For North American users, please be aware that "Tenancies" are known as "Leases" and "Terms & Breaks" within a Tenancy are referred to as "Terms & Options". For more information on regional terminology, please refer to our Glossary of Regional Terminology.
This guide is designed to assist you in efficiently adding commercial tenancies to your properties on our platform. We will provide you with the necessary steps to import or manually enter tenancy details.
Check out our self-guided learning video for an interactive demo: Tenancy Data Entry (Approx 40 mins)
For our European users, check out: Tenancy Creation (EMEA) and Tenancies Deep Dive (EMEA).
Starting the Process
There are four methods to begin creating a new tenancy:
- Adding a Lease/Tenancy from the Global Search Menu: Conduct a property search and click Add Lease/Tenancy next to the property in the search results.
- Using the Quick Add (+) Icon: Click the + icon in the navigation bar, then select New Tenancy.
- Adding a Lease/Tenancy from the Lease/Tenancy List: If you're in the Lease/Tenancy List view, simply press the New Lease/Tenancy button and search for the property.
- Adding a Lease/Tenancy from the Property: Navigate to the Leases/Tenancies tab in the property file and click New Lease/Tenancy.
Creating the Lease/Tenancy
The Lease/Tenancy Wizard will guide you through several steps to complete your lease/tenancy setup.
Step 1: Create New Lease/Tenancy Details
Complete the following details:
- Lease/Tenancy Name for reporting purposes.
- Select Lease/Tenancy Type and Form from predefined lists.
- An Online Payment Reference may be added for banking purposes.
- Define a Penalty Interest Rate, noting that this is for record-keeping.
- Lease/Tenancy Outgoing Concessions to set default budget amounts.
- Utilize Tags for sub-categorizing leases/tenancies.
- Input a Custom Reference as needed.
- Assign a Default Invoice Template for this lease/tenancy.
- Input any additional Lease/Tenancy Schedule Clauses.
- Specify Outgoings Percentage for the Tenancy Schedule / Rent Roll report.
- Record any Improvements Rent Percentage for internal reference.
- Add Contacts and specify notice options they should receive.
- Indicate the primary and account contact for the lease/tenancy.
- Once you've filled out the details, click Save and Continue.
Step 2: Lease/Tenancy Contacts
Review contacts and adjust details as necessary. Clicking on the contact name from this screen will take you to the Contact file, where you can edit additional details about the contact.
Step 3: Assigning Areas to the Lease/Tenancy
Add areas the lease/tenancy will occupy and continue to the next step. If there are no areas set up against this property yet, review Managing Property Areas.
Step 4: Setting up Inspections
Create inspection schedules to get reminders on your dashboard calendar.
Step 5: Terms, Rent, and Rent Reviews
Input the terms of the lease/tenancy concerning rent, review schedules, and renewal rights. Adjust rent template details and set up rent review schedules here.
Rent Template
- Description - This is displayed in various places around the system, particularly in calendar reminders.
- Reference - This value will be applied to each invoice and can be anything you want.
- PDF Template - If a default template was selected in step one this will be selected here already, but you can override this and select another option specific to the rent invoice if you need.
- Payment Frequency - Specify how often you want invoices to be generated. You can specify any frequency in weeks, months or years, or any Custom Frequencies you have set up.
- Rent Type - Rent Types are user defined and can be customised in the company settings or select + Add New to create a new one from here. Most commonly this is used to define whether a lease/tenancy is Net or Gross of Outgoings.
- First Payment - Specify the date you want the first invoice to be generated.
- Rent Amounts - You can enter a figure in either of these fields (in our example: Monthly Rent or Annual Rent) and the system will calculate the other field. This amount must equal the total of all rent lines on the invoice and you will be prevented from proceeding if it doesn't add up.
- Generate First Invoice Now - You can choose to generate the first invoice when the lease/tenancy is created or leave it to generate as scheduled.
- Use Default Ledger - This toggle sets whether the ledger field will always use whatever is set as the property's default ledger. If you ever change the default ledger for the property, you won't have to come back into the invoice template and update that field, it will use it automatically.
- Tax Selector - This dropdown defines whether the amounts chosen in Rent Amounts (number 7 above) are inclusive or exclusive of tax. This will always default to Tax Exclusive.
- Outgoings Percentage - Any outgoings added to the rent invoice should be indicated using this switch. Any outgoings lines on the invoice will be excluded from the net rent calculation.
- Merge Fields - When adding the line item descriptions you can select from the three merge fields available (shown in the curly brackets), which will populate with the correct information when each invoice is generated.
- Template Totals - you can see here a breakdown of the total amounts to be invoiced on the template, including the relevant tax amount.
Step 6: Managing Bonds/Deposits
Applicable for trust/client account companies, you can indicate where the bond will be held and assign values based on rent periods or fixed amounts.
Step 7: Area Rent Allocation
If multiple areas are assigned to the lease/tenancy, allocate rent to each accordingly for accurate reporting in the Tenancy Schedule/Rent Roll.
Step 8: Fees
Should there be any fees associated with a new lease/tenancy, review and adjust the details before completing the wizard.
On completion, you will see confirmation links for immediate access to view the lease/tenancy or manage any direct charge rules or budgets related to the property.