PA Immobilière: the tailor-made solution for the accounting management of social landlords
Social housing providers face complex challenges in simultaneously managing customer and supplier invoices, a task that is crucial to their financial and operational stability. This dual management of rental income and expenses related to the maintenance and development of the housing stock presents specific difficulties that deserve special attention. That's why, if you are a social landlord, with the electronic invoicing reform approaching, it is in your best interest to consider using an approved platform for the dematerialization of your invoices that is adapted to your professional environment and its obligations.
A complex double accounting game
The Law for the Evolution of Housing and Digital Development (Élan) designed to deregulate the housing sector by encouraging social housing organizations to sell housing more easily, particularly to their occupants, has shaken up the social housing sector. The law gives social landlords the option to sell properties they previously owned, transforming them into full co-owners of the other properties still being rented out. As a result, social landlords now have to take on the dual role of social landlord and co-owner, and are responsible for managing and settling their calls for funds, issued by a property manager, whether professional or voluntary. This property manager represents the co-owners' association of a co-ownership registered with the ANAH, the National Housing Agency.
The difficulty for social landlords lies in managing invoices issued by property managers, who do not all follow the same invoicing procedures. Under these circumstances, it is very difficult for a social landlord to find a single tool capable of harmonizing all billing flows.
With the increase in home ownership in social housing, some social landlords act as professional property managers. They are then responsible for issuing and managing the necessary calls for funds for the properties they administer. Given that in most cases, four calls for funds are made in a year, plus an adjustment call for the year, managing calls for funds quickly becomes complex and time-consuming for a social landlord's accounting department.
However, should you feel helpless in the face of the growing complexity of organizing customer and supplier accounting as smoothly as possible?
Digitalization of the real estate sector: there's no turning back
You will have noticed that the acronym "ÉLAN" contains the terms " digital development." The legislature wanted to accelerate the digitization of the real estate sector with the aim of creating greater simplicity and transparency in the administration of real estate. Several decrees of the ÉLAN law streamline the management of co-ownership. Among these measures, co-owners now have access to a secure digital space where they can view notices of calls for funds for the last three years (this measure applies to notices of calls for funds sent by the property manager since July 1, 2020), calls for funds for works, and their individual accounts as approved by the annual general meeting.
Driven by accelerated digitization, condominium management is undergoing modernization, primarily affecting social landlords. This is whythe widespread use of electronic invoicing for B2B exchanges, driven by a major reform, is a logical extension of the ÉLAN law for real estate players, including social landlords. While it may seem restrictive at first glance, the electronic invoicing reform is a real opportunity for social landlords to drastically reduce the time spent on customer/supplier accounting and, above all, to simplify it, not to mention clarify it!
In this context, now that every company is required to choose a partner dematerialization platform (PDP), Choosing a PDP that is suited to accounting flow management issues and already experienced in the billing challenges faced by players in the real estate and social housing sector, of which you are a part, is a truly strategic choice. Here is everything you can expect from this wise choice. 
Choose a PDP specializing in real estate ...
- Compliance with legal obligations : dedicated PDPs ensure compliance with French laws such as the ALUR and ELAN laws, which require the digitization of documents and processes in real estate.
- Centralization of customer/supplier invoices : specialized PDPs enable real estate players to collect and process all supplier/customer invoices in a single workspace.
✨ The same applies to capital calls , which can now be centralized there, with each condominium being considered a supplier.
✨AutomatingAutomating deposits simplifies the administrative management of capital calls by facilitating the tracking and settlement of payments according to different due dates. Account reconciliation and document management are greatly facilitated.
- Invoice flow management : These enable automated and compliant management of invoices, including sector-specific features such as the re-invoicing of utilities (electricity, gas, water), subcontracting, and co-contracting.
✨ Social landlords must cover utility bills (electricity, gas, water) and re-bill them to tenants. Until now, this task required a lot of time and special attention to minimize the risk of error...
✨Some energy suppliers already include information on the energy consumption of each delivery point in their electronic bills. This allows social landlords to analyze energy consumption more accurately and refine their monitoring.
✨Manage the complexity of invoicing flows related to construction work. No more laborious reconciliation between subcontractor and co-contractor invoices and the progress status of various jobs validated by a project owner.
- Seamless integration with existing tools : Specialized PDPs collaborate with real estate software publishers, ensuring optimal compatibility with existing systems.
- Analytical tools : Dedicated electronic invoice management platforms are equipped with advanced analysis tools that can detect anomalies in real time.
✨A bill may indicate abnormally high water consumption, which could point to a leak that could cause damage. Thanks to the receipt and processing of electronic bills, which offer increased responsiveness, social landlords can intervene quickly in the event of suspicious consumption.
… With all the advantages of a conventional PDP
- Automation of repetitive tasks : PDPs significantly reduce the time spent cross-checking information related to supplier and customer invoices. This frees up time for accounting teams, who can then focus on tasks with higher added value.
- Reduction of human error : automation minimizes the risk of errors in documents and processes, improving accuracy and reducing potential disputes.
- Real-time access to data : professionals can consult their information from anywhere, facilitating collaborative work and increasing their responsiveness to customers or partners.
- Tracking and traceability : PDPs enable comprehensive tracking of transactions, providing complete transparency on the status of invoices or contracts.
- Savings on administrative costs : By eliminating the costs associated with printing, postage, and manual processing, PDPs enable more economical management.
- Optimization of the payment cycle : by speeding up the processing and sending of invoices through digitization, they improve cash flow management and reduce payment times.
- Speed and simplicity: customers and suppliers benefit from rapid management of their requests (invoice status, legal documents), which increases their satisfaction.
- Increased transparency : thanks to digital traceability, stakeholders can track the progress of transactions with complete transparency.
- Secure archiving : PDPs offer secure digital storage for sensitive documents, ensuring their accessibility while complying with legal retention standards.
In summary, a PDP dedicated to the real estate sector is a strategic tool for modernizing and optimizing processes while meeting the specific requirements of the field. It offers gains in productivity, regulatory compliance, and customer satisfaction.
With the Freedz platform, you benefit from a solution for digitizing the processing of supplier invoices and customer invoices that complies with future regulations on electronic invoicing.
Freedz is a platform that allows real estate professionals to centralize and process all finvoices from suppliers and customers in one place. It also offers the possibility of grouping together calls for funds, with a co-ownership being treated as a supplier.
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