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Which line items should I break out? The Turn-It-On Test

Three questions to decide, line by line, whether a Level 1 detail belongs on your screening chart, your detailed chart, or neither.

Archer's standard chart has 188 Level 1 details you can turn on, plus up to 50 custom buckets. Turning one on is free. Reviewing it on every deal is not. Use these three questions for each split you're considering.

The test

Ask Why it matters
1. Is it distinguishable? Would a competent analyst, reading only the row description on a typical T12, know which bucket it belongs in? If "Supplies" could be three things, splitting it is a coin flip you pay for on every statement, forever.
2. Does it change a decision? Does the split alter an assumption, a valuation, or a pass/pursue call at the screening stage? Knowing R&M runs $1,100/unit changes the model. Knowing $40 of it was keys does not.
3. Do you benchmark or budget on it? Will you compare it across the portfolio or hand it to a property manager? A "yes" here on its own belongs on the detailed chart — not the screening chart.

Yes to 1 and 2 → turn it on in your screening chart. Yes to 3 only → it lives in your detailed chart. That's what the detailed chart is for. No to 1 → turning it on costs review time on every deal and buys unreliable data. Leave it grouped.

A split worth making: utilities

Electric, gas, water/sewer, and trash are almost always separately stated on the operating statement (distinguishable), and they drive real underwriting assumptions — different recovery rates for each (decision-changing). That's why Archer shows those details by default. It's the model for a split that earns its place.

Common calls

Usually on the screening chart

  • Utilities: electric, gas, water/sewer, trash
  • Payroll vs. non-payroll
  • Turn costs vs. R&M — if you run a value-add strategy

Usually detailed-chart only

  • Contract services sub-items (landscaping, security, elevator, pool) — large variance between properties, but rarely a pass/pursue driver on their own
  • Specific insurance lines — unless insurance is a primary cost driver in your market
  • Property management vs. other admin — if you self-manage

Usually keep grouped

  • Marketing sub-items (advertising, locator fees, printing) — managed as one budget
  • G&A sub-items (office supplies, telephone, postage) — rarely material individually and rarely distinguishable on the statement
  • Below-the-line items — you just need an Exclude category

A note on custom buckets

Custom buckets have no pre-training behind them. They start from zero and learn only from your corrections. That's fine for something that appears on every statement. It's expensive for something that shows up once in twenty. Before adding one, ask: is this on every T12 I see?

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