| Hi, I was wondering if there was a section that I'm either missing, or that is not included in the trial version to import scans of bills into the system (ie a lawn mower you purchased for this property). |
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Alex
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Jun 15 2012, 12:05 PM |
| Ooops...the title should be something like "being able to import scanned document". |
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Alex
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1 min since original post |
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Hi Alex, Unfortunately the only way to edit a post title is to first delete the post and then re-submit it, it's not possible for us to just edit it. In regards to your question, as much as we'd like to offer this, it's just not feasible at our price point (I also don't believe you'll find this feature in any property management software). Although this may appear simple in concept, it's actually very difficult to implement. To give you an idea, the leading solution that does only this and nothing else (no property management, no accounting, just scanning bills and receipts), costs more than the full price of LandlordMax! The solution is called Neat Desk which you can find at: http://www.neatco.com/products/neatdesk I strongly recommend looking at their video. You'll also notice the price is more than double the price of LandlordMax, and that's just to do this one thing! Basically it's very complex and difficult. Not only that, but from what we understand they've also come to the conclusion that you they needed to provide their own custom scanner. Regards, Stephane Grenier Founder LandlordMax Software Inc. http://www.LandlordMax.com http://www.FollowSteph.com http://www.BlogBlazers.com |
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Stephane Grenier
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3 days since original post |
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Hi Bob, It's really not possible to import an Excel spreadsheet because of all the possible ways a spreadsheet can be setup. For example, although we as humans can quickly see which columns represent what data, how does a computer know? How can it know that column 3 is the tenant's firstname or the tenant's lastname? Also, how does the computer handle two John Smith's? In regards to attaching documents, this is also not really possible because it opens up all kinds of other issues. For that you basically have to go with a CMS system. For example, if you store the files in the database people will expect to be able to modify and edit those documents in their software applications such as you would with Microsoft Word, etc., which is not possible. It's the same reason you can't edit an attached document in Outlook. When you make an edit you need to save it somewhere, your changes will not be reflected in the attached document on that email message because the word processors has no idea how to access your databases, what it does is create a temporary copy of the document for you to view. If the software points to it on your system, how can it guarantee the file is still there? And what if you move the file on your computer, then the link is invalid. If you delete the file the link is invalid. If you rename the file the link is invalid. Another really difficult problem is what happens when you move your database to another computer? All the links to all the files are now invalid because those files don't exist on the other computer. Therefore the software currently doesn't offer this functionality. You can store imagines because that type of file is completely self contained with the software. So there are options. But if you look at NeatDesk, that software alone which is just for scanning costs as much as LandlordMax (I believe it actually costs more) and all it does is scan in documents. That gives you an idea of the complexities and costs of just that type of feature. If we tried to add that to the software, we'd have to increase our price by at least that much, if not more because our product would only be available to a subset of the same users (landlords and property managers versus all people who want to scan in documents). So to answer your main question, yes you still have to input the data. We can't really offer anything beyond this because the costs would escalate too high and the software would no longer be as affordable. We understand that some people want this option, but there just isn't enough demand overall compared to the associated costs. Regards, Stephane Grenier Founder LandlordMax Software Inc. http://www.LandlordMax.com http://www.FollowSteph.com http://www.BlogBlazers.com |
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Stephane Grenier
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1 month, 1 week since original post |