12-9-16

12A — December 9 - 22, 2016 — Financial Digest — Tax Issues & Accounting — M id A tlantic

Real Estate Journal

www.marejournal.com

T ax I ssues & A ccounting

By Michael Mullin, Integrated Business Systems Commercial real estate and the modern technology stack

he technology stack has always been an impor- tant component of op-

In its modern form, the com- mercial real estate tech stack is a group of technology ap- plications that help companies manage their core functions. Owners, managers, lenders and brokers are embracing software programs that fa- cilitate leasing, accounting, project tracking and reporting, building management, budget- ing and valuation, marketing, contract management, and legal. They are using these various tools to increase ef- ficiency and accuracy, focus on value-add opportunities, and make confident decisions. The lease management/ac-

counting platform is the natu- ral center of a well-assembled commercial real estate tech stack. Today’s most cutting- edge systems allow other components of the stack to integrate through this core, sharing data in real time, to facilitate every aspect of leas- ing and asset management. A well-integrated tech stack helps streamline routine man- agement tasks and greatly increases a company’s ability to leverage its enterprise data. Within this arena, multi- ple best-in-class products are emerging. We have distilled a list of our favorites here.

ers and brokers. The platform provides a space for managing deals and properties, offering real-time access to a range of listing, leasing and tenant in- formation as well as analysis of the data that helps identify trends. It integrates with ac- counting systems and saves time that can be lost on redun- dant tasks. Hightower is also favored by industry leaders, and pro- vides tremendous support to the thousands of brokers and owners that use the platform. Streamlining the workflow helps professionals become more responsive. They’re able to make deals more quickly, thanks to the extensive data that’s collected and analyzed by Hightower. The site spe- cializes in customer service, assisting with everything from prospecting to property man- agement. Project Management and Procurement Honest Buildings is the lead- ing integrated, data-driven project management and pro- curement platform built for commercial real estate owners and managers. Companies use Honest Buildings to cen- tralize project data, increase transparency, automate bid management and standardize reporting. Honest Buildings designed the platform to be easy to use and to integrate with other CRE technology platforms. Building Management Building Engines, a compre- hensive web-based operations management solution for own- ers and managers of all prop- erty types, connects the people and processes involved in run- ning individual buildings and entire portfolios. The product empowers property manage- ment professionals to capture actionable data in day-to-day activities, automate workflow and facilitate communication among individual team mem- bers, vendors and tenants. Budgeting and Valuation ARGUS Enterprise is a single, scalable platform that brings together ARGUS Valu- ation DCF, ARGUS Valuation Capitalisation and ARGUS Asset Management – three leading valuation and asset management solutions. Com- bining asset and portfolio valuations, budgeting and investment structure forecast- ing, flexible reporting, and sensitivity/scenario building continued on page 13A

Lease Management/ Accounting IBS’s own ImperiumPowered by Acumatica serves as a single source for capturing and pro- cessing real estate enterprise data. It offers a full financial management and reporting suite – including deep function- ality in the areas of escalations and recoveries – with robust lease abstracting, and util- ity and tenant service billing features for multi-family, com- mercial, and other specialized markets. Leasing VTS is a leasing platform used by more than 5000 own-

erating a suc- cessful com- mercial real e s t a t e o p - eration, but the concept has evolved significant- ly with the growing pop-

Michael Mullin

ularity of cloud computing. De- cades ago, the tech stack was an actual stack of hardware in the IT department. Now, like most technology, it’s virtual and resides in the cloud.

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