Introduction

Bhaban is a full-featured web application built with Laravel 12 for managing apartment buildings. It handles service charge billing, tenant rent collection, expense tracking, income recording, complaints management, notices, and real-time chat between tenants and management.

The system supports multiple roles — a super admin overseeing everything, cashiers handling billing and payments, flat owners managing their own tenants, and tenants submitting payments and complaints online.

Features

Requirements

Requirement	Minimum Version
PHP	8.2 or higher
MySQL	8.0 or higher
Composer	2.x
Laravel	12.x (included)
PHP Extensions	PDO, pdo_mysql, openssl, mbstring, tokenizer, xml, cURL, GD/Imagick, fileinfo
Minimum RAM	512 MB

Installation

Option A — Web Installer (Recommended)

1. Upload all project files to your server's web root (e.g. public_html/ or /var/www/html/).
2. Create a MySQL database in cPanel / phpMyAdmin (e.g. bhaban_db).
3. Open https://yourdomain.com/install in your browser.
4. Follow the 4-step wizard: Requirements → Database → Admin Account → Install.
5. The installer will run migrations, seed roles & settings, and create your admin account automatically.
6. Log in at https://yourdomain.com/login.

Option B — Command Line

# 1. Copy the environment file
cp .env.example .env

# 2. Edit .env with your database credentials
nano .env

# 3. Install PHP dependencies
composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader

# 4. Generate application key
php artisan key:generate

# 5. Run migrations and seed
php artisan migrate --force
php artisan db:seed --class=RolesAndPermissionsSeeder
php artisan db:seed --class=SettingsSeeder
php artisan db:seed --class=ExpenseCategorySeeder
php artisan db:seed --class=IncomeCategorySeeder

# 6. Create storage link
php artisan storage:link

# 7. Optimise (production)
php artisan config:cache
php artisan route:cache
php artisan view:cache

# 8. Mark as installed (important!)
echo "installed" > storage/installed

Environment Configuration

Key	Description
APP_NAME	Your building/app name shown in the UI
APP_URL	Your full domain URL (e.g. https://yourdomain.com)
DB_HOST / DB_DATABASE / DB_USERNAME / DB_PASSWORD	MySQL connection details
MAIL_*	SMTP mail settings for email notifications
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN	Optional — Telegram bot token for notifications
SESSION_LIFETIME	Session duration in minutes (default: 43200 = 30 days)

User Roles

Role	Description
system_admin	Manages buildings and subscriptions at the platform level.
building_admin	Full access to everything within a building — manage owners, cashiers, billing, expenses, reports, settings, month closing.
cashier	Can generate bills, record payments, manage expenses and incomes, manage notices, review payment requests. Cannot close months or manage settings.
flat_owner	Manages their own flats and tenants. Sets rent amounts, reviews tenant rent payments, creates complaints, views notices.
tenant	Views own bills, submits payment vouchers, pays house rent, raises and tracks own complaints.
guard	Manages entry logs for the building.

Application Settings

Go to Admin → Settings to configure:

• Building name and address
• Monthly service charge and garbage bill amounts
• Eid bonus amount (added automatically at Eid)
• bKash and Nagad collection numbers
• Bank account details for transfers
• Contact phone and email

Admin Panel

Accessible by building_admin and cashier roles.

Section	Description
Dashboard	Summary stats — total flats, collection, expenses, complaints, recent activity
Flat Owners	Add, edit, activate/deactivate owner accounts
Flats	Manage all flats — assign to owners, track occupancy
Garages	Manage garage rentals
Monthly Bills	Generate monthly service bills, edit line items, mark as paid
Payments	Record manual payments, print receipts
Payment Requests	Review tenant online payment vouchers — approve or reject
Expenses	Record building expenses by category, approve/reject
Incomes	Record non-rent income (garage rent, roof rent, etc.)
Reports	Collection summary, expense summary, ledger
Monthly Closing	Close month after reconciliation
Complaints	View and reply to all tenant complaints
Notices	Publish notices to all tenants
Settings	Configure building, billing, payment details

Owner Panel

Accessible by flat_owner role only.

Section	Description
Dashboard	Overview of own flats, tenants, and pending rent payments
My Flats	View and manage flats assigned to this owner
My Tenants	Add/edit tenants, set monthly rent, activate/deactivate
Rent Payments	Review tenant rent payment submissions — approve or reject
Expenses	Submit and track expenses for own flats
Complaints	View complaints from own tenants
Notices	View building notices
Chat	Message tenants directly

Tenant Panel

Accessible by tenant role only.

Section	Description
Dashboard	Current due, monthly rent, recent bills, recent complaints, notices
My Bills	View monthly service charge bills and payment status
Payment Requests	Submit bill payment vouchers for online approval
House Rent	View monthly rent, submit rent payments, track history
Complaints	Raise complaints, view replies, track status
Chat	Message building management directly

Demo Accounts

Role	Email	Password
building_admin	Your account from installer	Your password
cashier	cashier@demo.com	password
flat_owner	owner1@demo.com	password
flat_owner	owner2@demo.com	password
tenant	tenant1@demo.com	password
tenant	tenant2@demo.com	password

FAQ

How do I add a new flat owner?

Go to Admin → Flat Owners → Create. Enter name, email, and password. The owner will receive login credentials and can immediately log in to the Owner Panel.

Can one owner manage multiple flats?

Yes. Each flat is assigned to one owner during flat creation. An owner can have any number of flats.

How does a tenant pay service charges online?

The tenant logs in → sees the bill → clicks "Pay Now" → uploads a payment screenshot and transaction ID. The cashier reviews and approves from the Admin → Payment Requests section.

How does house rent collection work?

The flat owner sets a monthly rent amount on each tenant's profile. The tenant then goes to House Rent → Pay, selects the month, enters the transaction ID, and uploads a voucher. The owner reviews and approves from their Rent Payments panel.

How do I upgrade?

Back up your database and files. Upload the new version files. Run php artisan migrate --force and clear caches with php artisan optimize.

Changelog

v1.0 — May 2026

• Initial release
• Multi-role authentication (Super Admin, Cashier, Flat Owner, Tenant)
• Monthly billing and service charge management
• Online payment request system with voucher upload
• House rent management (owner sets rent, tenant pays online)
• Expense and income tracking with monthly closing
• Complaint management with replies
• Real-time chat between tenants and management
• Notices board
• PDF and Excel export
• Web-based 4-step installer
• Demo data seeder

Support

For support, please use the Envato item comments section or contact us through the author profile.

When reporting a bug, please include: PHP version, MySQL version, browser, and steps to reproduce.

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Bhaban v1.0  ·  Built with Laravel 12  ·  © All rights reserved.