David Lang

Controller, Capstone Advisors

By Leah Etling on Mar 3, 2016 in People

As a longtime user of Yardi software in the investment management sector, David Lang understands the importance of strong accounting, operating and reporting systems. Currently serving as Controller for San Diego- based Capstone Advisors, Lang is responsible for all Capstone’s corporate accounting functions, and he also helps out with project and portfolio modeling.

“At Capstone, we are owner/operators with shopping centers all over the US,” Lang told us during a recent interview at the Yardi Advanced Solutions conference. “Not long ago, our third party managers were sending us PDF reports and data was being compiled manually. We just thought, with technology these days, we should be able to automate a lot of these manual processes, and end up with a much better ability to data-mine our existing financial information to generate better management and forecasting tools. So we started researching property management systems.”

What set Yardi apart? “Investment Manager really took Yardi to the next level,” Lang explained. “We own many properties, each with their own ownership companies for tax and legal purposes. With Investment Manager we can gain oversight into all of them and easily roll up the portfolio for reporting purposes. Finally, someone realized how much more goes on above the primary entity.”

The diverse Capstone portfolio, which includes retail centers, office buildings, large residential land tracks, a housing portfolio and an international resort and residential development project, can all be tracked and reported on via Yardi.

Since implementing Yardi Investment Manager, Lang has found that he is saving hours in compiling quarterly investor reports and quarterly distributions.

“It used to take me two to three days to get everything together. Now I can run a few reports and I have all the information I need. I can do it in a single afternoon,” he said.

Capstone Advisors also recently implemented Yardi’s Orion Business Intelligence product, to provide a dashboard view of its many investments, from general KPI overviews to detailed leasing reports.

“The fact that Orion Business Intelligence sits on top of Yardi Voyager 7S, and all our data is stored there, and it’s also fully customizable – that’s what made it the right product for us,” Lang said. “I give Yardi rave reviews. I think our Voyager 7S implementation went as seamlessly as possible. It’s extremely user friendly, and reference materials are available if you need help.”

While chatting with fellow professionals at one of Yardi’s recent Executive Briefings, the topic of technology’s role in the commercial real estate industry was broached. Things have changed for the better and continue to do so, Lang and his colleagues noted.

“People are now paying a lot more attention to analytics and appreciating the data that they have over years of operating properties and trying to be smarter and more efficient,” he said.

Yardi has continued to push the envelope with new and improved features that help make streamlined operations possible.

“Yardi really listens to their customers. The focus on the customer is excellent. Once you purchase Yardi, you are part of the team,” said Lang.

Learn more about Capstone Advisors at http://capstoneadvisors.com/

Learn more about Yardi at http://www.yardi.com/