How should a property manager report to landlords in Nigeria?
Short answer
Send each landlord a statement for every period showing the rent collected, your management fee, the expenses you paid on their behalf, what you have paid out to them, and the balance you still hold. Landlords leave managers they cannot see into, so a regular, consistent statement matters more than its format. Ledge produces this statement as a PDF for each owner on the Agency plan, with your fee taken as a percentage you set.
The method
How to report to a landlord client
Agree the terms in writing
Your fee, what counts as a reimbursable expense, how often you pay out, and how often you report. All of it in the management agreement.
Record rent against the owner's property
Every payment tied to the unit and the owner, so a statement never has to be assembled from bank alerts.
Keep a receipt for every expense
Repairs, cleaning, legal fees. A line without a receipt is a line the landlord will question.
Deduct your fee and record payouts
Show the fee as its own line, and record each transfer to the landlord with a date.
Send it on a fixed day
The same day each period. A statement that arrives when the landlord asks for it tells them you were not going to send one.
| Line | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Rent collected | Every payment received for the owner's units in the period |
| Management fee | Your fee, as its own line |
| Expenses | What you paid out on the owner's behalf |
| Payments to owner | Transfers made to the landlord, with dates |
| Balance held | What you still hold for them |
| Caution deposits | Held separately, not counted as income |
| Portfolio snapshot | Occupied and vacant units, arrears, open repairs |
With Ledge
What Ledge does, and what it leaves to you
Ledge does
- Keeps a record for each owner (landlord client) and the properties you manage for them.
- Takes your management fee as a percentage, set per property, per owner or for the whole agency, and records it on each rent payment.
- Records expenses and payments made to the owner.
- Produces an owner statement PDF: rent collected, fee deducted, expenses, payouts, balance owed, caution deposits shown separately, and a portfolio snapshot.
- Emails the statement to the owner.
- Lets you add team members and limit them to the properties they handle (Growth and up).
You still
- Keep client money in mind: an agency has one Paystack-linked bank account, so Ledge tracks money per owner but it is not a separate trust account for each landlord.
- Agree any flat fee outside Ledge. Management fees are a percentage.
- Switch owners on in settings. They are off until you do.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
- What should an owner statement include?
- Rent collected, your management fee, expenses paid on the owner's behalf, payments made to the owner and the balance you still hold. Showing caution deposits separately avoids them being read as income.
- How often should I send landlords a statement?
- Agree it in the management agreement. Monthly, or once per rent collection cycle, are both common. What matters is that it arrives on the same day every time.
- Can Ledge deduct my management fee automatically?
- Yes. Set a percentage per property, per owner or for the whole agency, and Ledge records the fee on each rent payment and deducts it on the owner statement.
- Which Ledge plan includes owner statements?
- Agency at ₦20,000 a month for up to 50 units, and Agency Pro at ₦50,000 a month for up to 150 units.
More answers
- What software can a Nigerian landlord use to manage tenants and rent?For landlords
- How do I record rent and issue rent receipts in Nigeria?Rent receipts and records
- How do I keep track of which tenants owe rent?Tracking rent arrears
- What documents does a landlord in Nigeria need for a tenancy?Tenancy documents
- How do Nigerian estates collect service charge and levies?Estate service charge
- How do estate gate passes work without an app?Estate gate passes
Run your rentals on Ledge
Built in Lagos for Nigerian practice: naira pricing, rent paid yearly, quarterly or monthly, and Paystack for online payments.