The Loss That Never Appears in Reports
Your reports show arrears because they are recorded. The more dangerous loss never appears: revenue that was due and never recorded. It shows as no arrear because it never entered the system.
Seven Leakage Points
- Unapplied annual increases — renewed at the old amount because nobody noticed
- Expired contract, tenant still in place — paying an old amount with no legal basis
- Gaps between contracts — never logged, so vacancy causes go unexamined
- Unbilled services — extra parking, storage, agreed utilities used but never invoiced
- Unreturned, unreconciled deposits — left hanging as neither revenue nor liability
- Uncalculated late fees — stipulated but never applied because manual calculation is tedious
- Unrecovered owner expenses — maintenance paid on their behalf, never deducted
The Common Cause
All share one root: relying on human attention for repetitive work. Nobody forgets to collect the main rent, but everyone forgets the annual increase eleven months later.
Closing the Leaks
- Schedule increases at contract creation, not renewal
- Alert on expiry two months ahead, not on the day
- Log every vacant day
- Link every extra service to the contract for automatic billing
- Track deposits as standing liabilities
- Calculate late fees automatically per contract terms
- Link owner expenses to their account immediately
Finding Your Current Leakage
One review reveals a lot. For each active contract, compare three things: does collected match contract terms after increases, is the expiry date still in the future, and are all agreed extra services billed?