Tenants
Export your tenant list to a CSV and run the import wizard. It matches your columns to SFC fields automatically, flags duplicates before anything is saved, and includes a sample file so you can see the expected layout first.
Migration and setup
Move your storage facility to SFC in an afternoon
Whether your tenants live in a spreadsheet, a paper book or another storage management system, switching to Storage Facility Creator is a few hours of focused work for a single site, and you do it yourself inside the app. Here is what moves over, what does not, and the order to do it in.
What moves over, and how
Six things make up a migration. Each has a screen in the app built for it, and none needs a sales call. See every workflow on the Features page.
Units
Create a whole row or building at once by typing a number range. Then set sizes, rates and statuses from the unit list, in bulk, instead of one unit at a time.
Rent history and balances
Balances are not guessed from the spreadsheet. For each tenant who owes or has paid ahead, enter their past rent and payments with the real dates so the ledger starts right. Then mark the rest of the roster paid through the current month in one action.
Your lease
Upload the lease PDF you already use. Tap where the tenant signs, initials, dates and writes the unit number, and reuse it for each new tenant, signed at your counter.
Card payments and autopay
Connect your own Stripe account for the facility in a few minutes. SFC does not import saved cards from your old processor, so each tenant enters a card once, in the tenant portal or through a pay-by-link you text or email. After that, autopay collects rent on its own.
Your team
Invite staff by email with Owner, Manager, Employee or Viewer roles. Unlimited users are included in the price, so nobody shares a login and key actions such as payments, move-ins, move-outs and team changes are recorded with who made them.
A realistic timeline for a single site
Plan on an afternoon for one facility, most of it spent tidying your tenant export. Each extra facility adds its own units and import; the trial covers one facility and more need a card-backed subscription.
Sign up and get approved
After approval
No card to start. Your 30-day trial begins when your account is approved, and the trial covers one facility.
Create the facility
About 10 minutes
The wizard sets your billing rules: grace days, late fee and default deposit. Facility settings cover the rest.
Add your units
15 to 30 minutes
Type a number range per row or building, then correct sizes and rates in the unit list.
Import your tenants
30 to 60 minutes
Most of this is tidying the CSV. Match the columns, resolve the duplicates the wizard flags, and import.
Set balances and paid-through dates
A few minutes per tenant who owes
Mark everyone who is current paid through this month in bulk. Enter past rent and payments only for tenants with a balance or history to carry.
Connect Stripe and upload your lease
About 30 minutes
Stripe Connect onboarding for the facility, then your lease PDF with the signature fields placed.
Invite tenants to the portal
A few minutes
Tenants add a card once and switch autopay on themselves. Send a pay-by-link to anyone who would rather pay now.
Let the 1st happen
Automatic
Monthly rent posts to tenant ledgers on the 1st, autopay collects from tenants who switched it on, and the past-due tab shows who is behind.
Want to see the screens first? Take the product tour.
What to have ready before you start
- A CSV export of your tenants with name, unit, phone, email and monthly rate, plus a texting-consent column if you have one (any column order; the wizard matches them)
- Your unit list by building or row, with sizes and rates
- Who is paid through which month, and the balance and history for anyone who is not current
- The lease PDF you sign today
- Your Stripe login, or the business details to open a Stripe account during setup
- The email address of each staff member you want to invite
Help along the way
Setup is self-serve and there is no onboarding fee. Inside the app, a six-step checklist under Settings walks you from first facility to taking rent by card, and a Report a Bug button sends us a problem from inside the app.
For questions, email support@storagefacilitycreator.com. We answer with click-by-click steps; we do not offer a migration service that does the work for you.
Moving off a spreadsheet specifically? Read the guide on moving a storage facility off spreadsheets.
What does not move, and what to do instead
Better to know now than on cutover day.
Saved cards
Card details stay with your old processor. Each tenant enters a card once in the portal or through a pay-by-link, and SFC keeps it on file from then on. Card numbers never touch your software.
Old balances in the CSV
The import brings tenants, not ledgers. Balances are entered per tenant with their real dates so the first rent run and any late fee are right.
Message history and documents
Keep an export from your old system. From your first day in SFC, every call, visit, letter, text and email is logged on the tenant record.
Gate hardware
SFC stores a gate code and schedule per tenant and switches it off at move-out. It does not connect to gate hardware, so you keep entering codes in your controller.
Accounting
Export the monthly payments report to CSV for your accountant. QuickBooks Online: available on request, ask us.
Migration questions
Do I need an export from my current software?
Yes, a CSV of your tenants. Most systems export a tenant list or rent roll; a spreadsheet works as it is. If all you have is paper, type the tenants into the sample file first and import that.
What do my tenants have to do?
Only one thing: enter a card once, in the tenant portal or through a pay-by-link you text or email them. Their balance and history are yours to bring over, and their current lease stays in your files until you send a new one for e-sign; they do not re-enter anything else.
Which day should I switch?
Finish the import before the 1st. Rent posts to every active tenant on the 1st, so mark everyone who is current paid through the present month and the first run posts next month correctly.
Is the trial long enough to migrate?
Yes. The 30-day trial starts when your account is approved, with no card to start, and covers one facility. When you subscribe your first month is free, billing is month to month at $75 per facility, and you can cancel from inside the app.
Will SFC do the migration for me?
No. Setup is self-serve and the app has a built-in onboarding checklist. If you get stuck, email support@storagefacilitycreator.com or use Report a Bug inside the app and we will point you to the right screen.
More answers on the FAQ, pricing details on Pricing, and a side-by-side of what to look for on Compare Options.
Get Started
Start your switch
Sign up, get approved, then import your first tenants. No card to start and no onboarding fee.
No onboarding fee. $75 per facility, per month. Built for self-storage operators.