The Company
As PIA Group USA’s portfolio of multifamily and single family homes grew, the staff found that maintaining its homegrown property management platform was crowding out other priorities. “We were spending as much time developing software as managing property,” recalled David Cruice, COO of the South Florida company that acquires, develops, rehabilitates, sells and manages residential properties.
The Challenge
Make Paper a Thing of the Past
“Our goal was for payments to hit our ledger without touching paper. We’re dedicated to operating 100% electronically, from unit marketing and payments to maintenance and invoice processing,” Cruice said.
The Solution
Yardi Voyager, Yardi Marketing Suite, Yardi Multifamily Suite
In 2014, PIA Group adopted Yardi Voyager as its new property management and accounting platform. The company also added products from the Yardi Marketing Suite and the Yardi Multifamily Suite. The new platform allowed PIA Group to make lease execution and resident payments completely paperless and improve resident service with mobile maintenance capabilities.
The Story
100% of Goal Achieved
“Within two months of going live on Voyager, 100% of our residents were making payments by ACH and WIPS. Not having to process paper payments saves us about 15 man-days per month,” Cruice said.
Some in PIA Group worried about losing the control they enjoyed from managing its own property management software, but the benefits far outweighed any negatives.
“Voyager established standard business rules, practices and reporting,” Cruice said. As a result, he added, “we can run all properties the same way, wherever they might be—whether in Anchorage, Alaska, or just around the corner. The workflow consistency and cloud hosting give us the freedom to expand our business without IT being an issue for us.”
By leveraging instant financial and operational data availability, streamlined online leasing, enhanced resident service through online self-services and mobile maintenance, PIA Group lowered vacancy at its properties to 3%.
