Step 1: Login to the Web App and Select Your Organization
Login at inspect.sightplan.com
Select your company from the Organization List
Select Lease File Audit from the App menu on the left
You will see options for Audits and Templates
Select Audits
Step 2: Create a New Audit
Select ‘+ New Audit’ from the upper right hand corner of the screen.
This will open the form to begin creating your lease file audit.
Only administrators or users with the appropriate permissions will have the ability to create a new audit.
If needed, additional audit licenses can be purchased directly on the platform.
Navigate to ‘Purchase’ from the menu on the left and follow the prompts.
Step 3: Audit Information
Begin filling out the audit details. Once complete, select “Next.”
Audit Name*
Audit Start Date*
Audit Comment/Instructions
Audit Lead Name
This refers to the lead person working the audit.
Audit Lead Phone
The lead auditor’s contact information.This is helpful to include should the audit be conducted remotely and and auditor needs to connect with the lead.
Audit Template*
Audit Templates are entirely customizable to support audit needs. Clients can utilize the provided Best Practice Audit Template or create their own.
To create a unique Audit template or to modify an existing template, select ‘Manage Audit Templates.’
Select ‘+ New Template’ to create a new template.
Select an existing template to modify.
Modifying an existing template will not impact existing or completed audits utilizing the template.
All future audits using the template will reflect the change.
Property Name*
Completion Threshold
This determines the threshold of audited lease files in which the Audit will automatically complete.
HUD Rent Enabled
This can be enabled if the community partners with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Public Housing Program, and accepts rent from multiple sources.
Enabling this feature will allow all rent sources to be included in the audit (For example: the resident pays 20% of the rent amount, and the HUD pays the remaining 80%.)
Assign To
Users can be added from the ‘User Management’ tab from the menu on the left.
*Required Fields
Step 4: Preview & Modify Audit Form
In this step, preview the selected audit form.
Users can edit the audit form if desired. Select ‘Edit’ to modify the form. Audit forms are entirely customizable to align with your preferred audit workflow.
Modification will only apply to this specific audit.
Learn more about customizing an audit template in the Completing Lease File Audits help article.
Once previewed, select ‘Next.’
Step 5: Map the Rent Roll
In this step, you’ll upload the communities rent roll into the platform.
After downloading the rent roll from your communities property management software, the file must be formatted to align the columns & naming conventions with the fields in the audit form. This step is paramount to ensure a smooth transfer of data into the platform.
Each unit should be a single line, with details and descriptors as individual columns.
In this example, several changes were made, including:
‘Tenants’ was separated into unique columns for the individual entities, and labeled with the entity type.
‘Corp. Concessions’ was separated into 2 separate columns for the concession type and the concession amount.
Example Rent Roll Uploaded Directly from PMS
Example Rent Roll After Formatting to Align with Audit Form
After formatting the rent roll, upload the csv. file.
Once the audit has begun, lease files can also be manually added to the audit.
Once the upload is successful, the rent roll will populate. As long as the data was formatted correctly when uploaded, the system will automatically map the data. If there are any abbreviations or alternative naming conventions, it is recommended to update the rent roll and upload the corrected file.
Select ‘Reset’ to delete the uploaded rent roll and start over.
Once satisfied, select ‘Next.’
Step 6: Preview the Rent Roll
This step will allow you to modify any data errors prior to starting the audit.
Select the error to modify the content to align with the audit template.
Follow the prompts in the pop-up window to rectify the error.
The example shows a lease end date as 2/30/2022. This date does not exist. Select the error to make the correction.
Once the data is corrected, select ‘Refresh’ to finalize the update.
Select ‘Re-Import Rent Roll’ to delete the uploaded rent roll file and start over.
Once satisfied, select ‘Next.’
Step 7: Confirm & Create Audit
In the final step, review the audit details. If satisfied, select ‘Save.’
The audit will now be active and ready to complete.
Learn more about completing a Lease File Audit in the Completing Lease File Audits help article.
FAQ
Can an audit form be modified after an audit has already been created?
Yes. Please note that changes will only impact the current audit, or new audits using the template. Modifying an existing template will not impact existing or completed audits utilizing the template.
Can questions be added or removed from the audit form?
Yes, an administrator can edit the audit form to add or remove questions, or change the order of questions and sections.
Can files be added to the audit?
Use the Create Lease File button to add an additional lease for an applicant or pending renewal, or to add a unit that was not present on the rent roll.
Can files be deleted from the audit?
At this time, files cannot be deleted from the audit. If a file was added in error, it can be excluded from the reporting.