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Audit your property manager's statement, line by line

Your owner statement can balance to the penny and still be wrong. A renewal billed as a new lease fee. A reserve top up booked as an expense. A repair charged twice across two months. Knox reads every line and tells you what the statement is not telling you.

The short answer

To audit a property manager's statement, check four things: that the rent collected matches the lease, that the management fee equals your agreed percentage of the rent collected, that every expense line is real and billed only once, and that gross rent minus fees minus expenses equals the net disbursement that hit your bank. DoorVault reads every line of your statement and runs all four checks automatically, then shows you the exact lines that do not hold up.

Six ways a statement that balances can still be wrong

A statement can add up perfectly and still cost you money. The total ties because the error is inside one of the lines, not in the arithmetic. These are the patterns Knox looks for on every statement you upload.

What Knox flags How it shows up on your statement What it costs you
A fee that looks high for the rentThe management fee charged is more than your agreed percentage of the rent actually collected.You pay a rate you never agreed to, every single month.
A line that reads like a duplicateThe same repair or charge appears twice, often split across two months so it is easy to miss.You pay for one expense two times.
A renewal billed as a new leaseAn existing tenant renews, but the statement charges a full new tenant leasing fee.You lose most of a month of rent on a tenant who never left.
A reserve top up booked as an expenseMoney moved into your own reserve account is counted as a cost instead of as cash you still hold.Your net income reads lower than it really is.
Rent that does not add upThe rent collected on the statement does not match the lease or the units that were occupied.Missing or short rent slips by unnoticed.
A disbursement that does not tieGross rent minus fees minus expenses does not equal the amount deposited to your bank.You cannot tell where the gap went.
What it looks like when Knox finds something

Here is a single month on one property. The bottom line ties, so a quick glance reads as clean. Knox does not glance. It reads every line.

14 Example AvenueApril statement
Rent collected$1,500.00
Management fee (10%)$150.00
Lawn care$75.00
Lawn care Duplicate$75.00
Lease renewal fee Billed as new lease$1,350.00
Net disbursement to you($150.00)
Knox flagged 2 lines, about $1,425 in question: a lawn charge billed twice, and a renewal of an existing tenant charged at a full new tenant leasing rate.

Illustrative example with rounded figures. Not a real owner statement.

Upload one statement, see what it found

The audit runs inside DoorVault on the same engine that reads statements for investors every day. It is read only. Nothing about your portfolio changes until you decide it should.

  1. Upload one owner statement

    A PDF or an image of a single monthly statement from your property manager. No spreadsheet, no manual entry.

  2. Knox reads every line

    It pulls out the rent collected, each fee, each expense, any reserve activity, and the net disbursement, then runs the four checks across all of it.

  3. You see exactly what it found

    Plain language, your numbers, the specific lines highlighted. If the statement ties and every line holds up, Knox tells you that too. A clean statement is a real answer.

Related reading
Auditing a property manager's statement
Is there software to audit my property manager's statements?
Yes. DoorVault reads your property manager's owner statement line by line and checks the math the way a careful bookkeeper would. It flags a management fee that does not match the agreed percentage, an expense that appears twice, a renewal billed as a new lease fee, a reserve top up booked as an expense, and a net disbursement that does not tie to the rent collected. You upload one statement and see what it found, with the specific lines highlighted.
How do I check if my property manager is overcharging me?
Start with the management fee. Multiply the rent the statement says it collected by your agreed percentage. If the fee charged is higher, ask why. Then read every expense line and confirm each one is real, billed once, and yours. Common overcharges hide in repeat repair charges across two months, lease renewals billed at full leasing fee rates, and maintenance markups that were never in your agreement. DoorVault runs all of these checks for you on every statement.
What should a property manager's owner statement include?
A complete owner statement shows the gross rent collected per unit, every fee charged with a label and amount, every expense with a description and amount, any reserve activity, and the net amount disbursed to you. The math has to tie: gross rent collected minus fees minus expenses minus reserves should equal your net disbursement. If it does not tie, or a line has no description, that is your first question for the manager.
Can a property manager bill a lease renewal as a new lease fee?
A renewal of an existing tenant should not carry a full new tenant leasing fee. Leasing fees pay for marketing, showings, and screening a new tenant. A renewal involves none of that. Some statements still bill a renewal at the full leasing rate, which can be the difference between a small renewal fee and most of a month of rent. This is one of the specific patterns Knox flags when it reads your statement.
How do I know my net disbursement is correct?
Take the gross rent the statement says it collected, subtract every fee, subtract every expense, subtract any money moved to reserve. The result should match the amount deposited to your bank that month. If your deposit is smaller, money is either held back or miscounted. DoorVault ties each statement to the bank deposit for the month, so a gap is visible the same month rather than at tax time.
Does auditing my statement mean I distrust my property manager?
No. Most discrepancies are honest software or data entry errors, not fraud. A good manager wants the statement to be right as much as you do. Checking every statement protects both sides and keeps a small error from compounding over a year. The goal is a statement that ties to the penny, every month.

Run the audit on your own statement

Start free with 2 properties and full Knox features. Upload a statement and see what it finds. No credit card required.

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