The five numbers a property management MD should see every Monday

Ask a managing director how the business is doing, and you usually get a confident answer. Ask for the arrears figure as of this morning, and the room changes.

Someone will find out. It might take until Wednesday. By then, the number will have moved.

You cannot manage a portfolio from a monthly pack that arrives three weeks late. You also cannot read fifty KPIs. A short, honest weekly list works better.

Here are five numbers. Each one answers a question an owner, auditor or bank could reasonably ask.

The Monday five

• 1Cash collected against due
• 2Arrears over 30 days
• 3Cheques due and returned
• 4Jobs past target
• 5Renewals with no action

1. Cash collected against due

Not revenue. Cash. How much was due this month, and how much has arrived so far?

This is your first signal. A fall here usually shows up before any other problem does. Look at the percentage, and compare it with the same point last month.

2. Arrears over 30 days

Total arrears can mislead, since new debts appear and clear all the time. The over-30 figure shows what is getting stuck.

Watch the movement, not just the level. If this number rises for three weeks, collections has a problem, even if the total looks stable.

3. Cheques due and returned

How many cheques should be banked this week? How many came back last week?

In the UAE, this is a leading indicator. A returned cheque is tomorrow’s arrears. It only works if returns are recorded the same day, as explained in why PDC tracking breaks down.

4. Jobs past target

This is the service number. It counts maintenance jobs open longer than your agreed target.

Complaints come later. Owners and tenants feel slow service long before they say so. A variant is also worth adding: jobs completed but not invoiced, the leak described in following one request from WhatsApp to invoice.

5. Renewals with no action

How many leases expire in the next 60 days with no recorded conversation?

Firms lose revenue quietly here. Renewals drift, tenancy registrations lapse, and a good tenant leaves because nobody called. This number turns a calendar problem into a weekly action.

What each number tells you

Number	The question it answers	Warning sign	Who owns it
Cash collected	Is money arriving as expected?	Below last month’s pace	Finance lead
Arrears over 30 days	Is debt getting stuck?	Rising three weeks running	Collections
Cheques due and returned	What is about to go wrong?	More returns than usual	Finance lead
Jobs past target	Is service slipping?	One building dominates	FM or operations
Renewals with no action	Is income quietly leaving?	Any lease under 30 days	Leasing

Each number needs one named owner. If a number belongs to everybody, nobody will explain it on Monday.

How to read them together

The real value appears when the numbers move together. Each combination suggests a different question.

Reading the numbers as a set

1. Cash down, arrears flatMoney may be arriving but not yet identified.
2. Returned cheques upExpect arrears to rise in two to four weeks.
3. Jobs past target up in one buildingCheck that contractor before complaints arrive.
4. Renewals with no action upLeasing capacity is stretched, or a handover failed.

A 15-minute meeting

The numbers are only useful if someone acts on them. Keep the routine short.

Monday, 15 minutes

• Each owner states their number and its direction.
• Only numbers that moved get discussed.
• Agree one action for each problem.
• Name a person and a date.
• Check last week's actions first.

There is a useful test hidden in this routine. How long does it take to produce the five numbers?

If they appear in minutes, your operation is connected. Perhaps someone spends Monday morning building them from four files instead. Then you have learned something more important than the numbers themselves.

That is the control principle in practice. If you cannot see it in one place, you cannot control it.

Do not add more

Start with what you can get, even if one number is rough at first. An imperfect figure reviewed weekly improves quickly, because someone now cares about it.

Every dashboard grows. Someone asks for one more metric, then another. Resist it.

Five numbers that are reviewed every week beat thirty that nobody opens. Change one only when it stops prompting action.

Check this on Monday

Ask your team for these five numbers by 10:00. Do not warn them first.

Note how long each one takes, who produces it, and whether two people give different answers.

Which of the five could you not get at all, and what does that tell you?