Spreadsheet?? What do you use to keep track?!

[Micah Hensley]

Hey Everyone!

So my wife and I are new to this but we are excited to close in just a couple weeks on our first rental property! It will be a BRRRR project. Right now I'm looking for input on keeping track of rental expenses and income as well as tracking expenditure during the rehab/purchase process. What are some good spreadsheets you use or where do I find good ones? Or what program?? I just want to do this right and have my ducks in a row from the word go!!

Any and all help is appreciated!!

[Greg Scott]

A spreadsheet might be fine for a project, but if you really want to track your RE investment correctly, use an accounting package.  Track it like a business.  You don't need a sophisticated accounting package that does payroll and tax prep, just basic income and expense.  There are many on-line options. I'd ask your CPA for a recommendation. (I'd also recommend you get a CPA that understands real estate, if you do not have one.)

If you are not familiar with accounting, you might want to get some education on that too.  Nice thing is that if you do it right, you can simply hand off your books to your accountant and it saves you time and money when preparing your taxes.