2022 Real Estate Industry Events Roundup

Posted on by Lindsay

After two years of cancelled, postponed, and virtual events, we are delighted to see that face-to-face industry events are making a comeback! Connecting with your community has never been more important particularly, in creating opportunities to share knowledge, ideas, and innovations to help keep the industry thriving. We’ve rounded up some of the real estate events to add to your 2022 calendar including our very own MRI Ascend.

Real Estate Conferences and Events

MRI Ascend Spring 2022 | Sydney

MRI Ascend APAC will be back again in 2022 and for the first time in three years, it will be in person! Join leading business and industry experts and gain key knowledge and insights into how property software can help you achieve your growth goals with engaging conversations and content. More information to come.

PropTech Summit 4-6 May | UTS Function Centre, Sydney, NSW

The Australian Proptech Summit is your chance to meet and engage with commercial real estate managers, developers, investors, and major tenants who are actively looking for the latest tech and solutions to improve their assets and operations.

Rise Conference 24 May 2022 | Melbourne

Rise Conferences explore human-centred real estate, examining connections between performance, mental wellness, and motivation on how to become better agents and property managers. This year’s program includes a line-up of leading experts covering psychology, neuroscience, and leadership.

AREC 29-30 May 2022 | Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre, Gold Coast, QLD

This year’s AREC 2022 event will again feature sessions from inspirational speakers and achievers as they cover strategies to control challenges in sales, property management, and mortgage broking. MRI Software is proud to be an exhibitor once again at this year’s event.

SCA National Conference 30 May-1 June 2022 | Melbourne Convention Centre, VIC

The 2022 SCA Australia and New Zealand Conference is heading to Melbourne. The theme is Liveable Future – what is strata’s role in the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To learn the history of these goals, visit sdgs.un.org/goals. The full program of speakers will be released soon.

Real Estate Blue Print 9-10 August 2022 | The Ivy, Sydney NSW

Josh Phegan hosts a jammed packed two-day conference program providing a roadmap for Sales and property management professionals in setting themselves and teams up for success. Learn all the dialogues, be exposed to all the systems, rapidly upgrade your skills, and make the future yours.

The Business of Real Estate Spring 2022 | Gold Coast Convention Centre, VIC

A carefully curated agenda of leadership development, a new level of thinking, and strategies all targeted to helping property management businesses build success. There is also plenty of time dedicated to networking with some of the best, most progressive leaders in the industry.

Real Estate Institute Events

Real Estate Institutes across Australia and in New Zealand run a broad range of virtual and online events. To help keep you connected and up to date with your training needs, check out your respective state-based association for more details:

REINSW Events

REIV Events

REIQ Events

REISA Events

REIWA Events

REINZ Events

Finding the right lease accounting solution for the transition

Posted on by Lindsay

Welcome back to our series of IFRS 16 ‘101’ blogs, aimed at guiding you through the preparation required to successfully transition to a IFRS 16 lease accounting solution in time for 1st April 2022.    

Now that you have collated all your lease data and put it into a suitable format you now need to procure an appropriate system. To do this, there are a few key elements that need to be considered and that is what we are going to be focusing on here in the second blog post.

areas to consider before finding the right lease accounting solution

Understanding your complexities and requirements

Here at MRI, we understand that there is a vast array of solutions in the market that can assist with the IFRS 16 transition and so deciding which vendor to go for can become quite a lengthy and challenging process. However, it is only when we start to dig deeper into the nuances of the portfolio and requirements that we can begin to understand which system will be the most suitable not only for the immediate transition on April 1st but also continuing for the years to come.   

Some key areas to think about are:   

  • IFRS 16 audit reporting – the ability to audit your disclosure reporting is a requirement.  
  • Index leases  
  • Government Agreements – where there is not a legally enforceable agreement, but it is defined under IFRS 16 for the public sector. 
  • Peppercorn leases – leases for which the consideration paid is nil or nominal. 
  • Non-standard financial periods – anything other than calendar month.  
  • Complex payment frequencies
  • Master lease agreements – for vehicles and equipment leases.  
  • Sub-lease accounting  

These may not be things you have thought about so beginning to understand these early in the process is key as it shapes how you approach this process. 

Lease Management Software Banner

What this will look like for your organisation

Another factor that needs to be taken into consideration is the functions that are involved. Of course, the finance team will be influential in running the IFRS 16 calculations but what about other departments? The property team, for example, may not seem like a necessary party to bring in here but what needs to be remembered is that the data needed for IFRS 16 reporting comes directly from this team.    

From our years of experience handling hundreds of IFRS 16 transitions in both the private and the public sector we have seen first-hand how important it is to have cross-departmental collaboration throughout the entire process. A trend we have noticed is that those that continue to adopt a siloed approach have difficulties when it comes to reporting due to delays and inaccuracies in the data.   

Having an IFRS 16 software system that can facilitate this will put you in a great position to maintain compliance with the new lease accounting standards. The data on which the finance team is reporting is the exact same data that the property/estates/asset team(s) have been inputting, tracking, and managing on a daily basis, meaning you can be confident that the calculations are accurate and reliable for IFRS 16 reporting.     

Whichever solution you pick needs to be able to handle all the complexities your portfolio may have. as well as allow for streamlined collaboration across the organisation – only then can you be fully prepared for the upcoming transition.    

To learn more about how technology can help you prepare for the IFRS 16 lease accounting transition, book a free demo below.

BOOK A FREE DEMO

 

Property Managers and the challenges they face today

Posted on by Josh Symons

Property management in Australia is a $1B industry in the middle of a period of seismic change and disruption. Changing customer demands, the influence of new technology, and rapidly changing work practices accelerated by COVID-19 lockdowns created a perfect storm that’s continuing to challenge both property managers and principals alike.

At MRI Software, we wanted to understand these challenges better. Back in 2018, we conducted the first Australian Voice of the Property Manager Report to identify benchmarks for the industry. Moreover, we also wanted to quantify and sensibly check many long-understood assumptions about the behaviour and practices of property managers and the principals who lead them.

Last year, we conducted the Voice of the Property Manager survey which forms a national research report of statistical significance. 773 respondents from various property management industries across Australia were surveyed to identify benchmarks around key employment issues, satisfaction levels, and priorities.

Major deal breakers were found in 2018. These were overly busy workloads, lack of career planning, and poor access to tools and resources needed to succeed. At that time, 12% of property managers intended to leave the industry.

In 2021, the same issues remain but the response from property managers has intensified – today 23% intend to resign.

In addition to the factors that created industry detractors in 2018, now in 2021, we see the added alarming influence of aggression from tenants and landlords, higher service expectations, a lack of management support, and work intensification making it harder for property managers to switch off.

Of most concern is the fact that more than half of those surveyed – 53% – identified mental health and managing stress as one of the most difficult aspects of the job.

Research estimates the cost of replacing an employee is 33% of their annual salary. Two years ago, the resignation rate for Australian businesses generally was 8.5%. If 23% of property managers intend to leave the industry as our new data shows, the employee loss in property management is not just higher than previously, but it is significantly higher than the general population and it will impose punitive costs upon real estate businesses.

More findings like these can be found in the report

The property management industry is rapidly changing and the only way to continuously improve business is by understanding and embracing the challenges along the way.

Download the full Voice of the Property Manager report to gain valuable insights to run happier and more productive teams and to deliver better service today and in the future.

DOWNLOAD REPORT

You can also register to attend the Voice of Property Manager webinar on 23 March 2022 1:00 PM AEDT where industry experts will discuss key findings of the report and also share a few recommendations to help run happier and more productive property management businesses including how to retain great talent! .

REGISTER NOW

Goodbye tradition, hello hybrid workforce

Posted on by cmarson

Say goodbye to spending 40 hours a week at the same desk… and embrace the new: the hybrid workforce.

The traditional workforce served us well through the twentieth century. But with a global pandemic, things have changed – fast.

The hybrid workforce is not entirely new. We’ve been doing this since the rise of digital collaboration technology (think Skype, Slack, Google Docs…). But it’s changing rapidly as the needs of organisations and employees adapt to the quickly-evolving world around them.

As employees return to the office, employers are looking for future-proofed solutions to enable the hybrid balance of remote and on-site work along with keeping employees safe, happy, and productive.

With the introduction of new workplace policies around the global pandemic, tools and software to assist with managing capacity limits, ensuring social distancing measures and managing a hybrid workforce are more popular than ever.

50% of respondents stated they are interested in introducing hybrid workforce features

MRI OnLocation surveyed employers of varying sizes in 2020 around emerging hybrid workforce solutions, particularly employee scheduling and hot desking. 50 percent of respondents stated they are interested in introducing hybrid working features, with 70 percent of that segment looking to implement them within the next 12 months.

Why is the hybrid workforce becoming popular?

The rise in popularity is partly due to necessity from the ongoing pandemic, lockdowns, and the need for employees to work remotely, but also due to the shift in the employee and employer mindset.

Lockdown meant many workforces that didn’t normally allow remote work had to invest in infrastructure to make it happen. Employers and their employees had to build mutual trust and respect to make it work. Some of the challenges?

  • Ensuring IP was kept safe outside of the on-site workforce, especially where employees or contractors are in shared living environments
  • Making sure employees were feeling okay, physically and mentally (for example, providing ergonomic chairs, helping out with internet bills, or having virtual team yoga sessions)
  • Helping teams be efficient and productive in a challenging environment and providing support if things became difficult
  • Finding ways to collaborate and connect with peers while working in a solo environment

Whatever the hurdles were, we made it work.

Now, as employees are starting to return to the office, they’re demanding a more flexible environment, and employers need to understand the changes that have happened since the rise in remote work due to the pandemic, and how that has affected where and how work is performed.

In 2020, employers needed a way to empower their employees and provide them with tools to operate remotely while also understanding the importance of the workforce environment and in-person collaboration. This trend rose during 2021 and will most likely continue to grow exponentially as more organisations open their doors across the globe for their employees to return for at least a day a week to the location of the organisation.

41% of workforces are thinking about implementing hot-desking for their hybrid workforce

In our global survey, MRI OnLocation found that 41 percent of respondents were interested in a hot-desking solution for hybrid work, with 78 percent looking to implement it in the workforce in the next 12 months. The survey also found that their commitments and home duties have adapted significantly during the rise of the pandemic.

Learn more about the hybrid workforce and how MRI OnLocation can help you.