Set Up Your Agency

Open your agency settings

1

Open the Agency page

From the left sidebar, click Agency.

2

Open Edit Agency

Under the System heading, click Edit Agency to open your agency settings.

Note: Only Principal users see Edit Agency and can change these settings. Other users on your agency won't have access.

Enter your agency's general details

1

Enter your agency names

In the General details section, enter your Trading name (your full legal company name, used on legally binding paperwork) and your Display name (the name shown everywhere else). Both are required.

2

Add your contact details

Add your agency Email, Phone number and Address. These are optional but identify your agency to owners and tenants.

3

Add your Tenancy Services Landlord Ids

If your agency files bonds through Keyhook, enter your 8-digit Landlord Id (the numeric part only) and your Landlord Contact Id (including the LLC- prefix) from Tenancy Services. Neither field is marked as required, but bond filing needs both of them. There is also a 7-digit Landlord Id field, for agencies still using the older Tenancy Services number. If you do not have your Ids yet, work through Connect to Tenancy Services to file bonds below first.

4

Save

Click Save.

Note: Building a new tenancy agreement needs a complete agency profile (including your trading name, address, email and phone), so fill these in before you set up a tenancy, or the signing step stays hidden until they're added.

Connect to Tenancy Services to file bonds

1

Open Manage Integrations

From the left sidebar, click Agency. Under the System heading, click Manage Integrations.

2

Start the RealMe connection

In the RealMe section, click Add account. Keyhook hands you over to RealMe to log in and approve access. Do this on a computer: on a phone or tablet Keyhook shows Authentication with RealMe is not available on mobile devices.

3

Check your landlord details

You come back to the Landlord Registration - Tenancy Services page, with your agency Name, Email and Contact Number already filled in. Correct anything out of date, then pick your Landlord Type from the list (the options include Property Management Organisation and Private Owner).

4

Add an existing Landlord ID, if you have one

If your agency has already registered with Tenancy Services under a different RealMe account, enter that ID under Existing Landlord ID, in the format LNL-XXXXXXXX. Leave it blank to register as a new landlord. New Zealand Business Number is optional.

5

Submit the registration

Click Submit Registration. Tenancy Services confirms by email, and that email is where your Landlord Id and Landlord Contact Id come from.

6

Add your Ids to your agency settings

When the email arrives, go back to Agency → Edit Agency, enter the 8-digit Landlord Id and Landlord Contact Id in General details, and click Save. Both halves are needed: RealMe is what lets Keyhook talk to Tenancy Services on your behalf, and the Ids are what it files under.

Set the tenant congratulations message

1

Write the agreement signed message

In the Tenant Experience section, fill in the Agreement signed message. This is what tenants see on the congratulations page after they sign their tenancy agreement and bond paperwork. Use it to tell them what happens next. This field is required.

2

Save

Click Save.

Add your logos and colours

1

Upload your logos

In the Appearance section, set your Main logo (a rectangle logo used in email templates and notices) and your Square logo (used in rental advertisements on third-party sites).

2

Choose your theme colours

Set Would you like to customise the colours for your agency? to Yes, then pick a Primary colour and Secondary colour (each a valid HEX code). Leave it on No to use Keyhook's default colours.

3

Adjust the owner statement (optional)

With colour customisation turned on, you can also choose the Statement logo position (Centre or Left) and, to recolour the statement text, turn on Would you like to override the primary text colour in statements? and set a Statement text colour. The preview below updates so you can check the text still contrasts with the background.

4

Save

Click Save.

Note: Your theme colours apply to what owners, tenants and suppliers see, including statements, reports, public pages and every email Keyhook sends for you. They mostly leave your own workspace alone.

Set your default management fees

1

Set the management and maintenance fees

In the Default management fees section, set the management and maintenance fees. Each fee is two fields, a type dropdown and an amount (for example Management fee type plus Management fee amount, and Maintenance fee type plus Maintenance fee amount): choose Fixed or Percentage and enter the amount. Both are required.

2

Set the letting and water fees

Set the letting and water fees the same way, each with its own type and amount fields (Letting fee type/Letting fee amount and Water processing fee type/Water processing fee amount). For letting, choose whether to Bill letting fees automatically? and whether to Require approval for letting fees charges?

3

Set the inspection fees and categories

Enter your Entry inspection fee, Routine inspection fee and Exit inspection fee. All three are required and entered excluding GST. Set any of them to $0 for an inspection type you don't charge for. You can optionally list your Invoice categories as a comma-separated list.

4

Save

Click Save.

Note: These are the defaults applied to every new property. You can override any of them when you set up an individual property. Inspection fees are entered excluding GST.

Set your default inspection settings

1

Set the default inspection times

In the Inspection settings section, set a default Start Time and End Time (24-hour format) for new inspections. These are optional.

2

Set up automatic inspection charging

In the section, Require approval for automatic inspection charges appears first (choose Approval Required or Approval Not Required), then Automatically charge for: where you pick the inspection types to charge automatically, from Entry, Routine and/or Exit. The two controls gate each other and each reads the other's saved value, so set one, Save, then reopen the section to set the other.

3

Carry notes across inspections (optional)

Turn on Copy notes from previous completed inspection to pre-fill new inspections with the text notes from the most recent completed inspection for the same tenancy (photos aren't copied).

4

Save

Click Save.

Good to know

Agencies with the portfolio-branding feature enabled see an extra Brands section between Appearance and Default management fees; it's hidden for agencies without the feature.
Once RealMe is connected, the RealMe section of Manage Integrations shows RealMe with a Connected badge and the date it was added, and Add account is replaced by Remove. Remove revokes Keyhook's access to your RealMe account. It leaves your Landlord Ids in place, but until you connect again you will not be able to file bonds, create bond refunds or submit a change of landlord.

Who can edit the agency settings?

Only Principal users. Edit Agency only appears on the Agency page for principals, so other team members can't change these settings.

Which fields do I actually have to fill in?

The required ones are Trading name and Display name (General details), the Agreement signed message (Tenant Experience), and all of your default fees. Logos and inspection settings are genuinely optional. Your contact details and the Landlord Ids are not marked as required, but you need your contact details before you can build a tenancy agreement, and you need the 8-digit Landlord Id and Landlord Contact Id before you can file a bond.

Where do my logos and colours actually appear?

In a lot of places. The Main logo shows on owner statements and reports, tenancy agreements, notices, invoices and the body of every email Keyhook sends for you. The Square logo is used as your agent profile photo in rental advertisements on third-party sites. Your theme colours run through owner statements and reports, public pages such as the 360 inspection viewer, and your emails.

Note: To see more information on where exactly the branding shows, please see the dedicated article Where your agency branding appears.

Can I use different fees for one property?

Yes. The fees here are defaults applied to every new property. When you set up an individual property you can override any of them for that property only.

Why do I get "Unable to file bonds"?

Because your agency settings are missing the 8-digit Landlord Id or the Landlord Contact Id. Keyhook checks for both before it opens the bond lodgement window, so filling in only one of them is not enough. The message tells you to use "Authenticate with RealMe" in the settings menu, which is the Add account button in the RealMe section of Agency → Manage Integrations. Work through Connect to Tenancy Services to file bonds above, which covers both halves.

Set Up Your Agency

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