Overview
Existing leases are leases that were already active before you started using DoorLoop. Creating one uses the same process as creating a new lease — the difference is how you enter deposits and whether you enter historic charges and payments.
The Steps
Step 1 - Begin the New Lease Wizard
To add an existing lease, click the Create New button at the top of the main menu. Then under the Leasing section, click Lease.
Step 2 - Setting up an existing lease
On the New Lease wizard, on the Overview step, enter the Lease Terms with the Start Date of when the lease actually started. This would be a date set in the past. Continue with the wizard until you get to the Rent step.
On the Rent step, when entering the Rent Charges, set the First Rent Date to the date when the first full rent payment will be made in DoorLoop. Normally, this would be the 1st of the coming month (after your DoorLoop start date.)
On the Move-in Fees step, enter the amount being held in security deposits and any other deposits being held.
Continue with the New Lease wizard and click Save Lease.
You'll be asked to upload a copy of the signed lease. Whether you do or you don't, click Continue to activate the lease.
Step 3 - Checking the Deposits on the Existing Lease
If the Lease Start Date (not to be confused with the First Rent Date) was before your DoorLoop Company Start Date, DoorLoop will automatically mark those deposits as collected. It does this by creating a Credit to the Opening Balance to show that the tenant has already paid the deposit charge and the money is currently in one of your bank accounts and part of your opening balances.
While the Credit will show the same date as the Deposit charge, the Applied Credit will show the day the deposit was actually created (most likely today's date).
This is because DoorLoop needs to account for when the credit was actually applied to the deposit charge for standard accounting purposes. We do this by creating a separate payment line item on the lease Transactions tab that ties the credit and the deposit charge together. The Applied Credit line item will be for $0.00, but if you click on that transaction, you'll see the deposit charge and credit listed together.
(Optional) You can change the date of this $0.00 Applied Credit transaction line to match the date of the credit so you can see these transactions grouped together on the Transactions tab and in reports. To do this, click on the Applied Credit. Change the Date field to match the date of the deposit credit, and then click Save.
Note: Because these deposits are already in one of your bank accounts, it is important to set up your bank account opening balances correctly to include these deposits. If your accounting start date and opening balance for this bank account is actually BEFORE you collected the deposit, then you wouldn't record a credit, but would record a lease payment instead.
If the credit for the security deposit does not appear automatically on the lease, don't worry because you can add those in manually if needed.
Entering Historic Lease Transactions
We recommend creating new charges going forward from your accounting start date, and using your previous property management system for anything before that. If you do need to enter past charges or payments, here's how:
Past charges: Go to the lease's Transactions tab and click Post Charge. Be sure to enter the correct date of when the actual charge was posted. See Post a One-Time Charge on a Lease for details.
Payments received after your accounting start date: Click Receive Payment on the same tab. Again, make sure to enter the correct date of when the payment was received. See Receive a Payment on a Lease for details.
Payments received before your accounting start date: Click Issue Credit instead, and set the Account to Opening Balance, since this money is already reflected in your bank account's opening balance. Only do this if your opening balance on the bank account includes these already.