Overview
In property management, a balance sheet report is a financial statement that provides a snapshot of the financial position of a property or real estate portfolio at a specific point in time. It details what the property management business owns (assets) and owes (liabilities), along with the net worth or equity of the property or business. The Balance Sheet report is one of the reports you can give to your accountant for tax purposes.
DoorLoop offers two separate Balance Sheet reports, found under Reports:
Balance Sheet Summary — shows the total balance for each account, rolled up by category (Assets, Liabilities, Equity). Use this for a quick, high-level view of your financial position.
Balance Sheet Detail — shows every individual transaction that makes up each account's balance (the date, transaction type, name, property, memo, amount, and a running balance). Use this when you need to see exactly which transactions built up to a specific number on the Summary report.
Key Components of a Balance Sheet in Property Management:
Assets:
Current Assets: Cash on hand, accounts receivable (e.g., rent owed by tenants), and other liquid assets that can be converted to cash within a year.
Fixed Assets: Long-term assets such as the property itself, land, buildings, and equipment. These are often recorded at their purchase price minus depreciation.
Other Assets: Includes intangible assets like goodwill, or other investments.
Liabilities:
Current Liabilities: Short-term debts and obligations due within a year, such as accounts payable (e.g., maintenance expenses, utilities), and short-term loans.
Long-Term Liabilities: Debts and obligations due beyond one year, such as mortgages, long-term loans, or lease obligations.
Owner's Equity:
Represents the residual interest in the property after liabilities are deducted from assets. This includes the owner's initial investment plus any retained earnings or capital contributions minus any withdrawals.
Note: Equity Retained Earnings cannot be adjusted. Equity Retained Earnings is a calculation made by the system every January 1st of the year, normally calculated as: (Net Income from the Previous Year − Distributions = Retained Earnings for the Year.)
The Steps
Balance Sheet Summary Report
To run the Balance Sheet Summary, click Reports on the main menu. Search and click on the Balance Sheet Summary report.
Use the filter toolbar to generate a custom report:
Period — Choose a reporting period
From — Set the start date
To — Set the end date
Accounting Method — Choose Cash or Accrual
Group By — Group the report with various filters
You can also use the Filter button to bring up even more filters to narrow down the report further.
The Summary report shows each account's total balance, rolled up into Assets, Liabilities, and Equity.
Balance Sheet Detail Report
To run the Balance Sheet Detail report, click Reports on the main menu. Search and click on the Balance Sheet Detail report.
Use the same filter toolbar described above to narrow the report down by period, accounting method, or other criteria.
The Detail report lists every individual transaction under each account — including the date, transaction type, who it involved, the property, an optional memo, the amount, and a running balance for that account. Use this report when a number on the Summary report needs explaining, or when you need to trace exactly which charges, payments, bills, or journal entries built up an account's balance.
Overall, the balance sheet is a vital tool for understanding the financial dynamics of a property and ensuring its successful management.
Note: Both Balance Sheet reports show active and inactive properties. Neither report hides inactive properties.
To learn more about how to use filters, such as the Group By filter, the Reporting Period, and more, see Introduction to Reports and Filters — this helps you better use all the other reports in DoorLoop as well.