Property Management Integrations
      Back to home
      1. Help Center
      2. Property Management Integrations

      2. Activate: Setting Up Properties on Livable Pro

      After integrating with your Property Management Software, you will be invited to Livable Pro to activate the properties and begin utility billing.

      Prepare the following data and information for activating your properties with your team or during a Livable Onboarding Session:

      General Ledger (GL) Accounts:

      It is necessary to have the following GL accounts created in your Property Management Software prior to activating properties on Livable Pro.

      • Rent (optional)
        • The Rent GL account can be unique per property
      • Utilities 
        • Default GL account for utilities can be unique per property
        • Or you can create individual GL accounts per utility—for example, one for Water, a separate one for Trash, etc.
      • Admin Fee
        • If you pass through an admin fee to residents, you must denote which GL account the charges correlate to.

      Property Information:

      For a streamlined activation, you can gather the following details for each property enrolled in Livable Pro utility billing.

      • Common Area Amenities
        • Please consider if any of the following common area amenities exist: gas dryers, electric dryers, washing machines, swimming pools, or landscaping irrigation. The number and size of amenities should inform your decision to increase your Common Area Deduction (CAD) value. CAD ensures your residents are billed fairly by not assigning shared expenses to individual Residents.

      Tip: Check out the What is a Common Area Deduction? article for more information.

      • Utility Information
        • Utility Provider (example: Los Angeles Department of Water and Power)
        • Utility Type (example: Water/Sewer)
        • Allocation Method

      Unit Information:

      Thanks to the integration, we automatically receive unit information, including the unit name and sqft. If you need to modify the name or sqft of the unit, you can do this directly in your Property Management Software, and Livable Pro will automatically update. 

      To ensure a comprehensive setup for the units, please gather the following essential details:

      • Billing Setup
        • Units can be included or excluded from utilities; this is useful when multiple meters per utility type exist. 
          • For example, if a property has two apartment buildings sharing the trash service, all units would be included in the trash billing. However, if each of the apartment buildings is on separate water meters, then you would include the units at each building in their respective water utility and exclude them from the other building's water utility. 

      Note: If a resident is not responsible for a utility per their lease, do not exclude them from the billing setup; you can opt them out of utility charges from the resident account, but their usage must be calculated during the allocation to remain fair to the other units. 

      • In-Unit Amenities
        • Amenities in a unit impact the allocation calculations; please review if any units have an in-unit laundry, dishwasher, or a private garden (access to a private hose). Each of these amenities impacts the resident's charge.

      Resident & Fee Setup:

      The resident data, including their name, contact information, and move-in date, are automatically synced with your Property Management Software. The remaining steps will indicate the admin fee amount and disclose when residents are billable for their utility usage.

      • Fee Setup
        • At this stage you will indicate the Resident Charge amount as well as the GL account for the admin fee to correlate to. 
        • For each resident, you will have the option to customize the Admin Fee amount if some residents are excluded from this fee or have a different amount than the default set.

      Legal Disclaimer: Follow local ordinances and regulations before assigning residents any amount of the admin fee. Consult your attorney if you’re not sure what the allowable fee amounts are.

      • Resident Billing Start Date
        • Each resident must be indicated as Billable with a Billing Start Date or Non-Billable. 
        • Billable would indicate that a resident is responsible for utility charges processed on Livable Pro, and their start date indicates the beginning of the utility charge accrual. 
          • For example, if the billing start date is 10/1/24 and the Water bill covered the service dates of 9/15-10/16/24, the resident would be charged a portion of the bill for the number of days between 10/1/24-10/16/24
        • Non-Billable would indicate that a resident is not currently responsible for utility charges processed on Livable Pro and thus will not receive statements or invites to login to the Resident Portal

      Tip: For a clearer understanding of the distinction between a Billing Start Date and the timing of residents' first statement, please refer to "What is a Billing Start Date?"

      Payment Information & Activation: 

      The last step in activating a property is adding a payment method for its associated subscription. Each property can have a unique payment method or share one if needed.

      Having this information readily available will facilitate a more efficient and comprehensive onboarding process. If you have any questions before the session, please reach out to our support team. We’re here to help!

      Getting Help

      Support and Resources

      Need assistance? Livable Pro offers various support options to help you:

      • Help Center: Access a comprehensive library of articles and guides just like this one!
      • Chat Support: Chat with our team live Monday-Friday by logging in to Livable Pro!
      • Support Form: Not available for a live chat? Complete the Support Form, and we will get back to you via email (help@livable.com)