Challenging the Status Quo: Management Strategies for Coworking Spaces 

Managing the financial complexities of the dynamic coworking and flex workspace business can be a daunting task. Businesses will often have complex financial structures, multiple investors, management contracts, multiple landlords, building leases and building ownership with multiple investors. This, coupled with numerous stakeholders wanting an accurate view of business performance, causes the task of reporting and data management to become time-consuming and administration intensive.

Challenging the Status Quo: Management Strategies for Coworking Spaces

To ensure long-term success and maximise return on investment (ROI), coworking spaces need robust financial management strategies and a comprehensive coworking management solution that enables you to streamline your financial processes, from accounting and payments to procurement.

The Unique Challenges of Coworking Financial Management  

It has become standard in the coworking industry to use multiple systems and software to manage workspaces. For example, having coworking software to manage a significant part of the business and leveraging API connections to facilitate other tasks such as financials and procurement. This means there is no single source of data and reporting, which can be costly and time-consuming. Areas such as procurement, investor reporting, deferred income, bank reconciliation and forecasting and budgeting are often done in a multitude of systems or even in Excel. 

Coworking and flex spaces present distinct accounting challenges which include: 

  • Complex Accounting Structures: With multiple stakeholders (landlords, investors and leaseholders) across several different entities, there is a demand for distributed and consolidated financial reporting. This is a finance director’s monthly headache!  
  • Income vs Billing: Understanding the difference between billed revenue and income is often a source of debate between sales and finance. Reporting on the intricacies of actual income, deferred income and billed income can pose real challenges. Finance teams spend too much time working out where to post charges.   
  • GDPR Compliance: Running multiple systems makes GDPR compliance cumbersome. For example, it can be difficult to remove a customer record from multiple systems, such as coworking software, CRM, helpdesk and maintenance records, procurement, finance, Wi-Fi, visitor management and multiple Excel spreadsheets. 
  • Real-time Financial Data: The need for accurate and up-to-date financial information is crucial for informed decision-making, especially in a rapidly changing market. 
  • Comprehensive Reporting: Generating detailed financial reports for investors, landlords, and internal stakeholders can be a labour-intensive process. This is deepened further when it includes everything from Capital Expenditure (CapEx) to budgets and income at entity investor or building level.   

Furthermore, the coworking and flex space industry has traditionally used bolt-on solutions that sit separately from their management platform. Opting for a unified solution ensures complete accuracy and control over your financial data. This is not only more sustainable in the long term, but also helps coworking and flex space businesses to remain compliant with robust data integrity and reporting tools in place.  

A Comprehensive Financial Solution 

Implementing a cloud-based platform specifically designed to address the unique financial needs of coworking and flex space operators can address the above challenges. Software that facilitates the automation of a range of daily administrative tasks and is bolstered by a native accounting solution designed specifically for the real estate industry is a must. By automating key accounting processes and providing real-time data, it empowers businesses to make informed decisions, improve efficiency, and enhance profitability.  

Key Benefits of an End-to-End Solution: 

  1. Increased Profitability  

Automating and streamlining a range of administrative tasks including billing, invoicing and payment processing not only reduces manual errors but also saves time. 

Time-consuming tasks such as manual payment reconciliations are eliminated. With a fully integrated accounting solution, direct debit and other payments are automatically reconciled against invoices providing massive time-saving benefits.  

This not only allows you to streamline your accounting teams, but also drives improved reporting, better decision-making, reduced cost and more time.  

  1. Attract More Capital with Real-Time Financial Insights  

Access up-to-date data on revenue, occupancy, and expenses to optimise operations and pricing strategies. 

The power of having a single unified system with a native accounting platform means that data is always kept up to date with real-time updates that you can trust. Operating with this single source of truth gives you the power to have complete faith in your data, which can drive better reporting and decision-making.  

This can also help your business attract more capital. Better insights provide potential investors with an improved understanding of your business’s performance, giving them the confidence that they are dealing with a professional outfit. This can help you stand out from the crowd  

  1. Comprehensive Reporting  

Generate customised financial reports with ease to meet the needs of investors, landlords and internal stakeholders. 

In addition, the solution has a direct link with HMRC’s Making Tax Digital, with monthly reports automatically sent. Furthermore, reports are generated by legal entity, meaning operators with a network of multiple spaces are consolidated into a single report, broken down by location.  

  1. Reduce Costs with End-To-End Procurement  

Automate the entire procurement process. Streamline invoice processing, gain complete spend visibility and empower vendors to self-serve, saving time for your team. You can also efficiently track contracts, purchase orders, and supplier performance. 

Having comprehensive systems in place to manage the procurement process will help your business to negotiate better deals in volume, reduce the required number of suppliers and automate your supplier management process. This will help your coworking business improve profitability by requiring fewer people to manage procurement in the business. 

  1. Data-Driven Decision-Making  

Leverage detailed analytics to identify trends, optimise pricing and uncover new revenue opportunities. 

Leverage the power of a reporting and analytics platform to make data-driven decisions based on the performance of your flex workspaces. You can select custom time periods to view sales metrics, renewal performance, occupancy data, overall income and balance sheets.   

  1. Enhanced Efficiency  

What all the above have in common is that they allow you to improve the efficiency of your business’s financial management. This enhanced operational efficiency reduces the need for manual administrative tasks, allowing your team to focus on providing exceptional member experiences. 

How Yardi Kube Drives Business Success 

Yardi Kube Space Management PRO provides the tools you need to implement these strategies effectively. With its integrated accounting, payments and procurement features, you can: 

  • Automate accounting tasks: Save time on billing, set up of direct debits, bank reconciliation, intercompany transactions and automated journals, supplier payments and reporting.  
  • Accept various payment methods: Offer convenience to members and improve cash flow by accepting credit cards, direct debits, online payments, and other preferred methods. 
  • Manage vendor relationships: Efficiently track contracts, purchase orders, and supplier performance. 
  • Generate comprehensive financial reports: Access real-time insights into your financial performance with customisable reports and dashboards. 

By harnessing the power of automation and data, Yardi Kube helps coworking and flex space operators achieve significant improvements in their financial performance by: 

  • Increasing Revenue: Optimise pricing strategies, identify new revenue streams, and maximise occupancy rates through data-driven insights. 
  • Reducing Costs: Streamline operations, eliminate manual tasks, and reduce administrative expenses. 
  • Improving Profitability: Make data-driven decisions to enhance financial performance and achieve long-term growth. 

Embrace the Future of Coworking Management 

Yardi Kube Space Management PRO provides more than just accounting software, it’s a strategic tool for driving business success in the dynamic coworking and flex space industry. With Yardi Kube Space Management PRO, you can streamline your financial operations, gain valuable insights, and focus on delivering exceptional member experiences. 

Since moving to Yardi’s comprehensive coworking management solution, Mantle Space’s Finance Director, Kay Chaplin, noted that they have saved three days a month through the automation of direct debit payments alone. 

“Yardi Kube has provided us with a more agile and efficient way of working, while keeping our cost base low. This has been key in enabling us to grow our network of space at such a rapid pace.”
Kay Chaplin, Finance Director, Mantle Space

Ready to revolutionise your coworking or flex space business? Contact the Yardi Kube team today to learn more about how our solution can help you achieve your financial goals.

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