By Kyle Cashion and Ruth Beaman

Since the earliest days of the parking industry, no issue has challenged parking owners and operators like revenue management. As with most cash industries, it has always been difficult to make sure that all of the money that’s collected makes it into the register and, ultimately, into the bank. As hard as it may be to believe, many owners and operators still do their finances manually, collecting receipts, entering parking and revenue data by hand, and then hoping for the best. Is it any wonder that potentially costly data entry mistakes are common?

Fortunately, the technology revolution that has overtaken the parking industry promises to make parking accounting much more manageable. Parking accounting software can help owners and operators coordinate with access and revenue control equipment to make sure that all the money that should be collected is collected, and then making sure that it gets to the bank.

The software integrates with access and revenue equipment, recording how many vehicles enter the facility and how much revenue that business should be generating. That information is then automatically posted to the facility’s financial statement, providing real-time information about how much revenue has been generated. In addition to making accounting much simpler, the software also reduces the risk of theft since owners and operators always know how much money should be in the till.

Parking accounting software can also manage recurring payments from monthly parkers and other regular patrons. It can communicate with parking tenants via mail or email to remind them when payment is due and record when automated payments are received. Permits are then automatically issued upon payment. In addition to improving the accuracy of recurring payment operations, automating this element of parking management is also more efficient, freeing up staff for other parking management roles.

If you are still handling your accounting manually, it’s time to put away those pencils. Manual accounting is too time-consuming and inaccurate, and parking accounting software can save you money, time, and hassle. In fact, if you are a typical owner or operator, automating your accounting can remove one of your biggest headaches!

Ruth Beaman and Kyle Cashion are principals of IntegraPark, LLC.