Monthly Financial Reporting Checklist

In AppFolio, Buildium, Yardi, or Rent Manager, close the prior accounting period so no one back-dates entries during the close. Confirm with leasing and maintenance that all transactions for the month are entered before you lock.

Pull the rent roll as of the last day of the month. Verify move-ins, move-outs, and lease renewals posted in the period are reflected, and that prorated rent on partial months is calculated from the actual move-in or vacate date — not the lease start.

Run the receipts journal and compare against the rent roll's gross potential rent. Flag any unit where charges posted but no payment was received — those drive the AR aging follow-up later. NSFs, partial payments, and ACH reversals are the usual suspects.

Late fees, NSF fees, pet rent, parking, storage, application fees, utility RUBS recoveries, and laundry. Each line should tie to a charge schedule or vendor statement. Pet rent on service animals or ESAs is a Fair Housing violation — verify any pet-rent charge has a documented pet on file, not an accommodation animal.

For Section 8 units, the housing authority's HAP payment plus the tenant's portion should equal contract rent. Mismatches usually mean a HAP contract amendment didn't get posted — pull the most recent HAP contract from the file before adjusting.

Tie the bank statement ending balance to the GL operating cash account. Outstanding deposits older than 5 business days and uncleared checks older than 60 days both warrant follow-up — they often indicate a posting error or a stale check that needs voiding.

Most states require security deposits in a separate trust account, with the trust balance equal to the sum of active tenant deposit liabilities. A negative variance means deposits have been spent — that's a state real estate commission audit trigger. Reconcile to the penny.

A trust account out-of-balance is a brokerage license issue, not just an accounting issue. Loop in the qualifying broker and the controller same-day. Document the variance source (timing, posting error, missing deposit, or shortage) and the corrective entry before close.

Owner draws, management fee transfers from trust to operating, and any reserve funding need a written authorization on file. State trust account rules typically prohibit commingling — every transfer between trust and operating must have a clear posting and supporting documentation.

Group payables by owner / property so each owner statement reflects only that property's bills. Anything over 30 days needs a reason — held for owner approval, disputed scope, or missing W-9. Past-due utility bills are a habitability risk; flag those for same-day payment.

Any vendor paid this month should have a current W-9 and a general liability + workers comp COI naming the property as additional insured. A lapsed COI on an active vendor is the most common gotcha at year-end 1099 prep — fix it now, not in January.

Pull payment from the AP run for any vendor without a current COI. Notify the vendor manager to chase the certificate before re-releasing payment. Paying a vendor without insurance leaves the firm exposed for any premises accident on their work.

Standard buckets are 0-30, 31-60, 61-90, 90+. Anything in the 31-60 bucket should already have a notice to pay or quit served per state statute (e.g., Texas 3-day, California 3-day, Florida 3-day). Hand the 60+ list to the property manager for eviction-decision review.

Confirm tenant deposit liabilities tie to the trust account, prepaid rent ties to the rent roll's prepaid column, and accumulated depreciation rolled forward by the correct monthly amount. Owner equity should reconcile to prior month plus net income less draws.

Show actual vs budget for the month and YTD, with NOI and economic vacancy. Classify capex separately from repairs — replacing a single $400 garbage disposal is a repair (expensed), but a full appliance package refresh is capex (depreciated). Misclassification creates owner tax-return headaches at year-end.

One page covering occupancy, delinquency, NOI vs budget, major capex, and any notable owner issues (eviction in progress, insurance claim, vacancy spike). Owners read this; the detail reports back it up.

Address each item in the reviewer notes, re-run the affected reports, and re-submit for sign-off. Don't distribute to owners until the controller approves.

Publish to the AppFolio / Buildium / Yardi owner portal and notify owners by email. Owners on paper-statement preference get printed packets mailed same day. File the final PDF in the owner's permanent records folder.

For LIHTC properties, confirm income certifications due this month are completed and household composition changes are documented for IRS Form 8823 risk. For Section 8 units, confirm HQS inspection deficiencies haven't aged past the housing authority's cure window.

Pull a 5-transaction sample of AP disbursements over $1,000 and verify dual approval, supporting invoice, and matching PO or work order. Pull a 3-transaction sample of security deposit refunds and verify the itemized statement was sent within the state's required window (commonly 14-30 days; confirm for the operating state).

Aggregated cash receipts from a single payer over $10,000 in a 12-month period trigger an IRS Form 8300 filing within 15 days. This rarely fires for residential rent but does come up for commercial tenant deposits and HOA special assessments paid in cash.

For owners or HOA boards with annual audits, file the close packet, bank reconciliations, trust statements, and supporting AP/AR detail in the audit folder for the period. CPAs request these on a tight timeline at year-end; staging monthly avoids a January scramble.