10 Best Commercial Property Management Software for 2024

Commercial property management systems and residential property management software have revolutionized property management.

Managing commercial properties requires many hats, including the following:

• Accounting
• Marketing
• Maintenance
• Tenant, vendor, and owner communication

And that’s just the beginning.

With great commercial property management software, you have access to an all-in-one platform. This technology allows any property management company or real estate investor to streamline and optimize every one of these areas.

And that’s the purpose of this guide: to show you some of the best commercial property management accounting tools available, so you can reap the benefits.

First off, if this is your first time looking into property management software for commercial real estate, let’s talk a bit about what you can expect from this technology. In this guide, we will discuss the benefits and features of such software.

What is commercial property management software?

Commercial property management solutions refer to software designed to help property managers, property management companies, and landlords manage their properties.

Specifically, it's a system that property managers use to manage those properties, from accounting to marketing.

Similar to general property management software, commercial property management software for small businesses is typically designed as an all-in-one system to help you manage every aspect of your process.

However, in some cases, it might be designed specifically for commercial property or offer specific features useful for commercial property managers. Some of these features include common area management and multiple lease calculators.

What are the benefits and features of commercial property management software?

So, what features can you expect from commercial real estate software?

Features include:

• Tenant portal: Centralize all tenant communication and lease management into one dashboard and allow for online rent payments.
• Marketing tools: List properties and units, grab lease templates, and screen tenants.
• Maintenance: Create, edit, and track work orders. Communicate with vendors and tenants on those maintenance requests from directly within the software.
• Accounting: Accept a variety of payment methods, manage multiple accounts for everything from lease payments to deposits, and run custom reports.
• Owner portal: Have one central place where you can issue checks and provide reports.

Within each of these overarching categories are countless other sub-features, such as scheduling, reminders, website setup, and more.

All in all, an excellent commercial property management solution can offer exceptional benefits, including the following:

• Improve tenant quality and cash flow: High-quality tenant screening and automated late fees help improve tenant quality and improve cash flow.
• Save time by streamlining maintenance issues: From tenant to CAM maintenance, you no longer need to bounce between multiple mediums to communicate with tenants and vendors about maintenance issues. Do it all from just one app instead.
• Remove headaches and issues caused by accounting workarounds: Eliminate the need to create each property and tenant as a customer. In property management software, each feature is designed with you in mind to make the process simple and seamless.

With that said, you might be wondering something.

Property management software is fully designed to make property manager’s and landlord’s lives easier.

But what about QuickBooks?

Can you use QuickBooks for commercial property management accounting software?

The short answer is...

Yes. And no.

You can use QuickBooks to do the accounting for your property management.

However, you can’t use it to do all the other things we talked about:

• Communicate with tenants, vendors, and owners
• Manage maintenance
• Automate portions of your marketing
• Do tenant screening
• Offer an owner portal
• Automate critical tasks like collection rent payments and other fees
• Perform other tasks specific to property management

QuickBooks is arguably the most robust accounting software available. Among other features, it offers the following:

• Reporting
• Payroll
• Chart of accounts
• Check printing
• Customer database management
• Other key accounting tasks

That makes QuickBooks a great starting point if you own or manage just a few properties and you’re looking to get started with something.

In fact, if all you’re looking for is a commercial property management accounting software, it could be a fit.

However, you’ll quickly notice problems even with doing your accounting within QuickBooks that might make dedicated property management software more attractive as an option.

That’s because property management has its own unique needs. Consider the following:

• Tenants and properties need their own classification. QuickBooks only has customers.
• It would be ideal to separate deposits from rent payments and other fee payments. QuickBooks makes it difficult to run multiple bank accounts.
• You need two separate accounts: one to manage your property management tasks (e.g., collecting rent and paying vendors to perform maintenance) and one to manage your business (e.g., payroll, office rent, and utilities). You can do this with QuickBooks, but it’s inconvenient (and requires a Premium plan).

These are all things that come baked into a property management software like DoorLoop.

Sure, QuickBooks has workarounds for virtually everything. But that’s the problem.

After a while, all that work you’re doing to set up workarounds becomes a hassle.

Then there’s the issue of having all your systems separated from one another: accounting, work orders, communications, marketing, and so on.

That’s ineffective and inefficient, and it virtually guarantees problems the more extensive your commercial property management business grows.

So, what's the solution?

10 of the Best Commercial Property Management Software

Dedicated, full-service commercial property management software doesn’t just solve the problem of setting up accounting workaround after accounting workaround.

It also helps you streamline your entire operation by bringing everything together into one place.

That’s why we’ve organized 10 of the best commercial property management software available today.

Below, you’ll find 10 top-tier property management tools with a quick summary of some factors to consider when choosing one:

• Where they excel
• Unique features
• Pricing

Let’s dive in.

DoorLoop

DoorLoop is a complete property management software tool that makes managing and growing your portfolio simple and easy.

The dashboard is designed to be highly intuitive and easy to use (and easy to get started). It comes with a full suite of features that centralize and streamline your entire property management business.

Features include:

• Accounting suite designed to replace QuickBooks, including a variety of payment methods, custom reports, and a complete chart of accounts
• Built-in CRM and tenant portal that allow you to collect rent, receive maintenance orders straight from tenants (and even communicate with them from within the platform), offer renters' insurance, and more
• Easy maintenance order management, including everything from work order creation to tracking and vendor payments
• Marketing features like automatic listing, scheduling showings, tenant screening, and more
• An owner portal that provides access to reports and allows you to print checks

DoorLoop Pricing

Not sure if DoorLoop is for you?

Pricing starts at only $59/month for your first 20 units.

RealPage Commercial

RealPage Commercial is a complete property management solution geared toward commercial portfolios.

It has a full suite of features that covers everything you’d need to manage your commercial portfolio.

RealPage Commercial is known for its convenient lease administration features and easy-to-use common area maintenance reconciliation system.

Features include:

• Tenant portal that allows tenants to make payments online, view balances, and more
• Work order management
• Robust accounting features, including calculators for late fees, recurring charges, rent percentages, and CPI increases
• Leasing automation features

RealPage Commercial Pricing

RealPage Commercial separates its commercial pricing based on the type of property: Office & Retail Assets and Industrial Assets.

They also offer a unique square footage pricing model with their Office & Retail Assets plan. This plan comes out to $12.50 per month per 10,000 square foot, while their Industrial Assets plan comes in at $7.30 per month per 10,000 square foot.

Total Management

Total Management is a cloud-based property management solution that serves both residential and commercial property managers.

It offers a robust set of commercial capabilities, including tax and insurance reconciliation and communication management.

Total Management is known for its easy implementation, so getting started is fast and straightforward. Users also generally report ease of use, though the software's pricing is high compared to other solutions.

Features include:

• Tenant portal with online bill pay
• Employee work order communication
• Duplicate invoice catcher
• CAM/tax reconciliation system

Total Management Pricing

Total Management has a one-time onboarding fee that includes support and 30 days of 1-on-1 life product training. However, this price is not listed online.

Monthly pricing for the commercial solution comes in at $2.50 per unit per month with monthly minimums, though they are also not listed online.

MRI Commercial Management

MRI Commercial is one of the most well-known commercial-specific solutions. It has a robust set of features, leasing tools, and a good level of customization.

However, you pay for that robust set of features, and the MRI interface is known for being a bit dated.

Features include:

• Online bill pay
• Lease templates
• Robust reporting tools
• Automated accounts payable
• Work order management

MRI Commercial pricing

MRI doesn’t offer any of its pricing publicly, so you’ll need to contact them directly for more information and to set up a demo.

AppFolio

AppFolio is another notable option similar to MRI. It includes a powerful set of tools and virtually everything you’d need from a commercial property management accounting software.

Its interface is easy to use, though it can feel a bit complex and overwhelming navigating the number of features. It somewhat balances this, however, with good training resources.

Features include:

• Utility management
• Work order management
• Good reporting tools
• Online rent payments
• Smart bill entry
• Automated late fees

AppFolio pricing

AppFolio has a pricey onboarding fee that makes it one of the more expensive options to get started with. Monthly pricing is between $1.40 and $3.00 per unit depending on the property type, with a $280 or $900 monthly minimum depending on the plan.

VTS

VTS specializes in commercial portfolio management and serves over 35,000 users worldwide.

The software offers unique business intelligence analytics features that makes closing easier and helps maintain occupancy.

It excels in being not only a property management tool but also a commercial property marketing tool. However, it can come up short in terms of some of the more unique property management features other tools have.

Features include:

• Marketing/sales-level analytics
• Tenant and inventory management
• Good collaboration tools for users
• Mobile app
• Large number of integrations

VTS Pricing

VTS doesn’t offer its pricing online, so you’ll need to contact a sales representative to get more information and schedule a demo.

CRESSblue

CRESSblue is a cloud-based commercial property management software geared explicitly toward net lease properties, such as retail shopping centers.

It's known for its good range of automation systems, including automatic leasing calculations and scheduling with full integration between various features.

However, the initial setup can be a bit cumbersome if you have an extensive portfolio.

Features include:

• Work order management
• Lease abstracting and budgeting
• CAM reconciliation
• Reporting
• Asset management
• Automated leasing calculations

CRESSblue Pricing

CRESSblue offers a unique pricing model based on a combination of factors like the number of users, offices, and leases you manage.

For specific pricing, though, you’ll need to contact a sales representative, as the company doesn't have the software's cost posted online.

Yardi Breeze

Yardi Breeze is Yardi’s smaller-scale property management solution.

If you’re starting, Yardi Breeze is intuitive and straightforward and offers many of the great features that Yardi’s more robust property management solution provides.

Training materials also make it easy to get started, as you can learn directly from the software. This makes Yardi Breeze one of the better options if you only manage a few properties and are new to property management.

However, Yardi Breeze is one of the pricey options out there, making this a less-economical choice for new property managers.

Features include:

• Automation for scheduling and leasing calculations
• Robust accounting
• Owner reports
• Tenant communications
• Work order management

Yardi Breeze Pricing

Yardi Breeze uses a unique pricing structure that is based on the type of property. However, beyond that, its pricing model is familiar.

For example, Yardi Breeze for commercial property costs $2 per unit per month and has a monthly minimum of $200.

SKYLINE

SKYLINE is a property management accounting solution for small- to mid-sized portfolios.

The software offers a robust set of features with a wide range of functionality, from accounting to tenant management, scheduling, maintenance management, and more.

It’s known for having a user-friendly interface that’s easy to get started with and learn. However, combined with its various features, it comes in at enterprise-level pricing.

Features include:

• Good accounting features
• Lease tracking
• Budgeting
• Automated scheduling and invoicing
• Tenant portal
• Document management

SKYLINE Pricing

SKYLINE doesn’t offer its pricing publicly, but you can find out more by scheduling a demo online.

Re-Leased

Re-Leased is a dedicated commercial property management software known for being easy to use and having good documentation features.

It has a visually pleasing UI and makes it simple to find anything you need, but the company's customer service response rate sometimes causes complaints.

Features include:

• Tenant communication
• Compliance management
• Good accounting features
• Integration with Xero
• Payment and task alerts
• Calendar with scheduling features

Re-Leased Pricing

Re-Leased doesn’t offer its pricing publicly, so you’ll need to contact the company for a demo to learn more and see if the software is a fit.

What is the best software for property management?

The best accounting software for property management is the tool that does what you need it to—and more.

What tool can solve your problems while making your life easier?

What tool can help you streamline your systems, improving efficiency and cash flow?

And what tool feels like an asset instead of a liability?

It’s hard finding a good fit, and we would know.

As property managers, we couldn’t find the solution we wanted for ourselves.

So, we built it.

That’s DoorLoop—a complete property management solution that includes it all:

• Accounting suite
• Tenant and owner portals
• Convenient in-app communication options
• Work order management
• Marketing and screening tools

And much more!

The best accounting software for your property management business is the one that works for you, and we believe the answer is DoorLoop.

DoorLoop offers a variety of pricing plans tailored to your needs. You can review the cost of these plans based on your business using DoorLoop's pricing comparison calculator.

Check out DoorLoop’s comprehensive and intuitive property management tool for yourself.

And no matter what tool ends up being the one that helps you streamline your business and grow your portfolio faster, we hope this guide helps you.