A property balance transfer is an internal reallocation of funds between properties that belong to the same owner entity. When one property under an entity has collected more cash than it needs to cover its obligations, and another property under that same entity has spent more than it has taken in, a balance transfer moves the excess from the surplus property to cover the shortfall at the deficit property.
This is a common scenario in property management. Consider an owner who has two rental properties: Property A collected rent on time and has a healthy positive balance, while Property B had a major repair expense that exceeded its available cash. Without a balance transfer, the property manager would effectively be advancing their own funds to cover Property B’s shortfall, even though the owner has sufficient total funds across both properties. The balance transfer resolves this by shifting available cash from Property A to Property B so the owner’s overall financial picture is accurately represented. It should also be noted that these transfers do not impact calculations related to net income, therefore owners are still able to accurately maintain financials at a property level.
It is important to understand that property balance transfers only move funds between properties within the same entity. Transfers never cross entity boundaries, even if multiple entities are owned by the same individual! Each entity’s finances are treated independently.
How the Transfer Amount Is Calculated
When Revela determines whether a property has a surplus or a deficit, it looks at the property’s available cash balance as of the selected effective date, then subtracts any unpaid expenses and the configured reserve amount for that property.
If the result is positive, the property has a surplus and is eligible to send funds. If the result is negative, the property has a deficit and is eligible to receive funds. Revela automatically pairs surplus properties with deficit properties within the same entity and calculates the transfer amount as the lesser of what the surplus property can give and what the deficit property needs.
Reserve amounts are always respected during this calculation. If a property has $1,000 in available cash but a $200 reserve, only $800 (minus any unpaid expenses) is considered available for transfer. This ensures that reserves are never depleted by the transfer process.
How Transfers Appear on the Owner Statement
When a property balance transfer is executed, Revela creates two paired accounting entries for each transfer. The property sending funds receives an entry described as “Transfer to [receiving property name],” and the property receiving funds gets an entry described as “Transfer from [sending property name].” These entries are linked together as a pair, this prevents one side of the entry from being deleted without the other side also being removed.
These entries appear on the owner’s statement ledger as part of the property’s payment activity. On the sending property’s statement, the transfer shows as a cash-out transaction, reducing the property’s balance. On the receiving property’s statement, it appears as a cash-in transaction, increasing the property's balance.
The reason these transfers display as payment activity rather than as a separate line item category is that they directly affect the cash position of each property. The transfer adjusts the amount owed between the property and the management company, which is the same account used to track all cash movement on the statement. From the property’s perspective, cash has moved in or out, and Revela records it alongside other payment activity so the running balance on the statement remains accurate and complete.
At the entity level, these transfers are net-zero. The total cash across all properties does not change. The Cash Summary section of the owner statement will reflect the same total beginning and ending balances regardless of whether transfers were executed, because what goes out of one property comes into another.
Running Property Balance Transfers in Bulk
The most common way to execute property balance transfers is in bulk from the Portfolios/Properties > Entities page. This is typically done as part of the month-end close process, after management fees have been generated and before owner disbursements are prepared.
To run transfers in bulk, select the entities that need transfers on the Entities page, then click the Property Balance Transfers button in the search bar. A modal will appear asking for an Effective Date. This date determines the point in time as of which balances are evaluated and controls when the transfer entries appear on the owner statement.
As a best practice, it is recommended that the effective date of the property transfers match the same bill through date as the management fee billing.
After clicking Submit, Revela evaluates each selected entity’s properties, identifies surplus and deficit balances, and executes the appropriate transfers. When the process completes, a notification will confirm how many transfers were executed. Entities whose management contracts have opted out of property cash rebalancing are automatically skipped during the bulk process, so there is no need to manually exclude them. Property balance transfer opt out can be configured on an entity level within the entity detail page under Actions > Edit or on the entity’s Management Contract.
Running Transfers for a Single Entity
Property balance transfers can also be executed on a one-off basis through the Close Period page. Navigate to the specific entity, then click Actions > Close Period. The Property Transfers section on this page displays suggested transfers based on the selected billing period.
Revela calculates suggested transfers by examining each property’s cash balance, unpaid expenses, and reserve amounts for the period. The suggested transfers are presented in a table showing the From property, the To property, and the Amount. Each suggested transfer has a checkbox, and all are selected by default. You can deselect any transfers you do not want to include before submitting.
This approach is useful when you need to handle a single owner’s month-end close separately from the rest of your portfolio, or when you want to review and selectively approve each transfer before it is recorded.
Configuring Eligibility on the Management Contract
Not every entity should participate in automatic property balance transfers. Revela provides a setting on each entity’s Management Contract that controls whether its properties are included.
To access this setting, navigate to the entity and click Actions > Management Contract. Under the Month End Process section, there is a Property Cash Rebalance checkbox. When this box is checked, the entity’s properties will be included when running bulk property balance transfers. When unchecked, the entity will be skipped during the bulk process.
This setting defaults to enabled for new management contracts. If an owner has expressed a preference against inter-property transfers, or if there is a contractual reason to keep each property’s finances entirely separate, uncheck this option. The setting only affects the bulk transfer process. One-off transfers from the Close Period page will still display suggested transfers for the entity regardless of this setting, giving you the flexibility to make case-by-case decisions.
Communicating Transfers to Property Owners
Property balance transfers can look unfamiliar to owners who are reviewing their statements for the first time, especially when they see cash leaving a property that appears to be performing well. Clear communication is key to maintaining trust. When an owner asks why a “Transfer to [property name]” entry appears on one of their property statements, the simplest explanation is that funds were moved from a property with a surplus to another one of their properties that needed those funds to cover its expenses. The total amount of money held on the owner’s behalf has not changed; what has changed is which property is holding it.
A practical way to frame this is in terms of the owner’s overall position: “Your property at 123 Main Street collected $2,000 in rent this month, while your property at 456 Oak Avenue had a $1,500 repair expense that exceeded its available cash. We transferred $800 from Main Street to Oak Avenue so that the repair could be covered from your existing funds rather than creating a shortfall. Your total balance across both properties remains the same and the net income for each property also remains untouched.”
Owners tend to respond well when they understand that the alternative to a balance transfer would be either carrying a negative balance on one property (which would reduce or eliminate their disbursement) or the property manager advancing funds on their behalf. Another alternative is the owner would need to contribute funds to cover the shortfall. The transfer ensures their disbursement is calculated from their true overall position.
When to Use Property Balance Transfers
Property balance transfers are the right tool whenever one property under an entity has available cash that could cover another property’s shortfall. The most common and recommended time to run them is during the month-end close process, after management fees have been billed and before disbursements are prepared. Running transfers in this sequence ensures that the disbursement calculation reflects the true net position across all of the owner’s properties.
Transfers are especially valuable for owners who have multiple properties with varying cash flow patterns. A property undergoing renovations or experiencing vacancy may run a deficit while another property is performing well. The transfer prevents the property manager from floating funds and keeps the owner’s disbursement accurate.
When to Avoid Property Balance Transfers
There are situations where balance transfers may not be appropriate. If an owner has specifically requested that each property’s finances remain separate, perhaps because the properties are held in different partnerships or for tax reporting reasons, transfers should not be run for that entity. In these cases, uncheck the Property Cash Rebalance option on the entity’s Management Contract to prevent the entity from being included in bulk transfers.
Transfers should also be avoided when a deficit is temporary and expected to resolve on its own in the near term. For example, if a property has a negative balance today but rent payments are expected within the next few days, it may be cleaner to wait for those payments to arrive rather than creating transfer entries that will need to be understood on the statement.
If an entity only has one property, balance transfers are not applicable and Revela will not generate any transfer suggestions. The feature is only relevant when an entity has two or more properties with differing cash positions.
Finally, be cautious about running transfers multiple times for the same period. Once transfers have been executed, running them again for the same entities and date range will not create duplicate entries, because the surplus and deficit balances will have already been resolved by the first round. However, if balances have changed due to new activity between runs, additional transfers may be created. It is best practice to run transfers once per closing period as part of a consistent month-end workflow.
Tips & Best Practices
The recommended month-end sequence is to:
- Generate management fees first
- Run property balance transfers
- And finally, prepare owner disbursements
Following this order ensures that fee deductions are already reflected in property balances before transfers are calculated, and that transfers are reflected before disbursements are prepared.
Always verify the effective date before submitting transfers. The effective date determines both the point in time from which balances are evaluated and when the transfer entries will appear on the owner statement. For a standard month-end close, this should typically be the last day of the billing period being closed.
When reviewing the Close Period page for a single entity, take a moment to examine the Cash Summary table before submitting. The summary provides a condensed view of each property’s financial position, including the impact of any selected transfers, so you can confirm that the result looks correct before finalizing.