Freeholder income and payouts

The freeholder of a building is entitled to certain income (typically ground rent and admin fees) but not to others (service charges, which belong to leaseholders collectively). PropLink keeps the two streams separate so a freeholder payout can be calculated, approved, paid and reconciled without a manual spreadsheet.

The freeholder payout model

A freeholder payout is the periodic transfer of accumulated freeholder income from the client account to the freeholder's own account. It is calculated by:

ground rent received
+ admin fees received
+ any other income explicitly assigned to the freeholder
- the freeholder's share of any agreed costs
= net payout due

PropLink computes this from the ledger automatically. It never includes service charge income, reserve fund balances or anything else the freeholder is not entitled to.

Configure a freeholder

1. Open the site's Contacts tab.
2. Click Add contact and pick the contact type Freeholder, or select an existing contact and add the freeholder role.
3. Enter the freeholder's bank details under Banking.
4. Set the payout frequency (monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, annually).
5. Save.

A site can have one freeholder. An estate can have a freeholder that applies to every site within it.

Generate a payout

1. Open Site → Financials → Freeholder income → Generate payout.
2. PropLink shows the income accumulated since the last payout.
3. Review the line items: each ground rent receipt, each admin fee receipt, any reversals.
4. Pick the payout date (typically the date you intend to send the BACS).
5. Click Generate.

A payout record is created in Pending approval status.

Approve a payout

1. The approver opens the payout.
2. Reviews the line items and the total.
3. Clicks Approve.
4. PropLink posts the payout to the ledger and queues the bank payment.

Until it is approved, the payout has no effect on the ledger or the bank balance.

Reverse a payout

If a payout was generated or paid in error:

1. Open the payout.
2. Click Reverse.
3. Enter a reason.
4. Confirm.

PropLink posts a compensating entry that reverses the original. Both records remain in the audit trail. The History and Notes panel records the reversal.

Reading the freeholder income statement

The freeholder income statement is a per-period report showing what the freeholder is entitled to:

• Opening balance (any unpaid income from previous periods).
• Income received this period (ground rent, admin fees).
• Payouts made this period.
• Closing balance.

Generate it from Reporting → Freeholder income statement, or from the freeholder's contact page directly.

Reconciling payouts to the bank

Every approved payout creates a corresponding bank payment record. When the BACS is sent and arrives on the bank statement, the line is reconciled in the usual way. See Bank reconciliation.

Multiple freeholders on one site

A small number of sites have shared freeholds. To handle this:

• Add each freeholder as a contact with the freeholder role.
• Set each one's percentage share under the freeholder configuration.
• PropLink splits each unit of income according to the percentages and generates a separate payout per freeholder.