Struggling with where to begin when entering a new lease? Or need a refresher? In this Knowledge Base Article, we give step-by-step instructions on how to input a lease in STRATAFOLIO.
If you have already entered the basic information for a lease, see the article “Adding Additional Lease Information in STRATAFOLIO” for help adding additional information such as rent escalations, operating expenses, and files.
Navigate to the Add a Lease Page
Start on the left-side navigation panel under Properties, and click the Units tab.
Find the unit that you want to add the lease to, then click the 
button to see more options and select Add Lease. This will bring you to the Add a Lease page.
TIP: If you have a lot of units in your portfolio, use the SEARCH box to find the unit you are looking for.
The Add a Lease Page
Once you are on the Add A Lease page, you are ready to review the lease and add the relevant information into STRATAFOLIO. Have the lease nearby because you will need to reference it for the information to add on this page.
The Add a Lease page is divided into 6 sections. Each section is discussed in detail below.
- Tell Us About Your Lease
- Lease Duration
- Lease Rate
- Invoicing
- Lease Renewal
- Closing Out Your Lease
Tell Us About Your Lease
UNIT(S) (required)
The unit that you selected when you clicked “Add Lease” should already appear in this block. Verify that this unit number matches the unit for the lease.
TIP: You can add an additional unit(s) in this block if the tenant is renting more than one unit. Sometimes it is useful to have both units entered here if the tenant has one lease for both units and the units are in the same building. If the tenant has separate leases, pays separate rates for each unit or the units are in different buildings, it is usually better to enter the leases under the units separately and not combine the units under one lease.
For more information on units, see one of these Knowledge Base articles:
How to Add a Unit
All About UNITS in STRATAFOLIO
TENANT(S) (required)
Tenant is a required field for a lease. This is typically the name of the company or person who is leasing the space from you. If you have already added the Tenant information to STRATAFOLIO, click inside the Tenant block, and a dropdown list of tenants will come up. Click on the tenant that the lease is for.
To add a new tenant, click the blue Add a Tenant button to open the Add Tenant page.
LEASE TYPE (required)
Select from the dropdown list of Lease Types which include:
- NNN – Triple Net
Used primarily for commercial leases, triple net means that the tenant will reimburse/pay the landlord for the actual costs of:- CAM (Common Area Maintenance)
- Insurance
- Real Estate Taxes
- NN – Double Net
Also used primarily for commercial leases, double net means that the tenant will reimburse/pay the landlord for two of the items listed above. - N – Single Net
Also used primarily for commercial leases, single net means that the tenant will reimburse/pay the landlord for one of the items listed above.
NOTE: Triple, Double & Single Net leases usually invoice a set amount for CAM, Insurance, & Real Estate Taxes every month, then reconcile the invoiced amount with the actual costs at the end of each year.
- Gross
A Gross lease means that the tenant pays one flat rental fee. Apartment rentals are a good example of a Gross lease. For commercial properties, a Gross lease will have the cost of CAM, Insurance, & Real Estate Taxes included in the one, flat rental fee. - Modified Gross
Modified Gross can be used when the lease is primarily a gross lease, but there may be an additional fee that is charged on a periodic basis. - Sublease
- Other
LEASE STATUS (optional)
While adding a Lease Status is optional, it is recommended that you select an option from the dropdown menu for this field and that you update the Lease Status when there are changes to the lease. Lease Status is an important bit of information for an accurate & complete Rent Roll.
Lease Status options include:
- Future Lease
- Occupied
- Expired
- Month-to-Month
- Year-to-Year
- Notice – Available to Rent
- Breach of Contract
- Eviction Started
- Evicted
Lease Duration
The Lease Duration section is straightforward. Enter the start and end dates based on the lease documents. Remember to make sure the start date is the commencement date of the lease.
NOTE: When a lease is extended, it is important to update the Lease End Date. If you find that a lease that was recently renewed is not showing up in the rent roll, double-check the Lease End Date to ensure that it was updated to reflect the new end date.
Lease Rate
USE LEASE DATES
This option uses the dates entered in the Lease Duration section above and applies the Lease Rate to the entire lease period. Typically this will apply to residential rentals when the lease does not include rent escalations.
ENTER CUSTOM DATE RANGE
This option is most often used for commercial property rentals when the lease includes rent escalations. If you select this option, you will enter the date range for the first lease rate only. Adding any additional lease rates will be done after entering the basic lease information and clicking Save at the bottom of the Add A Lease pop-up window.
BASE RENT (required)
Enter the basic rental rate.
For NNN, NN, and N leases do not include CAM, Real Estate Taxes, or Insurance here. Those will be added under the Op-Exp Tab after you finish entering the basic lease information and click Save at the bottom of the Add A Lease pop-up window.
BASE RATE (required)
There are two options under Base Rate:
- Per RSF (Annually)
This option indicates that the amount entered for the Base Rent is a rate per rentable square footage. STRATAFOLIO will calculate the monthly and annual rates based on the square footage entered for the Unit. - Flat Rate (Monthly)
For this option, the amount entered for Base Rent should be the monthly amount.
LEASE AMOUNT CONFIRMED
“Yes” will always be checked for the Lease Rate that you enter on this page.
When you add additional Lease Rates (After you finish entering the basic lease information and click Save at the bottom of this window), you will have the option to check this button to confirm the lease rate or leave it unchecked to receive an email notification a month before the new rate goes into effect. Leaving the button unchecked will allow you to be notified and then update any lease rate escalations that may need adjustment due to negotiations with the tenant or changes to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
LEASE RATE NOTES (optional)
Use this box for any notes about the Lease Rate. It is often used to note where the lease rate can be found, for example, “Original Lease – Years 1-5.”
LATE CHARGES (optional)
Enter any notes about Late Charges for this lease. An example entry for this box is: “Late Fee: 10%. NSF Fee: $25.00.”
PAYMENT DUE MONTHLY ON DAY (optional)
Enter the day the payment is due. For example, “1” is entered to indicate that rent is due on the first day of the month.
GRACE PERIOD (optional)
If there is a grace period for rent, enter it here. For example, if the rent is due on the first of the month, but not late until the fifth, enter 5 in this space.
Invoicing
Information in this section is optional. However, STRATAFOLIO Makes invoicing quick and easy when this is section is completed. Setting up Income Items and creating at least one invoice in QuickBooks first is required. Once invoicing is set up in QuickBooks, you will select the Income Item and Income Classification in this section.
For more information, see:
Creating Income Items in QuickBooks Online
Creating Invoices in STRATAFOLIO
All About INVOICES in STRATAFOLIO
Lease Alerts
You can learn more about How Lease Alerts Work
LEASE EXPIRATION ALERT (DAYS PRIOR) (required if
The Lease Expiration Alert (Days Prior) entered here will trigger an email to you that many days before the lease expires. Often this is specified in the lease, but you can enter any number of days that you would like here so that you will receive the email as a timely reminder that the lease is up for renewal. This is optional if the Enable Lease Expiration Alert option is set to No but required if set to Yes.
Lease Renewal
LEASE RENEWAL OPTIONS (optional)
This property can be set to Yes or No. If your lease has lease renewal options in it, setting this property to Yes, will allow you to quickly find all your leases that have this option available.
LEASE RENEWAL STATUS (optional)
Options in the dropdown menu include:
- Communication Started
- Renewing
- New Lease Signed
- Not Renewing
LEASE RENEWAL NOTES (optional)
It is helpful to enter some notes in this section about the renewal options included in the lease. For example, “Two options to renew for 5 years each.”
Lease Restrictions
RESTRICTIONS/EXCLUSIVE USE (optional)
This property can be set to Yes or No. If your lease has any restrictions or exclusive use options in it, setting this property to Yes, will allow you to quickly find all your leases that have this option available.
RESTRICTIONS/EXCLUSIVE USE NOTES (optional)
It is helpful to enter some notes in this section about any of your lease restrictions or exclusive use. These could be references to the lease sections, or the actual restrictions.
Closing Out Your Lease
SECURITY DEPOSIT (optional)
If applicable, enter the amount of the security deposit paid by the tenant.
FINAL INSPECTION CHARGES (optional)
This box will be used when you close the lease. You can enter any charges that apply here.
REFUNDED SECURITY DEPOSIT (optional)
This box will also be used when you close the lease to indicate the amount of the security deposit that was refunded.
LEASE CLOSING NOTES (optional)
You can enter any notes related to closing the lease in this box. We recommend entering the lease termination/expiration date here and noting any unusual circumstances that may have resulted in the termination of the lease. For example, “Early termination on 12/15/2020 due to bankruptcy.”
Save the Lease Information
Once all of the information above has been entered, click Save at the bottom of the popup window, and you will return to the All Units page.
View Lease Information
After entering all the initial information from the lease, go back to the Unit, then click the button to see more options and select View Lease.
This will bring you to the Lease Abstract page, where there is a series of tabs that contain additional lease information. Click through the tabs to review or verify the information that was entered.
Want to learn more?
Would you like to learn more about what STRATAFOLIO can do to help you manage your Commercial Real Estate Properties? Watch our prerecorded 10-minute demo to learn how we can reduce your time and effort by 80%.Do you want to talk to us directly about how we can help your organization-specific needs? Schedule a 1:1 demo tailored specifically to your organization’s individual goals and needs.