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FRIIIDAAAYY!!
Jun. 23rd, 2006 11:53 pmSo how was my first week at my new employer? Definitely... weird. In a very, very nice way.
Everyone is super-friendly. Nobody is yelling or screaming or demanding things get done right away, unless it really IS needed right away. In other words, nobody's panicking.
No mention of a dress code. I'm coming in wearing dress pants, white shirt and tie. The one property guy came in two days this week in light-tan Tilley shorts, sandals and (day 1) a white T-shirt type undershirt and (today) something flowery that a yakuza might wear on vacation in Hawaii. The only other guy in the Accounting department was wearing a collarless black dress shirt today. The last workplace, Whiterock, everyone wore 2-piece suits. The one before that, nobody wore a suit unless it was the boss going to meet with bankers, when he'd wear a very-badly-tailored suit and an "I don't give a damn what I look like" attitude - the effect being to make him look like he'd been out drinking all night and half the morning.
I have only had a brief exposure to Yardi, the software program they use, but I can state two things quite definitely:
- It is super user-friendly and easy to learn.
- It sucks donkey balls.
None of the standard reports that come with the product, useful though they may be, actually come in a form that is presentable to the tenant. No tenant service invoice. No tenant/customer statement. No recurring billing invoice. No nothin'. Plus, there's no payroll system built-in. I have to say that between the two of them, I prefer Spectra. Spectra comes with easily-customized invoices and statements, stuff you can add your logo to and make look all nice and purdy for the eyes of your tenants. IIRC, it can handle multiple levels of VAT taxes, like PST and GST. (Yardi: You manually calculate PST and add it as a separate charge line. You change your parking rate for the tenant, you can end up missing the change to the PST charge.) I think its taxes are date-sensitive, too - important when GST goes from 7% to 6% effective July 1. It's easier to produce and print financial statements. And it's easier to create ad-hoc financial reports.
Thing is, I think Yardi is pricier than Spectra.
The work is, if not easy for anyone, at least well within my parameters of competence. I think things will go well there.
Everyone is super-friendly. Nobody is yelling or screaming or demanding things get done right away, unless it really IS needed right away. In other words, nobody's panicking.
No mention of a dress code. I'm coming in wearing dress pants, white shirt and tie. The one property guy came in two days this week in light-tan Tilley shorts, sandals and (day 1) a white T-shirt type undershirt and (today) something flowery that a yakuza might wear on vacation in Hawaii. The only other guy in the Accounting department was wearing a collarless black dress shirt today. The last workplace, Whiterock, everyone wore 2-piece suits. The one before that, nobody wore a suit unless it was the boss going to meet with bankers, when he'd wear a very-badly-tailored suit and an "I don't give a damn what I look like" attitude - the effect being to make him look like he'd been out drinking all night and half the morning.
I have only had a brief exposure to Yardi, the software program they use, but I can state two things quite definitely:
- It is super user-friendly and easy to learn.
- It sucks donkey balls.
None of the standard reports that come with the product, useful though they may be, actually come in a form that is presentable to the tenant. No tenant service invoice. No tenant/customer statement. No recurring billing invoice. No nothin'. Plus, there's no payroll system built-in. I have to say that between the two of them, I prefer Spectra. Spectra comes with easily-customized invoices and statements, stuff you can add your logo to and make look all nice and purdy for the eyes of your tenants. IIRC, it can handle multiple levels of VAT taxes, like PST and GST. (Yardi: You manually calculate PST and add it as a separate charge line. You change your parking rate for the tenant, you can end up missing the change to the PST charge.) I think its taxes are date-sensitive, too - important when GST goes from 7% to 6% effective July 1. It's easier to produce and print financial statements. And it's easier to create ad-hoc financial reports.
Thing is, I think Yardi is pricier than Spectra.
The work is, if not easy for anyone, at least well within my parameters of competence. I think things will go well there.
