LCS, INC ' Rent Manager

Rent Manager is a completely integrated property management/financial software package designed for a variety of property types. With its flexible sizing, Rent Manager is suitable for property management companies of all sizes.

EASE OF USE – 4.5 Stars
Rent Manager is an easily navigated system. It’s available in four distinct versions. The Small Business Version is sold on a per-unit basis, the Professional Edition is designed for over 150 units on a small network, and the Enterprise Edition is ideal for companies with several thousand rental units and comes complete with a powerful SQL database. An online version is also available for companies with several locations or for users who need remote access. All information for the online version is stored on LCS servers for maximum security.

Rent Manager is easily navigated. The main screen has a drop-down menu bar at the top that contains access to main system features such as Lists, Rental Info, Activities, Letters and Reports. Also available is a section for meter monitoring and a Service Manager function. Below this is a series of shortcut icons, including Quick Setup, Customer, Payments, Letters and Deposits. One click will take you directly to the desired function. Rent Manager is easily set up using the Quick Setup function. Here you can add bank account, charge types, property, unit and customer information. With the varying levels of Rent Manager available, you can easily transition from a smaller version to the larger enterprise or online version.

FEATURES – 4.5 Stars
Rent Manager comes with a completely integrated GL along with resident tracking, weekly and monthly rental processing, complete work order management, and unlimited user-defined fields. It is designed for a variety of rental types, including apartment communities, single-family homes, self-storage facilities, manufactured homes, condominiums, and commercial properties. Multiple late-fee processing options are available, and you can choose between cash and accrual basis accounting. With Rent Manager, you can handle weekly and monthly rentals with ease, and you can easily search current and historical tenant information.

INTEGRATION – 5 Stars
The Enterprise Edition of Rent Manager comes complete with all system modules. Add-ons available with Rent Manager include Utility and Advanced Utility Billing, which let you calculate and bill tenants for utilities used. The Metered Utilities kit can calculate consumption of utilities, assess charges to the correct tenant and even print statements. Advanced CAM Charge Billing is a must for commercial or retail property managers. This feature allows you to designate specific charge types based on a variety of criteria including square footage, percentage of square footage leased, flat fee, or you can choose to define your own using a user-defined field. The ePay Electronic Payment System allows managers to process electronic payments using tenant credit cards, debit cards or checking account information. Payments are automatically collected each month and deposited directly into your designated bank account. Data can be transmitted to and from LCS if you are storing data off-site. You can also import information from a variety of file types.

REPORTING – 5 Stars
There is a variety of reports available, including Rental Information reports such as Property Listing, Rental Unit Listing, Unit Turnover, Occupancy Listing and a Customer Profile. Also available is a Rent Roll and Rent Roll Comparison, as well as summary reports, numerous accounting reports and lease expiration reports. Choosing report criteria is easy with a list of properties to include, the date range and sort options. Metered utility reports and service manager reports are also available.

HISTORY & SUPPORT – 5 Stars
London Computer Systems (LCS) first began developing residential and commercial property management software in 1982. Current customers range in size from 10 rental units to upwards of 20,000. After-hours support is available since Rent Manager keeps a technician on call at all times to handle inconvenient emergencies. Support fees are 30 percent of the product purchase price. Maximum support fees are $395 per year. This fee is for unlimited telephone support with no time tracking. Both the Professional Edition and the Online Edition of Rent Manager include one full year of telephone support and free program updates for one year. A support forum is also available online where user questions and answers are posted.

RELATIVE VALUE – 5 Stars
The cost of Rent Manager ‘ Small Business Edition is $15 per rental unit in increments of five not to exceed 150 units. If you have over 150 units, you would purchase Rent Manager ‘ Professional Edition, which is $2,195, and supports unlimited rental units. One year of support is also included with the purchase of the Professional Edition. Smaller companies can easily purchase what they need and can afford, and easily expand to the professional or enterprise level when needed.

2005 OVERALL RATING: 5

This review will hopefully answer some of your questions or at least point you in the right direction. We chose six areas to focus on for this review: Ease of Use, Features, Integration, Reporting, History & Support, and Relative Value.

Ease of Use is important, particularly for new users. How quickly can the system be set up? Is it easy to install? System Features gives readers information about the modules included with the system, whether there is an integrated accounting function, and whether or not there is an applicant module or a work order/maintenance module. Integration is also an important issue, particularly for large management companies running multiple software products. Reporting covers report processing ease, a summary of available report types, and whether customization or third-party reporting is an option. History & Support is another area to consider when making a software purchase. How long has the company been in business? What kind of customer support options are available? Is support included in the price of the software? Relative Value assesses whether the features that are included in the product are worth the cost?