A Recipe for Data Analytics

The real estate and construction industry has always been challenging, and it’s even more so today. Those companies that thrive do so by:

• Minimizing ownership and property management costs
• Breaking down barriers that have created information silos
• Growing through more efficient data collection and analysis
• Navigating the need for revised operations and more streamlined processes
• Leveraging technology to maximize asset value

Having accurate and timely access to KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) via data and analytic metrics across the entire property management spectrum is important for informed business decision making. These metrics include details around marketing and lease up, expense management and budget-to-actuals, and monthly annual trending on external market data as it relates to your specific geography or asset class.

But what’s required from an accounting platform to underpin these analytics? A cloud-based platform works well, because it gives an increasingly disparate workforce direct access to the financial tools required to help you run your business. Whether your platform of choice is cloud-based or on-premise, the biggest requirement is that it allows you to have data flow so you can automatically allocate transactional data. It’s about automating recurring processes so you can spend less time worrying about data entry and aggregation and more time using the tools to analyze that data.

Being on the cloud is a major ingredient in the data and analytics recipe but there are other considerations required when deciding what system is right for your business and team culture. One of the contributing ingredients is required functionality, and that should always be based on core business process requirements and not on the bells and whistles of the solution.

The second ingredient is around investment, which is becoming more cost-effective because of the subscription model surrounding cloud technology. The remaining two are timing and viability. It takes time to set up a good data and analytics system — with modern technology, it’s a journey and not a destination. But you’re not on this journey alone. There are options on the market that allow you to make a confident decision on the right choice for your business —but you’ll need a viable tech partner to help you do it.

MNP’s ease is one example of an accounting and bookkeeping solution that automates day-to-day tasks such as invoicing, payroll or expense management. Transactions are completed quickly so you know exactly where you stand now, while MNP’s team tracks trends and provides actionable insights.

To ensure you get the most out of ease, our team works closely with you to create the rules and parameters needed for the program to execute properly. The ease team spends time learning how your business operates and what your goals are to ‘teach’ the program how to interact with input data. This process takes several months to ensure a full range of transactions are logged, resulting in a sustainable solution that keeps up with growth and changes in your real estate or construction business. It’s something to consider.

Want to discuss how data and analytics can help your property management business? Please contact Shayne Dueck, National Leader of Client Accounting and Bookkeeping Services at [email protected] or Dan Caringi, Digital Platforms Partner at [email protected]