Welcome to version 95 of Urbanise Strata, those of you paying attention will have noticed that our last version was "93". So what happened to 94? We've been very busy expanding our Public Strata API's for various integration projects we're working on and decided to combine version 94 with our new API's. Effectively making this a combined release.
See below for a full list of all the cool stuff including in this version of Urbanise Strata.
Login Screen
The first thing you'll notice is the login screen has undergone a cosmetic makeover, changes include adding icons to the SSO login buttons and an animation on the Sign In button once clicked.
Performance
We've changed the way we deliver large amounts of property data to various screens throughout the system, including the Portfolio, Invoice Processing and General Ledger screens. This change means large requests are made less often, and when they are made the data is 'streamed' to the browser - this combination results in a more responsive experience.
Public Strata API's
Our suite of API's has been expanded to provide you with more integration options, see below a list of the new API's available as part of this release. We also added 'external references' to most API requests to allow you to use your 3rd party system references.
Create, update and retrieve units
Create, update and retrieve tenants
Create, update and retrieve suppliers
Create, update and retrieve owners
Create, update and retrieve properties
Create, update, delete and retrieve associated contacts
Update and retrieve owner property transfer details
Create accounts payable accruals
Retrieve all lots connected to an owner
Retrieve cost centres for a property
Retrieve supplier license types
Retrieve a provisional invoice (for MENA regions)
Retrieve payment gateway details (for MENA regions)
The below API's already existed, but have been enhanced.
Retrieve budgets now includes the budget 'code'
Create and update invoices now supports account categories
Customers in the UAE can now take advantage of an integration to Mashreq Bank including the following functions.
Automatic, nightly download and import of bank statements for properties (which are then reconciled)
Creation of files for payment of suppliers
Creation of a ZIP file that contains all invoices and budget information to support the payment file in accordance with RERA's requirements
Invoice Attachments
The journey of an invoice in Urbanise Strata starts by dropping a PDF invoice in the Invoice Processing screen, but there wasn't a way to add more files to an invoice. Until now. Attach additional files to an invoice (or an accounts payable accrual) from either the "Manager Review" step in Invoice Processing, or while viewing an invoice on the Accounts Payable ledger. Just drag'n'drop files and they'll be attached to the transaction.
MENA Region Tweaks
Urbanise Strata got a bit of Middle Eastern love in version 95 with label and terminology changes throughout the application and the addition of a TRN field on the Building Details screen.
A new "Payment Gateway" screen was also added to help in the setup and configuration of our various payment gateways for properties in the MENA region.
Provisional Invoice
Used in the United Arab Emirates as part of the property transfer process, the new "Provisional Invoice" allows you to generate a service charge invoice as at a specified date in the future. This makes it easy to ensure that an owner has paid their service charges right up to the date of the property transfer.
Font Changes
We're always looking for ways to make Urbanise Strata prettier, in this release we've updated the fonts used throughout the application to make it easier to read, and provide more space on some crowded screens. It's not a big change, but it should provide a better experience, especially on lower resolutions.
Animals
You may have noticed that we have animal guides throughout the application, what you might not know is that there is an animal for each person involved in the Urbanise Strata build. Over the past 18 months we've had new people working on the project and this release acknowledges them with their very own animals. See if you can spot them all!
Just because Urbanise Strata is a property management and accounting system, doesn't mean we can't have some fun. ;)
Bug Fixes
The below bugs were squashed by this
56: A debt collection task keeps creating every day for a specific unit
PHX-11178: Sort the "Region" drop-down values alphabetically
PHX-11113: Refreshing the BMC Calculation methods page opens a new Dashboard tab
PHX-10971: Unsaved comments on Tasks disappear when navigating to alternative tabs
PHX-11416: Accrued Revenue/Expense > Failing validation when summing amounts in both funds
PHX-11227: Calculation Methods - table 'Value Per Unit' is marked in red unnecessary
PHX-11126: There is a $1 difference between the "GST Summary" CSV and the transaction created in the BAS module