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The Managed App is a clever new tool that has revolutionised the property management business by removing the need for that most cumbersome of platforms: the trust account. But when it soft-launched 12 months ago, it was just a simple payment platform — called Managed Pay — tested by just a handful of property managers in Sydney.
Co-founder Thom Richards said that it was always his goal to deliver an end-to-end solution, but that it made sense to tackle payments first.
“Having run my own agency and numerous rent rolls for many years, I experienced the inefficiencies of the current trust account model on a very granular level.
“When I set out to build my own platform in 2016, I was adamant the payments side of things would be done very differently, so I began to explore any technology that could potentially achieve my desired result.”
But he said there was none.
“This took us back to the drawing board,” Mr Richards said.
“We worked very closely with a top-tier law firm, observed each state’s legislation and also had numerous conversations with the Office of Fair Trading, which helped us determine a list of checkboxes we knew we had to satisfy to ensure the system’s compliance in every state.”
Mr Richards said that today the comprehensive Managed App is complete and has been fully stress-tested with some of the biggest agency names in the business.
“We now have a full suite of property management apps that work in conjunction with Managed Pay, plus they are all consolidated into one platform. Our workflows are designed by the best in the business and the system has now been adopted by the country’s leading agencies and franchise groups.”
The benefits are clear, the co-founder said.
“For agencies, there are no daily downloads, no reconciliations, no bulk disbursements and not even an end-of-month,” Mr Richards said.
“For landlords, there is no one double-handling money, funds are received faster and there is absolute clarity on every transaction.
“And for corporates, there is no risk of human error or theft within the network.”
