Are you looking to start your own property investment club? Do you think you can get by with a good old metal filing cabinet, a bunch of paper clips, folders, envelopes and staplers? I’m sorry to say but you might just end up pulling your hair out when you discover the degree of administrative work required to effectively manage a functional investment club. What you primarily need to get is good investment club software.

This type of software is used primarily for organizational and research purposes. First off, the software should be capable of keeping track of member lists and subscriptions. By keeping track, I mean it should be able to store the members’ contact information and subscription status. It should also be able to e-mail these members collectively and individually depending on the situation.

Next, it should be accessible to all the members online. This is important in investment club software because members should be able to keep track of the transactions of the club. This solution will clear any potential issues with transparency

The software should also have ready-made forms for financial reports and statements. The investment transactions, statements of assets and liabilities (balance sheets), cash flows and income statements should be organized depending on the period required. It must be pointed out that the software must be simple and user-friendly enough for a non-accounting major to operate. The best software would enable the club manager to simply input data at hand without much difficulty and complication.
    
Additionally, the software must be capable of producing performance reports. These reports must be differentiated from the aforementioned financial reports. These financial reports merely show the state of the finances while performance reporting is generally concerned with investment performance by using a variety of metrics such as Money Weighted return(the club’s individual investment performance)/Time Weighted return (investment performance over time). These metrics would enable the members to see how efficient and effective the club’s investments are. This performance is further illustrated in comparison to actual market movements

Depending on your location, as the manager of what the law defines as an “investment partnership”, you might be required to submit income tax returns to report your club’s performance. The software must have the capability to organize relevant inputted information and re-organize it into a specific report stating the club’s income, capital gains along with a member’s share with the income, gains and also losses.

As I’ve pretty much explained by now, manual record-keeping or mere reliance on basic accounting software would be inadequate to properly administer and manage your investment club. You need to purchase investment club software that caters to ALL of your needs without the hassle of having to hire a secretary or doing the clerical work yourself. This will enable you to have more transparency with your members and at the same time, help you make the best decisions that are of course within the bounds of law.