I like the fact that Key-Data Gold is office based. I like to know that my data is secure and that I can work even in the event of my broadband connection failing!

I love Key-Data Gold because it is web-based. I know that my data is secure, automatically backed up, and most importantly that I can work wherever I am.

Yes: Key-Data Systems can offer you either an office based approach or a web-based approach depending up on your requirements..... That is flexibility!

Agency Training and Support

I like the comfort in knowing that all my software, support and training costs are covered by my small monthly fee. It makes it very easy to plan for growth knowing that I will not have to find unexpected upgrade fees. Also if I have to take on a new employee I know that training will be supplied at no extra costs.

Many other software products charge more for managing more properties.... I like the fact that Key-Data Systems do not charge me additional costs for growth: I can manage as many properties as I like for the same fixed price....

I love the fact that all the support and training that my employees require is free, of a very high standard and UK based.

Communication

I have edited all my letter templates including my tenancy agreement and other legal documentation and now have no need to actually type anything to generate a communication. I just click a button and the letter is generated automatically and pre-formatted to my template. Additionally, if I wish to manually edit the communication at the time of writing I can do that too!

Batch overdue rent letters, emails and SMS are a fantastic tenant chase mechanism... I can generate them with a button-click! Also a full track and trace of all letters that have been written, along with what strength letter (various strength of chase communications may be defined), so that you can keep track of the strength of the last reminder last sent.

Financial Accounting

Rent and collections due is easy and a clear picture of who hasn't paid their rent, allowing for easy chasing, which can all be done either to individual tenants or a whole batch.

Landlord statements at one click with complete breakdown of accounts.

I need to ensure that my accounting procedures adhere to tight regulations. Key-Data Gold allows me to easily achieve this compliance as financial accounting is integrated into the general use of the system!

It is great that I can reconcile all my accounts (client, office and security deposit) to my bank statement enabling me to keep a close eye on bank errors!

I have complete flexibility when dealing with housing benefit rents. There are at least 3 different ways of setting up DSS to cover (1) straightforward housing benefit where the landlord is being paid four weekly in arrears, with tenant splits. Or (2) a different way to set up where I want to pay the landlord monthly and the tenant pays the top up, or (3) I want to pay the landlord monthly and the agent makes the top up, or (3) option where the tenant and agent split the top up between them. I can easily maintain a track of the amount received from the council against the amount paid to the landlord so that a clear picture is maintained for when the final cheque comes through from the council, where the landlord has been overpaid. I also know exactly how much of that 13th cheque they can keep (if they have topped up) or give to the tenant (if the tenant has topped up).

Variable rent processing is a very powerful feature that allows us to manage student let properties with ease. We can not only process rent in the usual fixed periods, but the unique variable rent processing feature allows for variable periods to be easily accommodated: ie termly for student lets. I can also set different periods and different rents for each period!
Monies paid in advance are easily catered for on Key-Data Gold via the tenant Credit Account. Therefore, if a tenant pays 6 months in advance and you wish to pay your landlord monthly you would put the whole 6 months into the credit account and continue to receive the rent monthly from the credit account, therefore taking the balance down.

I think the way that Key-Data Gold allows me to manage the complex issue of tenancy security deposits is my favourite feature. At the start of a tenancy I can easily transfer tenant security deposits to my deposit account. At the end of the tenancy term I can easily manage any allowable deductions before returning the deposit back to my client account and finalising the tenancy accounts. We chose to use an insurance/bonded scheme to handle tenant security deposits as that suited our agency best, but the custodial scheme is fully supported to.

Guaranteed Rent feature: pay the landlord without having had the rent, but easily maintain the tenant arrears.

I like that fact that Key-Data Gold not only maintains my client account, but also manages my office account. I can easily transfer my commission and other financial income from my client account into my office account and manage all my office accounting from once place

The time scheduler is a fantastic feature: It ensures that you never miss a maintenance event and know at any time exactly what needs to be done. Maintenance events automatically pop up into the scheduler list at least two weeks before they are due, and become highlighted red if they are not completed by the due date! Additionally, notified maintenance events can be managed and re-scheduled from one screen with great ease!

In addition to all maintenance events coming into the scheduler, I can pre-plan by producing reports of what will be coming due in the far future. For example, I can simply select a date range and view a report of all the gas checks becoming due next following month. I can then give the report to my contractor and he comes back with all the certificates. Additionally, reports can be produced for inspections due the following month – allowing you to plan your route so that the minimum time is spent out of the office also it helps to cut down fuel costs in going backwards and forwards to the same street!

The rent management feature has to be my favourite feature: When the list is ordered by due date, then outstanding tenant items that are more than 45 days overdue (Period 4) are shown in bright red at the top of the table, next, items between 45 days and 14 days overdue (Period 3) are displayed in dark pink, then, items between 14 days and 7 days overdue (Period 2) are displayed in light pink, and finally, items 7 days or less overdue (Period 1) are displayed in green. The period days described above were set by my agency, but may be easily altered using the Key-Data Gold system preferences.

Dormant Status and Archive Routines: I find it incredible that nothing entered into Key-Data Gold is ever lost and that I can easily view old information years later. Last month I had a need to view an ex-landlords accounts who had ceased to use our agency years ago. I contacted Key-Data support and they showed me how I could access this information.

The management of keys used to be one of the areas that caused us many issues and wasted a lot of valuable time. Thanks to the fantastic Key Movement module in Key-Data Gold, this is now all in the past. Keys can be quickly recorded out and in so that we can see where the keys are at any time...Additionally reports can be generated to show which employee gave what keys, to whom and when... Very powerful.

Service Call Management: Log tenant service calls and manage the job from start to finish, generate and email contractor job-sheets, when completed automatically charged to landlord or tenant.

I find the Property replication feature saves me many hours. I can register a property once and automatically divide it into an HMO property within seconds...ie: flats, units, apartments etc all with a single button click!

Key-Data Gold brings all the areas of your business into one place! Just imagine, your client accounting, office accounting, communicating, scheduling, marketing activities all available within seconds. Our clients range from single users through to large multi-branch agencies. So whether you are a sole trader or landlord looking to save time and streamline general administration, or a growing agency with continued expansion in mind, Key-Data Systems have the solution for you.