Success Stories
Luken Holdings
Luken Holdings is a property management company based in Chattanooga, TN with approximately $20M in annual revenues. The firm owns a portfolio of 50 real estate holdings representing more than two million square feet of space and over 400 tenants. Managing shopping centers, retail shops, a golf course, business offices and industrial space is all in a day’s work for Luken’s 25 employees.
Challenges
- Profitably manage property holdings comprised of 50 buildings (with more than two million square feet of property) and more than 400 tenants
- Employ a single-entry software solution with integrated accounting, reporting, and forecasting
Solution
Selected Maxwell Systems Colonial, a fully integrated property management and accounting software system, to streamline Luken’s unique processing requirements for multiple buildings and tenants.
Results
- Efficient invoice processing
- Automated processes for tracking multiple tenants and related improvements
- Ability to manage cash flow, expenses, and profit with integrated Colonial components
Maxwell Systems Colonial Delivers Property Management, Construction Management and Accounting Software in a Single, Time-Saving System
Luken Holdings came to own its property management software the oldfashioned way: the company inherited it. In 1999, a property it acquired had recently purchased Maxwell Systems™ Colonial™, a fully integrated property management and accounting software system. Lynda Childress, Luken’s new controller, was put in charge of implementing the software companywide.
“Within two weeks of installing Colonial,” says Childress, “I was able to set up all of the accounting and accounts.” Maxwell Systems provided the support needed to get the software implemented quickly and efficiently. “I was able to call Maxwell Systems with questions and in no time at all, I was up and running, fully functional. The system is very user-friendly.”
Addressing Unique Property Management Needs
Commercial property management companies have unique business challenges that aren’t addressed by standard accounting software. Staying on top of a single piece of property involves a multitude of tasks, including tracking actual square footage (rentable and useable); monthly rent expense; operating costs; tenant reimbursements; management fees; tenant and capital improvements (fixed assets); vacancy and leasing; and expenses for maintaining, cleaning and improving the property.
Colonial handles all of these tasks and provides shortcut features that allow Childress to accomplish more in less time. “We have approximately 50 buildings with more than two million square feet of property and over 400 tenants,” she explains. “When you own that much property, you have a significant amount of accounting. One great asset of Colonial is that I can set up Posting Groups that allow me to post one invoice to multiple properties with a single keystroke. I can also set up Consolidated Groups and print one check for that invoice while recording each building expense accordingly. These are great multi-tasking features that save a significant amount of time and frustration.”
Integration Boosts Productivity
Luken utilizes Colonial’s Property Management, Construction Management and various accounting modules to manage cash flow, expenses and profit. Seamless integration provides a single data entry system that has boosted productivity. For example, says Childress, “We post rents in the Property Management module, which automatically creates our accounts receivables for the month on the accounting side.”
Comprehensive tenant tracking allows Luken to record and monitor detailed information about each tenant, including rent increases, lease expiration dates, deposit details and common area maintenance (CAM) fees.
The Construction Management module is used to manage and apply job costs to tenant improvement projects. “With so many tenants,” Childress explains, “we have many improvements to track. We set up a budget for each job in Colonial and post invoices against that budget to ensure that we do not exceed the allocation.”
Colonial’s reporting system provides excellent control and visibility into Luken’s various properties. “I can consolidate every property that we have and print one report that tells me what our vacancy factor is and what our income and expenses are,” says Childress. Other reports include cash flow analysis, income and expense reporting, budget reports and balance reports.
Functionality That’s Easy to Use
Childress is very enthusiastic about Colonial and has demonstrated its timesaving features to other property managers on numerous occasions. “I’ve had people come to my office from out of town to see Colonial in action,” she explains. “They are in the same business as we are, but use software that requires duplicate data entry and lots of keystrokes. They get excited when I show them Colonial’s shortcuts and its many accounting functions.”
Because of Colonial’s ease of use and comprehensive functionality, Childress says she can’t imagine using anything else. “We’ve been approached by other software vendors,” Childress says, “but Colonial continues to be the best software for our needs.”
Conquering Property Manager Wish List Learn how you can improve accuracy, organization, tracking, and reporting with property management software. |
||
