John Kirkwood reviews software packages designed to help the busy property professional.
The PCS Property Software Directory 1994-95, which was issued at last year’s Property Computer Show, lists over 20 systems designed specifically to assist with commercial property management and accounting. Most of these systems provide an extensive range of functions, including property-related data storage, rent and service charge accounting, diary reminders, VAT accounting and report generation. Clearly then, the busy practitioner wishing to purchase the right system faces a formidable task.
The selection of a computer system for commercial property management purposes is frequently frustrating and there are examples of systems that fail to live up initial expectations. In most cases, however, the benefits of acquiring a property management system become apparent very quickly. Indeed, many systems pay for themselves so quickly – as a consequence of improved financial information – that it is a wonder that the software houses do not charge more!
There are a number of reasons why organisations select the wrong system, but the principal one is probably lack of planning. More specifically, this may be itemised as absence of a detailed specification of requirements, lack of user involvement and inadequate consideration of the total costs.
Of these, the former is by far the most important. Only by preparing a detailed specification is it possible to make informed system selection. If the desired system is defined only in generalities, then there is every chance that it will not meet specific requirements. However, suppliers of software prefer generalities because it makes it easier for them to sell their products.
If an organisation employs a consultant to draw up a detailed specification, it may find that this is more costly than any of the systems being considered! The answer is surely to limit the brief to aspects of system selection that cannot be adequately supported in-house.
Thus, it would be very wasteful to employ a consultant to document an organisation’s requirements regarding, say, service charge accounting. An organisation’s employees should have a much more detailed understanding of the functionality required than any consultant.
If a demonstration is arranged, for example, it is essential that the prospective users prepare specific questions, and compel the supplier to demonstrate whether the system can cope. It is almost worthless to allow a supplier to “put on a show” using situations and data that are guaranteed to work.
In contrast, there are areas of system selection where it is unlikely that in-house expertise will be enough. For example, most practitioners do not have the expertise to judge systems in respect of issues such as data security provisions, suitability of data structure and computer language/database, report generation capabilities or the quality of the user interface. Whereas the average user may have a rough idea of what to look for, the experienced consultant will know exactly what is required.
To use the inevitable analogy, you do not need anyone to tell you what type of accommodation your organisation needs, but it is advisable to rely on the services of a chartered surveyor for advice on such matters as structural stability or lease terms.
The ECS system
The system reviewed here is Estate Computer Systems’ (ECS) Property Portfolio Management System (PPMS). This is described by ECS as being “. . . specifically designed for recording property information, consolidating rent accounting, service charge administration and for comprehensive management reporting”.
ECS claims that the system is suitable for all types and sizes of management, including property owners, agents, occupiers, local authorities and investment companies.
PPMS holds full details of leases and automatically generates diary entries, such as rent reviews and lease terminations. Total service charge administration is provided, including budgeting and a fully integrated suppliers’ ledger. There is, apparently, no practical limit to the type of charges which the system can handle.
The system incorporates what ECS describes as a “highly intelligent report writer” which enables users to create their own individual reports from any information entered. In addition, a wide range of standard reports is provided.
Data entry and editing
Data entry using PPMS is very straightforward and, where necessary, is assisted by a useful help system and a clearly written manual. The screens are clear and uncluttered and, with minor exceptions, the way around the system is usually obvious.
Data entry for individual fields is facilitated by use of the function key (F1). This may be depressed several times to give increasing levels of detail about any given field. It is, for example, possible to determine the type of data required – for example, numeric – and the maximum number of characters available. Also, for fields where the field name is followed by the “?” character, the first pressing of F1 displays a list of options, from which the user may make a selection.
As with any property management system, it is necessary to understand the underlying system structure to comprehend fully the data entry process. The basic entities of the ECS system are owner, property, fund, unit, tenant and charges.
Each owner may own one or more properties which, in turn, may be subdivided into units. A unit may be subject to either a single tenancy or multiple tenancies, and each of these may be associated with charges, such as rent.
All the financial information held on the system must pass through a property at some stage. The fund gathers together this information and displays it in the form of a balance sheet. Every property must have at least one fund, but there are no limits to the number of funds that the user may create.
The ease of data entry and editing may be illustrated by an example. Assume the user wishes to update details of a tenant; the route to the data would be as follows:
1 Select P (for property) from the main menu;
2 Enter the reference for the property (or select from a list) ;
3 Select U (for unit) ;
4 Move the cursor to the selected unit in the list displayed ;
5 Select T (for tenant) ;
6 Move the cursor to the selected tenant in the list displayed ;
7 Select E (for edit) ; and
8 Move through the fields using the arrow keys, and edit as necessary.
However, if the user knows the unit reference, steps 1 and 2 may be omitted and, if the user knows the tenant reference, steps 1 to 4 may be omitted.
At the foot of the screen are a number of options which allow easy movement throughout the database. For example, on the Enquire on Tenant screen the options include: Units, Property, Charges, Transact, Diary and Notes. Thus, the user may switch quickly from tenant to property.
This list also illustrates two other features. First, each entity may have notes associated with it. And, second, the financial aspects of the system integrate directly with the database. Thus, the user may move from tenant to the financial transactions associated with that tenancy.
Data structure
The data structure used to implement the above system structure is a hierarchical one. This is defined in the Computer Professional’s Dictionary (Allen L Wyatt, Osborne McGraw-Hill, 1990) as: “A database model in which records are linked together as in an organisation chart, and an individual data field can be ‘owned’ by only one owner (database file).”
Such structures were widely used in the first database management systems, since when the relational and object-orientated models have been developed. This is not to say, however, that the ECS database is not suitable for this type of application.
ECS refers to its database as the data engine. It was developed in-house by Phil Wigglesworth, using the programming language Pascal, at a time when the few PC databases available were neither dependable nor sufficiently fast.
It might be argued that the use of a database developed in-house is rather restrictive in that it limits users to support from the original developers.
However, as ECS emphasises, by using the report generator it is possible to export any or all of the data in CSV (comma separated variables) format to other systems. The CSV format, it should be noted, is widely supported on other systems.
In addition, ECS enters into an escrow arrangement with its customers whereby the original source code can be made available in given circumstances, for example, liquidation of the company.
Finally, it must be added that one drawback of the ECS database is that it cannot be accessed using SQL (structured query language) tools. But this restriction is perhaps more apparent than real, as ECS has developed its own powerful reporting facilities.
Report generation
A large number of standard reports are provided with the system, which cover most of the situations normally encountered by property managers. The following are some examples:
- A tenancy schedule.
- Day book of income received.
- Outstanding debtors by tenants.
- Insurance schedules with rebuilding cost calculations.
- Consolidated listing demands, receipts and payments.
In addition, the user-defined report module may be used to create ad hoc reports. This provides an interface that can be used during either the inquiry process or the data maintenance process. The system has been written for use by both experienced ECS users and by the occasional user.
Although PPMS does not have the flexibility of, say, a relational database, it does provide search and reporting facilities that are more than adequate for the purposes of property management.
Besides, it is always better to have a well-established system that has been tailored to suit a specific application area than a set of powerful general-purpose software tools that can be exploited only by the experienced user. Most users want a system that has been thought out for them, rather than one they are required to solve!
