Advance, notice period and move-out
The advance stays separate from income until move-out settles it.
In Dhaka, a tenant usually pays one to three months' rent as an advance when they move in. Years later, when they give notice, both sides try to remember how much it was, whether any of it was already used, and what the last months' rent should be. That conversation goes badly more often than it should. Griho keeps the advance, the notice and the move-out in writing from day one.
The advance, recorded once
When you add a tenant you enter the advance they paid. From then on it sits on the tenant's lease and on your dashboard as Advance held, a separate figure in its own colour.
It is deliberately kept out of your income. The advance is money you are holding for the tenant, not money you've earned. Counting it as income would make the year they moved in look better than it was and the year they leave look worse. It only becomes income when part of it is actually used, for rent or for deductions. The reasoning is explained on What each flat really earns.
Notice period, written into the lease
Each lease records the notice period both sides agreed to, from zero to twelve months, with two months as the default. When the tenant tells you they're leaving, open the lease and tap Record notice with the date they gave it.
Griho then:
- works out the lease end date from the notice date and the notice period
- marks the tenant "On notice" on your lists
- keeps billing rent for the notice months as normal
- alerts you 30 days and again 7 days before the lease ends
If the tenant changes their mind, withdraw the notice and the lease carries on as before.
Using the advance for the last months
Many Dhaka leases say the advance covers the final month or two of rent. If yours does, switch on Advance adjusts rent during notice on the lease.
During the notice period, the rent sheet then shows how much advance is held, and Advance appears as a payment method. Recording a month this way:
- settles the month from the advance, with no cash changing hands
- reduces Advance held by the same amount
- counts the amount as rent income that month
- shows the month as "From advance" on the rent list, with Advance as the method on its receipt
Griho won't let you use more advance than is held, and it won't let you use it outside the notice period. That's the rule of the lease, applied without argument.
Move-out settlement, worked out for you
On move-out day, tap Move out on the tenant's page and enter the date. Griho gathers everything the settlement needs:
- Advance held, what's left of it
- Unpaid rent, month by month, up to and including the move-out month
- Deductions you add, each with a reason and an amount: a broken fitting, cleaning, an unpaid bill
Griho applies the advance to unpaid rent first, oldest month first, then to the deductions. Whatever remains is the refund to the tenant. If the advance isn't enough, it shows what the tenant still owes instead.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Advance held | ৳50,000 |
| Rent, October (unpaid) | −৳25,000 |
| Repainting the bedroom | −৳6,000 |
| Kitchen tap replaced | −৳1,200 |
| Refund to tenant | ৳17,800 |
When you confirm, Griho records the rent paid from the advance, the deductions and the refund, ends the lease and marks the flat vacant. Unpaid rent months after the move-out date are removed, because the tenant no longer lives there.
A settlement both sides can sign
The settlement comes as a PDF in the tenant's language, with every line above, the move-out date and signature lines for you and the tenant. Hand it over with the refund and there's nothing left to argue about later. The same numbers go into your income and expense figures for that month, so your year-end report is already right.
The guide How to adjust a tenant's advance fairly goes through the common situations, including a tenant who leaves without notice.
On the Free plan
Free doesn't include the settlement calculation. There you use End lease: the lease ends and the flat goes vacant, and the advance stays on your books until you record what happened to it. The full settlement with its PDF comes with Starter and every plan above it. See pricing.
Where it connects
The notice months are ordinary rent months on the rent list, covered on Rent tracking for every flat. The advance and anything kept from it show up in your earnings and reports, so the books balance on the day the tenant hands back the keys.