Block Management | Acquaint Help

🧱 Block Management — Overview

All block-management transactions relate to Properties or Contacts, so invoices must be associated with a property or Contact.

The Block Management screen lets you manage block-managed properties and the companies that administer them. Use it to view properties assigned to a Block Management Company, add occupiers, raise bills and work orders, set recurring fees, and produce invoices for owners or occupiers.

🏷 Assign a Block Management Company to a Property

If your agency manages the property internally, set the Block Management Company in the Internal Company field on the Property → Services screen.
If a third party manages the property, set it in the External Company field on the Property → Services screen.

➕ Setup: Create a Block Management Company

Block Management Companies are stored as Contacts with the Type set to Block Management Company.

Steps:

Click New Contact on the ribbon to open a blank Contact screen.
Complete contact fields in sequence; use Tab to move between fields.
Select a Title from the lookup if required.
In Type choose Block Management Company — this converts the Contact into a Block Management Company.
Add business address details on the Business Address tab.
Follow prompts to add Company and VAT registration details (System Configuration), and to add the Block the company manages.
Click Save or Save & Close.

After saving you can configure bank accounts, company details and financial settings from the Contact’s Show -> System Configuration area. The new company will then appear in the Block field on the Block Management screen.

Important: Existing Contacts cannot be converted to Block Management Type; create a new Contact for each Block Management Company.

🖥 Accessing the Block Management Screen

Path: Click the Block Management icon on the Main ribbon.

Select a Company in the Block field to display all Properties assigned to that company.
Filters available: Block, Property Status, Property Category.

👥 Setting the Occupier

To assign an occupier to a property:

Select the property in the Block Management list.
Click Set Occupier.
The occupier will be applied to the Property’s Details #3 field.

If no occupier exists (no accepted offer), Acquaint can offer to set the owner as the occupier.

🧾 Raise a Bill (Block or Property)

Use this for communal charges (block) or individual property charges.

Steps:

Right-click the property or block and select Create Bill → choose Block or Property.
On the Bill screen, the Company will be pre-filled under General Details.
Select the supplier/contact the bill is raised against.
Enter Raised and Due Dates.
Use Add to enter bill items (Net or Gross amounts) and a Reference if required.
Under System Info you may adjust Added By and Site/Branch.
After saving charges, you’ll be prompted whether charges should be passed to the property owner or another contact.
- Click Yes to raise the bill against the Block Management Company or another contact.
- Click No to record payment by the agent.

🔁 Recurring Fees — Edit or Replace

Modify individual recurring fees:

Open the Owner or Occupier record and edit the fee in Recurring Fees.

Replace recurring fees across a block:

From Block Management right-click → Produce Invoices.
Under Fees add the new fee details and check Set Fees As Recurring.
Under Properties select target properties.
Click Run and confirm Yes when asked to remove existing fees.
Result: Old recurring fees in the Property and Contact bank accounts will be replaced by the new recurring fee.

🛠 Create Work Orders

Right-click a property and choose Create Work Order.
Select whether the work order is for the Block or the individual Property.
Note: When created from the Block Management list, the Block Management Company will be the Work Order contact.

🧾 Produce Invoices (Owners or Occupiers)

Right-click → Produce Invoices.
Choose whether invoices are for Owner or Occupier.
Under Fees: select Company, Invoice Date, and use Add to create fee lines (Net or Gross). Optionally set Set Fees as recurring and define Frequency and End Date.
Under Properties: select properties to apply fees to and click Run.
After charges are created, you’ll be asked if you want to send invoices; if Yes, the Block Management Invoices screen loads.

✉️ Sending Invoices

Access the Send Invoices screen:

Financial → Send Invoices, or via the Home Page Reminder under Financial → Invoices Require Sending.

🧾 Block Management Accounting (Accounts Screen)

Open the Block Management Company record and click Account to perform financial operations:

Edit / Delete transactions
Transfer Funds / Transfer Funds (Selected Transactions)
Refunds
Account Statement
Payment Run Statements

Invoices / Receipts
Produce Rent Demands
Raise a Bill / Pay Bills
Manage Bank Accounts
Export Grid to Excel
View Payments Overdue

To transfer money out of a Block Management Company:

From the Accounts screen click New Charge. Using a product type of Payment Made to You will automatically mark the charge as paid.

📊 Financial Reporting

Use standard Reports to run Block Management-specific financial reports.
When running financial reports on Block Management Companies, use the Transaction - Bank Account field to scope results.

🔁 Tips & Important Notes

Invoices and bills must always be associated with a Property or Contact.
Multiple Block Management Companies can be maintained; assign each to the properties they manage.
Create new Contact records for Block Management Companies — you cannot convert existing contacts to Block Management Type.
When creating recurring or bulk changes, always test on a small subset of properties first to confirm expected behaviour.