Are you using Yardi real estate software to streamline your business operations? If so, it’s essential to establish a robust month-end process to ensure accurate and thorough closings. This guide will walk you through the critical steps for creating the necessary controls for your month-end closing process. From user permissions to security settings, we’ve got you covered.
Setting Up User Permissions and Ensuring Security
Before diving into your first month-end close, there are critical setup items you must verify:
Property Operating Month and Status
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- Navigate to each property’s Property Control page, Accounting Control tab.
- Ensure that A/P, A/R, and Journal reflect the correct current month, and make sure the “inactive” box is unchecked.
User Access to Properties
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- On Yardi’s Review Users or Add Users page, confirm that each user can access the relevant properties.
- Users can be granted access to individual properties or property lists.
- Setting up accurate property lists is crucial for a smooth process.
Setting Period Access Privileges
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- In the Privileges tab, define how many periods each user can access.
- To avoid data entry errors, it’s advisable to only grant access for up to 12 months in the past or the future.
- Most users should have access to only one or two future periods and no access to past periods.
- For example, setting access to “0” means users can post entries only in the current property operating month, which might differ from the current calendar month.
Group Permissions
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- The “group” identified on the User tab determines user permissions in different parts of Yardi.
- You can access this list of permissions by selecting “set permissions” from the Administration home page and choosing the group to review.
- Several permissions affect the closing process, and searching for “%close%” in the description will reveal them.
- Depending on your closing process, different permissions need to be granted.
Properly configuring user security ensures everyone can access the necessary data while maintaining data security.
Additional Security Documentation
For further insights into Yardi Security, refer to Yardi Voyager Security documentation on Yardi’s Client Central.
Manual vs. Automated Closing Processes
When closing your accounts, you have two options: manual or automated.
Manual Property Close
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- If you select this option, someone must physically close each property at month-end.
- You can close A/P, A/R, Journal, or all separately.
- If completed individually, closing A/P and A/R before the Journal is recommended.
- After closing all properties, you must also close the system operating month.
- The reporting month then advances to the next month.
- Users need permission to open/close books, close property, and close month and year processes.
Automated Close
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- Alternatively, you can automate the closing process.
- Set Yardi to close all properties simultaneously on a consistent date, e.g., on the first day of the current month.
- This ensures that A/P remains in the correct period and guarantees a seamless General Ledger cutoff.
- Automation saves time and provides a consistent closing process, mainly if you don’t require human oversight.
Other Considerations
Lastly, consider these factors for a smoother month-end closing:
- Year-End Close: If you want your fiscal year-end to coincide with your final monthly close, mark “Automatic Close Year” in the Accounts and Options Operation section.
- Month-End Tie-Outs: We recommend reconciling your balance sheet accounts, including accounts receivable, accounts payable, prepays, and security deposits, before generating final financial reports each period. Yardi offers various reports to assist with this process.
Following these guidelines and optimizing your month-end closing process with Yardi will streamline operations, enhance accuracy, and save your real estate business valuable time.
