Property Management Software 101: Getting Set Up

As a landlord in 2026, you know that property management software is a game changer.

It streamlines the most important aspects of your rental business—online rent collection, maintenance management, and tenant screening—saving you precious time and money. It’s an essential tool for every modern landlord.

In this article, we’ll walk you through how to get set up with property management software—whether you’re an individual landlord, a hands-on real estate investor, or working alongside property managers for larger portfolios.

Setting up Rental Applications

With property management software, it’s easy to create multiple application templates. If you own a variety of properties, like student housing or regular residential properties, you can create an application with the specific stipulations of each property type in mind.

Once a tenant fills out the application, property management software can initiate the tenant screening process—providing you with background and credit checks in a blink. Many tools also streamline rental applications from start to finish, helping you standardize tenant screening across your growing portfolios.

Setting up Lease Agreements

After you finish the application and screening process, you’ll want to set up online lease agreements. There are four easy steps to setting up lease agreements with property management software:

Step 1: Upload the Lease

Firstly, you can upload any lease you’ve used previously to make the process easier. You can upload documents right from your computer or cloud-based storage (OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.). Many formats and file types work, but leases saved as PDF and Word Documents tend to be the best options as they likely retain the exact space and sizing of the original document. If you don’t have any previous leases saved digitally, Innago provides lease templates for all 50 states.

Step 2: Assign Roles

Once your lease is uploaded, you’ll then need to figure out who’s signing the lease and assign roles. If you’re leasing a house to two tenants, then you need three roles. You’ll assign the “Landlord” role to yourself, then have two additional roles for each tenant. To take more control of the leasing process, you can also assign a specific order for which the lease is signed.

Step 3: Identify Lease Fields

You have a lot of options when it comes to formatting your lease. Beyond initial signature fields, you’ll need to identify text box, check box, and date fields. After these fields are set on your uploaded lease (just drag and drop where appropriate), you can fill them in and add your tenants. Be sure to save your work throughout the process just in case.

It may also be useful to include data validation in your lease fields. This ensures that the relevant criteria for each specific text box is met. For instance, if you select an “email” validation, the information in that text box won’t be valid unless it matches an email format. Likewise for “numeric” or “date” validations. This is an effective way to check that the information is formatted properly.

Step 4: Share Your Online Lease

You can now share your leases right away. Generally, your property management software will send an email notifying tenants once the lease is ready for online lease signing. From then on, barring the original contents of the lease agreement needing altered, you won’t have to format the document ever again.

For future use, something that can help streamline the work of lease creation is to save leases as templates. Obviously, not every lease will identical, but most leases are similar enough that templates can save time. Templates are also great because you can set up auto-fill fields for portions where only amounts change. Make sure you add relevant information and have a lawyer check them if you feel unsure of anything.

Adding Properties and Tenants

With property management software, adding properties is easy. Just follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the page prompting you to enter data about your properties.
2. Input all relevant information.
3. Set up the property as prompted by the software.

This will allow you to quickly navigate to each property within your software if you need to enter new details or edit any information—including adding new tenants. Most platforms will guide you to add a tenant—or tenants—to the property you just added. Then, you can add all pertinent information about the tenant. Adding rental terms and renter’s insurance details is typically a part of this process.

Important Note:It may be in your best interest to add a maintenance lead as a user as well. That way, they have insight directly into what’s going on from the start. Managing maintenance requests is a great benefit within most property management software platforms.

Setting up Online Payments

Collecting rent is arguably the most important part of your software setup. When it comes to how to accept rent payments online, property management software makes the process straightforward.

On most platforms, you simply add your tenants to the system, customize their rent requirements, set due dates, enter your account information, and then sit back and let the payments roll in. The funds are transferred from your tenant’s bank account (through either ACH or credit card payment), processed by the software, and then credited to your account.

Additionally, you can input specific late fees and grace periods for each property. When it comes close to time to pay rent, software sends automatic reminders to tenants and applies late fees when necessary. These payment processes help reduce missed rent payments and create a smoother experience for everyone.

For future rent collection, you can let property management software do the heavy lifting.

Syndicate Your Listing to Key Sites

Last but not least, you’ll want to market your properties. Some platforms, like Innago, allow you to get your listings sent straight to key websites across the internet—creating exposure for your rental properties. With real estate listing syndication, you can start attracting potential renters right away.

Why Innago Makes Property Management Simple

With Innago’s property management software, you can take your rental property business to the next level with features like

• Simple online rent collection for you and your tenants
• Work orders and maintenance requests in one place
• Expense and reporting insights
• Free downloadable rental templates
• Online lease signing
• Listing and syndication
• Tenant screening
• Renter’s insurance

A free software, Innago simplifies rental property management by automating your everyday tasks, allowing you to focus on what’s next for your business—without needing large property management firms or property management assistants to cover your essential needs.

Conclusion

Property management software doesn’t have to be complicated. By following the steps above, setting up property management software is made simple.

Setting up applications and lease agreements, adding properties and tenants, setting up online payments, and syndicating your listings to key sites with software allows you to take your rental property business to the next level—whether you’re handling a handful of units or moving into larger portfolios.

FAQs

How easy is it to learn a PMS system?

The process of setting up property management software is easier than it appears. With a guided step-by-step walkthrough, setting up PMS software and adding your properties, tenants, and maintenance teams should take no longer than an hour. After setup, software like Innago streamlines every aspect of your rental property business, from rent collection to tenant screening.

A user-friendly interface and customizable workflows help reduce onboarding time—especially for rental property management teams switching from spreadsheets or basic accounting tools.

Is there a free property management software?

There are a few free property management software options, with Innago being one of the top choices. Innago helps landlords with tasks like rent collection, maintenance, tenant screening, listing, and more–at no cost to landlords.

How much does property management software cost?

The price of property management software varies. It ranges from free property management software, like Innago, to pricier property management software, like AppFolio, that can exceed $900 per month.

When comparing pricing, consider whether the platform supports commercial property management, growing portfolios, and any add-ons for tenant screening, online rent collection, or a full landlord accounting suite.

What is the best free software for landlords?

The best free landlord software depends largely on your needs, but Innago’s free property management software consistently ranks as the #1 free property management software—rated 4.9/5 stars on both G2 and Capterra.

What is the highest-rated property management software?

Innago, a free property management software, is among the highest rated property management software, with a 4.9/5-star rating on both G2 and Capterra.