What an Asset Group is and when to create it

What is an Asset Group? 

• Asset is the term used to describe an individual unit or property. 
• An Asset Group, therefore, refers to a grouping of individual Assets. 
• This grouping refers to being grouped per premises: Buildings, Complexes, Estates, or even a house where you rent and manage each room separately like with Student Accommodation on the same premises.  
• An Asset Group can also be per owner, e.g., one owner has a few different units in different complexes/buildings/areas on different premises. If you create an Asset Group per owner, the assumption is made that you would like to collect all the funds from the individual units together in one wallet before making group-level expenses (refer to the concept of Basic Accounting). If you follow this option, your Asset Group name can include the owner name, e.g., Val de Vie - Willem Steenkamp, and another separate Asset Group, Val de Vie - Mimi Smith. 

The sequence of data creation in your system: 

1. Always create Asset Group first. You would only skip this step if an Asset Group is not applicable, for example, if the property is a freestanding unit on a street that is not part of complex/building/estate. 
2. Create Assets for the Asset Group, or create freestanding Assets when the Asset Group is not necessary. 
3. Create Leases for the Assets

It is very important to note that you cannot create an Asset Group for Assets that already exist in your system and link the Assets to that Group afterwards. This needs to be done from the beginning if applicable. 

Benefits of using an Asset Group: 

• Saving additional information for the whole Asset Group, e.g., gate entry or exit codes. 
• Uploading Asset Group contacts, e.g., a caretaker or security contact person you are dealing with in that Asset Group. 
• Uploading documents on Asset Group level, e.g., Conduct Rules that apply to the Group. You can email documents directly from the Asset Group. 
• Viewing a summary of all the Assets that you are managing in that Asset Group, with shortcuts to view them. 

Video Tutorial: