Managing agent software for South Africa —
multi-landlord oversight under one disciplined roof.
Per-landlord trust accounts, role-aware sidebars, principal oversight mode, write-protection guards, managing-agent fee invoicing, a full approvals workflow and an audit trail structured to align with South African property-practitioner requirements.
- Managing-agent role
- Principal oversight
- Per-landlord trust
- MA fee invoicing
Its own sidebar, dashboard and naming convention (Estates / Complexes Managed).
The principal can securely step into a managing agent's view for review.
Oversight is read-only by default, so the principal never changes data by accident.
A managing agent is not just a landlord with more units.
On paper the workflow looks similar — collect rent, manage tenants, dispatch repairs. In practice a managing agent runs a fiduciary business: they handle other people's money, owe a duty of care to their landlord clients, must produce auditable trust ledgers, and operate under the Property Practitioners Act's registration regime. The product surface that fits a landlord-direct operator does not fit an MA.
Regalis was built with the managing-agent shape in mind. The managing-agent role has its own sidebar (Maintenance & Repairs, Reports & Inspections, Notices & Outages), its own dashboard, and its own naming conventions ("Estates / Complexes Managed" instead of "Properties"). Per-landlord trust accounts are the default, not a configuration. Principal oversight mode lets the agency principal supervise the day-to-day work without changing it.
For agencies that have been running on a stack of spreadsheets, Sage, and personal WhatsApp, the shift is profound. The team finally has one operating record per landlord and one consolidated view across the agency. The principal can answer regulator questions without doing weeks of reconstruction.
The way MAs usually grow into chaos
- One trust account holds money for 30 landlords, mixed in with the agency's operating revenue. Audit costs are eye-watering.
- Each managing agent runs a personal WhatsApp group for their landlords, with no shared visibility for the principal.
- Approvals (lease creation, rent change, eviction) happen verbally and are recorded after the fact, if at all.
- Managing-agent fees are invoiced manually each month — calculated, drafted, sent, and chased by hand.
- When a managing agent leaves, the principal has to reconstruct the book from email forwards and screenshots.
The way Regalis runs it
- Per-landlord trust accounts keep deposit money cleanly separated by landlord, with reconcilable balances.
- Principal oversight shows everything the managing agent sees, plus cross-agent roll-ups for portfolio-wide visibility.
- The approval workflow is structured end to end — defined approval categories, a clear decision trail, and WhatsApp requests to the landlord.
- Each month, Regalis automatically raises management-fee invoices for every landlord with active properties.
- When a managing agent leaves, the principal reassigns their landlords in one step; the full history travels with the record.
From assignment to month-end billing.
Assign agents to landlords
Each agent has their own profile, contact details and assignment to landlords + properties. When they log in, they see only the book they look after.
- Agent record per person
- Per-property assignment
- Role-aware dashboard
Run day-to-day operations
The agent handles applications, leases, repairs, tenant communication and rent collection for their book. Trust money for each landlord stays in that landlord's own trust account. Every action is logged.
- Per-landlord trust accounts
- Branded agent context
- Full audit log
Approvals where required
For anything above the landlord-approval threshold, the agent requests landlord sign-off. The landlord decides via their portal (with WhatsApp notification). The decision is final and audit-stamped.
- Six approval categories
- Landlord portal + WhatsApp
- Decision audit trail
Month-end MA-fee invoicing
At the start of each month, Regalis automatically raises management-fee invoices for every landlord with active properties. The landlord sees them in their portal under "Owed to your managing agent".
- Automated monthly invoicing
- Management-fee line item
- Landlord bank feed for direct settlement
Everything a managing agent needs, opinionated.
Managing-agent role
A first-class role with its own dashboard variant, sidebar (Maintenance, Reports, Notices, Communications) and branded context.
Per-landlord trust accounts
30 landlords means 30 distinct trust ledgers, each with their own balance and audit history, all rolled up into one consolidated agency view.
Principal oversight mode
The firm principal can step into any agent's view for oversight. A banner stays visible, and changes are blocked unless explicitly enabled.
Write-protection guards
Oversight is read-only by default, so the principal can't accidentally change data in someone else's view. Blocked actions return a clear message.
MA fee invoicing
Each month, Regalis raises management-fee invoices payable by each landlord. The landlord sees them in their portal under "Owed to your managing agent".
Commission tracking
Default agency commission rate per organisation, with per-landlord overrides. Commission lines flow into landlord statements; agency revenue stays separate from trust money.
Approval workflow
Lease creation, rent change, eviction, property removal, maintenance commits — landlord sign-off requests go through the portal with a WhatsApp nudge.
MA-aware applications
Applications tagged with the agent who submitted them via the WhatsApp apply link. Proposed rent captured by the agent flows into the record.
Estate / complex naming
For managing agents, the language is "Estates / Complexes Managed" — matching the way the agency talks to landlords. Small detail, big alignment.
Cross-agent roll-up for principal
Per-agent monthly snapshots (open tickets, blocked approvals, upcoming inspections) let the principal compare performance.
Firm-wide reporting
Monthly firm-wide snapshot consolidates occupancy, expiring leases, arrears, trust balance and unallocated receipts across every landlord — the principal's top-line.
Strict data separation
Every record belongs to your organisation only. A user's role and assignments further limit what they can see — structured to keep records clean and easy to answer regulator queries.
Built around the registration regime managing agents now operate under.
Since the Property Practitioners Act of 2019 came into force, the regulatory shape for managing agents changed materially. Property practitioners register, trust accounts are handled with deposit money kept separate, and managing agents are expected to keep records that can be reviewed by the regulator.
Regalis is structured to support that shape. Per-landlord trust accounts are the default, not a configuration option, with deposit money kept separate. The activity log captures every sensitive action together with who made it and what changed. The Information Officer surface helps the agency maintain a POPIA-aligned position, and supports publishing a PAIA manual.
For agencies still operating on a legacy stack designed before the PPA, the migration is meaningful — but it is also one of the most valuable moves the agency can make. The reduction in audit-preparation effort alone often pays for the platform within the first financial year.
Continue exploring how Regalis handles the rest of the rental operation.
Trust accounting for property practitioners
Per-landlord trust accounts, deposit money kept separate, and balances structured to support audit preparation.
Read moreLandlord portal
Self-serve landlord view of properties, statements, approvals and MA fee invoices.
Read moreRental arrears collection
When tenants fall behind, the structured arrears workflow handles the recovery — across every landlord.
Read moreCommon questions managing agents ask.
How does Regalis support managing agents specifically?+
A first-class managing-agent role with its own dashboard variant, a per-agent record linked to the landlords they serve, property-level agent assignment, view-as-principal oversight for the firm CEO, per-landlord trust accounts, and automated managing-agent fee invoicing each month.
What is view-as-principal mode?+
The firm principal can "step into" any managing agent's view to see exactly what that MA sees. A banner stays visible during the session, changes are blocked unless explicitly enabled, and every step is captured in the activity log.
How do managing-agent fees get invoiced?+
Each month, Regalis raises management-fee invoices payable by the landlord, with the fee as its own line item. Landlords see "Owed to your managing agent" in their portal and can settle directly or hand off to their bookkeeper.
Can a single agent manage multiple landlords?+
Yes. An agent can serve many landlords and many properties. Their dashboard shows estates/complexes managed (the language is adapted for managing agents), arrears across every landlord they look after, blocked approvals, upcoming inspections and the overall property mix.
How do approvals work between MA and landlord?+
For anything that needs landlord sign-off — lease creation, rent change, eviction, property removal, maintenance commitments above threshold — the MA requests approval through the platform. The landlord decides via their portal (with a WhatsApp notification). The full decision trail stays attached to the subject.
Is there a landlord approval threshold?+
Yes. Each organisation sets a default amount above which approvals are required. The MA can also trigger an approval manually for anything sensitive. The full workflow is auditable end-to-end and produces a decision document that can be exported.
What about commissions?+
The agency commission rate is configured per organisation, with per-landlord overrides where mandates differ. Commission lines flow into landlord statements automatically; trust money and agency revenue stay separate at the ledger level.
How strictly is each agency's data kept separate?+
Every record belongs to your organisation only. Roles narrow this further — a managing agent only sees their own assigned properties and landlords by default. One agent seeing another's book happens only if the firm principal explicitly grants it.
See everything built for you — explore the property managers hub
The platform that respects
how MAs actually operate.
Walk through the MA surface, the view-as oversight, and the landlord-billing run with someone from the team.