HVACBossPro Blog — Property Managers & Commercial

Importing a Property Manager Address List by CSV for HVAC Service

The day a property manager says “I'll send you our list,” you have won something big. Then the list arrives: a spreadsheet with forty or eighty or a hundred and fifty rows, half-formatted, with unit numbers in odd places and a column of notes nobody has updated in years. Typing that in by hand is a week of evenings. A CSV import gets it done in an afternoon.

When the Manager Sends the Spreadsheet

Filter sizes, covered in Filter Changes Across a Rental Portfolio: Every Size Known Before the Van Leaves, are one of the details you will fill in over time. The first step is getting every address into the system so you have somewhere to put those details.

Most property managers keep their portfolio in a spreadsheet or can export one from their own systems. Ask for it as soon as they agree to send more than a few properties. The sooner every address is in, the sooner you can see the whole account on the map and plan the work.

Clean the List First

Ten minutes of cleanup saves an hour of fixing later. Before you import, open the spreadsheet and check:

• One address per row. If a duplex is on one row, split it into two rows if each side has its own system.
• Street, city, state and ZIP in separate columns, or at least consistently formatted.
• Unit numbers in the address line, like “1200 Park Ave Unit 3B,” so each unit is its own address.
• Remove sold or inactive properties the manager no longer handles.
• Keep useful notes like lockbox codes or tenant contacts in their own column, if the manager included them.

Save it as a CSV file.

Import Under the Right Client

Before importing, make sure the property manager exists as a client in HVACBossPro, with their contacts, tags such as Commercial, and billing setting. The addresses belong under that one client, not as separate customers. That is what keeps every rental tied to the account for scheduling, reporting and monthly statements. The structure is covered in One Account, Many Addresses: How HVACBossPro Organizes Commercial and Rental Clients.

Then run the CSV import and check that the addresses sit under the manager's account. Imported addresses are placed on the map automatically, so you do not have to drop pins by hand.

Look at the Map

Once the import is done, look at the account's addresses on the map. This is often the first time anyone has seen the whole portfolio at once. You will spot:

• Clusters of rentals in the same neighborhoods, which are easy route days.
• Outliers far from the shop, which may need their own pricing or a monthly trip.
• Any address that landed in the wrong spot, usually from a typo, which you can fix right away.

Fill in the Details Over Time

The import gives you addresses. It does not give you equipment records, because the manager usually does not know them. Fill those in as your techs visit. On the first visit to each rental, the tech records system type, brand, model, serial, year installed, tonnage, filter size and unit location, and adds access notes like lockbox codes and pets.

If you plan to put the whole portfolio on a spring and fall plan, the first round of tune-ups doubles as the records visit. Within one season, every rental is documented.

Set Schedules and Billing

With the addresses in, set the visit interval on each one. Most rentals do well at 180 days for spring and fall. Commercial suites might be at 90 days for quarterly. Visits then come due on the Waiting List on their own.

If the manager wants one bill, set the client to Monthly. Every job across every imported address will land on one statement, each line labeled with its address.

Keep the List Current

Portfolios change. Managers pick up properties and lose them. Ask the manager to tell you about changes as they happen, and add or remove addresses under the client. For a big batch of new properties, another CSV import works. For one new rental, just add the address by hand. Either way, the new address shows up on the map and starts coming due on the same schedule as the rest of the account once you set its interval.

Imports Work for Any Account

The same CSV import works for landlords, restaurant groups, churches with several buildings and your own existing customer list if you are moving off spreadsheets and paper. For how imports fit with the rest of commercial service, see the HVACBossPro commercial HVAC software page.