Introduction

Welcome to Partial Abandonment Training with VLU. This course is designed to give you a deeper understanding of what a partial abandonment is, when to use it over an impairment and how to one.

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

•  Know the difference between abandonment, impairment, and termination
• When to choose an abandonment vs. an impairment
• And how to split lease data in preparation for the partial abandonment.

Please take a moment to review the agenda. If you’re looking for a specific topic, please jump to the corresponding timestamp.

Abandonment Differences

In this video, we will discuss what an abandonment is and how it is different from a termination and an impairment

Before determining the differences between abandonments and terminations or impairments, we need to define what an abandonment is. In essence, it is when a company is going to cease use of a particular asset either partially or completely.

Two terms are introduced that are not used elsewhere in lease accounting: Decision Date and Cease Use Date.

The decision date is the date on which the entity determines the asset is to be abandoned. This decision necessitates changes in the accounting of the asset. The decision date will be the starting date of the new accounting schedule.

The Cease Use Date is the last day the entity will use the asset. This date is critical, as the Right of Use Asset will be fully amortized by this date, save any residual value.

We should also mention the end date is the end of the contractual obligation. This will remain the original lease expiration date, unless the lease contract is modified.

An abandonment is different from a termination because a termination will relieve the lessee of the obligation for future payments, whereas the abandonment will continue to be obligated to make all future rent payments. The company will not be utilizing the asset though, which means that it no longer has the value that was once recognized. Therefore, the value needs to be removed as an asset from the books.

The difference between an abandonment and an impairment is primarily one of timing. An impairment is a recognition that this asset no longer has value to the organization, so it gets written off. The difference is that an impairment happens today. So if we were to run an impairment with today’s date, the full value of the impairment is written down this month.

An abandonment also removes the value of the right of use asset, but it does so between the decision date and the cease use date.
A partial impairment means that only a portion of the value of the asset is going to be written down, and the rest of the value will remain in place.

For example, a tenant leases two floors of an office building, but now they only want one floor.

The landlord will not relieve the tenant of the obligation to pay, but if they are not going to use one of the two floors, the value of the floor being given up by the tenant needs to be removed, which happens immediately. Essentially, if the tenant impairs an asset today, it will be written off today as well.

The difference between an Abandonment and an Impairment or Partial Impairment in this example, is that an abandonment can remove the value of that unwanted floor between the decision date and cease use date, not immediately like an impairment.

For example, let’s say today is March 1st, and the tenant wants to cease use of one of the two floors they lease on September 1st . The tenant will take the full value of that abandoned floor and write it off over the 6 month period between March 1st and September 1st so that the right of use asset ends up being zero.

Choosing Abandonment vs. Impairment vs. Partial Abandonment

In this video, we will discuss examples of when to choose an abandonment over an impairment or partial abandonment.

Deciding to choose Abandonment versus Impairment has to do with the timing of the event.

As stated in the previous video, an impairment takes place immediately whereas an abandonment can take place in the future, therefore recognizing a future event to take place.

So the question asked is “why not just wait until the lease is abandoned and run an impairment the month it is given up?”. The short answer to this question is that it is not proper accounting. When it is known that the asset will be abandoned, the asset must be written down during the time leading up to the abandonment. Those expenses need to be on the books instead of all of it being accounted for immediately when the asset is abandoned.

It is more appropriate to modify the lease until the abandonment date so the right of use is written off to zero. Doing it in this manner will allow the company to disclose to investors or even the public, of their intentions.

So what about only giving up part of an asset or a partial abandonment?

Before we get into the portfolio approach, it is important to note that technically each identifiable asset should be identified and accounted for separately. For example, leasing 100 cars for a fleet. Each car will be its own leased asset. However, the accounting standards permit us to use the portfolio approach, that is, to treat the group as a single asset, if doing so yields the same results as measuring each asset individually.

When using the portfolio approach, those 100 cars will be grouped together as one entry with all the payments recorded together but are still treated as individual assets.

Please note, if using the portfolio approach, the asset needs to be substantially the same. For example, you can use the portfolio approach with 2 floors of an office building but not one fleet vehicle, one floor of an office building, and a transport ship.

In essence, if the assets were treated as individual leases or treated together as a single lease, the results would be the same. The portfolio approach is typical for companies that lease out facilities.

Splitting Lease Data for Partial Abandonments

In this video, we will discuss how to split lease data in preparation for partial abandonments.

In cases where part of an asset is going to be abandoned, and another part will be retained but they can’t actually be segregated, they will need to be disaggregated and treated as two separate entities before a partial abandonment can take place.

To do this, we will need to split the data in the portfolio.
On the entries page, we can see the lease was originally set up with the initial entries as base rent as seen here. So we are taking 33250 a month and taking 3% increases beyond that.

On the lease accounting page we see that is the methodology we applied and the appropriate payments are continuing throughout remainder of the lease.

Do complete a partial abandonment we will need to split this lease up into two components. Back on the entries page we’ve set up a second component with a portion of the payment which is effective 1/1/2023, located here.

Since we are splitting the payments we will need to modify the initial entry. We will add an unscheduled increase on 1/1/2023, it does not repeat and the base amount will be $20,000 which is the remainder of the amount that wasn’t split off into the other payment.

By inserting that amount you will see that the reduced amount is still increasing by 3% annually and the payments are still on track but now they’ve been split where both payments equal what the original one was.

Once the changes are made, click save.

The next thing that needs to be done is splitting out the lease accounting schedule, creating a different schedule for what is being kept, and what is being abandoned.

Before we move forward with a modification of the initial calculation, you will want to take note of the interest (or discount) rate of the initial calculation. To do this, click “Show More” located here, and scroll down until you see the interest rate, located here.

On the lease accounting page, select the initial calculation that was created and click here. Then select Remeasurement Calculation. In the wizard window, select Modification and enter the effective date of the split.

It is important to note the date we input here, is NOT the date the partial abandonment will take place. This is because we cannot do two things in sequence on the exact same date since the system looks to the date preceding to get opening balances for that particular day.

So for this example, instead of January 1st 2023, we will enter February 1st, 2023.

Move through the wizard and on step 4 you will have to use the same discount rate for both schedules. In this case, it is an 8% incremental borrowing rate.

On step 5 you will see both entries are listed as lease payments. For this calculation, we will want to exclude the payment that we will be abandoning.
Please note, the scheduled amount listed here is the amount from day one of that financial entry, not the amount going into the calculation.

Finish the calculation and click save.

So now we have the modification of the initial calculation. On the schedule we can see the new remaining amount and the right of use asset is somewhat decreased. The schedule now shows the appropriate changes to take what I’m keeping.

The journal entries bring everything down.

For the portion that is being abandoned, we will need to create a NEW calculation, not a modification of an existing calculation.

To start, click on New Calculation, here and the wizard will open. For the calculation name, name it something that will help you identify it. In our case, we will name it Abandonment Portion and use the start date as 1/1/2023 and the same end date.

On step 4, you will want to use the same discount rate that was used in the modification calculation. In our case, it is 8%.

On step 5 you will see both entries are listed as lease payments. For this calculation, we will want to exclude the payment that was kept in the modification and keep the amount we are abandoning.

Save the calculation and return to the lease accounting page.

So now, the two schedules can be seen here; the modified portion of the original schedule, and the abandoned portion. Both of them add up to the amounts from the initial schedule, but now are separated out into two distinct schedules.

We are now ready to perform the actual abandonment calculation.

It is important to note: when creating the split, take care to ensure there is no gain or loss event for the user concerning the right of use asset that is pushed off into the abandonment portion.

To create an abandonment calculation you must create a recalculation of the New “Abandonment” Calculation we just created by clicking here, and selecting Remeasurement calculation.

The popup wizard will open. From the dropdown, select Abandonment. After making the selection, there will be three different dates that need to be entered.

The decision date, which is the date that the new schedule will commence. This is essentially the same thing as a commencement schedule. For this example, our decision date will be 2/1/2023.

Select “No” for Asset Previously Impaired.

For Go Forward Accounting, select “Loss of Straight Line Lease Cost”, which will typically be the case since the asset will be written down in equal amounts over the remainder of the use.

The cease use date is the last date that the occupier is going to be utilizing the premises. For this example, we will enter August 31st, 2023 then click Create remeasurement.

Note: We will discuss Salvage Value later in this video.

On step two it is important to point out that the cease use date we entered is located here, the decision date is also the start date which is seen here. The assumed end date however will reflect the end date of the original value. This is because abandonments do not relieve any future rent payments.

Once everything is entered, click save.

Please note: an abandonment recalculation will not require you to fill out the additional steps in the wizard since there is no discount rate nor change in the payment throughout the remainder of the lease term since an abandonment is not a remeasurement. Everything is based off the original values, but the results will be different.

Checking the Abandonment calculation and scrolling down, you will see on the schedule we will see the part that we are abandoning and what the payments are.

You will also see that the right of use asset if going to amortize in equal steps down over the period of time up until the cease use date that we entered and will be zero from that point forward. The liability continues to burn down over time because payments will continue to be made throughout the life of the lease.

Please note, the results displayed are for a partial abandonment since we split the asset data. For a regular abandonment we would just create the abandonment remeasurement on the entire lease instead of the abandoned portion we just walked through.

So what about salvage values in abandonments?

When creating the abandonment calculation, there is a field to enter a salvage value. A salvage value isnt something typically seen in real estate, but instead with fixed assets. In real estate, salvage will deal with subleases.

For example, a $500,000 lease is abandoned at some point in the future but it is anticipated that there is enough of the lease term left that some income can still be made from it. Therefore, we do not want the asset to burn down completely to zero. Instead, we only want to burn the asset down whatever amount we anticipate, for this example, we think we will get $100,000 in subleased income from the asset. We will only abandon $400,000, leaving that $100,000 income.

A company wants to recognize that they want to have an expense to measure against that sublease income but they do not want to take the expense right up front as if it were an impairment. Doing the abandonment will allow them to properly time the cashflow.

Key Takeaways

This concludes the partial abandonment course with VLU.
Remember…

• Abandonments are meant to write off the right of use asset over time, not immediately.
• For partial abandonments, you will need to split the lease data for what is kept, and what is abandoned
• Salvage Value for real estate allows companies to estimate an amount of subleased income from an abandoned amount.Thanks for watching, any questions, suggestions, or feedback can be sent to Support@visuallease.com

Transcription:

Welcome to Lease List and Filters training with VLU. This course introduces the Lease List and provides instructions for creating, saving, and applying lease record filters.
By the end of this course, learners will be able to:

– Recognize the key areas of the Lease List and describe the functionality.
– Create custom filters relevant to your role based on specific lease criteria.
– Identify filter security options and apply the appropriate security to your filters.
– And demonstrate how to apply lease filters to Ad Hoc and Standard Reports for more customized analytics.

Take a moment to review the course agenda. If you are looking for a specific topic, feel free to jump to the corresponding timestamp.

The lease list acts as a searchable repository for all your lease records.
In this video, we will get acquainted with the Lease List. This includes an overview of basic functionality and navigation tips.

So, what is the Lease List? As I mentioned,
– the lease list is a sort of repository for all lease records in the platform.
– This list can be sorted and filtered by a number of data points found within each record.
– Groups of leases or lease data points can be saved as filters or lists – making it quick and easy to view them over time.

Let’s jump into the platform to get acquainted with the lease list…
To access the Lease List, click on the Leases menu in the header and select List.
Here we have the Lease List Filter sidebar. The sidebar is home to all existing filters you have access to, as well as the record criteria that can be used to create a new filter.

The results table in the center of the page displays the leases that match the specified criteria based on your selections within the sidebar. The total record count is displayed here.

The table is made up of multiple columns, each representing a data point in the records. When you hover over a column header, an arrow will appear. Click on the arrow to sort the results in ascending or descending order.

The Lease ID’s found here are hyperlinks. Click on any id to open the record for that lease.
Control the number of records that display per page here – and – use the left and right arrows to move between pages.

Create a new lease record at any time by clicking on the New Lease button found here.
Once you’ve chosen the criteria you want to filter by, Click the Apply button found here. This will initiate a search of your portfolio to return the lease records that match your criteria.

To save your search parameters as a filter, click save. The reset button will return your search criteria to the default settings– typically, for most clients, this is all active and pending leases.
Additionally, these buttons allow you to send your filter to the Ad Hoc or Standard Reporting Module.

Lease record filters enable you to view your portfolio in more meaningful ways. In this video we will walk through the process of selecting and applying lease criteria to a new filter.

Filters are typically created in one of two ways:

The first is a dynamic search of your lease portfolio.
– As a dynamic set of lease criteria- like lease status, date ranges, contacts, and more – your results will change over time.
– As your portfolio ages and grows, leases that are included in a dynamic filter may no longer meet the set criteria. Additionally, new leases that weren’t part of your portfolio when the filter was created may meet the criteria and be added to the filter results.

The 2nd option is a static list of leases
– Lease record IDs are added to a list and will always be displayed in that list, regardless of ageing or any other changes made – except for changing the lease ID.

Filters also provide a level of security that allows Administrators to allow or restrict access based on a fixed set of record ID’s or through set criteria, such as location, cost center, date range, and even associated contacts.

Filters can be applied to various lease administration or lease accounting actions throughout the platform and can even be used to complete bulk updates.
To create our criteria-based filter we will navigate to the Create New Filter section of the lease list sidebar.

By default, my platform is set to display all active and pending records where the owner type is owned, leased, or subleased.

Keep in mind, leases that are active today may eventually expire. Once a lease expires, it will no longer meet the requirement of Lease status is active or pending- to be included in this filter. The expired lease will “fall off”, reducing the number of records returned for this filter.
To choose the data points I want to use in my new filter, I’ll click on the search bar & dropdown “labeled select or enter fields”.

If you know the field or fields you are looking for, simply start typing in the search box. This is a dynamic search, so results will update as you type.

To review the full list of available fields, select the dropdown arrow found here. The list is grouped into categories to make it easy to locate the fields you need.

At the top of the list are Commonly Used fields, like Lease ID, Record Type, and Commencement and Expiration Dates. These are fields that we have found clients use most often when creating filters.

The General category includes fields found on the general tab of the record. This includes fields like Organization, Property Type, and Brand – to name a few.

Additional categories include Location, Dates, Contacts, Clauses, and more
Remember, the actual fields seen in this video may differ from what you see in your platform. All fields are customized to match your platform configuration.

For this demonstration, I want to create a dynamic filter for all Active Real Estate Expense leases in the US. Since the default is to display pending and active leases, I will modify this by selecting Lease Status. I will deselect the checkbox for Pending and click save.

Next, I’ll search for and add the Record Type field to the filter and select Real Estate Expense.

Finally, I’ll add the Country, State & Province field to the filter and scroll down until I locate the United States.
If I wanted to narrow the results further, to a specific state, I would simply click here to expand the list to display states and select those I want to include.

Notice that all newly added or modified criteria display in grey. This indicates that these new data points have not yet been applied to my lease list results.

As a best practice, we recommend you select Apply prior to saving a filter. This will trigger the platform to search your portfolio for the criteria you have selected and display the results in the Lease List. From here you can review the results and conduct a “spot check” of sorts, to ensure you’re capturing the records you want.

Once I click apply, all fields will turn blue to indicate they have been applied.

Please note – when creating filters based on Lease ID, you may use partial ID’s as a sort of catch all for lease records that share naming conventions.

For example, this saved filter is configured to pull and active or pending lease that contains RE-003 in the lease id field.
Let’s reset the criteria and review the process of creating a static, or fixed list, filter.

Remember, as a static search function it will always return the same lease records, regardless of changes to dates, status, or any other criteria.

Select the checkbox next to each lease record that should be included in the fixed list filter. As you do, the record ID will appear here, in the selected leases section.

You may also use the lease criteria fields to sort through your portfolio for the correct leases. Once found, simply select the checkbox next to the lease to add it to the list.

When you identify a subset of leases that you, or someone in your organization, will be referencing frequently – saving the filter is a real timesaver. In this video we will review the steps to save a filter.
Once you have filtered your leases by the desired data points and applied the filter to view the results, you have two options on how to proceed with this data.
There may be times that you want to view a specific subset of leases for a one-time report. If this subset is not going to be used in the future, saving a filter is not necessary.
Simply select the Send to Standard Report or Send to Ad Hoc Reports option found here. This will send the criteria to the reporting module without saving it for future use.
If, however, the filter will be used frequently or for user access, you’ll want to save it. Click the save button to get started.
The Add Filter pop up prompts you to enter a name for your filter.
We recommend being as descriptive as possible in your naming convention to avoid confusion or inadvertent duplication of filters within your platform.
My filter is for active real estate expense leases in the US, so I will name this filter “Active RE EX US.”

Next, I’ll select the appropriate security level for this filter. The security determines who can view and use a filter and can be used by Admins to restrict a user’s view to specific records in the platform.

Let’s review each security level now.
The security setting options are: , Public, Private, Admin Only, and Public Read Only.
– Public filters can be viewed, used, and edited by any user in the platform.
– While a Private filter can only be viewed and used by the user who created it.
– Saving a filter as Admin Only means only those with Administrator permissions can view and use it.
o Admin Only security must be applied to any filter that is created as a means of controlling user access or visibility within the platform.
o Additionally, only filters with the Admin Only security can be used in conjunction with the Accounting Feed module.
– Lastly, any filter saved as Public Read Only can be used by any platform user, however only the filter creator can modify it.
I plan to use this filter to restrict one of my users from viewing any records that are not active real estate leases in the US, so I will select Admin Only.
Finally, I have the option to review the filter criteria one last time before saving. Click the save button to save your new filter.

As your lease portfolio grows and matures over time, you may find that certain filters are no longer needed or need to be changed. In this video we’ll review how to modify and delete your saved filters.
To access your saved filters, click the Leases dropdown from the Header and select Saved Filters.
This table displays all filters available to you, based on the filter security and your user permissions.
You can see the Filter Name, the user who last modified it, the date of the last modification, and Security. The Used By column shows the areas of the platform a filter is being used – for example, on a specific Dashboard Chart or Ad Hoc report.

As always, you can sort the table by any column by clicking on the header of that column.
Clicking on the kabob found next to each filter – here – opens a list of actions for each entry – including view, edit, rename, and delete.

Keep in mind, filters that are being actively used, like those applied to a User for lease security purposes, cannot be deleted.

Let’s view one of our saved filters. The criteria that make up the filter can be found here. The filter results section contains all lease records that meet the criteria.
Saved filters can also be sent to ad hoc reporting & standard reporting

The upload icon option lets you apply or replace an icon image to your filter. As this message states, your upload must be less than 40 pixels and will be resized to 16×16 pixels. These icons are used on the Lease Map when the filter is applied to it.
Clicking this button will bring you back to the Lease List to create a new filter.

That concludes Lease List & Filters training with VLU.
Before you go, here are a few things to remember about Filters.
• You can create filters based on criteria as a dynamic list that returns real-time results, or as a static list, which will always contain the same group of leases.
• Filters help you sort and manage your lease portfolio across the platform – from reporting to accounting feeds and more.
• Lease Filter Security determines who can use your saved filters and is used by Admins to allow or restrict user access in various areas of the platform.
Thank you for completing this course – questions, suggestions or feedback can be sent to support@visuallease.com

Transcription:

Welcome to creating lease records training with visual lease. This course is designed to assist you with the creation of new lease records in the visual lease platform. But at the end of this course, You should be able to identify the required and supplemental leased data that make up your lease records, recall the methods available to you to create new lease records in the platform, and determine your lease naming convention based on best practice recommendations.
Please take a moment to review the full agenda for this course. If you’re looking for a particular topic. Feel free to navigate to the corresponding timestamp. This high level overview of lease record creation methods will provide a frame of reference when making decisions in the platform.
Let’s review each method of creating a new lease record in your platform. The first is enter the required data manually. Using the new leases method. This is the most common way users create one-off or ad hoc lease records. All required fields must be completed to save the record, and optional fields can be hidden from view as needed. A built-in date calculator helps you determine critical lease dates, and you can upload your lease agreement or other pertinent information to be fully abstracted later.
The second method is to create a new lease record from the data found within an existing record. This is best used when you have multiple leases that share key details. Like multiple standalone offices within a single building or location.
Additional data like contacts, financial entries, documents alerts and more. It can also be copied over to the new lease. We find that clients sometimes use this method to test out a specific scenario on an existing lease record without impacting it directly.
The third method for creating new lease records is through the general lease information import template. The import lease feature is an efficient way to add multiple leases to your platform. If you have all the necessary information at hand. For example, if you’re acquiring a lease portfolio and have the basic details of these leases in a spreadsheet, the template will help you quickly add the leases to the Visual Lease platform. Users must have import permissions to use this tool. As with all of our templates you must ensure that you adhere to the template format for your information. upload successfully.
Creating a new record from scratch is the most common method of entering leases into the platform, and this video will review the steps to create a new record. Including required fields and best practice suggestions.
To create a new lease record from anywhere in the platform. Click on leases in the header and select New from the navigation menu. The add new record dialogue box will appear. By default, only the fields that are required to save the record will be displayed. Required fields are identified by the asterisk next to the field name. Enable this check box to display both required and optional fields. Even though these fields are optional, you should remember the more data you enter into your lease records. The more. points you will have for reporting and analytics later.
For the purposes of this demonstration, I’ll focus on the required fields. Let’s review some best practices when it comes to populating these fields so you feel better prepared when creating a new lease record.
The lease ID. This is a text field where you can type your preferred lease ID. The lease ID is significant because it’s the primary identifier of that record in your platform.
Since the lease ID appears throughout search and reporting functionality, we encourage you to use a standard lease ID format within your organization. This will make managing your portfolio easier as it changes over time. For example, in my platform we format our lease IDs by organization, record type, income versus expense, and real estate versus equipment. Finally, we add an internal numbering sequence. So anyone in my organization can quickly identify the record they’re looking for.
Other organizations may choose to name their records geographically using country and state. Or even physical address or proper name. Whatever naming convention your organization chooses. Keep in mind this field supports up to 30 characters.
Field’s with a downward facing carrot indicate dropdown lists. The options found within these lists will vary based on your custom configuration and needs.
Fields with the tree icon indicate a hierarchy list to represent parent-child. Or primary-secondary relationships. You may also simply begin typing in the predictive search field. Potential matches will appear as you type.
Fields with the calendar icon indicated date. Dates can be entered manually or selected directly from the calendar by clicking on the icon found here.
Field’s without an icon, like address and rentable area. Indicate open text or numeric fields.
To make entering key lease states a quick and easy task, our date calculator is embedded into this window to determine a specific date, enter the starting date, and the number of years, months and days from that date, you need to identify. You can even calculate backwards to a past date by entering the years months and days as negative numbers.
You also have the option to append relevant lease documents to the record using the upload files button. The VL platform supports PDF. Word. Excel. JPEG. PNG files and more. Click here to open your computer’s file Explorer and search for the necessary files. Or simply drag and drop the files into this space. The file name and size will appear here. Once done click save to attach the file and return to the new record flow. A new clickable link will appear here indicating the number of files attached.
Once I finished entering my leased data. I have two options to save my record. Save or save and new. If I have additional leases to enter. “Save a New” will create my new record and immediately relaunch the add new record flow to repeat the necessary steps. If I have no other records to create. Clicking save will create the new record and take me to that record. From here I can continue to abstract key lease details. Like contacts, clauses and financial information as needed.
Additionally, your platform can be configured to trigger an email notification to a predetermined email address of your choice. Any time a lease record is created.
If this functionality is not currently configured on your platform. And you would like it to be. Please contact visual lease support for assistance.
A quick way to create multiple lease records with the same or similar details. Is to clone an existing record. And this video will use the save as functionality to copy details of an existing record into a new record.
There may be instances in which you have a group of leases that share common data points and lease terms. Leasing of multiple units within a building. A fleet of leased vehicles and the like.
The save as least creation method creates a copy of an existing record in the visual lease platform.
This reduces time and effort adding similar leases to your platform while still allowing you to configure the new record by including or excluding lease specific details like clauses, contacts, documents and more.
To clone a leased record, open the record you want to duplicate.
And navigate to the sidebar menu.
Click on the kebab found here to open the lease actions and quick links menu. Select save as.
The least say. as window will open and display the ID of the least to be copied.
The only required field labeled save as lease ID is the ID for the new lease record that is being created.
The VL platform assumes that all other fields required to create a new lease record or the same as the record you’re copying. And therefore applied to the new record automatically.
These details like commencement and expiration dates. Record type. Address organization and more. Can be changed manually once the record is created.
Next is a series of check boxes that allow you to include or exclude certain details of the original record. The default behavior for each checkbox is set by a platform administrator. But they can be manually overridden as needed.
For example. If this lease has its own unique documents and document references. Simply de-select these checkboxes before clicking save to omit them from the new record.
The newly created record will open. From here, review each tab of the record and configure as needed.
When you have more than a couple of records to enter into the VL platform. The lease information import tool is a real time saver. In this video. We’ll review how to use our built in templates to add multiple leases to your platform at once.
To begin click on the tools icon. And select import lease information from the list.
Please note import permissions are needed to access this tool. If you’re unable to access this dropdown or do not see the import lease information option in the list. Please contact your platform administrator for assistance.
Visual lease provides a variety of import tools and templates that allow you to bulk upload data into the platform. Using pre formatted Excel templates. We will be working with the general lease information template found here.
This basic lease information importer can be used to both add new records and update existing ones. Since this video is dedicated to new lease record creation. That’s where our focus will be.
Please ensure you review the detailed instructions and important notes prior to using this template. This will help to ensure a smooth and successful important.
Click the hyperlink to download the pre formatted Excel template.
Applying a lease filter from this dropdown will pre-populate leases in downloaded template. This is used to update existing lease records. Since we are creating brand new lease records, we’ll leave this blank to download a new blank template.
The columns within the template near the fields found on the general tab of your platform. Visual Lee’s color codes all templates to easily distinguish between required. Optional and criteria dependent fields. Additionally, some template fields may not be in use on your platform. Be sure to review the template key and instructions found here.
It’s important that you do not manipulate, move or delete any columns or tabs within this file. Even if they are not in use. This will cause the import to fail.
The reference tabs along the bottom of the worksheet, provide you with a list of accepted values for specific columns within the template. Think about the steps to create new lease records in the platform. Often you must select from a predetermined list of drop-downs or tree fields based on the configuration of your platform. The same is true here. These tabs are broken into numerous categories including basic values. Like Lee status, owner type and currency. Record types.
Organizations.
Region.
Brand.
And country with state or province. We strongly recommend copying from the reference tabs and pasting into the least general tab to avoid typos errors or hanging spaces at the beginning or end of a word. These can result in import errors.
Once you finished populating the template with the details of the leases You’re uploading. Save the file and return to the platform.
Click the browse button. To locate the saved file.
Once loaded click upload and process to complete the import.
You do not need to select the update Lease financials for expiration date changes checkbox as this setting only applies when you’re updating existing lease records.
The import results will be displayed under the results section. Here you’ll see a summary of actions taken as a result of the import. Including the number of rows that were processed. Unchanged. Updated. Inserted.
and those with errors.
If you use the import tool to add 10 new lease records to your platform, your results should display 10 rows inserted. The template treats each row as an individual upload. This meal. only the rows that have errors have not uploaded.
Review the error summary here to identify the lease IDs that contain an error. And the error message. Open your saved template to correct the leases with errors and re upload as needed.
If the upload is successful there will be no errors displayed here.
The new lease records are now available in your platform.
That concludes our course on creating lease records. Remember. It’s important to create and stick to a lease record naming convention for your platform.
Well only certain fields are considered required to create a lease record. The more data you provide, the better your reporting and analytics will be.
Each creation method has. based on your situation. Create a new lease record when you have a few leases distinctly different than others in your platform.
Colona lease record with the save as method when your new lease contains many of the same characteristics as another already in the platform.
Import leased records When you have many leases to enter into the platform at once.
Thanks for watching questions suggestions and feedback I can be sent to support@visuallease.com.

 

Transcription:

Welcome to Lease Record: Documents training with VLU. This course reviews the features and functionality of the documents tab within a lease record.

By the end of this course learners should be able to:

• Navigate the documents tab of a lease record
• Identify commonly accepted file types
• And append documents to a lease record
Please pause here and take a moment to review the agenda. If you are looking for a specific topic, feel free to navigate to the corresponding timestamp.
In this video we will introduce the documents tab, review key benefits, as well as basic layout and navigation.

The Documents tab of the lease record is where all important lease documentation is uploaded, allowing users to organize and maintain them over time. Common documents include lease agreements, amendments, insurance information and more.

Lease documents are also utilized by the clauses tab of the lease record. Once a clause is entered, there is an option to add a document reference. This allows you to pinpoint a specific location within an uploaded document where that clause can be found. It’s a quick and easy way to locate information within large documents.

The Documents section holds individually added documents related to this lease, which may be housed in various folders or locations across your organization.

Once uploaded, documents can be easily sorted by date, type, title, or file name. Most uploaded documents will appear as a clickable hyperlink and include a file type image to easily differentiate between pdf, word, image and file paths or URL’s.

Documents can also be filtered by document type using the dropdown list seen here. This list is static, so it will display all document types even if they are not found in the lease record.
The Kebob found at the end of each document houses options to edit, download, or delete the document from the lease record.

To export a list of document details to excel, click the Export hyperlink.

As your lease portfolio grows and ages, it’s important to keep the related lease documents up to date. In this video we will review how to add, edit, and delete documents from a lease record.
To add a new document, click the Add Document button. A Add document dialogue box will open and prompt you to enter some details about the document you’re adding.

Use the Document type drop down list to specify the type of document you’re uploading. This list is typically created during implementation. If you find that a certain document type is missing from your list, please contact your platform administrator for guidance.

I am going to add an Amendment to this record.

The Document Date captures the date of the document itself, not the date it is uploaded to the platform. In the case of a new lease or an amendment, best practice is to enter the effective date in this field.

The document title will display wherever documents are found throughout the platform. We recommend creating a standard naming convention that identifies the type of document and the document date.

Enter any comments you deem necessary. For example, you may want to note that the document is Partially Executed.

Finally, we will need to determine the type of file we are uploading. Visual Lease offers 3 options: Upload Document, File Path and URL. Let’s review these options in more detail…
• Upload Document stores a copy of your file directly on the Visual Lease platform. Use the upload file button to open your computers file explorer, or simply drag and drop the file here. \Visual Lease accepts numerous file types for upload, including PDF, Word, Excel, image files and more. Files cannot exceed 80MB.
• File Path is used to house a document stored to a local or network drive or FTP site. Due to firewalls and other technical restrictions, this link will not automatically open the document in your network. Copy and paste the link into the file explorer to quickly locate the document.
• URL is used to house a web-based document. This may be a website or cloud-based drive like Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive or Sharepoint. URL’s will display as clickable hyperlinks and will open the linked document or webpage.

My file is stored locally on my PC, so I’ll simply drag and drop it here and Click Save to complete the upload.
Documents need to be kept up to date as your lease changes over time. A partially executed document t may need to be replaced once it is fully executed. File paths and URLs may need to be updated if a document is moved to a new folder or drive.

To edit a document, click the kebob at the end of the document and select Edit from the action menu. Make the necessary changes, attach the new document, if needed, and Click Save to lock in your changes.
Deleting a document may be necessary when a document is no longer applicable to a lease record or if an incorrect document was uploaded.

To Delete a document, simply select the kebob at the end of the document and select delete from the action menu.

A confirmation box appears to advise that any document references created in the clauses tab will be removed when the document is deleted.

Select delete to continue or Cancel to keep the document.
That concludes the Lease Record Documents course.

Remember,
• Maintaining your lease documents is a crucial step to managing critical dates across your portfolio.
• Documents can be stored locally within the platform or linked to a network or cloud-based drive.
• Use documents in conjunction with clauses to locate specific verbiage quickly and easily within lengthy documents

Thank you for your time. Questions, suggestions, or feedback can be sent to support@visuallease.com

Transcription:

Welcome to Lease Record: Alerts Training with VLU. This course demonstrates how to leverage Alerts to maintain critical dates across your portfolio.

By the end of this course, learners should be able to:

– Define the differences between Alerts and Lease Critical Dates.
– Explain how to manage critical dates using alerts.
– And how to create, modify and delete alerts as needed.
Please pause here and take a moment to review the agenda. If you are looking for a specific topic, feel free to navigate to the corresponding timestamp.

Alerts help you to manage important dates across your portfolio, in this video we will review the types of dates the VL platform tracks and default alert settings.

– Alerts provide the ability to manage hundreds of dates for various lease records and the
– Alerts can be generated based on critical dates within the platform or custom dates that you specify.
– Each alert can be sent to any number of recipients, as long as the recipient is stored as a contact within the platform.

Understanding Critical Dates within the platform is a key component to setting up Alerts and managing time critical events related to your lease portfolio.

It is important not to confuse a critical date with an Alert. A Critical Date is the date by which an Action must take place, as specified in your lease. The Alert is the notification you want to receive before that action must take place and provides time to properly prepare for that action.

For example, you may want to remind the Administration Team to contact a landlord at least 30 days before a Lease Expiration.

There are three types of Critical Dates captured in the VL platform: Lease Critical, Clause Critical and Financial Critical.

– Lease Critical Dates relate to dates specified within the General Date section of your lease record, such as Commencement or End Date.
– Clause Critical Dates relate to the dates outlined within a lease record’s associated clauses, such as Renewals or Early Terminations.
– Financial Critical Dates relate to dates used within financial entries and calculations of a lease. These may include Base Rent Escalations, CPI Increases and more.

Administrators can set the platform defaults for each of the 3 types of critical dates. Configuring these dates for your organization can help to simplify and expedite your alert creation process.

Keep in mind, the default date can be overridden during alert creation.

For convenience and tracking purposes, each lease record maintains a list of scheduled, past, and upcoming alerts. This video reviews that functionality within the Alerts Tab.

The Alerts tab houses 3 sections to configure and view alerts related to that Lease: Alert Details, Upcoming Alerts, and Sent Alerts.

To create a new alert, select the add alert button found here. You may expand or collapse all 3 sections of the tab by clicking on this kabob and choosing Expand All or Collapse All from the action menu.

By default, my platform displays up to 5 alerts per page. I can change the number of results per page from these dropdowns and navigate between pages using these page carets. Additionally, I can export the data found in each section using the corresponding Export link.

Alert Details is where your existing alerts configurations are stored and managed. Quickly identify which alerts are enabled, the type of alert, the recipients, when the alert is triggered, and any details that may have been entered by the alert creator.

The kabob at the end of each alert houses an action menu for editing, deleting, and enabling or disabling that alert.
The Upcoming Alerts section helps you keep track of future alerts based on the enabled alerts in the details section.

Review upcoming alerts by notification date, the specific reason for the alert, and the recipients. Comments of details entered about the alert will also appear here.

By default, my platform looks forward to the next 180 days for any applicable alerts. I can look further into the future by simply changing the number of days here.

Alerts that have been sent are found here. Use this section to quickly identify if, when, and to whom a specific alert type was sent.

My past alerts also default to a view of 180 days, but again, I can look further into the past by changing the number of days.

We know how crucial it is to ensure the right people are made aware of important dates within your lease agreements. In this video we will discuss how to create alerts and keep them up to date with your needs.

Begin by selecting the Add Alert button.

A new dialogue box opens with a series of options for customizing your alert.

The first required field is the Alert Type.
This dropdown list includes each type of Critical Date: Clause Critical, Lease Critical, Financial Critical, All Critical, as well as the option to enter a custom date not associated with a critical date.

Due to the size and complexity of many leases, Clause Critical and Financial Critical Alerts include the option to drill down further into specific categories. This is particularly beneficial when you have several teams managing different aspects of a lease.

For example, you may want to notify your Operations team of any upcoming clauses related to Use & Occupancy, while all Financial Term clause alerts are sent to your Finance and Legal teams.

By default, all new alerts are enabled at creation. To create a disabled alert, uncheck this checkbox.

The message body section allows you to create a custom message to include as part of the alert email. Enter any details or instructions for what needs to be done.

The Recipients section is where we identify the party or parties the Alert will be sent to. Remember, recipients must be stored as a contact within your VL platform.

Simply begin typing the contact’s name or email address in the predictive search box and the platform will automatically return potential matches. Click on the contact to add them to the alert.

Repeat this process as many times as needed to include all interested parties in the alert.
Finally, you’ll need to add a date for when the alert should be triggered.
Remember, all alerts – except custom ones – are derived from critical dates found within the lease record.

In this section, simple enter the number of days before the critical date you would like the alert to be sent.

For example, Say I have a renewal option with an exercise window that closes on April 30th, 2022 and I know that my organization typically requires 3 months to execute the required paperwork and approvals process, I will want my teams to receive this alert 90 days before that exercise window closes.

In fact, I may want to trigger multiple alerts, starting at 90 days prior and alerting every 30 days, to remind me to check the progression of the renewal process.

Simply enter the number of days in the Days Before field and click Add Date.

From here, the only thing left to do is to click Save to complete this alert.

Once created, modifying your alert is quick and easy. Simply select the kabob for that alert and choose Edit, Enable/Disable, or Delete. As always, the platform will prompt you to confirm the action before deleting.

Sometimes creating alerts one by one for your entire portfolio isn’t efficient. In this video, we will walk through the process for creating Bulk Alerts, using the Multiple Lease Update Tool.

To use this tool, click Tools in the navigation bar and select Multiple Lease Update from the list.

If this option is not available in your Tools menu, and you believe that you should have access, please contact your platform administrator.

The first step is to select the leases that you want this new alert to be created on.

Use the multiple lease update sidebar to either select the appropriate criteria or choose specific leases by lease ID to create a fixed list.

You may also choose to apply a previously saved filter.

The Add Alerts feature in the Multiple Lease Update tool functions similarly to the Add Alert feature within the Alerts tab of a lease record.

The difference is that this alert will be created on a number of leases, and only supports one recipient and one date.

Select the desired Alert Type, Message Body, Recipient, and the number of Days prior to the Action Date that you would like the alert to be sent.

After making the appropriate selections, Click Perform Action on Specified Leases to create the alert. A progress window will open, displaying results for each lease record.

Click close when the action window shows process complete!

That concludes the Lease Record: Alerts training course.

Remember:
– A Critical Date is the date by which an Action must take place, while an Alert is the notification to remind you of that action.
– Alerts can be created to track individual financial or clause categories, or all critical dates across a lease.
– Use the multiple lease update tool to apply the same alert criteria across multiple leases in your portfolio.
–
Thank you for your time. Questions, suggestions, or feedback can be sent to support@visuallease.com.

 

Transcription:

Welcome to Lease Record Contacts Training with VLU. This course will provide a detailed overview of the Contacts Tab within a Lease Record.

By the end of this course, learners should be able to:
– Navigate the Contacts tab of the lease record
– Assign existing contacts as lease parties and associated contacts.
– And Create new contact records from within the lease record.
Please pause here and take a moment to review the agenda. If you are looking for a specific topic, feel free to navigate to the corresponding timestamp.

In this video we will talk about the benefits of the Contacts Tab in a Lease Record as we explore the layout and basic functionality.

Lease contacts are a quick and easy way to identify responsible parties within a given lease.

Lease contacts are sorted into 2 categories – Lease Parties and Associated Contacts.

A Lease Party is a primary named person or entity within the lease agreement- typically the landlord, lessee or tenant, and payor.

Associated Contacts identify other interested parties and may include any number of roles and responsibilities. Property managers, attorneys, Insurance providers, and more.

Associated contact roles are fully configurable, and are determined by a platform administrator during implementation.

Each card shows contact details with icons that indicate the type of information displayed. The building icon indicates a company contact, while the person icon indicates an individual.

The kabob of each contact card contains an action menu with a list of options.

Each lease party contains the option to edit or remove as well as to view a list of other lease and project records the contact is associated with.

Often times, the lessee or tenant is also the payor of the lease. For this reason, the tenant/lessee action menu includes a Copy to Payor option.

Similarly, the landlord is often also the party to whom payment is made, on an expense lease, so the action menu for the landlord contact includes an option to copy to Payee.

These are shortcuts we’ve built in to avoid the need to enter the information twice.

The only key contact not stored within the contacts tab is the lease Payees. Payees are stored in, and managed through, the Financials tab.
This ensures that only those users with the proper permissions are able to manage contacts associated with payables and receivables.

Lease Parties are those with primary responsibility within a given lease. In this video, we will review the steps to add and modify these contacts.

To add a lease party, click on the Add Lease Party option found in the header of the Lease Parties section of the contacts tab.

The Add Lease Party dialogue box will open.

There are a few ways to assign a new party.

Search for an existing contact by name or email address using the predictive search box found here.
Clicking on the Advanced Search carat will expand this section to include filtering options by contact type- either person or company – and the assigned contact role.

When the desired contact is located in the results list, simply click on it to select and the contact fields below will populate with the information.

If the desired contact has not yet been added to the VL platform, you may create a new contact by filling in the required fields in the Create New Contact Section, here.

Contact fields are dependent upon the contact type – person or company. For example, a contact for an individual requires the contacts last name – while a contact for a company or entity requires the company name.

The Party Type dropdown list determines which of the 3 Lease Party’s this contact will be assigned to – Landlord, lessee or tenant, or payor.

Please note – if there is already a contact with the same lease party type, saving a new contact with the same type will overwrite the existing.

When done, click Save.

New contacts added to a lease record will also be stored to the platform contacts module for future use on other records.

There are often a number of people or entities that need to be kept aware of various lease events. In this video, we’ll review the process for adding Associated Contacts to a lease record.

This area enables you to store additional contacts outside of the key lease parties. Contacts such as Lease Administrators, Property Managers, Insurance Agents, Attorneys, and more.

To begin, click the Add Associated Contacts option in the section header.

Search for an existing contact by name or email address using the predictive search box found here.
Clicking on the Advanced Search carat will expand this section to include filtering options by contact type- either person or company, assigned contact role, of party type – landlord, lessee/tenant, or payor.

When the desired contact is located in the results list, simply click on it to select and the contact fields below will populate with the information.

If the contact has not yet been added to the VL platform, you may create a new contact by filling in the required fields in the Create New Contact Section, here.

Once the contact details are filled in, I must assign at least one role and party type.

Remember, the list of roles is fully configurable, and will vary from client to client.

I’ll make a selection from the list that best represents this contact.

… then I’ll specify the Party Type – does this contact assume this role on behalf of the landlord, tenant, payor, payee or other party type? In this case, I’ll choose “other”.

You must click the Add button to apply the role and party type. Your selection will appear below.
If the contact has multiple roles, choose another role and party type from the dropdowns and click the add button again. Once all roles and party types have been assigned, click save to complete the process.

Contact details may need to be updated over time – Offices move, points of contact change. In this video, we’ll walk through the process of modifying and removing lease contacts.

To edit a lease contact simply click on the kabob of the contact card and select edit from the action menu.
From here, adjust the contact details to reflect the new information.

Now that I’ve made my edits, I have two options when it comes to saving: Save and Save As.

The Save option updates the contact record across the entire VL platform, applying the change to any and all records, alerts, and more, where the contact record is in use.

Save As, on the other hand, will only apply the changes to the contact saved on this individual lease record, effectively creating a new contact altogether.

Since I want to maintain only 1 contact record for this contact, I will choose Save.

If the contact is no longer associated with the lease in any way, and I have no need to maintain a historical record of this contact, I may choose to remove it from the lease record.

To do so, click the kabob of the contact. For Lease Parties, select the Remove option found in the action menu.

For associated contacts, select Disassociate.

A confirmation pop up will appear asking you to confirm your selection. Click delete to complete the removal, or cancel to go back.
Please note – removal or disassociation of a contact from a lease record does not delete the contact record from the platform entirely. The contact will still appear in the contacts module, as well as on any other records or alerts it may be associated with.

That concludes the course on Visual Lease Contacts.

Remember…
– Lease Parties will always include Landlord, Tenant/Lessee, and Payor.
– Use the “Copy to” functionality to easily copy the landlord to the payees tab and the tenant to the Payor contact, as needed.
– Use the save option to update the contact record across the platform, use save as to update only on the selected lease record.
– Removing a contact from a lease record will not delete the contact record from the platform.

Thank you for your time. Questions, suggestions, or feedback can be sent to support@visuallease.com

Transcription:

Welcome to Lease Record General Training with Visual Lease. This course will provide a detailed overview of the General Tab within a Lease Record.
By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• Navigate the General Tab of a Lease Record.
• Identify and define common data fields within this tab.
• Manipulate these fields to apply updates or corrections as needed.
Please take a moment to review the full agenda for this course. If you are looking for a particular topic, feel free to jump to the corresponding timestamp.

The general tab of the lease record is home to much of your lease critical information. This video provides an overview of the general tab and the data housed within it.

Lease records are organized into various tabs that help you view and update information and access additional lease functionality. Most of these fields are searchable and reportable, so they can be used to help you analyze your portfolio.

The General tab is broken out into 5 sections: Key Information, Location, Dates, Area, and Description.
• The Key information section contains details that help classify the lease record. You’ll find the Lease status, owner type, record type and more here.
• The Location section identifies the physical location of the asset as well as fields for building classification and more.
• The Dates section contains important dates related to your lease, including commencement and expiration.
• The Area section applies to real estate leases only and enables you to track rentable area information.
• The Description section is an open text field, which is where you can enter any additional details about your lease

Let’s jump into the platform and take a closer look at the general tab.

Please remember: the lease record in this course may look slightly different than what you see in your platform. Each platform is configured to meet your organization’s unique needs.

Your Lease Sidebar acts as a quick reference tool for key lease details. The sidebar remains on the screen as you move from tab to tab within a record. To hide this sidebar, simply click on the caret found here.
Each of the 5 key sections of the General Tab is contained within its own box. Click on each sections header to expand or collapse the details within it.

Additionally, you can click on the kabob found here, which launches an action menu to expand, collapse, or edit all sections of the general tab.

While all users will have access to this menu, only users with Edit permissions will be able to edit the lease record.

This edit all option is the quickest way to make updates to multiple sections of the general tab. Once selected, all sections expand and become editable fields, dropdowns, or tree lists that you can modify as needed.

Once you’ve finished, be sure to return to the action menu and select Save All to lock in your updates.
Administrators and Power Users have the additional option to delete a record by selecting the Delete Lease link found here.

The record and all its data – including financial data- will be removed from the platform. Please use this option thoughtfully, as it cannot be undone.

The Key Information section of the General Tab is home to some of your lease’s most important details.

Let’s take a closer look at this section now…

To begin, click on the kabob of the Key Information section header. A short menu appears with the option to expand or collapse the box – depending on its current state – and edit. Select edit to unlock this section of the record.

Once unlocked, you’ll notice that your required fields are marked with a red asterisk. These fields must always have an assigned value to save and update the record.

Remember: This demonstration is utilizing the Visual Lease default platform configuration, so your field names and required fields may differ from what you see here.

The Lease ID is the unique lease identifier.

• Lease IDs can be no more than 30 characters and may contain a combination of numbers, letters, and special characters.
• Your company should have a consistent and standardized naming convention across your Visual Lease platform.
• The Lease ID prominently displayed at the top of every lease.
The Master Lease ID field is read only. This field is commonly used when there is a single lease contract governing the terms of a number of other leases. It is displayed here to keep it front and center but the functionality of assigning, modifying, or removing a master ID is handled through the Related tab of the record.

The Previous Lease ID field is a text field that allows you to input a previous lease identifier. This may be from a previous lease management system or an old naming convention. This field does not capture any record association within the platform, it is open text only. Including it here enables you to maintain a record of these previous ID’s.

The Record Type dropdown is used to capture the type of asset…real estate, equipment, etc., and the lease type, such as expense or income. This selection will determine certain fields and treatments within the platform.

For example:
Our standard equipment records do not include the Area section of the General Tab since these records are not related to real estate or property.

Expense records will automatically apply lessee accounting calculations within the Accounting Module while Income records create lessor calculations.
Organization is an important field that allows you to assign a lease to a business unit or entity within your company.

Administrators can assign codes to each organization on the backend of the platform. These codes can be included in your Accounting Feed exports, so that transactions and Journal Entries are linked directly to the responsible budget center within your organization.

The Lease Status field drives the overall status of the record. It is manually updated—and will not automatically change. Let’s review each of these options:

A lease is considered active when the record is completely abstracted, and it is within the lease term or has active financials. Generally, leases in an active status will be included in the Visual Lease Accounting feed, which exports transactions, journal entries and other accounting details to be imported into your accounting system.

Leases may be in pending for a variety of reasons, but this is most common when the lease record is still being updated, or if the lease has not yet commenced.

Expired is used for records that have passed their expiration date or that no longer have active financials.

Archived status is typically applied to records that have been expired for a long time. These records will not be included in any platform filters or reports and can only be viewed by manual record search. If you are considering deleting an expired lease, it is suggested that you archive it instead, keeping the historical data in your platform for reference.

Region is typically used to identify the geographical area of a lease and can be configured by an administrator to display specific results based on the selected organization.

Classification, Group, Brand and Manager are used to further classify your lease and largely vary depending on your platform configuration.
Currency is typically a required field that identifies the lease currency. This impacts the lease financials.
Owner Type is another required field that identifies if the record is leased, subleased, or owned.

• Select Leased for your expense leases
• Subleased is used to identify income leases on assets you do not own.
• And Owned is for assets you own
Rent Type indicates how operating expenses are treated in the lease and the selection here is tied to functionality within the CAM/OpEx module.

Typical rent types for real estate portfolios may include:
Gross Lease No OpEx – this is used when the tenant only pays rent which includes all OpEx.

Modified Gross with Base Year. This is when the tenant pays rent and also its share of OpEx, which is the delta of current year expenses over a ‘Base Year,’ multiplied by pro rata share, as provided by the lease.

Net Pass Through. This is selected when a tenant pays rent plus its pro rata share of building operating expenses.

And, Triple Net (direct payment). Select this when a tenant pays rent to the landlord and directly pays taxes, insurance, and utilities to the tax assessor, insurance company, and utility company.

Remember, this list is fully configurable, so your rent types may differ.
Select the Month-to-Month checkbox to indicate a month-to-month lease term, rather than a fixed length one. If selected, the expiration date label becomes “forecasted expiration.”
The 30 Day Calc check box determines how entries are prorated and impacts proration of financial calculations, when needed.

Enable this checkbox for leases that specify 30-day month or 360-day calendar year.
Finally, the Key Info Comments section is an open text box where you may enter any other key lease information that you would like to capture. Make sure to save any changes that you make to this section before moving on.

Many clients view and group their leases geographically. This is made possible by the Location section of the General Tab of the lease. Let’s review the location fields now…

To begin, click on the kabob of the location section header and select Edit from the action menu. As always, fields with a red asterisk are required and must be completed to save the record.

The Building Name field is a text field generally used to indicate the name of the building or store. Once added, it will also appear at the top of the record under the Lease ID.

Like the Master Lease ID, the Location ID is read only on the general tab. This ID associates leases based on a physical address. When a location ID is assigned, all address fields will come from the lease identified by Location ID and you will be unable to edit them. Manage the location ID of your record from the Related Tab.

If you aren’t using a location ID, you will be required to enter an address. Typically, street address, city, state, and country are required fields.

You may also include zip code, County, Floor, and Suite details as needed.

Notice that the longitude and latitude of a newly created lease show as 0 degrees. This is because the address has not yet been validated using the mapping system.

To validate the address and link the coordinates to your lease map.

Click on the location kabob and select Map Location from the action menu.
The Lease Mapping Wizard will open, displaying possible map matches based on the address you entered. Select the address that most closely matches the physical address of the lease. Sometimes, this will mean choosing the general coordinates for a town or city, if the specific street address cannot be located.
Once selected, the wizard will close, and the Latitude and longitude will update on the lease record.
Repeat these mapping steps anytime the address is updated or modified. This will ensure that the coordinates are always up to date and displaying the correct location on your lease map.
Building Number and Site Number are additional text fields used to indicate the number of the building or site but they can be repurposed as needed.
Property Type and Building Type are drop-down fields used to describe the real estate asset. Administrators can configure lists to match the types used in your organization.
Some common examples include Land, Storage, Industrial Park, Corporate Office, Retail Store and more.
Lease record dates drive behavior across many areas of the platform- calculations, reports, and more. This video will review the details of the Dates section within the General Tab.
To begin, click on the kabob of the dates section header and select Edit from the action menu.
The Original commencement date field is used to capture the initial commencement date of the lease record.

The Commencement date is the start date of your current lease term.
The Expiration date is the expiration of the current term.
If you have a lease that you recently renewed, you should update the original commencement field with the original lease start date, enter the renewal start date in the commencement field and enter the renewal term end date in the expiration field.
The Expiration is not required if the Owner Type is owned.
It is particularly important to make sure these dates are accurate as they impact various functions throughout Visual Lease, including Accounting Calculations.
The other fields here typically pertain only to real estate leases.
The Occupancy field captures the date which you take possession of a property.
The Rent Start field captures the start date of rent. This is especially helpful for documenting free rent periods at the start of a lease.
The Vacate date indicates when the lease was vacated.
Store Close is the store closing date, for retail leases.
The Duration (months) field is the total number of months of the lease term. This field is NOT automatically calculated. It must be filled in.
The VL Date Calculator is found here. Use this calculator to quickly add or subtract years, months, and days from a specific date to identify important lease dates.
This video reviews the Area section of the general tab which is available for real estate records only and captures details related to the physical size of the asset.
To begin, click on the kabob of the area section header and select Edit from the action menu.
The Rentable Area field indicates the current rentable area of the lease. It can only be edited by clicking Change Rentable Area from the section header. In the new window, choose the effective date of the change to rentable area and enter the new total. Click save to apply.
View Rentable Area History provides an account of changes to the asset’s rentable area over time. This option is found here, in the schedule change flow, as well as in the Action Menu of the area section.
The measurement type is expressed in the Measure Unit field. By default. this typically includes square feet, square meters and square yards.
The Usable field indicates the usable area per the lease.
Building Area indicates the area of entire building, including common areas.
The Land and Land Unit fields capture the land area of the lease and the unit used to measure the land – acres, hectares, square kilometers, or square miles.
The Pro Rata field is where you indicate the tenant’s pro rata percentage. This is not an automatic calculation and would need to be entered manually.
The Loss Factor field captures the percentage of the rentable area that is not usable. This field is not automatically updated and would have to be manually entered.
That concludes our course on the General Tab of the Lease Record.
Remember…
• General lease fields and lists within are configurable and vary from client to client.
• Reporting and analytics depend on the accuracy and completeness of the record. The more information you can provide, the better.
• Some key fields, like dates and rentable area, support a sort of audit trail of historical data.
• Master Lease ID’s and Location IDs are read only on the General Tab and must be managed through the related tab.

Thank you for watching. Any questions, suggestions or feedback can be sent to support@visuallease.com.

Transcription:

Welcome to Lease Record Clauses Training with VLU. This course will explore the Clauses tab of a lease record, providing instructions and best practice recommendations for capturing key lease information.
By the end of this course, learners should feel comfortable:

•  Entering Lease Clauses and Options
•  How to link those clauses to your stored documents for easy reference
•  How to update an exercised option
•  How to leverage clause and option importer tools to update many clauses at the same time

Please take a moment to review the course agenda. If you are looking for a specific topic, feel free to jump to the corresponding timestamp.

In this video, we will introduce you to clauses and give a brief overview of how they can be managed from the VL Platform.

Tracking your various data points and details of your lease documents is easy in the VL platform. These details, or Clauses, are the backbone of any lease agreement. As we know, clauses specify the rules of the lease and identify responsible parties for every facet of the lease. Using Lease abstraction, you can generate summaries of the lease documents and their clauses, so they can be referenced for the lifespan of the lease.

The Clauses tab of your lease record is where you will enter and edit clause abstracts and data elements related to your lease. You can even link each clause directly to the document it came from for easy reference.
The clauses tab offers a flexible avenue to enter an unlimited number of user-defined clauses and clause groups to meet the unique needs of your organization.

By default, each platform is configured with industry best practice clauses and groups; however, Platform Administrators have full control over how each clause is grouped, what they are called and their format. These decisions are typically made during the implementation process, but new clauses and groups can be added over time to support the changing needs of your business.
Keep this customization in mind as we navigate the platform and remember that your view may differ from what you see in this course.

While clauses themselves can be extraordinarily complex, the clauses tab of the within the VL platform has been designed and constantly upgraded for simplicity and ease of use.
The clauses tab contains a few different features. In this section

You can:

• Add clauses for your leases based on what you want to capture.
• And view the audit trail of each clause to see any historical changes that were made

To expand or collapse a clause group, you can either

• Expand or collapse one clause group at a time by simply clicking the header containing the group name and clicking again to collapse.
• Or you may expand or collapse groups by clicking this kebob and or choose to expand or collapse all from the action menu.

In this video, we will discuss how to add clauses within the VL platform.
There may be several types of clauses and clause groups that your platform administrator may have set up according to your business needs. This preparation makes it easy to include different types of abstracted information for your reporting requirements. Clauses may capture text, important numbers, dates, lease party responsibilities that specify tenant or landlord responsibilities, options, multi or single-select checklists, and more.

No matter the selected clause type, all clauses will have the same general structure.
The Add clause button allows you to add a clause on your lease.

To add a clause, click Manage Clause(s). A small pop-up will appear where you will see a list of available clause categories. You can expand each category using the caret next to each category, and use check marks to select specific clauses that you are adding or select this box to include all clauses available within that category. In this example, I will expand the term, use and occupancy clause group.

Notice, clauses that are checked have already been added to the Lease record.

If you uncheck a clause or clause group that has already been added to the lease and click Save, you will be prompted to confirm the deletion of those clauses.

Once the desired clauses have been added to the record, you can update them with the appropriate details from your lease documents by clicking the kebob at the end of the section and selecting edit from the action menu.

You will see a pop-up screen allowing you to input your abstracted information. The pop-up is divided into two sections.

The first is Clause Details, which includes most fields associated with the clause like:

• The Clause Description: which is the description of the clause itself as determined by your platform administrator. This is typically used to provide a definition of the clause or provide instructions on what should be included in the Text Detail.
• Alert and Action Dates: These dates are considered clause Critical dates, which give you an opportunity to store important dates related to each lease clause. These dates can generate alerts and show up on various reports and dashboards, which can trigger necessary actions that you may need to complete to be in accordance with your lease provisions.
• Text Detail, will vary depending on the type of clause you are viewing. You can use this to summarize the clause terms. As a best practice, we also recommend including the location in the lease document where this clause was abstracted from. This makes it easy to view and share the information in a report.

The Document References section is where you can link:

• your clause to relevant documents
• and identify which documents, sections, and pages were abstracted to generate this clause summary.

This functionality will allow you and your team to quickly click on the source documentation and open to the exact page you need to read relevant text. This feature saves countless hours of scrolling through lengthy and complex documentation when needing to make major decisions.

First, make sure the desired document has been added to the documents tab of the lease record.

I will see the pre-loaded documents in my platform and then select the document I’m referencing from the drop-down menu.

Now we will enter the actual page number referenced on the document in the page field, the article of the corresponding lease clause in which the specific paragraph appears, the PDF page number, and add any relevant notes in the comments field. Once completed, save the reference which will take you back to the Edit Clause Pop-up.

The date calculator is located here. This allows you to quickly determine future or past dates in order set alerts and actions.

To calculate a date, you must first enter the start date from which you are projecting a future or past date. Then enter the number of years, months, and days to be calculated. In the calculated date field you will see the future/past date based on the information you have provided. Copy this date, and apply it to the Alert Date or Action Date fields within the clause details section.
Once you have completed entering all the abstracted details into this clause, you can continue abstracting and entering other data by switching clauses here. You can switch to other clauses to edit allowing you to easily manage the multiple clauses found on your lease.

If you wanted to view the history of a specific clause, simply choose the view history action button found from the kebob at the end of each clause.

Viewing the history of a clause is like an audit trail, showing you the various changes that took place over time. This can help you identify who made changes and when, recover accidentally altered clause details, and more.
To delete a clause, locate the specific clause and click this kebob. Choose delete from the action menu. A dialogue box will appear confirming the deletion removing the clause from your lease record.
In this video, we will review how to update an incredibly important clause type: Lease Options. This clause captures critical data such as Renewals, extensions, and termination options, which are monitored over time to avoid overpayments or missed deadlines. Lease Options are also critical for complying with current lease accounting standards.

In my instance of the VL platform, lease option details are found in the Term, Use & Occupancy group under the header options list. Clicking edit from the kebob action menu, you will see three sections, clause details, option details , and document references. Please note: The option details section does not display for every clause.

Each header has the details of each section within it. Simply expand the header to view the details. You can add a document reference or edit or delete the option by clicking the kebob from the action menu.

Let’s add a lease option. Click Add Option and you will see the Option Details section to enter information abstracted from the lease.
Let’s look more closely at the Option Details and their relevancy. The Option Name allows you to name each option you have. We recommend nomenclature such as Renewal Option 1 of 2 which helps identify how many of one specific option you may have.

Option Type will identify the type of option, for example, Autorenewal, Cancellation, Downsize, Expansion etc.

Option Status will dictate the status of the option. This required field helps to manage your data and will automatically update based on the your selections in the side tab.

Let’s take a closer look at status designations:
Available means this option is available to be exercised at the present time. This status is allowed when there is no exercise window stipulated below, or if you are currently within the exercise window.

Exercised will indicate that the option was exercised and

Not Exercised shows that the tenant has decided not to exercise the option.

If the option has expired, then this implies that the Exercise window has passed. This status will automatically update to Expired when the exercise window end date passes and there is no user action that marks the option as exercised or not exercised.

If Option status is set to future, this means that the exercise window is, as you guessed it, set for a future date.

Finally, Lease is Silent indicates that the lease does not provide for an option of the specified type. This is usually used to reduce confusion when someone looking at the lease wonders if an option exists but has not been abstracted.
Let’s set this to Future for now.

The Exercise Window Start and End dates reflect the beginning and end dates of the period in which an option can be exercised. These are Clause Critical dates and can generate alerts and be available on various reports and areas throughout the platform. These dates are key, because if they are inadvertently missed, it can significantly impact your organization.

Date Exercised reflects the date the option is exercised. This auto populates to the current date when the Option status is changed to Exercised.

Likely to be exercised is used to indicate that an option is likely to be exercised. Check this box as it is critical for enabling lease accounting calculations to potentially extend or reduce the likely term of the lease based on the likelihood of exercising options that impact lease term.

Utilize the Comment box to include any other details you wish to help describe the option based on your abstract.

The if exercised section below, includes the new commencement and expiration, or rentable area and rentable area effective date if the option was exercised. Once you are finished with adding your options, click Save. You can now enter the corresponding document references in the Edit Clause dialogue box and Save to close.

The option is now saved into the Options List. Edit and delete functions are always available by selecting the kebob to open the action menu at the end of the option selecting Edit or Delete.
In this video, we will discuss the process to exercise a lease option. Exercising an Option can be done in three ways.
The first is to manually edit the option by marking the Option status as Exercised from the edit option window and specifying a Date exercised..
If done this way, the fields in the “If Exercised, Update Key Lease fields to” section will automatically update those fields elsewhere in the lease record.

The second way to exercise an option is if you leverage the exercise option action from the lease sidebar. In the sidebar, you will see a lease options section indicating if an exercisable option is available now or in the future. If the Option Status is reflected as Available, as in this example, click on the status and a dialogue box will open that allows you to confirm the exercising of available options. Once you do this, the fields you stored in the bottom of your option clause will automatically update in the platform.

The third way is to click the kebob found here and choosing exercise option. A dialogue box will open with a dropdown containing the available options to exercise. Choose the appropriate option and select exercise option.

When exercising an option from the information sidebar, data points will update as stipulated in the pop-up window. The new Commencement Date and Expiration Date will update, and the financials scheduled to end on the previous Expiration Date will now end on the new Expiration Date. The Option Status and Exercise date will also update in the Option Clause. These automatic updates save time when exercising any options.
If you want to update clauses for many leases all at once, you can do so through the import tools for clauses or for options, if you have the rights to do so. Please contact your VL administrator if you require access to the Import Lease Information tool.

To get to the importer, navigate to Tools in the Main Menu, and select Import Lease Information.

Here you will see a variety of Import tools that allow you to mass-upload data into a variety of fields and functions throughout the platform using pre-formatted Excel templates.
Under Import Secondary Templates, you will see the links for the Lease Options and Lease Clauses importer tools.

Let’s select Lease Clauses First.

At the top of the screen, there are detailed instructions and important notes to help you achieve a smooth and successful import. Beneath it you can download the import template and upload it when you are ready.
Let’s download the template so I can walk you through it.

Click the Excel icon “Click here to download the template.”

Ensure to Enable Editing at the top of the document.

This Template has separate tabs for importing specific Clause Types. Lease clauses, lease responsibility clauses.The other two tabs, clause list and responsible parties, are used as reference tables indicating the correct entry format for each item on the respective tables. Let’s look at the first tab lease clauses.
Lease Clauses is where you will add all clauses related to your leases other than options clauses and responsibility clauses, due to their more detailed layouts.

At the top are clear instructions on required fields, optional fields, and other instructions on the proper rules necessary to make a smooth data upload.

As you can see, the columns mirror the fields found within each Clause. Fields that are required have a blue column header in the template – in this case fields like Lease ID, Clause Group and Clause Name. Columns with a gray header are optional to populate.

It is very important that you do NOT manipulate tabs, move, or delete columns as this will cause the import to fail.

Start populating the template by entering the lease id in which you want to import clauses and then utilize the Clause List tab to copy the appropriate Clause Group and Clause Name. Copying-pasting these into your template helps you avoid any spelling errors or typos or hanging spaces at the front or back of the word that could cause the import to fail. Fill in your abstracted clause information in the appropriate columns. You can do the same for the lease Responsibility Clauses tab as well.
Once you have finished updating your template, save the Excel file to your network.
Return to the importer page in Visual Lease and select Browse. Select the file you just saved and hit “Open.”
Then click Upload and Process.
When it finishes processing, the confirmed results will display at the bottom of the screen.

If there are any errors, you will see them in the results area of the import. You can easily export this error grid if you like, to help identify those leases on your import template that need corrected before attempting to import again.
Please note that importing clauses will either add these clauses to your specified leases for the first time, or if there is already clause data populated in these clauses on the specified leases, the import will overwrite them. Remember you can always use the Clause History feature in clauses to see any prior versions of clauses, just in case.
Now, let me quickly show you how to access your Options importer template. Go back to Import Lease Information and click Import Lease Options. This will open another browser tab to allow you to download the template and start inputting your data.

Now we’re going to download the template and then open the Excel file
At the top are clear instructions on required fields, optional fields, and other instructions on the proper rules necessary to make a smooth data upload. Like the other template, blue Headers mean that data in these columns is required; optional fields will have a gray background header.

The columns will mimic the data points available in the clause option grid of your Clauses window, which we just reviewed together.

Again, start by entering the lease id in which you want to import lease options, utilize the Options Clauses List and Option Types and Statuses tabs to copy and paste the exact values you want to enter, to minimize risk of errors. Once completed save the template on your local drive, and upload and process like you did on the last importer template.

That concludes our Lease Clauses training course. Remember:

• Alert and Action Dates are considered clause critical dates, which give you an opportunity to always store important dates related to each lease clause.
• Uploading document references will allow you and your team to quickly view source documentation to quickly click on the source documentation and open to the page you need to read the actual text.
• When importing bulk options or clauses, it is important that you do NOT manipulate tabs, move, or delete columns as this will cause the import to fail.

Thank you for your time. Questions, suggestions, and feedback can be sent to support@visuallease.com

Transcription:

Welcome to Lease Record: Related Leases Training with VLU.

By the end of this course, learners should be able to:

• Define the types of relationships supported by the lease record related tab.
• Recall the steps to add a new relationship association to a lease record.

Please pause here and take a moment to review the agenda. If you are looking for a specific topic, feel free to navigate to the corresponding timestamp.

Many times, one lease agreement is associated with another in some way. In this video we will review the relationships supported by the VL platform.

• Related record, also referred to as associated records, are lease records that:
  • share an identifier or data point that links them together.
  • Or data from one lease rolls up into another, like financials for example.
• Some relationships are identified and flagged automatically, while others require manual association.
• All relationships are housed and managed through a single tab within the lease record.

So, what kind of relationships does the Visual Lease platform support?
Master ID – a single lease contract governing the terms of several other leases. An example may be leasing a fleet of vehicles. Each individual vehicle may have its own lease record that rolls into a larger governing record containing terms for the entire fleet. A master ID will link each vehicle to the larger agreement.

Location ID – associates records based on physical location. This typically comes in handy when an organization leases multiple floors within a building separately, or when leased equipment is kept in a single storage facility.

When a location ID is assigned, it overwrites the address of the record with the address of the location ID record. The address fields on the lease general tab are then locked and cannot be edited unless the location ID is changed or removed.

Overlease/Sublease – A sublease is a full or partial lease by the lessee of an estate to a third person, for a shorter term than that for which the lessee holds.
Typically, the overlease is the expense record of the asset you are leasing, and the sublease is the income record for the area you have sublet to a third party.

When one record is assigned an ID, the other record is automatically updated to reflect the other side of the relationship.

Related landlord is the only record association that is fully automated. When a landlord is assigned as a lease record contact, the platform scans the entire portfolio for other records with the same contact record.

Visibility into this association may be helpful during lease negotiations, giving you a full view of all lease holdings with a particular person or entity.

It’s important to be able to identify related leases quickly and easily across your portfolio. This topic reviews the Related Tab of the lease record, where these relationships are made and stored.

The Lease Record Related tab is laid out in a simple and easy to view format.

To add a new lease relationship, locate the kabob in the section header and select Add Lease from the action menu.

A new dialogue box opens with 2 required fields. The first is a dropdown list with each type of association available- master lease id, location id, overlease and sublease.
Remember- contact associations happen automatically when the landlord contact is assigned to the record, so you will not see this option in the dropdown list.

I am going to associate this lease with a Master Lease ID.
The second field is a predictive search text field for the lease id I want to associate the current record with. Simply start typing an ID and the results will update and display below. Select the desired record from the results list.

Click Save to complete the process.

Repeat these steps as needed for additional associations.

Remember, a record can support only one master ID, one location ID and one overlease relationship. If an overlease is added, the existing record takes on the role of the sublease. This results in the sublease option being removed from the dropdown.

That concludes the Lease Record: Related Leases training course.
Remember:

• A lease record can support one Master Lease ID, Location ID, and Overlease relationship.
• However, a single lease record may contain multiple subleases and landlord associations.

Thank you for your time. Questions, suggestions, or feedback can be sent to support@visuallease.com.