Use case
Security deposit documentation that explains itself
Most disputed deductions are not unfair. They are unexplained — a line item with an amount, no photograph attached, and nobody left who remembers the walkthrough.
The gap
The deduction is defensible. The paperwork is not.
These are separate problems, and property managers usually only have the second one.
A tenant leaves a scorched countertop and a carpet that has to be replaced. The charges are reasonable, the vendor invoices are real, and the property manager is entirely in the right. Then the resident writes in and asks what the carpet looked like when they moved in.
Now somebody is searching a shared drive, a text thread, and two email accounts, trying to assemble in an afternoon a record that should have accumulated over twelve months. Whatever they find, they will spend the time. Often the outcome turns less on who was right than on who can show their work.
The fix is not better argument. It is a record that was assembled as it happened, where the photograph, the classification, the amount, and the invoice are already attached to each other.
Anatomy
What a documented deduction contains
Five parts. Most teams reliably produce two of them.
- 01
The condition pair
The same subject photographed at move-in and at move-out, with both capture timestamps intact. Without this, a deduction rests on assertion.
- 02
The classification
Normal wear, tenant damage, or cleaning — chosen by a person, recorded as their choice, with their name and the date attached.
- 03
The amount and its basis
The figure you entered, alongside the estimate or invoice it came from, rather than a number that appears in a spreadsheet with nothing behind it.
- 04
The repair documentation
Vendor estimate, invoice, and the vendor’s own photos, attached to the finding they relate to instead of to the tenancy in general.
- 05
The chronology
The order in which all of it happened, so a reviewer can follow the tenancy forward instead of reconstructing it from file dates.
The record
Who decided what, on what basis
The classification is a human judgement. The value of recording it is that it stays attributable.
When a finding is classified, what gets stored is the choice, the amount entered, the person, the date, and the photographs it was based on. Nine months later, that is the difference between “we charged $184 for the cabinet” and a line somebody can actually stand behind.
ProFlow360 does not grade severity, suggest amounts, or classify anything automatically. Every judgement in the record is one your team made.
Move-out capture, held against the 03 Mar 2025 move-in photo
Operator classifies this finding
Normal wear
Not chargeable
Tenant damage
Chargeable
Cleaning
Chargeable
Other
Operator note required
- Repair documentation
- Invoice attached · 1 file
- Amount entered by operator
- $184.00
- Recorded by
- D. Ramirez · 02 Mar 2026
Questions
Security deposit documentation questions
- What documentation supports a security deposit deduction?
- In practice: a photograph of the item at the start of the tenancy, a photograph of the same item at the end, a clear statement of how the condition was classified and by whom, and the estimate or invoice the charged amount came from. What is actually required of you is set by your state and your lease, and varies considerably. ProFlow360 helps you assemble and retrieve the record; it does not tell you what your jurisdiction requires.
- Does ProFlow360 decide what I can deduct?
- No, and it is built specifically not to. It does not determine legal entitlement, statutory deadlines, or account balances, it does not calculate what a resident owes, and it does not hold or move funds. Every classification and every amount in the system is one an operator entered. Questions about what may lawfully be withheld belong to you and your counsel.
- How long should deposit documentation be kept?
- Retention periods are set by your jurisdiction and your own policy, and are not something we advise on. Practically, teams tend to keep condition records well past the point a dispute could plausibly arise. Data in your workspace stays until you delete it, and account deletion removes it in line with our privacy policy.
- Can the resident see the documentation?
- You can share a link that a resident opens without an account, and revoke it later. Whether and when to share is a decision you make. Residents can also document their own view of condition through an inspection link, which locks once submitted.
- Is this a substitute for legal advice?
- No. ProFlow360 is a documentation tool. Nothing on this site or in the product is legal advice, and no output from the product should be treated as a determination of anyone’s rights or obligations.
Keep reading
Stop reconstructing records after the dispute
Capture condition as it happens and keep the photograph, the classification, and the invoice attached to each other from the start.
The free plan covers 3 properties and 100 photos per property.