Me, Myself and XERO

Having a budget is really important when you delve into the world of landlords and buy-to-let investments. Keeping track of numbers, expenses, rents coming in etc. Are all part of the job so to speak, and HMRC will want to know all about it 😉

What’s even more important is understanding and keeping track of these figures so your cash flow is regulated and you can tell the difference between profits made and any losses.  

XERO is one of the market leaders in its space of accounting software, used by many landlords and accountants across the world. The software is designed to allow for you as the user to connect your bank account to the software and then reconcile the activity of income and expenses of that linked account. This means you can access reporting level information on the numbers and if you have a team working with you – give them dedicated access so they can check things like rents and setup invoices.

Property management & accounting, what’s next?

Now, having this kind of software setup Is not mandatory by any means as some users may have a trusty spreadsheet which allows for a more manual approach to managing the numbers. However, as the number of properties you own rises so will the number of expenses and level of rent (hopefully) – therefore bringing automation into your daily routine will give you the time back to focus on continuing to grow your property business.  

Not to forget, with XERO being available on cloud software you can access it anywhere

Keeping on theme with cloud access software – Lofti, the first FCA regulated property management platform is there on hand with a complete API – What is an API? – API Beginner’s Guide – AWS (amazon.com) which allows for integration with XERO, and other market leaders, meaning that you can keep on track of all things numbers-focused when it comes to your property portfolio.

It is important to understand that accounting is part of the bigger picture – you need to make sure that you have a way of staying on top of the numbers and being able to report on this for your own sake to look at profit and loss statements and be able to evaluate your assets based on their ROI – Return on Investment. You would not want an underperforming or loss-making asset in your portfolio!  

This is even more important if you are an agent or property manager dealing with other landlords’ properties, you will want to report back on a monthly basis with accurately and time figures showing the rent received, any expenses that need to be accounted for and how each of the units have performed.  

The magic of Lofti is that the platform has been designed on a modular basis – this means for any landlord or letting agent dealing with HMOs – you will be able to report and manage from a unit level – so if you have a 5-bed HMO, each room will have its own unit organisation and be able to report how each unit performs against the market average. Meaning everyone is clear on the numbers and with the analytics feature, you can really dive into the performance analytics of a property, who doesn’t like more numbers right?

So, make sure you check out Lofti to see how you can manage it all in one place with the best tools at your disposal!