QuickBooks Online (QBO) has changed the way businesses keep track of their money in a big way. Its cloud-based system gives businesses a lot of freedom and a lot of tools that meet their needs. One great thing about QuickBooks Online is that it works with a lot of apps that are made to make it more useful. As a product, Intuit has nearly 80% of the market share. Plus, as of 2023, Intuit has reported they have 6.5 million subscribers, which makes up more than half of all its users.
One of the powers of QuickBooks Online is its ability to connect with dozens of third-party apps seamlessly. QuickBooks Online is a great overall tool for accounting and financial management. However, it can fall short when it comes to real estate operational management and report viewing capabilities. This is particularly true with commercial real estate (CRE).
Benefits of Using Apps with QuickBooks Online
Every company has its challenges. Apps that interact with QuickBooks Online can help to address these needs, guaranteeing that companies have tools appropriate for their procedures. For example, a store might find an app for managing their goods useful, while a service-based business might find a scheduling app more useful.
This is why using third-party apps in conjunction with QuickBooks Online can bolster transparency and financial success in your commercial real estate organization. Here are three benefits of using apps with QuickBooks Online that you might not have considered.
#1: Expanded Finance Management
The first benefit of using apps with QuickBooks Online is access to financial management tailored to commercial real estate businesses. For example, it can be difficult to manage global real estate finances alone through QuickBooks Online. Combining QuickBooks’ integration capabilities with QuickBooks Online with programs designed for commercial real estate, such as STRATAFOLIO, lets you view your business on both global and granular levels.
Platforms like STRATAFOLIO connect with QuickBooks Online to streamline your financial management from a single source. With these platforms, you can create cash flow dashboards across your entire real estate portfolio. Plus, you can easily track loan spending and lending metrics, such as loan-to-value (LTV) and debt coverage ratio (DCR), which are two fundamental pieces of running a successful commercial real estate company. Here are a few ways that apps can provide your commercial real estate business with expanded operational management for your real estate business:
- Rent Roll – Apps designed around commercial real estate needs will allow you to track occupancy by unit, export rent roll reports to share with investors and lenders, and keep your business on track to reach its financial goals.
- Unlimited Users – As your team grows, you don’t have to worry about bottlenecks in your financial management when pairing apps with QuickBooks Online.
- CAM Reconciliation – Imagine completing your common area maintenance (CAM) with just a single click. It’s possible through our integration with QuickBooks Online.
#2: Greater Operational Control
Operational control can make or break commercial real estate businesses. Pairing QuickBooks Online’s seamless integration with apps designed for commercial real estate business can help your organization properly control operations. Owners and landlords can’t easily track upcoming lease escalations, monitor tenant certificates of insurance (COIs), or reconcile CAMs through our integration with QuickBooks Online.
Outsourcing these functions to third-party solutions allows your business to maintain operational control, lowering operating and overhead costs while still leveraging the other benefits QuickBooks Online has to offer. Here are a few more ways that apps can provide you with more operational control:
- Tenant Portal – With STRATAFOLIO, you not only provide your organization with expanded operational control, but your tenants can also benefit. Tenants can view their current and previous leases and pay rent from the portal. Plus they have the ability to share their certificates of insurance and submit work orders.
- ACH Payments – Instead of waiting weeks for a check to come in the mail, your commercial real estate company can take advantage of built-in applications to collect rent payments. This lowers your administrative burden and makes it easy for tenants to pay their rent.
#3: Improved Asset Management
QuickBooks Online doesn’t have extensive capabilities when it comes to asset management. But STRATAFOLIO does. From aggregating your total asset values and business components to uncovering the rentable square foot units. Your organization can utilize third-party apps, like STRATAFOLIO, to make more informed business decisions surrounding asset management.
Comprehensive apps allow you to reduce manual and time-intensive processes and instead track your assets in a single location. You can quickly find out what your global rents are or what units are becoming vacant, infusing versatility, flexibility, and a proactive approach to asset management throughout your business. Here are a few other ways that asset management apps, like STRATAFOLIO, can take your accounting system to the next level:
- File Management – Eliminate the need to sift through dozens of drives, paper files, and other storage types. You can access a central location with all files, including details on who uploaded them and when.
- Picture Management – It can be difficult to organize images associated with assets. Apps that connect with QuickBooks Online can track and display all of your asset photos.
- Asset Drill Down – With an intuitive search engine, you can find the asset you need in seconds. This is essential for commercial real estate businesses with dozens of properties.
Summary
QuickBooks Online is an attractive option for countless commercial real estate businesses because of its wide variety of app connections. Pairing this software with apps tailored to commercial real estate expands your financial management, results in greater operational control, and improves your asset management.
At STRATAFOLIO, we can provide you with these benefits and more. Our software seamlessly communicates with QuickBooks Online, allowing you to leverage the resources specific to commercial real estate and the general capabilities of QuickBooks Online. Reach out to a team member to schedule a consultation to learn more.
