What can you achieve with it?

• Single consolidated P&L for the entire mixed-use building — residential and commercial income in one view • Separate income accounts allow per-type analysis without separate books or manual allocation • Bank and M-Pesa collections tracked together in one GL — no double-counting or reconciliation gaps • Year-end financial statements produced in one report run — accountant has everything needed • Building's net operating income calculable for refinancing, sale, or investor presentations • VAT on commercial units tracked correctly within the same GL as non-VAT residential units

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Commercial PropertyMixed-Use Real Estate

How Mixed-Use Property Owners Get a Consolidated Financial View Across Residential and Commercial Units

Who this is for

You own or manage a building that has both residential apartments and ground-floor retail or office units. The two types behave differently: residential pays monthly, commercial may pay quarterly with VAT; residential uses M-Pesa, commercial uses bank transfers. You've been keeping separate books for each — two Excel files, two M-Pesa accounts — and you've never had a single consolidated P&L for the entire building.

The problem

Mixed-use buildings are common in Kenyan towns, but most accounting tools force a choice between residential and commercial workflows. The result is fragmented books: one spreadsheet for the flats, another for the shops, and no consolidated view of the building's total income, total expenses, and net operating income.

This matters at year-end when the accountant needs to file returns for the entire building. It matters when the building owner is considering a refinancing and needs to show a bank the building's debt service coverage. And it matters day-to-day when the owner wants to know: is this building profitable? The answer shouldn't require a two-day Excel exercise.

What you can achieve

Single consolidated P&L for the entire mixed-use building — residential and commercial income in one view
Separate income accounts allow per-type analysis without separate books or manual allocation
Bank and M-Pesa collections tracked together in one GL — no double-counting or reconciliation gaps
Year-end financial statements produced in one report run — accountant has everything needed
Building's net operating income calculable for refinancing, sale, or investor presentations
VAT on commercial units tracked correctly within the same GL as non-VAT residential units

The Kokodi workflow

1
Step 1
Add all units under one building
Setup
Create the building in Kokodi and add all units — residential apartments with monthly rent and commercial units with VAT-applicable quarterly billing. One building, all unit types.
2
Step 2
Configure separate income accounts by type
Setup
Residential rent posts to Account 4010 (Residential Rent Income); commercial rent posts to Account 4020 (Commercial Rent Income). The CoA separates them for reporting.
3
Step 3
Residential tenants pay via M-Pesa
Automated
Residential tenants use the M-Pesa STK push workflow. Payments auto-match and post to the residential income account.
4
Step 4
Commercial tenants pay via bank transfer
Action
Commercial tenants pay by bank transfer. Record the payment manually against the correct invoice. GL posts to commercial income account with VAT separation.
5
Step 5
Shared expenses posted to building
Action
Maintenance, security, utilities, and other shared expenses are entered as supplier bills against the building. They appear in the consolidated P&L.
6
Step 6
Consolidated P&L statement generated
Report
Run the P&L for the entire building: residential income + commercial income - all expenses = net operating income. One number, one report, backed by every transaction.
7
Step 7
Balance sheet shows full building position
Report
The balance sheet shows total AR (rent owed), bank balance, deposit liabilities, and any AP outstanding. Complete financial position of the building at any date.

Kokodi features used

Multi-Unit Building SetupChart of Accounts (Income Account Segmentation)M-Pesa IntegrationManual Payment RecordingSupplier BillsP&L StatementBalance Sheet