Guides
9 things to check in self-storage software
Self-storage software and KPIs defined precisely: the occupancy formulas, the delinquency aging view, and what a management platform has to produce on its own.
What to take away
- Nine checks decide a platformoccupancy definitions, economic occupancy, delinquency aging, the rate roll, availability by size band, net absorption, gate and audit logs, export and access controls.
- Attach a pass or fail line to each check before the demonstration. Failing export alone disqualifies a system.
- Ask for a written 12-month total across five cost lines, because the monthly headline hides setup, per-unit and processing fees.
- Unit occupancy and square-foot occupancy diverge when small units rent first. Print the denominator beside the number.
The nine checks, with a pass or fail line
Shortlist SiteLink Web Edition, storEDGE, Easy Storage Solutions, QuikStor Express and Yardi Breeze. Ask about Tenant Inc. Hummingbird as well. A separate feature comparison covers twelve platforms and the features that decide a purchase.
The nine checks
Passes if
- 1 Occupancy definitions
- Both occupancies print with their denominators
- 2 Economic occupancy
- Concessions, sub-street rates and unpaid balances feed it
- 3 Delinquency aging
- Counts and dollars in aged buckets, notices on a clock
- 4 Rate roll
- In-place rate by size band beside street rate
- 5 Availability
- Real-time availability per size band
- 6 Net absorption
- Move-ins and move-outs by band, with the net
- 7 Gate and audit log
- Codes issued and revoked inside the platform, entries logged
- 8 Data export
- Documented full export on request, at no charge
- 9 Access controls
- Named accounts, role permissions, MFA, seated kiosk use
Fails if
- 1 Occupancy definitions
- Only one figure appears
- 2 Economic occupancy
- It equals physical occupancy
- 3 Delinquency aging
- One total past-due figure
- 4 Rate roll
- Only an average rent
- 5 Availability
- One building total
- 6 Net absorption
- Total units rented only
- 7 Gate and audit log
- Gate runs as a separate system
- 8 Data export
- Summary only, or a per-export fee
- 9 Access controls
- Shared logins
A fail on export ends the evaluation. If a vendor will not hand over tenant, lease, payment and audit tables in CSV or Excel, your data stays with them.
What each shortlisted platform can show you
The demonstration question does not change. Show the check running on our unit mix, and score each answer yes or no.
What each platform can show
| Platform | What it is | Ask to be shown |
|---|---|---|
| SiteLink Web Edition (Storable) | Cloud management with a myHub tenant portal | Automated late notices, occupancy pair on one screen |
| storEDGE (Storable) | Websites, online rentals and tenant insurance bundled with management | How a web rental posts and starts the clock |
| Easy Storage Solutions | Management software for small sites | Export file list, availability by band |
| QuikStor Express | Management package for smaller facilities | Late notices, aging report |
| Yardi Breeze | Property management for smaller portfolios | Economic occupancy with concessions |
| OpenTech Alliance, PTI Security Plus, DoorKing | Kiosks and gate access | Seated kiosk use, code issue and revoke |
Tenant Inc. Hummingbird is a cloud system worth the same nine questions.
Where the money goes in year one
Ask for a written 12-month total, not a monthly headline.
Where the money goes
- Monthly platform fee, per site or per door.
- Per-unit fee, where one applies.
- One-time setup, migration and training.
- Payment processing rate per card payment.
- Kiosk or gate hardware and its support.
- Contract term and the annual increase.
Monthly fees at a single small site commonly fall in a broad planning band, often around $50 to $300, with setup from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. These are typical ranges, not quotes.
Example: one site, two occupancy figures
Six measures carry the pack: unit occupancy, square-foot occupancy, economic occupancy, rentable share, delinquency rate and average length of stay.
[figure 1]
Occupancy measures and formulas
Measure
- Unit occupancy
- Units rented / rentable units
- Square-foot occupancy
- Rented area / rentable area
- Economic occupancy
- Rent collected / asking-rate rent
- Rentable share
- Rentable area / gross area
- Delinquency rate
- Past-due accounts / occupied units
- Average length of stay
- Tenancy months / tenancies ended
Formula
- Unit occupancy
- How many doors earn
- Square-foot occupancy
- How much building earns
- Economic occupancy
- How much potential arrives
- Rentable share
- How much built can earn
- Delinquency rate
- How much rent roll at risk
- Average length of stay
- What a move-in is worth
Answers
- Unit occupancy
- Square-foot occupancy
- Economic occupancy
- Rentable share
- Delinquency rate
- Average length of stay
A site has 400 rentable units: 100 at 25 sq ft, 250 at 100 sq ft and 50 at 200 sq ft. Rentable area totals 37,500 sq ft.
At month end 320 units are rented: all 100 small units, 200 of the middle size and 20 of the largest. Unit occupancy is 320 divided by 400, or 80 percent.
Rented area is 26,500 sq ft, so square-foot occupancy is 26,500 divided by 37,500, or 70.7 percent. Both denominators are stated: all rentable units, all rentable area.
The 9.3 point gap is a mix signal. Small doors filled first.
Economic occupancy divides rent collected by asking-rate rent, so concessions, sub-street rates and unpaid accounts pull it down. The rates behind it sit in how street and in-place rates are managed.
Delinquency buckets, the lien clock and the export
Ask for aging in four buckets: 1 to 30, 31 to 60, 61 to 90 and 91 or more days past due. Each needs a count and a dollar figure.
The ladder should post on a fixed clock. One illustration, subject to your state act: rent due day 1, late fee day 5, first notice day 10, lien notice day 30, advertising day 45, sale no earlier than day 60.
Your state act and lease set the real dates, as the state statute and lease checklist explains.
The monthly pack has six views: the occupancy pair, economic occupancy, delinquency aging, the rate roll, availability by band and net absorption.
[figure 3]
Six views in the monthly pack
- Occupancy by unit and square foot, with trend
- Economic occupancy against physical occupancy
- Availability by size band
- Delinquency aging by bucket, counts and amounts
- Move-ins and move-outs by band, net absorption
- Rate rollin-place against street rates
Ask for a sample export before signing: one CSV or Excel file per table for tenants, units, leases, payments and the audit log, plus a data dictionary and a delivery window.
Security, records and access
The platform holds names, addresses, payment credentials and a log of who entered the site and when.
Start with the National Institute of Standards and Technology quick-start guides for small businesses. Then require named accounts, role permissions and multifactor authentication. Remove access the day someone leaves, at the gate and in the software.
The reports are also financial records. The Internal Revenue Service page on the records a business should keep sets the general expectation, and consistent monthly packs let a lender or buyer read a trend.
How that pack lands in the operating week is covered in the operating cycles a facility runs.
A reservation flow or kiosk is customer-facing. The Department of Justice guide to the ADA for small businesses covers the expectation. A kiosk that cannot be used from a seated position defeats the accessible counter beside it.
