[GNC] Using GC for Property Management

[David Cousens]

I think the difficulty is that in the gnucash structure at present, a
transaction  does not have a vendor or customer identity associated with it
direcctly. It is the invoice/bill structure which provides the link between a
customer/vendor and the particular associated transactions. There is an
identification of receipt of payments and the making of payments which also ties
back to the invoice/bill structure. I don't know whether that is a separate data
structure from the invoice/bill data structures or whether it is a part of that
structure. I suspect that it is a separate structure which ties the transaction
Id to the invoice/bill Id. Derek may be able to enlighten us here. If it is a
separate structure then perhaps a separate field which identifies it as a
payment associated with an invoice/bill  or a cash payment can be added. In the
latter case the link could point perhaps to a customer/vendor id directly rather
than to the associated invoice/bill id.

If that is possible then a modification to the process payment dialogues to
allow a cash payment option which connects the vendor/customer links rather than
the invoice link may be a possible route. 


On Mon, 2023-09-25 at 16:44 -0400, Jediator wrote:
> Not exactly.  If using QuickBooks in which you can assign a transaction 
> to a vendor/customer, I don't have to create invoices and bills just for 
> the sake of tracking the payment sources and targets.  So the workflow 
> does depend on the tool you are using...
> 
> On 9/25/23 4:08 PM, Adrien Monteleone wrote:
> > This is an accounting question more than a GnuCash question, but I did 
> > notice something that trying to do this in GnuCash, may help with the 
> > caveat that you need to discuss this with a local CPA. This is not 
> > accounting advice, but a starting point for questions to ask the CPA.
> > 
> > I'll make inline notations below, but with Debit(Dr.) & Credit (Cr.) 
> > labels as those are more traditional and easier to follow, especially 
> > using GnuCash.
> > 
> > Regards,
> > Adrien
> > 
> > On 9/22/23 1:36 PM, Jediator wrote:
> > > Dear GC users,
> > > 
> > > I am trying to set up GC for a small property management business. 
> > > There are three actors involved:  Renter, Property Owner, and 
> > > Property Manager.  Renter pays rent on a monthly basis to property 
> > > management, and the manager pays the property owner after taking out 
> > > certain percentage of management fee. Here is the workflow I came up 
> > > with:
> > > 
> > > Renter(Customer) --> Invoice --> Accounts Receivable
> > 
> > This should be:
> > 
> > Dr. Assets:Accounts Receivable
> >   Cr. Income:Rent
> > 
> > 
> > > Rent Payment    ---------------> PM Escrow (Income Account) 
> > > ------------------
> > 
> > Usually you'd involve a bank or cash account here and AR, but since 
> > you have a pass-through collector for you (the property manager), 
> > you'd use an intermediary asset account, perhaps:
> > 
> > Dr. Assets:PM Escrow
> >   Cr. Assets:Accounts Receivable
> > 
> > This credits the Renter's AR balance due and shifts your asset from AR 
> > to the funds being held by the Property Manager. (which at this point, 
> > would be a liability on their books)
> > 
> > Think of that similar to a bank account. The funds are legally yours, 
> > but you don't physically possess/control them. (yet)
> > 
> > > 
> > >                                                        Check to Owner 
> > > Issued↓
> > > 
> > > Owner(Vendor)  ------>  Bill -------> Acct Payable (Rental 
> > > Passthrough) ------> Rent Passthrough (Expense Acct)
> > > 
> > >                           | (split)↓
> > >                           -----------> Acct Payable (Commission) 
> > > --------------> PM Commission (Income Acct)
> > 
> > If you know the commission in advance, I'd create vendor bill as soon 
> > as possible. (maybe the same time as the rental invoice)
> > 
> > That bill would look like:
> > 
> > Dr. Expenses:PM Commission
> >   Cr. Liablities:Accounts Payable
> > 
> > When the Property Manager remits a check for the balance minus their 
> > commission, you'll have this transaction:
> > 
> > Dr. Assets:Undeposited Funds
> >   Cr. Assets:PM Escrow
> > 
> > This reduces the amount owed to you via that escrow account, by the 
> > Property Manager.
> > 
> > You can then 'pay' the vendor bill from the Escrow account:
> > 
> > Dr. Liabilities:Accounts Payable
> >   Cr. Assets:PM Escrow
> > 
> > and then deposit the remainder to say, Checking:
> > 
> > Dr. Assets:Checking
> >   Cr. Assets:Undeposited Funds
> > 
> > 
> > Note, you *could* combine two of those, but that is more difficult to 
> > do with the business features. You can't do it via the 'pay bill' 
> > dialog. You'd have to create the transaction or import it, and then 
> > 'assign as payment' on the relevant split. The combined transaction 
> > would look like:
> > 
> > Dr. Assets:Undeposited Funds
> > Dr. Liabilities: Accounts Payable
> >   Cr. Assets:PM Escrow
> > 
> > The first Debit is for the balance remitted to you, the second is to 
> > cover the Commission bill (the one you'd assign as payment) and the 
> > third clears out the Escrow account balance. (for that period invoiced)
> > 
> > I'm sure there are plenty of other options for Escrow/Holding accounts 
> > and the transactions would be slightly different if you do any direct 
> > deposit from that property manager.
> > 
> > > Could anyone please comment on if this is workable?  Creating both 
> > > invoices and bills every month is kind of tedious.  Any suggestions 
> > > of how to simplify/optimize the process?
> > > 
> > > I really wished that GC would have the option to link Vendor/Customer 
> > > to a transaction without creating a bill or invoice.  Any future 
> > > development plans for this feature?
> > 
> > I don't think there are any plans to bypass the Business Features to 
> > facilitate other workflows.
> > 
> > You do have some options though:
> > 
> > 1. Import bills & invoices, via CSV.
> > 
> > This will save some clicks and maybe typing, especially if the 
> > documents and amounts don't change except for dates. You could just 
> > re-import the same CSV each month and increment the invoice/bill numbers.
> > 
> > 2. Use the Duplicate Transaction feature.
> > 
> > This would be handy for the payments and depositing transactions and 
> > of course, you can easily update the transaction date, num, and 
> > amount(s) but it gives you a 'template' type of effect to save some 
> > typing and remembering which splits to include. Of course, you still 
> > need to 'assign as payment' as needed.
> > 
> > 3. Use Scheduled Transactions
> > 
> > Similar to the Duplicate function, but it can fire on a schedule, with 
> > or without prior 'approval' by you and can include formulas for 
> > amounts that can use variables that you get prompted to input when 
> > they fire. This doesn't relieve the 'assign as payment' step, but 
> > might be more robust than simply duplicating a previous instance.
> > 
> > 4. Some combination of #2 and/or #3, forgoing the Business Features 
> > entirely, and crafting your own special Saved Report Configurations 
> > where needed. (the Transaction Report has robust filtering ability 
> > that can likely duplicate most of what is in the Vendor/Customer Reports)
> > 
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