Ask a property controller what slows their close down and the list is usually familiar: chasing late invoices, rebuilding the same accrual spreadsheet as last month, waiting on a bank reconciliation, then finding a misapplied receipt after the trial balance has already gone to the asset manager.
None of that is caused by Yardi. Voyager keeps receivables, payables, cash and the general ledger in one database, property by property, which is exactly what a fast close needs. The teams that close fastest have not found a hidden feature. They follow the same order every month, automate what repeats, and tie out a short list of reports before anyone presses close. Here is how that looks in practice.
Five steps to a faster close
Where the days actually go
These are the five areas we look at first when a client asks us to shorten their close in Yardi.
Close receivables and payables before the journal, every month
Voyager tracks the operating month for each property separately for accounts payable, accounts receivable and the general ledger. You can see and set it on the Accounting Control tab of the Property Control screen. That separation is useful: it lets the receivables team move on to the new month while payables are still finishing invoices. It also means the order matters. If you close the subledgers separately, close AR and AP first, then the journal, and only then the system operating month once every property is done.
On the receivables side, the work before close is mostly cleanup. Clear the resident exceptions, run late fees, make sure every receipt is applied to the right charge, and review the Receivable Detail by Charge Code report for negative charges, misapplied credits and reversals that should not be there. Each item fixed now is one fewer journal adjustment later.
Accrue the known gaps, and make every accrual reverse itself
An accrual-basis close has to capture costs that belong to the month but have not been invoiced yet: utilities billed in arrears, contractor work signed off but not invoiced, management fees calculated after month-end. The amounts are rarely a surprise. The same vendors and the same properties come up month after month.
Every accrual needs a reversal in the next period, so the actual invoice lands against a zero balance rather than doubling the expense. For accruals that come back every month, Voyager's recurring journal entries include a "Reverse next month" option that creates the entry and its reversal together. For one-off accruals, post the reversal as part of the same task, not as something to remember next month. Keep a consistent reference and description on every accrual so the reversal and the invoice that replaces it are easy to match. If your team uses purchase orders in Voyager, open orders for work already completed are a far better starting point for the accrual list than an email chain to property managers.
A fast close is not about working harder in the last three days. It is about having nothing left to discover when you get there.
Artisan Solutions · Specialist Yardi ConsultingSet up the entries that never change once, and review them twice a year
Every portfolio has journal entries that are identical, or nearly identical, every month: amortizing prepaid insurance, depreciation, fixed management fees, intercompany allocations, and the release of annual service contracts paid in advance. Keying them by hand each month adds time and invites typing errors.
Set them up as recurring journal entries in Voyager, so each month's entry posts from the same template instead of being keyed again, and give each one a posting date range that ends when the underlying contract or prepayment runs out. Then put a review on the calendar twice a year. Recurring entries are only a time saver while they are still right, and a fee schedule that changed in March should not still be posting the January amount in October.
Lock closed periods, and decide who can reopen them
A close is only final if nobody can post into it afterward. Voyager handles this through user security: the Privileges settings control how many past and future periods each user can post to, and the close permissions (close property, close month, close year, and opening or closing the books) can be limited to the people who own the close. Review those permissions as a group, not user by user, so a new hire does not inherit the right to reopen last quarter.
Decide too whether properties close manually or automatically. A manual property close gives the controller a final sign-off on each property. Automatic close is faster across a large portfolio but needs the reconciliations below to be finished first. If your setup closes the fiscal year automatically with the final month, treat the December close with extra care, because it closes the year as well as the month.
Tie the balance sheet to the subledgers before you lock the month
The last step before close is proving that the general ledger agrees with the detail behind it. Run the accrual trial balance and tie the rent receivable to the receivable total on the Aged Receivables report, and the prepaid rent liability to the prepayment total on the same report. Tie the security deposit liability to the Security Deposit Activity report. Confirm every bank account is reconciled for the month, which is far quicker when Bank Book is doing the matching.
When one of these does not agree, the difference almost always traces back to something in step one: a manual journal posted to a control account, a receipt applied to the wrong property, or a charge reversed outside the lease. Find it now and the fix is a single correction. Find it after close and it becomes a prior-period adjustment and a conversation with the auditors.
Close checklist
What to confirm in Yardi before you close the month
Print it, put it in a shared task list, or build it into your close calendar. The order matters as much as the items.
- Clear resident exceptions, run late fees and apply every receipt for the month
- Review Receivable Detail by Charge Code for negative charges, misapplied credits and stray reversals
- Post all approved invoices and record accruals for costs not yet invoiced, each with a reversal in the next period
- Confirm recurring journal entries posted and still match their underlying contracts
- Reconcile every bank account for the month
- Tie rent receivable and prepaid rent on the accrual trial balance to the Aged Receivables report
- Tie the security deposit liability to the Security Deposit Activity report
- Close AR and AP for each property, then the journal, then the system operating month
- Check that posting privileges stop users from posting into the closed period
A sample schedule for a mid-sized portfolio
Closing thought
A routine, not a rescue
The fastest closes we see in Yardi are not the most heavily customized. They are the most consistent. The same order every month, accruals that are always reversed, recurring entries that are reviewed rather than retyped, and a short list of tie-outs finished before the period locks. Voyager already holds everything needed to prove the numbers. The close is simply the habit of proving them in the same way each time.
A clean close also pays off downstream. When the trial balance is right the first time, leadership reporting goes out on time, and year-end becomes twelve good months added together rather than one long reconstruction.
If your close takes longer than it should and you want to know where the days are going, talk to us. We work exclusively in Yardi.