → Users. This list is the sign-in allowlist for every login method your organization offers. Add someone with first name, last name, email, and optionally a mobile number, then set their Share notices preference — Email, SMS, or Email + SMS. SMS options stay unavailable until a mobile number is saved. Tick Admin to give them administrative rights.

Per-user actions: edit their details, Send password reset link, Unlock account after failed sign-in attempts, and disable an account without deleting it.

What admin unlocks

• Editing organization defaults (non-admins can read them, but the save controls are replaced with a notice)
• Credentials and SSO configuration
• Tenant Portal Providers and Custom Domain
• Integration Errors
• The organization-wide landing page layout

Billing and subscription changes are owner-only, a step above admin.

Accountants (your CPA)

Give your CPA a login of their own instead of sharing yours. An accountant never sees tenants, bank logins, settings or your users, and does not use up a seat. Go to Settings → Users and find the Accountants (outside CPA) section, which only an admin sees.

1. Choose Add accountant and enter their name and email.
2. Pick the Access level. Read only lets them read the Tax package, cost basis, depreciation, the ledger, journal entries and property documents, and changes nothing. Read and write also lets them post adjusting journal entries and edit tax assets. Neither level can delete anything or close an accounting period.
3. Optionally limit them to certain Filing entities and set an Access ends date, such as the day after the return is filed.
4. Choose Send invite. They get an email to set a password. Two-factor sign-in is required for every accountant.

Use Edit on a row to change the level, entities or end date later, and Remove to end their access at once. Entries they already made stay in the books under their name.

What your accountant sees

A banner at the top names your organization and their access level. The menu is short: Properties, Tax package, Journal entries, Chart of accounts and Accounting periods. Closing statements and other files are in a property's Files tab, open to read and download but not to upload or remove. Controls they cannot use are greyed out with a note. An accountant who works for several Return Grid customers picks a client at sign-in and can use Switch client at any time.

In Journal entries, the Entered by column shows who posted each entry. An entry an accountant made by hand carries an Accountant chip and an Adjusting tag, and the Entered by filter at the top can show only those. Each one is also written to your activity log.

Send this to your CPA

Department groups

A department group is a team you assign to a property in one step instead of naming each person. Go to Settings > Department Groups. Groups are optional: properties still work with individual users. Groups sit under two headings, Property Managers and Maintenance, and tick Show archived to see retired ones.

Choose + New Group, type a Group name, pick the Group type and tick the Members, then Save Group. The type is locked once the group has members. Edit on a group changes its name and members, and Archive inside it retires the group. On a property, the Property Managers and Maintenance assignment pop-ups list groups next to individual users, and the same groups appear when you assign a task or reminder.

Zoho SSO (Enterprise)

Under Settings → Organization Settings. Register a Self Client app in the Zoho API Console with scope AaaServer.profile.Read and the redirect URI shown on the page, then paste the Client ID and Client Secret. Users will always be able to sign in with their Return Grid password as well — SSO adds a route, it doesn't remove one.

Your profile

Open the profile menu (your initials, top right) and choose My Profile. Change your display name, change your email (a confirmation link is sent to the new address, and you can cancel a pending change), set your notification preferences, and change your password with your current one.

27 Plans, billing & usage

What each plan includes, and the two different pages that answer money questions.

Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial. Tenant Portal branding is included on all three — no upgrade required.

Managing the subscription

Settings → Plan & Billing, owner-only. Change plan (applies immediately and is prorated), cancel, or reactivate. Checkout runs in a Zoho-hosted iframe.

Usage vs. billing

Two different pages, and people look in the wrong one constantly:

• Settings → Plan & Billing — your subscription plan and its status.
• Reports → Usage and Charges — what you've consumed and been charged for on top of it.

Usage and Charges opens with today's allowance at the top, because "why did this just stop working" is the question people actually arrive with, and daily allowances reset at midnight UTC — a month-to-date total can't answer it. Below that: a summary for the billing cycle or any custom date range, overage charges split into pending (accrued, not yet invoiced) and billed (already submitted, should match your invoice), and a searchable usage log filterable by source — comp lookup, AI estimate, web import, document OCR.

Document OCR page scanning (property documents, vendor bills, insurance certificates and licences) is metered separately, by plan: 200 pages/month on Starter, 500 on Team, 1,000 on Enterprise, at $0.005/page after that. Unlike the other three services this allowance is monthly, not daily — Google bills the underlying scanning service on a monthly cycle, and a scan burst on move-in day or a new portfolio import shouldn't trip a daily cap — so it doesn't appear in the today's-allowance section above, only in the range summary and overage charges below it.

28 When something breaks

Diagnosing it yourself before you ask anyone.

Integration Errors

Settings → Integration Errors, admin-only. Recent failures from Zoho Payments and other integrations, filterable by provider and date range (7, 30 or 90 days). Each row shows the operation, error class, HTTP status, attempt number, and whether it will retry automatically. Open one for the full request and response.

This is where "why did a payment or ticket sync fail" gets answered without a support ticket.

Common causes

Accessibility

Return Grid is built to WCAG 2.1 Level AA. The Accessibility Conformance Report (VPAT) documents where it conforms and where it doesn't. If you set a custom accent color for the Tenant Portal, the branding page checks it for contrast and warns you when it fails.

Other documentation

All Return Grid documentation · Tenant Guide — worth sending to renters at move-in, and worth reading yourself before you switch the Tenant Portal on.