Truth in Numbers

Accounting for Senior Living

By Cutright Elizabeth on Oct 24, 2016 in People

Thanks to detailed accounting options and superior customer support, Sentio Healthcare Properties continues to expand its use of Yardi Voyager across its property portfolio.

As a REIT specializing in senior living, Sentio Healthcare Properties oversees a diverse portfolio ranging from medical office buildings to senior housing, including independent living, assisted living and memory care facilities. At the company’s Orlando headquarters, about 20 employees work with third party operators at 34 properties located in 16 states.

“REITS are not the easiest structure to understand,” admits Julia Avallone, Manager of Property Level Accounting and Asset Management (CPA) at Sentio Healthcare Properties. “I’ve been at Sentio nearly three years, and I’m still wrapping my brain around all the accounting complexities. That being said, I think it’s rare to find an accounting role where you feel that you are making a positive contribution to somebody’s  life. I feel that my role at Sentio is mission driven and contributes, albeit in a small way, to the quality of life the residents in our facilities enjoy.”

Making the Switch to Senior Living

Avallone began her career in public accounting mainly for real estate clients. Eventually, Avallone decided to transition into another industry, and one of her managers recommended Sentio.

“My husband was also in public accounting, and it was too much to both work in the (same) industry,” explains Avallone. “I was looking for a change, and one of my managers knew the controller at Sentio. It was a good fit.”

Avallone used to handle accounting for approximately half of Sentio’s portfolio, but is in the process of transitioning to an asset management role. Because Sentio’s properties are located in a variety of different markets, each community comes with its own advantages and challenges.

For example, Texas recently moved to a managed care system where managed care organizations can contract with any provider they choose. This has led to increased competition in that market. In Yardi, we can closely manage our expenses in real time, which is necessary to remain competitive.”

One Platform Portfolio

Sentio primarily operates through management agreements with third-party operators hired to run the day-to-day operations of a facility. As part of most of the company’s management agreements, Sentio gets to select the accounting software that will be implemented.

“They must maintain their accounting in a system of our choosing, which is Yardi,” says Avallone. “Our corporate accounting and reporting function begins and ends with Yardi. We rely on Yardi for accuracy for our SEC filings and so far, Yardi has not let us down.”

One benefit of a unified platform involves easy accessibility to data and the ability to drill down into specifics.

“I really like the Voyager search functions,” says Avallone. “Nine times out of ten, when I have an operator that sends me a report that doesn’t reconcile, I can easily [find the error] after the fact.”

Detailed reports also help Avallone and her team keep a close eye on the company’s bottom line.

“We have expenses like depreciation, amortization and intercompany expenses that are excluded from what banks require for compliance purposes,” she explains. “With Yardi, we can export a report to Excel and make adjustments as necessary. It’s a great example of how the Yardi standard income statement in Voyager can easily be adjusted for what we need for our banking purposes.”

Future Implementation

Avallone looks forward to building upon Voyager with additional Yardi products.

“I personally would love to get PAYscan,” she says. “If we decide to implement it, we’ll have to train all our operators. With Yardi eLearning as a resource, we can direct them to training instead of having them come to us.”

Avallone often finds herself recommending Yardi to colleagues and business associates.

“I had a friend from commercial real estate ask me my opinion on who they should choose, and I very quickly recommended Yardi,” says Avallone.

“I really love the level of support we get,” she adds. “We got very lucky with our customer service reps. They have been wonderful to learn from.”