Recording the lease terms (lease abstract)

What you'll end up with: a lease abstract (a summary of what the lease says, term by term) for each property: how the service charge is collected, when it falls due, how ground rent rises, whether a reserve fund is allowed, what can be charged for late payment, and what consents a leaseholder needs.

Before you start you need: a copy of the property's usual lease, and any deed of variation.

Several jobs read these answers. Credit control may not add interest to arrears unless the lease provides for it; a reserve cannot lawfully be collected unless the lease allows one; and the year end deals with a surplus the way the lease says. An answer left as Not Established means nobody has looked yet.

1. Press Properties, then Lease Terms at the top of the page. The register lists every property with how far its abstract has got, least done first.
2. Press Start Abstract on a property. Its abstract opens as a summary, every term reading Not Established.
3. Press Start Abstract (or Edit, once started) at the top of the summary. Each term becomes a choice.
4. Answer each term from the lease. Each answer is saved the moment you choose it. Accounting Year End starts as the year end set on the property, marked "From Property Year End · check" and not yet saved: press Confirm beside it once the lease agrees, or type the lease's own date.
5. Type the clause in Lease Clause Reference at the end of each section, such as "cl 5.4, Sch 6 para 2", so anyone can check the answer against the lease.
6. Under Review, record Reviewed By and Date of Review, and anything unusual under Non-Standard Leases.
7. Press Close to read the summary again.

You'll know it worked when: the summary shows your answers in words, a message counts the terms still outstanding ("28 terms outstanding."), and the property moves up the Lease Terms register.

If something's wrong:

• An answer cannot be deleted. Once demands have been raised on a property, its abstract is the record of the terms they relied on: "this abstract is the record of what they relied on and cannot be deleted." Correct the wrong answer instead. Every change is kept with who made it, what it said before and why.
• Some units' leases say something different. The abstract describes the usual lease form. Record the exceptions under Non-Standard Leases, or the abstract is wrong for those units.
• The lease has been varied. Answer Deed of Variation, then read the deed as well as the lease: it may change any answer above.