Property management
A property management company earns a fee per door and spends a salary per hundred doors, and the gap between the two is the business. Trust accounts hold money that is not yours, maintenance is a margin opportunity or a loss, and portfolio growth adds staff in steps. We bring portfolio-level finance to residential, strata and commercial property managers across British Columbia, working alongside their CPA and within the rules of their regulator.
How the money works
- Fee revenue per door is set by contract and competition, and the cost to serve a door varies with the building, the owner and the tenant
- Trust accounting is regulated and non-negotiable, and the operating company's finances must be kept completely separate from it
- Maintenance and project coordination can carry a margin, or can consume staff time for no revenue, depending on how it is priced
- Staff cost per door managed is the key ratio, and it steps up each time the portfolio grows past the team's capacity
The moves we make
- Revenue and cost per door by portfolio, by building type and by owner, with the cost to serve measured
- A clear separation of trust and operating accounting, with the operating company's own forecast and reporting
- A maintenance and project pricing model that earns a margin on coordination
- A capacity model that shows when the next hire is needed and what the portfolio must reach to pay for it
Where cash and margin leak
Margin leaks in doors that take ten times the staff time of the average and pay the same fee, in maintenance coordinated for free, in software and inspection costs that grow faster than the portfolio, and in fee schedules that were set to win the contract and never revisited.
Cash leaks in fees billed late or collected from the wrong account, in operating expenses paid before management fees are drawn, and in staff hired ahead of the doors that would fund them. The operating company often runs on a thin margin that nobody has measured because attention goes to the trust accounts.
The numbers to watch every week
Doors under management, gained and lost. Fee revenue per door. Staff cost per door. Doors per property manager. Maintenance revenue and margin. Fees billed and collected. Owner and tenant arrears handled on behalf of clients. Operating cash against the next payroll.
Monthly, add profit per portfolio and the cost to serve by building type. A manager who tracks these knows which contracts to renew at a higher fee, which to let go and when the next property manager is affordable.
How pricing works in property management
Fees are a percentage of rent or a flat amount per door, plus leasing fees, renewal fees, inspection fees and maintenance coordination charges. The base fee often covers the cost to serve an easy building and not a difficult one. Pricing work is about the fee schedule as a whole: what is included, what is extra, and how a difficult building or owner is priced.
We model the cost to serve by building type and set a fee schedule that earns a margin on each. Strata and rental rules on what can be charged are for your regulator and your lawyer. We make sure the numbers work inside those rules.
Questions from property management owners
Do you work with trust accounts?
No. Trust accounting is regulated and stays with your licensed staff and your CPA. Our work is the operating company: its revenue, cost, cash, pricing and reporting. We make sure the two are cleanly separated in the systems and the reporting.
How do we know when to hire another property manager?
From the capacity model: doors per manager at a service level you can defend, the fee revenue those doors produce and the loaded cost of the hire. The model shows the number of doors at which the hire pays for itself and the cash impact until it does.
Should we charge for maintenance coordination?
Yes, through a stated percentage or fee, where your contracts and the rules allow. Coordination takes staff time and carries risk, and a company that does it for free subsidises its owners from its margin. We model what it costs and what to charge.
Start with a finance review.
Ninety minutes with Ali on your cash, margin and pricing. You leave with the four numbers to watch and the two or three moves that change them, whether or not we work together.