Glossary

Property Management Terms, Explained Plainly

From arrears aging to webhooks: the vocabulary of running rental property in Kenya.

A B C D E G I K L M N O P R S T U V W

Account number: The short reference a tenant enters when paying by M-Pesa paybill, such as T00142. It lets payments be matched to the right tenant automatically.
Arrears: Rent or charges that are past their due date and still unpaid.
Arrears aging: Grouping unpaid bills by how overdue they are (for example 1–30, 31–60 and 90+ days) so you can act early on the newest debts.

Billing day: The day of the month on which rent bills are raised: either one day for every tenant, or each tenant's own move-in day.

C2B (Customer to Business): An M-Pesa payment made by a customer to a business paybill or till, confirmed to your system by Safaricom.
Caretaker: The on-site person who looks after a property day to day: meter readings, visitors, minor issues and tenant registration.
Collection rate: The share of billed rent that has actually been paid for a period.
Commission: The fee a property manager earns for managing a property, usually a percentage of rent collected or billed, or a fixed monthly amount.
Credit note: A document that reduces a bill after it was issued, for a discount, waiver or correction, without cancelling the original.

Daraja: Safaricom's developer platform that lets software initiate and receive M-Pesa transactions.
Deposit: Money a tenant pays at move-in as security. It is held for the tenant and settled at move-out against unpaid bills, damages and refund.

eTIMS: KRA's electronic Tax Invoice Management System, which lets businesses issue tax invoices that are reported to KRA.

Gross rent: Total rent billed before any deductions such as commission or expenses.

Idempotency: A safety property meaning that repeating the same request, such as a retried payment, has no additional effect.
Invoice: A numbered bill requesting payment for rent, utilities or other charges.

KRA PIN: The Personal Identification Number issued by the Kenya Revenue Authority, used for tax purposes.

Late fee: A charge applied when a bill is not paid within a grace period, either a fixed amount or a percentage of the unpaid balance.
Lease: The agreement between landlord and tenant that sets the rent, term and conditions of occupying a unit.

M-Pesa paybill: A business number that customers pay into through M-Pesa, with an account number to identify the payer.
Maintenance request: A report of a repair or issue, tracked from the tenant's report to completion.
Management agreement: The contract between a property owner and a manager setting out responsibilities and commission.
Meter reading: The recorded value of a water or electricity meter, used to calculate consumption and bill the tenant.
MRI (Monthly Rental Income): A Kenyan tax regime for residential rental income, reported to KRA. Confirm current rules with a tax adviser.

Net operating income (NOI): Income collected from a property minus its operating expenses, before financing and tax.

Occupancy rate: The share of units that are currently occupied.
Overpayment: Money paid beyond what was owed. Oxflare keeps it as tenant credit and applies it to the next bill.
Owner statement: A monthly summary for a property owner showing rent collected, commission, expenses, net amount and payouts.

Payout: Money paid to a property owner from collected rent after commission and expenses.
Portfolio: A named group of properties, for example by area, client or investment.
Proration: Charging part of a month's rent for the days actually occupied, for example when a tenant moves in mid-month.

Reconciliation: Matching money received to the bills and tenants it belongs to, so records agree with reality.
Rent escalation: A scheduled increase in rent, often at renewal or on an anniversary.

Service charge: A recurring charge for shared services such as security, garbage collection, cleaning or common-area maintenance.
STK push: An M-Pesa prompt that appears on a customer's phone asking them to approve a payment.

Tenant credit: A balance in the tenant's favour, applied automatically against future bills.

Unallocated payment: A payment received without a recognisable reference, held until staff match it to a tenant.
Unit: A single rentable space within a property, such as an apartment, shop, room or parking bay.