Managing a rental business is no simple undertaking. Whether you do it alone or have others on your team, leasing your properties requires a lot of time, energy, and commitment.

Thankfully, you no longer need to do it all by hand. Property management software is increasingly popular and beneficial to landlords of all types.

Here are seven reasons to take advantage of property management software if you aren’t already.

1. Online Rent Collection

Online rent collection is a modern alternative to cash and check payments. Not only will it save you time traveling to the bank and verifying payments by hand, but property management software also automatically generates clear, accurate records of every transaction.

Your tenants will appreciate this feature too. Tenants can make online payments whenever they want from their computer or mobile device. They’ll also be reminded when rent is due or overdue. This means fewer late payments and easily enforced late fees.

2. Tenant Screening

If you have property management software, you can screen new tenants directly on the platform. Most software solutions partner with trustworthy credit, eviction, and background checking services to provide you with the most accurate information about your renters.

With the help of software, tenant screening could also save you the $3,500-$10,000 it costs to evict a tenant. No landlord wants to deal with the cost and hassle of evicting a tenant who has already skimped on rent or damaged your property. Find good tenants from the start by using property management software.

3. Online Lease Signing

Online lease signing is another time-saving feature of property management software. Top software allows you to upload an existing lease or create a new one right on the platform. You can also edit templates, add addenda, and directly share the lease and any changes with your tenants.

What’s more, eSignatures are much more secure than traditional “wet” signatures. Your software tracks the signer’s email address, IP address, and timestamp, so you always know exactly who signed the lease and where/when it happened.

4. Automation

Modern technology can automate much of what landlords used to do by hand. For instance, you no longer need to handle routine tenant communication every month. Simply configure your property management software to automatically push rent reminders, late fees, and other scheduled messages to pre-specified recipients.

5. Secondary Features

While all top software choices offer baseline features like online rent collection, tenant screening, and maintenance management, many companies offer additional functionality. Secondary features can double the value of a software solution.

When you take advantage of property management software, you can benefit from access to a mobile app, rental advertising and listing syndication, multi-user management, renter’s insurance options, and responsive support. Each of these features further maximizes the efficiency and convenience of property management.

6. Sustainability

If you’ve been managing your business by hand, you probably use your printer a lot. You likely need paper rent receipts, hand-signed leases, paper bills, printed records, and so on.

Property management software helps reduce the money and resources you spend every month on the upkeep of your business. Email receipts, eChecks, online leases, and cloud or server-based records are far more sustainable and permanent ways to conduct your business, and they give tenants easy access to important documents.

7. Accountability and Communication

If your email inbox or actual mailbox is the primary way you communicate with your tenants, it can be hard to keep track of who’s responsible for what. Late payments, maintenance requests, and tenant questions can easily get lost.

Property management software is a simple way to organize your business. All your communication is centralized in one place, along with clear records of overdue fees, unpaid rent, or other notices. Software doesn’t only keep your tenants accountable—it also helps you delegate responsibilities to your team members, such as maintenance staff or managers.

Help Your Business Prosper with Property Management Software

Whether you’re new to the landlord role or have many years of experience, embracing a new tool can be intimidating. Fortunately, property management software makes it easy to designate your personal preferences and customize your experience to the systems you already use. With these features, your business and tenants will benefit immensely.