LetMC.com Software Support. Part 2 Accounts

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LetMC.com

Software Support

Part 2 Accounts

For use in Training only

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Client Manager Login ... 5

Client Finance Login ... 6

Client Administrator Login ... 7

Introduction ... 8

Payments and Deposits ... 10

Take a Payment ... 10

Payment details ... 10

Receipt for payment ... 11

Effect on Account: ... 11

Stage in accounts ... 11

Make a Bank Deposit ... 12

Bank Deposit Details ... 12

Confirmation ... 12

Paying in Slip ... 12

Credit Card Payments ... 13

Activating card payments ... 13

Banking Credit and Debit Cards ... 14

Reconcile Card Payments ... 14

Points to note about Card Reconciliation ... 14

Paying people through the LetMC System ... 15

Payments ... 15

Pay a Person... 15

People in Credit ... 15

Draw Down Sales ... 15

Draw down NRL ... 15

Methods of Payment ... 15

Make a Cheque Payment ... 15

Payment Details ... 16

Confirm Payments ... 16

Make an Online Payment ... 17

Select People ... 17

Invoicing ... 17

Print Payments ... 18

Make a BACS Payment ... 18

Payment Method ... 18

Select Recipients ... 18

Payment Details ... 19

Confirm Payments ... 19

BACS File ... 19

Draw Down Sales ... 20

Draw Down Sale Classic Method ... 20

Draw down sales by paid invoices only ... 22

NRL Draw Down ... 23

Make a Card Refund ... 23

View and Search History ... 24

Download your bank statement ... 25

Upload your statement onto the LetMC System ... 25

Reconcile Bank Statements ... 27

Lock Down Bank Statement History. ... 34

Electronic Payment References Management ... 35

Electronic Payment References by User ... 35

Manage All Electronic Payment References ... 35

Manage Payment Groups ... 36

'Lock Down' Bank Statement History. ... 37

Manage Bank Accounts ... 37

Associate Bank accounts with selected branches. ... 37

Manage Custom Accounts ... 38

Associate Custom Accounts with selected Bank Accounts. ... 38

Apply Transfer ... 39

Maintenance Deductions ... 39

Make a Transfer Between People ... 41

Make a Manual Rent Transfer ... 42

Make a Manual Rent Refund ... 42

Make a Manual Float Refund ... 43

Manage Landlord Float ... 43

Make a Journal Transfer ... 44

Manage Person's Auto Transfers ... 46

Manage Auto Transfers by Property ... 47

Manage All Auto Transfers ... 47

Guaranteed Rent ... 48

Activate the Functionality ... 48

Setting the Landlord Charge for the Guaranteed Rent Service. ... 48

How the System Makes a Guaranteed Rent Payment. ... 49

Tenants Rent covered by Guaranteed Rent?... 50

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Guaranteed Rent Balances Report. ... 50

Applying Charges or Refunds ... 51

Charge/Refund a Tenant ... 51

Charge/Refund a Contractor ... 51

Charge Landlord by Property ... 52

Refund Landlord by Property ... 53

Make a Deduction from Tenants Bond Account ... 53

Disputed Bond Deduction ... 53

Agreed Bond Deduction ... 55

Chase Money ... 56

Tenant Money Owed Chase ... 56

Chase Tenant ... 57 Tenant Details ... 59 Tenant Statement ... 59 Tenancy Details ... 59 Chase History ... 60 Tenants Notes ... 60 Direct Debits ... 61 Enabling DD ... 61

Enable Tenant to pay by DD ... 61

Tenant Payment Schedule ... 62

Direct Debit Form ... 62

Call Direct Debits ... 63

DD Confirmation Letter ... 63

Manage Direct Debits ... 64

Amending DD details ... 64

AUDDIS (Automated Direct Debit Instruction Service) ... 64

View Account Activity ... 65

View a Person's Accounts ... 65

View a Branch's Sales Accounts ... 65

View Your Company's Accounts ... 66

Manage Invoices ... 67

View All Invoices... 67

View a Person's Invoices ... 68

Create an Invoice ... 69

Tax Reports ... 71

NRL Quarterly Return ... 71

NRL Annual Return ... 71

Section 19(1)(c) Tax Report... 71

Send Self Assessment Tax Report ... 71

Landlord NRL 6 ... 72

Head Tenants and Accounting ... 73

Accounts Reports ... 75

Branch Sales Net ... 75

Forecast Management Fees ... 75

Advertised Tenancy Pipeline Report. ... 75

Let Agreed Pipeline ... 76

Accounts Reports ... 77

Invoiced Sales ... 77

Un-Invoiced Sales ... 78

Bond Deposits Held ... 79

Bond Deposit Held by DPS ... 79

Tenants Bond Deposits Outstanding ... 80

Guaranteed Rent Balances Report. ... 80

Landlord Float Held ... 81

Bank Control Account Transactions ... 82

Bank Control Account Movement... 82

Retired PDQ Transactions ... 82

People Invoiced not Paid ... 83

Reconciliation Reports ... 84

Reconcile System to Bank Report. ... 84

Debtors and Creditors... 89

Control Panel ... 90 My Account... 90 Change Password ... 90 Company Settings ... 90 System Details ... 90 Lettings... 91 Accounting ... 91 Sales Accounts ... 91 Staff ... 92

Create a staff Member ... 92

View a Staff Member ... 92

Modify a Staff Member ... 92

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Security Details ... 93

Upload a Staff Signature ... 93

Delete a Staff Member ... 93

Reset Staff Password ... 93

(Administrators only) ... 93

Branches ... 94

Branch details ... 94

Opening hours ... 95

Internet advertising and up-loaders ... 95

Branch trading account ... 95

Object Types ... 96

Tenancy Service Types ... 96

Tenancy Agreement Types ... 96

Tenancy Cancel Types ... 97

Tenancy Special Requirements ... 97

Facility Types ... 97

Inventory Item Types ... 97

Contractor Types ... 98

Certificate Types ... 98

Appointment Types ... 98

Recommended Tenant Contact Details ... 98

Applicant Source Types... 99

Applicant Status Types ... 99

Tenant Account Status Types... 99

Tenant Chase Methods ... 99

LetMC.COM Accounts and sage ... 100

Introduction To Credit Checking and Referencing ... 101

How to Access functionality ... 102

Marketing Section ... 102

Lettings Section ... 102

Maintenance Section ... 102

In Tray ... 102

Further Functionality within the Referencing section ... 102

Q & A ... 103

What is a Credit Check? ... 103

What factors do I need to consider when credit checking.? ... 103

If I credit check an applicant; will their information be transferred when they become a tenant?... 103

What are the legal guidelines to credit checking? ... 103

Individuals Reference Notes and Documents ... 104

Tenancy Reference Notes & Documents ... 105

Credit Checking ... 106

Referencing an Applicant ... 106

Credit Information Provided. ... 107

Referencing a Landlord ... 108

Credit Check an Individual ... 108

Credit Check a Tenancy ... 109

Referencing a Contractor ... 109

Manage all Credit Checks ... 110

Not Yet Credit Checked ... 110

Equifax Settings ... 111

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ACCOUNTING

Next to lettings, accounting is the second biggest section of the software and if not kept up to date and reconciled every day, the accounts will soon become out of date. The ‘Golden Rule’ of the accounts section is; “What happens on the system must be mirrored outside the system and what happens outside the system must happen in the system”, LetMC does not integrate with your bank account. The menu you see and the actions you can perform within the accounts section of the system is dependent on your log in level

Client Colleague Logon

This level has no access to accounting

Client Staff Login

Accounting

Payments and Deposits Take a Payment

Apply Charges or Refunds

Charge a Tenant Charge a Contractor

Charge Landlord by Property Charge a Landlord

Refund a Tenant Refund a Contractor

Refund Landlord by Property Refund a Landlord

Manage Invoices View a Persons Invoices

Chase Money Tenant Money Owed Chase

Staff View a Staff Member

Branches View a Branch

Client Manager Login

Accounting

Payments and Deposits

Take a Payment Make a Bank Deposit Banking Debit & Credit Cards Make a Cheque Payment Make an Online Payment Make a BACS Payment Make a Card Refund View and Search History

Bank Reconciliation

Upload a Bank Statement Reconcile Bank Statements Manage Payment Groups Manage Bank Accounts Manage Custom Accounts Electronic Payment

References

Apply Transfer Make a Property Maintenance Deduction _{Make a Landlord Maintenance Deduction}

Apply Charge or Refund

View Account Activity

View a Person's Accounts View a Branch's Accounts View Your Company's Accounts Manage Invoices View a Persons Invoices Chase Money Tenant Money Owed Chase Tax Reports

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Client Finance Login

Accounting

Bank Reconciliation

References

Manage References by User Manage all References

Apply Transfers Make a Property Maintenance Deduction _{Make a Landlord Maintenance Deduction}

View a Person's Accounts View a Branch's Accounts View Your Company's Accounts Manage Invoices View a Persons Invoices

Chase Money Tenant Money Owed Chase Tax Reports

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Client Administrator Login

Accounting

Bank Reconciliation

References

Manage References by User Manage all References

Apply Transfers

Make a Property Maintenance Deduction Make a Landlord Maintenance Deduction Make a Manual Rent Transfer

Make a Manual Rent Refund Make a Manual Float Refund Make a Journal Transfer Manage Person's Auto Transfers Manage Auto Transfers by Property Manage All Auto Transfers

View a Person's Accounts View a Branch's Accounts View Your Company's Accounts Manage Invoices

View All Invoices View a Persons Invoices Create an Invoice

Chase Money Tenant Money Owed Chase Tax Reports

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Introduction

Accounts can include collecting and paying money, credit cards, bank deposits, receipts, and reconciling the clients account to meet strict criteria.

Then there is invoicing, VAT and NRL (Non resident landlord) tax.

LetMC.com accounts system works very similarly to a personal bank account. Each Landlord, tenant and contractor has an account within your system.

A tenant’s LetMC account can become overdrawn when rent is due, or if you have applied charges or a bond deposit. When they are in credit, money such as rent and your fees are automatically moved to the landlords account and the agents’ sales account.

Clients’ overdrawn account

Rent showing as outstanding

Payment Priority Order given to Outstanding Money. When a tenant has money paid into his LetMC account the order that the system distributes this from Main Account to outstanding accounts is:-

Outstanding Bond – This is bond deposit money to be held by the Agent (or passed to the Agent’s DPS account) any outstanding bond amounts are first to be paid

Outstanding Rent – This is rent collected for Managed Landlords, this has second priority in the system for payment.

Outstanding General – These are usually bond deposits and rent collected for let-only/tenant-find landlords. The Letting Agent’s administration fees charged to the tenant is effectively ‘paid’ last.

This movement of money in the system TOTALLY relies on an electronic copy of your bank statement uploaded to LetMC.com. This statement will need to be downloaded from your bank via online banking and saved to a folder on your computer then uploaded onto the LetMC system. This allows the set of transactions (rent in and money out) on LetMC.com to be compared to the uploaded bank statement (rent in and money out). When these amounts are reconciled within the system payments to creditors will be authorised.

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The money automatically moves to the landlord account when a tenant's rent clears into the agent's bank (after it’s “authorised”)

Once rent paid, money moves to landlord account Tenants account can become over

drawn Rent owed becomes due Rent

The movement of rent and fees through LetMC.com accounts

The tenancy agreement “payment schedule” sets the amount and due date per tenant

The tenant account becomes overdrawn (owing rent). Management Fees automatically taken Landlord in credit and ready to be paid

Once the landlord is in credit they are ready for the invoice to be created and paid.

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Payments and Deposits

Take a Payment

If anyone comes in and pays you by cash, card or cheque this must be recorded on the system that you have taken the money, you can then create a receipt.

These payments could be for:  Agency fees  Bond  Rent  Reference fees  Damage charges  Cleaning charge

 Paying a maintenance invoice In the accounting menu select Payments and Deposits/Take a payment. Using the search criteria locate the person that is making the payment. Tick the box next to the person and click the next action button.

Payment details

On the take payment first screen check the details of the person paying. In the case of a tenant paying rent the upper part of the screen will give you details of the Person, Property, Tenancy and a balance of their account. From the drop down menu select the Type of deposit, (Cash, Cheque, Card or Bankers Draft). In the deposit details section, fill in the amount and finally a good description of the payment. For Card Payments make sure that you enter the description and the authorisation code from the Debit or Credit card slip. If using multiple accounts make sure that you have selected the correct account from the drop down menu.

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Receipt for payment

On the next screen you will be asked to print a receipt for the payment. Click on the Print button and you will be able to print a receipt for the payee. Once you have printed the receipt click finish on the action buttons.

Effect on Account:

If you were to now look at the persons account the amount is shown with the description wording on the transaction will show “un-made”. This is to indicate that the payment has been recorded on the system but not yet banked or reconciled. No money is available in the system to be paid out to recipients. All you are doing at this time is telling the system that you have taken money.

Stage in accounts

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Make a Bank Deposit

With the cash and cheques you have collected, at some point you will need to pay them into the bank. LetMC.com creates the paying in slip, saving time by adding up all the separate amounts of payments from customers.

Bank Deposit Details Selecting payments

Select the account that you are paying this money too if running more than one account. Enter the paying in slip number from your paying in book. Select the payments to bank by ticking the check box next to the payment. And click on update Total, this will total all payments selected for you. Enter this total on your paying in slip with details of what is being paid in.

Confirmation

The next screen will show a non-editable view of the Deposit details screen and ask you to confirm the deposit. If details are incorrect e.g. you have selected a payment that you do not want to pay in, click on the action back button and make any amendments. This is the final step for you to check before these deposits are entered as being paid into the bank on the system. Click Next on the action buttons to create a paying in slip and save the bank deposit on the system.

Paying in Slip

You can now print out copies of the system generated paying in slip. Click on the print button and you will get two slips, one file copy if you need to keep hard copies and one bank copy for use in conjunction with your paying in slip if required. Click cancel to abort this bank deposit if

you feel that anything is wrong and start again. Remember it is better to be sure than make a mistake.

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Credit Card Payments

Activating card payments (Call LetMC)

If you are using card machines to take payments you will need to have the functionality switched on by LetMC (Call Support for assistance).this now shows on the take payment screen as a method of receiving money.

Using Take a Payment – Card Deposit means that card payments collected will immediately be “Authorised” on the persons account this would mean that the money is immediately available to transfer to the landlord as rent. You can however make all card payments subject to reconciliation (Call LetMC support for assistance)*. With this activated payments taken by card will not become Authorised transactions until they are reconciled in Reconcile Bank Statements. This means that for example, rent collected from a tenant would not be transferred to the landlord until the Card Company had paid the money into the Client Bank Account and reconciled in LetMC.

To take a card payment, go to Accounting Payments and Deposits search for the payee on the system. In the Deposit Details Type select Card Deposit the procedure is then the same as taking any other payment.

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Banking Credit and Debit Cards Group together the day’s card payments in Banking Debit & Credit Cards. (The card payments should be grouped together to match the amount expected to be paid by the Card Company into the Letting Agent’s Client Bank Account) A good method of working would be to check the merchant slips from the card machine against the entries in Banking Debit & Credit Cards and then attaching the merchant slips to the summary printed on completing the Banking Debit & Credit Cards steps.

Reconcile Card Payments

Banking Debit & Credit Cards

adds a Payment Group into Manage Payment Groups in readiness for reconciling in Reconcile Bank Statements. Only once the card payment group is linked (and posted) against a bank statement entry does the money become “Authorised” on the tenant’s account and therefore be made available to transfer to the landlord as rent.

Points to note about Card Reconciliation

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Paying people through the LetMC System

If you are reconciling daily in the system then you will have the ability to pay daily this not only helps you to keep on top of payments but it will also keep your landlords happy as they will not be waiting for 2-3 weeks to be paid, they will be receiving their money within 2-3 days!

Payments

Whether you select make a cheque payment, Make an Online Payment or Make a BACS Payment you will see a similar Screen. This screen will give you the option as to whom or what you wish to pay.

Pay a Person

If you select Pay a Person you will be able to pay anybody that is registered in the system, whether they are in credit or not.

People in Credit

Selecting People in Credit will provide you with a list of Landlords Tenants and Contractors that are in credit in the system.

Draw Down Sales

This will allow you to draw down monies that are due to you the agent. Draw down NRL

If you are collecting NRL from your overseas landlords this option allows you to draw down the tax money that is owed and be paid on to the taxman

Methods of Payment Make a Cheque Payment Using the Pay a Person Option

Select Make a Cheque Payment. You will now see options as to whom or what you are going to pay:

 Individual Person

 From a list of People in Credit  Company Draw Down

 NRL Draw Down

Pay an Individual Person

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Payment Details

Enter the amount and description and click “finish”.

Payment will be added to the payment details. Remember to select from the drop down menu the Invoicing method, then enter a cheque number followed by the description, finally click “next” on the action buttons.

Confirm Payments

Confirm the payment details and click next, on the following screen you can print payments and invoices if required (the invoice will go to the postbag anyway). Click “finish” on the action buttons to complete the process

This method of payment can also be used with:  People in Credit

 Draw Down Sales  NRL Draw Down

Stop Duplicate Cheque Numbers Being Used.

This can only be set by LetMC staff. Please contact LetMC if you wish to activate this function.

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Make an Online Payment Using the People in Credit Method Payment Method

After you have opened the Make an Online Payment method, click on the People in Credit Button.

Select People

On the following screen select whom you are going to pay from the drop down Menu, and tick the selection boxes next to their name, paying particular attention to the bank details column. For this method you cannot select people with no bank details. With the people selected click the ok action button.

Check the Payments

Payments to be made online will now be listed. If any payment shows the recipients’ name and the amount in deep red then this is indicating that the system threshold has been exceeded. It does not mean you cannot pay that person but it is just indicating that you are paying out a large amount and you may wish to confirm this before going any further. Other payments may show the payment completely highlighted this

indicates that the recipient has no bank details entered into the system. You can remove this particular payment by clicking the delete button and then pay that person by another method.

If you had not noticed that someone in the list did not have bank details registered you will be prompted to remove them from the list.

Invoicing

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Confirm Payments

The confirmation page is once again your last chance to check your payments and invoicing method before you tell the system that you are actually going to make these payments. If all is confirmed click on the next button

Print Payments

On the next screen you will now need to click on the Print Payments button to download a list of the payments that you are going to make online.

This will give you all the details that you require to make these online payments.

Make a BACS Payment Using People in Credit

Payment Method

After you have opened the Make a BACS Payment method, click on the People in Credit Button.

Select Recipients

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Payment Details

Make sure that the correct details are showing in the Bank and Invoicing method drop down menus then type in a description for the payments.

Click next on the action buttons. Confirm Payments

Confirm your payments to be made and then click the next action button.

BACS File

When the payments screen shows you will need to click on the button that shows ‘Export BACS Payments. You will then be prompted to save this file to your pc. After you have downloaded the BACS file click finish on the action buttons.

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Draw Down Sales

The system can be configured in two different ways to draw down sales both methods are explained below.

If possible sales should be drawn down at the Month end. Obviously there are times when a company may need working capital so a mid month draw down will need to be done these draw downs will be explained in this section.

Draw Down Sale Classic Method

Select a method of payment (Make an Online Payment) Enter a description e.g. Draw Down November Sales Click on the Draw down Sales button.

When the draw down screen opens the sales made figure will be default to the previous month. This figure is the total of all invoiced sales made and is available to draw down for the selected month. It is recommended that the monthly draw down is carried out on the first of each month. If the company is VAT registered then there will be two draw down boxes one for Net Sales and the other for VAT (if VAT registered)

The example shown below is showing that the previous month is November and the total sales for that month. This would have been drawn down on the first of December.

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If a mid month draw down is to be carried out then in the draw down screen the current month must be selected.

The screen below now shows that the current month is selected and that the current sales total is equal to the amount that is available in the account for the agent to draw down.

If the agent is now carrying out a mid month draw down for working capital then the amount required must be entered into the Draw down Sales box. As VAT will not be dealt with at this time the agent must enter 0 in the Draw down VAT box.

Once the draw down amount has been entered the Update totals button should be clicked this amount is now available to draw down. Complete the draw down procedure by clicking ok, next, next and finish on the action buttons. The agent should now go to their online bank and physically transfer that amount into their trading account.

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Draw down sales by paid invoices only

The system can be configured for Agents who want to ensure that only money for paid invoices is transferred out of the Clients Account (i.e. drawn down). It also ensures that only authorised funds are used to pay invoices.

To activate the paid invoices method the agent should contact LetMC support. You should first check that the new functionality suits your business and then carefully plan the transition. When using this method the draw down screen will only allow you to take money that has been reconciled. There is no ability to select a specific amount to draw down as in the classic method.

On open the draw down screen the balance of the company account will be shown. This may be a positive balance if you have yet to draw down or if you are drawing down daily it will be zero or a balance of the current days reconciled bank statement.

The draw down paid invoices section of the screen will indicate what you can currently draw down. This is default to one day in arrears. In the example shown above the balance of the sales account is positive but there is nothing to draw down. This is because the reconciliation was only carried out on the current date. If you need to draw down any monies taken on the same day you will need to change the calendar to indicate the current days date.

On the following day if the draw down screen is opened then the sales account balance will be available to be drawn down.

The Invoices to Drawdown button will open up a excel file listing all paid invoices involved in the draw down and their details.

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NRL Draw Down

Click on Draw-Down NRL, Select Quarter and enter amount. This draw down will be used in conjunction with the NRL quarterly tax report.

Make a Card Refund (Call LetMC to enable)

A “transaction type” called Refund Card has been introduced to enable card refunds. This appears in places such as Reports>Accounts Reports>Bank Transactions

This allows a record of a refund onto a tenant’s card on the system (or a landlord or contractor). A receipt can be printed to show the refund. If the Letting Agent has Reconcile Card Payments activated in Modify Company Details then the refund appears in Accounting>Payments and Deposits>Banking Debit & Credit Cards.

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View and Search History

The history option will show you a history of payments and deposits made. Set date range to search and number of results required

A search tab enables a user to search for a specific amount or a cheque number reference code.

When searching for an amount it must be entered exactly as it appears in the accounts. The search will only return amounts that match the value entered into the search exactly. Match correct to 2 decimal figures; if no decimal point is entered then the results will only include matching round figures (e.g. no decimal point).

Take into account whether a plus or minus sign has been entered (outgoing payments must be pre-fixed with a minus sign).

Search for £200

The search will return all payment groups which contain the matching amount entered in the search i.e. when a Paying In slip has a total of £700 that is made up of 2 items of £200 and £500 then a search for £200 will display the paying in slip with a note saying: 'This includes a £200 amount within it'.

System returns all activity with a £200 transaction

Open print job for details

All amounts searched for must have been reconciled otherwise they will not show in the search.

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Download your bank statement

The first stage of Bank reconciliation comes by downloading your bank statement from your bank. By logging on to your online banking system you can download a current statement this will show entries up until midnight from the day previous. This file will be in the format of an xml file (Extensible Markup Language, as used by excel) or a csv file (comma-separated values). These data files contain all the transaction data from your bank account. Once you have downloaded the statement from your bank save it to a folder on your PC.

Upload your statement onto the LetMC System

To upload your bank statement onto the LetMC system select:

Accounting > Bank Reconciliation > Upload a Bank Statement

In the upload screen you will now have to click on the Browse button this will take your PC’s folders where you now need to navigate to the location where you saved the bank statement.

When you have found the statement highlight it by clicking on it once then click on the “open” button.

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You should now see the file name appear in the upload statement screen in the LetMC System you should now click on the upload button to load it into LetMC. Finally click finish on the Actions toolbar.

Points to note on statement upload.

The system will only process bank statement entries with a date before the upload, i.e. it will not process any statement entries for the current uploaded day. This is to avoid missing entries that may take place later in the banking day.

The system registers the date of the most recent statement entries uploaded to each bank account. The system will then not process any subsequently-uploaded bank statement entries with a date on or before that date. This is to avoid duplicate bank statement entries.

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Reconcile Bank Statements

Note; if you are not using the reconcile Bank Statements option this section will not appear on the software.

To begin the bank reconciliation process you should select:

Accounting > Bank Reconciliation > Reconcile Bank Statements You should see a similar graphic to the one below.

A list of bank statement entries will be displayed. By default, the list is filtered to show Un-posted entries with a date within the last month. You can set this date period to suit.

Looking at the statement now in the system you will notice that the figures show some positive and some negative. The positive amounts are monies being paid to the system and the negative amounts are monies that are being paid out. There are likely to be multiple pages of statement entries.

All these figures now need to be linked with their corresponding Payments or Payment Groups within the system.

Payment groups

Take a payment’ then ‘make a bank deposit’ and ‘make an online/cheque/BACS payment’ all create PAYMENT GROUPS on LetMC.com.

You can see these in ‘Manage Payment Groups’ or when you ‘link as payment or deposit’ in the bank reconciliation.

So, anything coming into the office and banked and any payments you make and record on LetMC.com create PAYMENT GROUPS.

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Selecting payments to reconcile

Payment or Deposit Click on the Edit button

The next screen (as shown on the left) will show you summary details of the statement entry.

There are four options to link the payments. Payment and Deposit

Money paid from and into the system Person as Electronic Payment (Repeat)

Standing orders with a reference that is going to be recognised then auto reconciled each month

Person as Electronic Payment (Once only)

Off of payments into your bank by tenants with a reference not to be recognised in the future Anything else is usually linked to a Special Account. This is for things not related to landlords, tenants or contractors. i.e. bank interest/charges.

When you have selected the correct method click the Link button

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Once the ok button is clicked a Statement Entry Status screen will open. On here you will see that the entry has been resolved yet still un-posted within the system. Also the system will have linked it to the person connected to the Payment Group. You may also unlink the entry if required.

Click Finish on the Actions bar to continue

You will now have been returned to the statement screen where you should notice that the statement entry has now changed to blue text. This is showing that the entry has been resolved but not yet posted.

Electronic Payments (Standing Orders)

When a standing order shows on the statement you will not find a payment group on the system to link it to as it has happened solely outside of the system. For instance a tenant has set up a standing order to pay their rent. So you now need to link it to the person.

Then click on the Edit button

On the entry Status Screen select Person as Electronic Payment (Repeat) and click

Using the search criteria enter the person’s name to link the payment to (Closed tenancies can also be searched for). Tick the box next to their name then click the ok button on the Actions bar

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The statement screen will now show Un-Posted - Resolved

This standing order will now be logged as an electronic payment reference. This can be verified by opening Accounting > Bank Reconciliation > Electronic Payment References > Manage References by User

When you are in here use the search criteria to find the person.

Tick the box next to their name and click next.

The next screen will give you a list of electronic payments that have been recorded in the system.

This Electronic reference will enable automatic recognition of the standing order payment next time it shows on your uploaded bank statement. The system will then automatically resolve the payment and it will show as blue ready to be posted.

Electronic references can be cancelled at any time by ticking the box next to the one you want to cancel and then clicking the Cancel button.

Linking and unlinking a tenant Standing Order in a bank statement.

In Accounting>Bank Reconciliation>Reconciling Bank Statements, it is possible to unlink 'Person as Electronic Payment' for a particular payment reference and link a different person (e.g. different payee on the same tenancy) to a Standing Order reference without affecting statement entries which have been posted previously. The original payment reference is archived and when Accounting>Bank Reconciliation>Manage User Payment References for the original payee is selected the payment reference has 'Before dd/mm/yy' added to the reference.

Bounced Cheques and Electronic Linking

Cheques paid to you and subsequently bounce in the bank can also be linked as an electronic payment, thus cancelling out the initial payment.

Tenant owes Account shows Debit balance -£200

Take payment by cheque of £200 Account shows balance of £0 Bounced cheque shows on reconciliation -£200

Electronic link to account Account Shows balance of -£200

Representation of cheque shows on reconciliation £200

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Electronic Payments (Payments made into your bank by tenants)

If tenants pay into your account not using a standing order these payments will show on your uploaded statement with a reference that may differ each month, these are then linked once only.

The example above shows a credit Payment that has come from a Branch of Barclays. In the first instance you should investigate who this money belongs to. A good place to start is probably the Tenant Money Owed Chase List.

When you have identified the correct recipient begin the reconciliation process by clicking on the edit button.

On the entry Status Screen select Person as Electronic Payment (Once Only) and click the link button

As in the repeat method use the search criteria enter the person’s name to link the payment to (Closed tenancies can also be searched for). Tick the box next to their name then click the ok button on the Actions bar.

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Special Account

Payments to the Special Account will be monies that not related to landlords, tenants or contractors. i.e. bank interest/charges. These “custom” accounts can be created in Accounting > Bank Reconciliation > Manage Custom Accounts

Click on the Edit button

On the entry Status Screen select Special Account and click

On the Select Account page you now need to place a tick in the Interest and Bank Charges box.

Now click on ok on the Actions Bar

Statement Entry Status will now show Un-Posted – Resolved. You may also unlink the entry if required.

Click Finish to return to the statement page

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To post the resolved items tick the boxes next to the payments then click the Post Button. You can do these individually or as the example shows select all the resolved items and post them all together.

Posting the Statement Entry will debit the Company 'Clearing' Account and credit the Person’s 'Main' Account or Company Account, depending on how the entry has been linked.

The transaction displays the Statement Entry Description.

The statement will now show only payments left to resolve

Continue the process until all payments have been resolved and posted

Click Finish on the Action Bar when done

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Lock Down Bank Statement History.

A date can be set on each individual client bank account in Accounting>Bank Reconciliation>Lock Bank Statement History which then disallows any further bank statement entries being uploaded into Upload a Bank Statement or added manually via Reconcile Bank Statements on or before the selected date. A lock down is only allowed if every bank statement entry on or before the selected date has been posted.

This is usually part of a month end accounting process where, once the Letting Agent is satisfied that all bank statement entries for the period have been correctly uploaded and posted the period can be 'closed' or 'locked'. This means that there is no ability to back date any transaction in the system.

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Electronic Payment References Management

Electronic Payment References by User

Electronic Payment References enable a transaction to be linked to a Person automatically when Reconciling Bank statements.

Select a Person:

Select whether to view References for a Landlord, Tenant or Contractor using the User Type drop-down list. Then search for and tick the box next to the person required.

When selecting a Tenant, make sure you choose the tenant record for the correct property and tenancy.

Click next action to view the selected person's References (you will only see EPR in here if it has been set whilst reconciling). Then click finish.

Manage All Electronic Payment References

The list displays Electronic Payment References that have been linked to the person (when the person’s first Electronic Payment Reference was recognised on a bank statement). You can cancel a Reference by ticking the box next to it in the list and clicking Cancel at the bottom of the list.

Note: Cancelling a Reference means that any future transaction on a bank statement will not be automatically linked to the person.

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Manage Payment Groups

‘Take a payment’ then ‘make a bank deposit’ and ‘make an online/cheque/BACS payment’ all create PAYMENT GROUPS on LetMC.com.

You can see these in ‘Manage Payment Groups’ or when you ‘link as payment or deposit’ in the bank reconciliation.

So, anything coming into the office and banked and any payments you make and record on LetMC.com create PAYMENT GROUPS.

The system will expect to see these in the bank statement in the next few days.

Within the Manage Payment Groups screen you can; view, combine, split and delete Payments and Payment Groups.

Initially, a list of Payments and Payment Groups created within the system against the Default bank account is displayed (as set up in Manage Bank Accounts). There may be multiple pages of Payments

Information included in the list:

Date; This is the date the bank deposit was created; it displays the Payment or Payment Group Description, Type and Reference. Amount Outgoing money such as cheque, BACS or online payments are negative amounts. Incoming money such as deposits are positive

Payment Groups may be combined to form other Payment Groups. Any groupings may subsequently be split back into their constituent Payments. Note; Payment Groups that have been reconciled but not yet posted will still show here

Combining and Splitting Payments

Combine Payment Groups Click the Combine Button to combine two or more Payments in the list into a single Payment Group. Select the payments to combine by ticking the box next to the required Payments and then click the OK Action to combine them.

Split Payment Groups Click this Action to split a Payment Group into its constituent Payments. Select the Payment Group to split by ticking the box next to it and clicking the Split Button.

Delete Payment Groups

Use the delete button to delete Payments and/or Payment Groups. Select the Payments or Payment Groups to delete by ticking the box next to each one required and then click the delete button click OK to make the deletion.

Deleting a Payment Group will contra every Payment contained within the Payment Group. (This will credit/debit the Company Clearing Account and debit /credit the Person’s 'Main' Account (or other relevant Account). The transaction will have the description 'Payment Cancellation: Statement-Entry-Reference').

Editing Payment Groups

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'Lock Down' Bank Statement History.

A date can be set on each individual client bank account in Accounting>Bank Reconciliation>Lock Bank Statement History which then disallows any further bank statement entries being uploaded into Upload a Bank Statement or added manually via Reconcile Bank Statements on or before the selected date. A lock down is only allowed if every bank statement entry on or before the selected date has been posted.

This is usually part of a month end accounting process where, once the Letting Agent is satisfied that all bank statement entries for the period have been correctly uploaded and posted the period can be 'closed' or 'locked'. This means that there is no ability to back date any transaction in the system.

This View is available to users of security level Client Finance and above. Please contact LetMC if you want the level changed.

Manage Bank Accounts

Use this option to amend details of your bank account or add a new Bank Account Details that can be amended:

 Bank Name and Type  Card Payment Type  BACS Details  Direct Debit Details

Associate Bank accounts with selected branches.

For multi-branch companies, it is possible to restrict the bank accounts that are available for use by each individual branch. This will be useful to multi-branch companies that have separate bank accounts for each branch.

This affects most views in the following sections:- Accounting>Payments and Deposits section:- Take a Payment

Make a Bank Deposit

Banking Debit and Credit Cards Make a Cheque Payment Make an Online Payment Make a BACS Payment Make a Card Refund Call Direct Debits Manage Direct Debits.

In the Bank Reconciliation section:- Upload a Bank Statement,

Manage Payment Groups,

Electronic Payment References>Manage all References

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By default, new bank accounts are available for all branches. Client Administrators (call LetMC Client Support for assistance) are able to restrict bank accounts from being used by selected branches by going to

Accounting>BankReconciliation>Manage Bank Accounts and editing a bank account and then if multi branch select or de-select the tick boxes for each branch in the Branch Usage section.

Manage Custom Accounts

This option allows customisation of special accounts

If you need to use these options it is advisable to call the LetMC Support team for assistance

Associate Custom Accounts with selected Bank Accounts.

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Apply Transfer

Maintenance Deductions

The system may be set up to operate in different ways when it comes to maintenance deductions. LetMC support can enable the method you require.

The standard setting for deductions is set at ‘Enable Supplier Pending Payments. This tells the system that, if the landlord has insufficient or no funds then the contractors invoice can be entered onto the system but no funds will be transferred to the contractor until the landlord has a positive balance. This balance may be in the way of a float balance or alternatively the system will wait until the landlords main account is in credit.

If pending payments are not set then it is possible to pay the contractor even though the landlord is not in credit or request through support that they enable ‘No Deductions if Insufficient Funds’.

Property Maintenance Deduction

(with Pending Enabled)

Select the property that the deduction is being made against

Select Contractor that has submitted the invoice to be paid.

Landlord has no funds at present which means you will not be able to pay the contractor at this time but you will still be able to lodge the deduction.

Insert the amount of the contractors invoice and click the next action button

Confirm what is to happen in the accounts. If the ‘NRL Exempt’ box is un-ticked then the Landlord 'Supplier Payments (NRL Inclusive)' Account is debited. This triggers a further transaction, which credits the Landlord’s 'NRL Payments'

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Landlords account

As the landlord has no funds the pending amount to pay is set against the Supplier Pending Payment Account

Contractors account

The corresponding amount is shown in the contractors Pending Payments account

Most agents will work on a 30 day payment of contractors invoices so this will be satisfied when the landlord has received rent.

Landlord has funds available

The supplier payments pending account on the landlord is now credited and marked as fully paid

The landlords Supplier payments account is debited

The contractors payment pending account is debited and marked now as fully paid

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Make a Transfer Between People Select a Person (From)

Using the standard search criteria select the person from whose Main Account the transfer should come. When applying a transfer from a tenant, make sure you choose the tenant record for the correct property and tenancy that this transfer is related to. Click Next to continue.

Select a Person (To)

Using the search criteria select the person to whose Main Account the transfer should be made. Click Next to continue.

Enter the details of the transfer:

Amount (mandatory) Enter the amount of the transfer.

Transfer Type (This is automatically filled in and shows the people that the transfer is to be made between).

Enter a description of what the transfer is for, and when you are sure that the details are correct, click Finish to make the transfer. (If you need to modify any details, click Back to return to Step 2.

Effects in accounting:

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Make a Manual Rent Transfer

Example: Paying the Landlord rent direct from the Tenants’ account.

Using the standard search criteria select the tenant that you are going to transfer rent from and click next.

Enter the amount to transfer in the Rent Transfer Details, and then click next

You will be required then to confirm the transfer then click finish. The rent will now be transferred to the landlord

Effects in accounting:

Tenants Outstanding Rent Account is debited Landlords Rent Collected Account is credited Make a Manual Rent Refund

Landlord returning rent (overpayment)

Using the search criteria find the tenant and click next. Select the amount of refund and click next then finish

Select the amount of refund and click next to confirm the transfer then finish to complete the transaction.

Effects in Accounting

Tenants Main Account is credited

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Make a Manual Float Refund

Returning Float Account Money to Landlord

Using the standard search criteria search for the Landlord to make the transaction on, tick the box next to their name and click on next

Enter the amount to be refunded click next then click finish to confirm the transaction. The landlords Float account will be debited and his main account credited.

Effects in Accounting

Landlord Float Account is debited

Landlord Main Account is credited. The landlord now appears in people in credit. Manage Landlord Float

Managing the landlords float amount alleviates the need to go to landlord details to change amounts. It enables an automatic journal to be posted that refunds or collects more float. If the landlord does not have a positive main account balance and the amount of float is increased, then the system will automatically transfer funds up to that amount when money hits the landlords main account.

Manage Landlord Float can be found under Accounting > Apply Transfer, this allows the amount of float required for a landlord to be changed.

After searching for the required landlord you will see a screen as shown below.

The screen shows the current float balance that you are holding against the landlord. The figure below that is the minimum amount that should be held against the landlord. The example above shows that the

landlord has a custom amount set of £200. This was set in landlord details. If now you require to change the amount to be held, the new amount should be set in the Custom Float Amount box.

When the new amount is set click on the next action button.

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Make a Journal Transfer

Transferring money between different accounts, for example the transaction shown below is for transferring an amount from a tenant’s Main account to their Outstanding Rent account this will make rent due on the tenants account if for some reason the payment schedule is not picked up. This schedule may not have been set or the tenancy was signed after the first rent due date.

The first action, after selecting Make a Journal Transfer, which needs to be taken is to enter a description of the transaction. When this is done click on Create Person Posting.

Using the standard search criteria select the tenant who is going to have the rent deducted from their account, and click next on the action buttons.

The next screen will be the first part of the transfer process this is to select the account you are taking money from. In this case the rent which was paid by the tenant, but missed by the late signing of the tenancy, is still in the Tenants Main account. So it is from this account that the rent has to be taken, enter the rent amount in the appropriate box as a negative amount which will deduct the money from the selected Main account. Click finish to continue.

On the postings screen you will see the first part of the transaction confirmed. To complete the transaction of rent transfer you will now need to select the person posting again

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On the next screen you will need to enter the amount to add to the outstanding account. When done click on the finish action button.

This time we need to tell the system where the money is going to. In this case we need to move it to the Rent Outstanding account for the Tenant

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Manage Person's Auto Transfers

If the tenant, landlord or contractor has got a transfer that is due monthly (apart from rent or fees) auto transfers can be used. This may be for a monthly service charge to a contractor. In the following example you will be shown the setting up of the auto transfer and how to manage them. First select the person that is the payee of the auto charge using the standard search criteria and click next on the action buttons.

On the next screen click the Add button to set up a new auto charge

When you have selected Add you will need to search for the recipient of the Auto Charge. Tick the box next to the name and click next

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Looking at a person’s auto transfers, you will now see a list of Auto Charges that are set. If you now click on the edit button you will see a screen showing the auto charge details.

This time you may notice an extra button; Transfer Cancel. Selecting this cancel will stop the Auto transfer but it will remain on the system if required at a later date. The button now shows Restore. Clicking the finish action button will take you back to the menu screen.

Manage Auto Transfers by Property

This function will list auto charges by property

cancelling and

restoration of auto charges can also be carried out here. Search and select the property you want to look at auto charges for.

With the property selected a list of auto charges that are set to the property selected will be displayed. From here you can edit, cancel or restore by clicking on the Edit button. Filter by User Type, Transfer Person (Sender or Receiver and expired transfers)

Manage All Auto Transfers

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Guaranteed Rent

The system automatically operates a ‘Guaranteed Rent Scheme’. This means that when the rent due date is reached and the tenant has still yet to pay or funds or they are not yet authorised then a guaranteed payment is made to the landlord from the Company Guaranteed Rent Account. (View Account Activity/ View Company Accounts or View Branch Accounts. The agent must have a ‘Pot’ of money set aside for these payments.

When the tenant eventually pays the outstanding rent or it has now become authorised. Instead of the usual route of rent money, because the landlord has already been paid, then the money paid by the tenant is transferred to the Company Rent guaranteed account. The money is transferred to the Company Guaranteed Rent Account to replace the money already paid to the landlord.

Activate the Functionality

To activate the Guaranteed Rent Functionality go to Control Panel>Object Types>Tenancy Service Types.

Click the add button to create a new service type or open an existing one. Name the new service type something like Fully Managed – Rent Guaranteed

Tick the rent guaranteed box and in the Fee put a percentage that you as an agent are charging

This service type is now available to be set up per landlord

Setting the Landlord Charge for the Guaranteed Rent Service. If an Agent wants to charge a landlord a monthly fee for

the rent guarantee service then the system will apply this charge in the same way as it applies the rent collected management fee.

A new income type has been added called Guaranteed Rent Fees. This income type has been added to all Agents and cannot be removed. It can however, be re-named in Control Panel>Company Settings>Modify Company Details. On applying the charge to a landlord the transaction description appears as:

Guaranteed Rent Fee Charge at 2.50% + VAT

If the Agent applies a different % charge to some landlords then this can be set by going to Modify Landlord Details – Management Fees.

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How the System Makes a Guaranteed Rent Payment. System: Makes rent due.

The Tenants account is debited for the Rent Due

Tenant: Insufficient authorised/cleared funds.

Because the tenant has insufficient funds the money must be drawn from the Company/Branch Rent Guaranteed account

System: Debits the Company/Branch Guaranteed Rent Account

System: Credits the landlord’s Rent Collected Account

Landlords account is credited with the rent due. Management fees and rent guaranteed fees are deducted

Landlord: Account transaction appears as: Guaranteed Rent Payment for '71 High Street, CF24 4ET' from 'William Jones' for period 01/04/2009 to 30/04/2009.

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Tenants Rent covered by Guaranteed Rent?

A Tenancy Service Type filter can be found in the Money Owed Chase View in order to only display the tenants whose landlords have been paid Guaranteed Rent.

There is also a report called Guaranteed Rent Balances that provides a list of all tenants.

Tenant Rent Paid

When the tenant pays their rent money in or funds are now authorised the following happens in the system:

System: Refunds Rent Guarantee account

Tenants Rent Outstanding Account Is debited

Company Rent Guaranteed Account Credited

The First rent due on a New Tenancy is not covered by Rent Guarantee. Therefore the system will not instigate a Guaranteed Rent payment to the landlord if a tenant fails to pay the first month’s rent on a non-renewal tenancy.

Covering the Real Money Required to make Guaranteed Rent Payment.

The balance of the Company /Branch Rent Guarantee Account at any point in time is the total amount of Rent Guaranteed transactions made to Landlords. In order to comply with good practice, this amount of money should be transferred into the Client Bank Account from the Letting Agents Office or alternative account.

Guaranteed Rent Balances Report. Shows all tenants who owe Rent

Shows all Landlords that have had funds transferred from the, Rent Guarantee Account. Shows the number of days the rent has been outstanding.

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Applying Charges or Refunds

Charge/Refund a Tenant

Search for and select the tenant that you are going to apply the charge on.

Complete the details of the charge.

Be aware that if you are VAT registered then VAT will be added to the amount entered. Non VAT registered companies will not have VAT added on

Confirm the charge and click finish

To refund the tenant select refund tenant from the menu and the procedure is similar to applying a charge but this time you are giving money back. Remember that you should deduct the VAT before entering the refund amount as the system will add VAT to the amount that you enter.

Charge/Refund a Contractor

Search for and select the contractor to be charged. Click the next action button.

Enter the details of the charge and click the next action button. Confirm the Payment and finally click finish.

With refunding remember to deduct the VAT before entering the refund amount as the system will add VAT to the amount entered if you are VAT registered.

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Charging Landlords

Charges applied and refunds applied on the system are slightly different to the other Charges and Refunds, with multi-landlords the system splits any charges between the landlords according to the percentage of ownership. Charging a single ownership landlord is the same as other charging procedures. Charge options available:

 Charge Landlord by Property  Charge a Landlord

 Refund Landlord by Property  Refund a Landlord

Charge Landlord by Property This should be used to apply property related charges to the landlords because it splits the charge as per the % ownership split and the invoice lists the charge under the appropriate property.

Search for the property that the charge is to levied on, tick the box next to it and click next.

Enter an amount, set the sales charge type and enter a description to appear on the invoice. Landlords will now be charged based on % of ownership unless one is set as Zero Financial Share

The following screen will ask to confirm the charge.

Click the finish action button to confirm.

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Gavin Evans account

Jamie Amos’ account

Opening up the Activity/Transaction will show full details of what has happened with the accounts

Refund Landlord by Property

Similar screens as in Charge by Property but transaction going the other way

Make a Deduction from Tenants Bond Account

There are two ways to open this screen to make a bond deposit deduction.

1. Lettings/Instruction and Tenancies/Modify Instruction/Tenancy/Record Bond Deposit Deductions. Search for the property and click ok

2. Lettings/Inventories and Inspections/Deposit Management

Disputed Bond Deduction

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Enter the deduction type, who the deduction is applicable to and the amount that has been claimed. Type in a description, and then click the “add” button.

On the next screen if the charge is disputed by the tenant then the amount that they are prepared to pay is entered in the dispute box, click the Go button.

This charge is now marked as being in dispute. The matter is now handed over to the dispute service for arbitration

When the decision has been reached by the deposit scheme you can close the dispute by clicking on the Resolved Go button and then the Close Go button

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Agreed Bond Deduction

Search for the property that you need to make a deduction on and click on “next”

Enter the details of the amount Claimed, enter a description and click “next”

This time, as the tenant is agreeing with the deduction there is no need to make any changes. Click the Agrees Deduction Go button

Finally click the Close Go button

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Chase Money

Tenant Money Owed Chase

On selecting the Chase option you will see a total amount of rent outstanding and a list of tenants that owe money. This list is gained by selecting search criteria at the top of the page. At the bottom of the list is a send method and letter type drop down set this to the required send method (these methods can be amended by LetMC staff at the request of the agent), tick the boxes next to the tenants you are sending a chase email/letter etc to (this can be multiple tenants) and click the Go button.

Included in this drop down list there are options to send the landlord a Text, Email or letter, keeping them updated on the progress of the chase. The letter includes the last 30 days of tenant chase notes so that the landlord can see the chase activity. This allows the Staff member chasing rent to keep landlords informed at a click of a button.

The Chase criteria can be filtered and ordered. Criteria available:

Branch/Area When Rent Became Due

Last Chased Tenancy Stage