For property management accounts payable, there are things I like to cross check after vendors submit their information through the Vendor Form. Yes, it takes a few extra minutes, but it is worth it to set up the vendor properly and avoid headaches later down the road.

This is what I like to check:

Company Name

If the company is an LLC or Corporation, I always search their company name on the state’s corporate database (which I have bookmarked on my browser) to make sure they typed their name properly. The reason is because sometimes they could have made a typo, or they omitted the LLC, Inc, Corp, etc. at the end.

I like to make the company name match exactly as they’ve registered it so that their 1099s have zero issues. Our company received a letter from the IRS one time about a name not matching the taxpayer identification number. Yes, it was only one time. But no, I don’t want to ever deal with the bureaucratic IRS if it’s completely avoidable.

Also, some companies could be completely fraudulent. You don’t want to just give money away. When you’re doing property accounting, you’re handling other people’s money. I believe you have to take care of their money as you would your own.

9 Digit Zip Code

Ok, so here’s the official deal with the United States Postal Service. You don’t need the full 9 digit zip code. Your mail, in theory, should get to the right place with just 5 digits. Regardless, I like to verify it using the USPS Look Up A Zip Code page (which I have bookmarked on my browser) and type the full 9 digits into AppFolio and Buildium.

My reason? I’ve had a handful of vendors make typos in their own zip codes. They should know better, but I don’t enjoy dealing with vendors calling me and asking me where their check is. So taking 30 seconds to look it up is worth it.

Plus, I live in the Boston area. Here in Boston, we have several neighborhoods like any other city. But the official “city” for the address according to the post office is not “Boston,” but is instead the name of the neighborhood.

Here is an example where I type “1457 Tremont St” and “Boston MA” in their form.

But if I type “1457 Tremont St” and “02120”, the post office tells me the city is Roxbury Crossing. Roxbury Crossing is actually a neighborhood, not a city. I would use Roxbury Crossing because it’s the more accurate version of the address.

Routing Number

On more than one occasion, a vendor that opted for the direct deposit payment method typed their routing number incorrectly. This is easy. To check it’s a legit routing number, copy and paste it into Google search. Google will tell you the name of the bank. If nothing turns up, ask the vendor to check their information before you pay their first bill.

I have had vendors argue with me before that the money never landed in their bank account and that the bills are now past due. Googling the routing number allows me to respond with, “The money was deposited into [insert bank name here] account number #### on [insert date here].” They almost never have anything to say after that.

Service Type

I like to Google the vendor’s company name to see what kind of services they offer. What do they do? Alarms? Lawn care? Cleaning? Plumbing? HVAC? If you’ve broken up your chart of accounts into different types of maintenance and repair, then this is the chance to assign the default GL account for the vendor.

By doing this, every time you enter a bill, the GL account is automatically filled in so you save time. Making sure it’s always the same also means your financial reports will be consistent year after year, making it easy to analyze your expenses.

These are the four things I always check when entering a new vendor in AppFolio and Buildium. If you have any questions related to streamlining your property management accounting processes, be sure to book a free consultation with Annie Yang Financial Corporation.