8 Best Property Management Software for Small Business

• Accounting suite: It includes billing and invoicing, payment processing with multiple payment methods, online rent payments, and late fee calculation features.
• Community management: The calendar, committee, and event management tools can be used by community managers of HOAs, condos, and multi-family housing for scheduling meetings and updating every community member about what is happening in their association.
• Tenant portal: Allows you to communicate with tenants regarding maintenance, answer questions, and collect rent payments.
• Owner portal: Enables property owners to generate valuable reports and print checks from one central location.

Appfolio received a 4.5 out of 5 customer review rating. Based on one user, Appfolio provides plenty of tools that help her streamline their processes. Its ability to automate tasks and accept payments online has been invaluable. She also appreciates the ability to add notes and write detailed information. Another user also praised its very intuitive software, easy to learn, and constantly being updated with improvements.

However, one user expressed dissatisfaction with its lack of notifications, saying that the notifications that come through his email feel unorganized and there are too many. A property manager also wished the chat feature would be available more often as she sometimes has a quick question. If you need 24/7 customer support, consider Doorloop or RentRedi.

Tenant profile card showing the record of payments. (Source: Rentec Direct)

• Electronic lease: Allows users to create and upload custom lease documents and electronically send them to tenants for review and to sign online.
• Work order: Enables users to assign vendors, attach photos, bids, and invoices, and contact owners to report maintenance issues.
• Email and text messaging: Rentec Direct offers built-in messaging capabilities, allowing you to keep in touch with your tenants, vendors, and property owners.
• QuickBooks import: Rentec Direct is a property management software that integrates with QuickBooks and offers a QuickBooks compatible export of reports, so you can easily import your Rentec data, like general ledger and financial reports, into QuickBooks.

Rentec Direct obtained a 4.6 out of 5 customer review rating for its team collaboration tools, affordable pricing, and intuitive platform. A property manager remarked that Rentec had simplified her tenants’ lease management and payment system, which has been an enormous time-saver.

Yet, many users are unhappy with Rentec Direct’s services. One user said there are glitches in the software, and customer support is always delayed. Another user also wished for the tutorials to be more comprehensive and for extensive customer support. Check out Appfolio for its vast customer support and property management features.

Setting rent reminders (Source: DoorLoop)

• Owner portal: You can securely share files, provide timely updates with your tenants, and track all your tenant and lease information.
• Integrations: DoorLoop integrates with thousands of software from accounting to calendar platforms, including Calendly, QuickBooks Online, Zapier, Pipedrive, Zoom, and DocuSign.
• Bank sync: This is powered by Plaid, allowing you to integrate your bank account, credit card, or debit card with DoorLoop to easily categorize and reconcile your transactions.
• Reports: DoorLoop has built in over 60 customizable reports specifically for property management—including rent roll, deposits, profit and loss statement, and balance sheet.

Many users praised DoorLoop’s easy-to-use interface, excellent customer service, highly secured system, and comprehensive features. Another user also commended DoorLoop since it enables property managers and landlords to efficiently manage properties, track rent payments, and communicate with tenants. As a result, DoorLoop garnered a 4.8 out of 5 customer review rating.

However, many users wished the Rent Roll feature, which shows the rental income from any real estate asset, could be improved by allowing date selection and the ability to send longer text messages for tenant communications or announcements. Aside from these, users desired more affordable pricing. Try Appfolio, Avail, and TurboTenant for free or inexpensive residential and commercial property management software for small business operations.

TenantCloud’s comprehensive financial reports
(Source: TenantCloud)

• Financial reports: This provides landlords with comprehensive reports and statements for taxes, tenants, properties, and leases.
• Online rent collection: With the free TenantCloud account, landlords can accept credit and debit card payments through Stripe payment processing or automated clearing house (ACH) transactions provided by Dwolla. Tenants can also pay rent using PayPal accounts.
• Accounting software: This allows landlords to store, sort, retrieve, and summarize financial data. Landlords can also set up automatic invoicing, late fees, and receipts.
• TC Messenger: Using this built-in communication tool, landlords and tenants can communicate securely without relying on email or texting; landlords can organize tenant conversations as well.
• Tenant screening: Through its partnership with TransUnion, landlords can have a comprehensive screening report, including background and credit checks, plus a National Eviction Records search.

TenantCloud garnered a customer rating review of 4.2 out of 5. One user commented that the simple design makes using the platform efficient and that running independent leases is straightforward. Customer support tickets are also answered quickly, with plenty of user and landlord notification options. Another landlord also loves the auto-rental collection feature, saying that it saves him from all the trouble of collecting funds.

Nevertheless, one user wished for the interface to be a bit more intuitive and hoped that there was the ability to send out things like cosigner agreements to non-tenant contacts. Aside from these, TenantCloud doesn’t offer 24/7 and live chat support, so we recommend Appfolio for its extensive customer support.

SimplifyEm tenant portal (Source: Software Advice)

• Tenant portal: Gives online access to tenants so they can update bank settings, review account balances, submit electronic payments, view rent reminders, and pay rent on time.
• Automatic tenant billing and late payment notices: Enables landlords to set automated rent reminders for all tenants, track billing history, and send late payment notices to tenants when they don’t pay their rent.
• Tax report: SimplifyEm organizes income and expense transactions per IRS tax categories. A tax report is generated automatically, allowing you to make year-end adjustments.
• Rental listings: ​SimplifyEm automatically posts listings to Zillow, Trulia, HotPads, Craigslist, and realtor.com to build a solid online presence and get tenants faster.
• Professional website: Each listing on SimplifyEm has a professional web page that can be shared and utilized on your website.

Users commented on how easy it is to use SimplifyEm and its customer support team, saying that it is always quick to answer any questions they ask. A user said she loves processing tenants through SimplifyEm’s setup and rent collection since it is easy, secure, and quick. As a result, SimplifyEm received a 4.06 out of 5 customer review rating.

Yet, some users are unsatisfied with SimplifyEm since it doesn’t offer a free subscription plan or mobile app. If these features are essential to you, consider TurboTenant or Avail. Aside from the free plan and a mobile app, Avail also offers a tenant portal and third-party integrations.

Avail’s rental property income and expense tracker (Source: Avail)

• FastPay: With Avail FastPay, landlords can manage rental income with next-day expedited rent payment processing.
• Rent price analysis: This provides valuable information, including a rent estimate for your property, rent benchmarks for adjacent rentals, and county rent trends.
• Marketing tools: It syndicates listings to sites such as Zillow, Trulia, and Apartments.com. Landlords can also easily add listing information and upload photos of their properties.
• Property accounting software: This helps landlords streamline rental property income and expense tracking. It also automatically populates payments and property maintenance expenses logged through the Avail dashboard.
• Leasing features: Includes state-specific lease templates, electronic signatures, and the ability to store documents online. It notifies tenants when their rent is due and follows up if tenants fail to pay on time.

Avail has a customer rating of 4.59 out of 5 stars. The dashboard was praised by most landlords and tenants for being user-friendly and visually appealing. They appreciate the tool for easily tracking and maintaining income processing and late fee notifications. Many users are happy with the free plan, extensive customer service, and the option to create a lease using templates.

Regardless, many users complained about the weekly automated emails they receive and the lack of software tutorials. Users also wished for more flexibility with the mobile app. If you need a flexible and robust mobile app, consider TenantCloud.

Tenant screening dashboard (Source: RentRedi)

• Rent collection: RentRedi provides flexible payment options (bank accounts, ACH, credit card, and cash) and lets landlords receive payments in as quickly as four to five business days.
• Maintenance: In the RentRedi maintenance request dashboard, you can see the timeline status of the activity of all maintenance requests. Plus, status requests are sent to tenants automatically.
• Market listing properties: Listings from RentRedi are instantly syndicated to its partner site, Realtor.com. Additionally, you may publish links to your listings on social media and websites like Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist and syndicate them to Zillow.
• E-sign lease: A lease or other document can be uploaded, shared, or sent for signatures. Use the RentRedi Tenant App to contact tenants and obtain their legally binding signature, or upload a signed lease to keep it with the tenant’s profile.

RentRedi received a 4.4 out of 5 customer review ratings for its tenant screening, maintenance module, accounting, and online rent collection solutions. Many users also praised its customer support team, saying it’s quick to respond and incredibly helpful when issues arise.

However, several users are pretty displeased with the lack of ease in reviewing payments or creating reports to match rent payments with accounting software. Users have to go to the settings’ back-end to see when payments are made. If you need intuitive accounting reporting, check out SimplifyEm.

Sample rent estimate report (Source: TurboTenant)

• Free online rental application form: Helps landlords streamline their process to find the best tenant quickly by managing their property online.
• Rental lease agreement: Designed by lawyers and landlords, it includes all the provisions required to comply with your state’s landlord-tenant laws.
• Lead tracking: Automatically shows you the potential renters who are interested in your property. Also, it provides property owners with potential renters’ information so users can contact them if they have any questions.
• Easy Craigslist posting: Provides landlords with personalized ads that are professional and clear to make your property stand out. You can then log in to Craigslist and copy-paste the ads.
• Free rent estimate report: Enables landlords to compare their rent with nearby rental properties, stay ahead of market trends, and price their rental right.

Many landlords appreciate the easy-to-use, intuitive interface, invoice tracker, online rent collection, and tenant portal of TurboTenant. Landlords stated that because TurboTenant allows prospective renters to communicate with them through the platform, and listing and generating leads for their rental properties become simple and easy. With this, TurboTenant garnered a 4.6 out of 5 customer review rating.

Some clients are unsatisfied as TurboTenant only provides email and live chat customer support. Check out Rentec Direct, DoorLoop, or RentRedi if you need these features.