Timberline, A Best Software Company ' Timberline Office For Property Management

Timberline Office for Property Management is designed for mid-sized companies who specialize in commercial, retail, mixed use, residential management and development.

EASE OF USE – 4.5 Stars
Timberline Office is easy to install. A list of required components is shown on the screen prior to installation. A new feature, Timberline Office Desktop, is a customizable screen that acts as a personal home page. It allows you to organize frequently used tasks, list reports and includes shortcuts to other Timberline Office and third-party applications, such as Microsoft Word or Excel. Setting up a new company in Timberline Office is time consuming, though not difficult. When creating a new company, a data folder is created. Prefix account numbers are set up using up to five levels of numbering, so you can track expenses by company, location, department and expense code or any variation you wish. Job Cost codes can also be entered this way. Property ID codes can be set up using location codes for a particular property, lease ID and tenant number.

Beneath the taskbar at the top of the screen is the toolbar, which contains frequently used tasks in each module. You can customize the toolbar to better fit your needs by choosing which menu items you will need.

Data entry is straightforward with uncluttered screens and the ability to add master records such as new tenant information on the fly. Graphical icons provide users with one-click access to daily tasks including quick charge for entering one-time charges and credits, and reports and inquiries, including tenant ledgers and cash receipts.

FEATURES – 5 Stars
Timberline Office is a series of integrated applications that work together. Applications include a completely integrated GL that can maintain transactions for multiple companies, divisions and locations. Using the Property Management module, you can easily monitor move-in and move-out activity; view all pro-rations; and post and track tenant receipts, which can be posted to a variety of different fields, including billed charges, prepayments and deposits. The Property Management application also includes light residential and property management features, along with Advanced Retail and Recoveries and Escalation calculations.

Tenant leases place front and center in Timberline Office, which can accommodate any lease type, including those with complex calculations. The Advanced Retail feature is an add-on application that assists retail users with tracking and calculating percentage rents, using specific user-defined categories such as departments or product types. You can also calculate overage rent automatically and analyze sales by property, store or tenant type.

INTEGRATION – 4.5 Stars
Timberline Office for Property Management easily integrates with all Timberline Office applications as well as with third-party applications such as Microsoft Word and Excel.

REPORTING – 5 Stars
It would be tough to beat the sheer number of reports that are included in Timberline Office for Property Management. There are more than 500 standard reports available in the various modules. The Report Designer lets you customize and create reports when needed, allowing you to choose specific fields; insert conditions; choose fonts, line spacing, and number and date formats; and customize toolbar and drop-down lists to suit each employee. Using Crystal Reports Version 8.5, which integrates with Timberline Office, can increase this reporting capability. With Crystal Reports, you can give reports a presentation finish by using colors, company logos and other images as needed.

HISTORY & SUPPORT – 5 Stars
Timberline, a Best Software company has been providing property management and financial and operations construction software solutions to businesses since 1971. Currently, Timberline has 20,000 customers worldwide. Best Software purchased Timberline Software in 2002.

Timberline offers users three levels of support: BasicCare (for those who only need self-service support through an online knowledgebase), EssentialCare (which offers users unlimited phone and online support) and PremierCare (which offers unlimited support, along with personalized attention and an account manager).

SmartStart is for new clients and offers 60 days of software maintenance, followed by 60 additional days of software maintenance, plus unlimited phone and web-based support. SmartStart makes sure that you get Timberline Office up and running as quickly and as smoothly as possible.

RELATIVE VALUE – 5 Stars
Timberline Office is a sophisticated program that would be ideal for property management and development companies that have a mixed portfolio. Timberline Office for Real Estate and Real Estate-Multi-Family software packages begin at $3,700 and include either Property Management or Residential Management, in addition to AP, Cash Management, Address Book, GL, Financial Statement Designer, MICR Interface, Timberline Office Desktop, and SmartStart support. Additional applications are available on a per-use basis. While this is not a program that you can install and use in a day, the time spent setting this program up will serve you well in the long run.

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?