Monthly Income Calculator — Residential Rental Applications
Project Summary
During my time as a leasing agent, I developed and deployed a comprehensive income calculation suite in Google Sheets to overhaul a critical, high-risk step in the residential leasing process. The company's previous tool for qualifying applicant’s income was unintuitive and error-prone, creating operational drag and compliance risks. My solution automated complex calculations, enhanced data clarity, and was so successful it was adopted by corporate as the new standard for the entire California division. It is now used by over 200 leasing agents daily.
The Business Problem
The existing income calculation tool was a significant operational bottleneck and a source of potential liability. Its core issues included:
High Error Rate: The tool’s poor UX/UI led to frequent user errors, resulting in inaccurate income calculations and inconsistent application outcomes.
Inflexibility: It could not handle common scenarios like group applications or diverse income sources, forcing agents to use manual, non-standardized workarounds.
Compliance & Liability Risk: Potential for inconsistent qualification standards across the portfolio posed a significant Fair Housing compliance risk.
Challenging Readability: Even when used properly, the tool was extremely difficult to read and posed a challenge in interpreting the results of a calculation.
This inefficiency created processing delays, frustrated agents, and exposed the company to unnecessary legal and financial risks.
The Solution: A User-Centric Calculation Suite
I engineered a new TMI Calculator from the ground up in Google Sheets, focusing on user experience, accuracy, and comprehensive functionality. The solution features separate, purpose-built modules for various applicant scenarios (Standard, Guarantor, New Hires, etc.) that feed into a central, easy-to-read summary.
Key Features:
Guided User Interface: To combat the high error rate and extensive training time, I designed the guided UI with protected cells, clear instructions, and color-coded fields.
Advanced Calculation Engine: To solve for the tool’s inflexibility, the backend logic was built with to handle IF/THEN logic cases and use nested functions to automate calculations for virtually any income scenario, eliminating the need for manual overrides.
Clear, Actionable Output: The final calculation is displayed in an unambiguous summary, providing a color-coded and clear "Pass / Fail" verdict based on the property’s specific income requirements, ensuring confident and defensible decision-making.
Impact & Outcome
This project evolved from a personal efficiency tool into a company-wide process improvement initiative. After recognizing its value, corporate leadership sponsored its rollout and tasked me with leading the change management process.
Enterprise-Wide Adoption: The calculator is now the official standard used by over 200 leasing agents across our California portfolio.
Standardized Compliance: The tool has eliminated ambiguity and standardized the income verification process, ensuring every applicant is assessed against the exact same criteria, mitigating Fair Housing risks.
Training & Leadership: To ensure a seamless transition, I created the official training video and personally led hands-on training and Q&A sessions for each region, establishing myself as the subject-matter expert for this critical business function.