recommended simple bookeeping software?

Question

Hey all, I am a small landlord w 10 doors. Held in various LLCs. I've been using QB desktop for mac for several years, but getting squeezed out and forced to the online version.

I'm not opposed to an online service as I'm traveling more and that would be easier to access, but I've heard horror stories (plus super expensive) to go with QB online.

I've been looking at Xero--does anyone have experience with this? How different is it from QB? I can't find any tutorials on Xero without having to first set up an account.

William Whitley · Answer

I work with investors using QBO Plus or Advanced. Some have 15 doors and some as many as 50 doors or more across multiple entities. If it is customized correctly, QBO Plus or Advanced can be a very powerful tool in managing the financials of your portfolio.

Jason Malabute · Answer

I’d still recommend QuickBooks Online Plus and using the class feature.

For a portfolio like yours, the biggest advantage is that you can keep everything in one file and track each property (or each LLC) using classes. That way you can run a P&L by property, by LLC, or combined, without juggling multiple QuickBooks files.

Lynn Quire · Answer

Thank you to everyone--I truly appreciate all the input. I decided to go with Xero--it's much cheaper than QB or QB Online. QB online is ending the ability to use classes to distinguish properties in the basic subscription. Xero lets you do it using Categories at all levels.

I researched Wave, but an advisor told me that if I'm not paying for a product, then my data IS the product---maybe I'm paranoid but security is worth paying for in only my opinion.

Just started moving things over today, but so far so good!

Jay Toluganti · Answer

I started with QB online. Never knew they had desktop versin till recently. Online version is great except they keep increasing prices everymonth. Rightnow, trying out Waveapps.com as its free and simple interface.

Aaron Zimmerman · Answer

Do you need to produce a balance sheet and profit and loss? If yes, I'd recommend going with quickbooks online or xero. If just profit and loss, you could go with something like stessa.

Lynn Quire · Answer

I totally agree. I cleaned up my Chart of Accounts significantly when switching from QB to Xero--I was happy to combine some accounts and get rid of others entirely. QB was my initial system, and I basically learned on it---I feel I have more experience now several years in, and it felt really good to clean up the chart of accounts to match how I run my business today

Andrew Glisson · Answer

We use both. Xero for one business and QuickBooks for another, so this is coming from real use, not theory.

The platform matters far less than people think. Your chart of accounts is the key factor. If that isn’t clean and consistent across LLCs, no software will save you.

For a 10 door portfolio, either Xero or QuickBooks Online will work just fine. The mistake I see is switching platforms hoping it fixes messy categorization or unclear reporting. It won’t.

If you’re traveling more, moving to an online system makes sense. Just spend your energy getting the COA right and the rest becomes much easier, regardless of which tool you choose.

Lynn Quire · Answer

Thanks again for the imput, and I totally agree with checking with the CPA first--fortunately my CPA has had as many complaints with QB as I have, and does work in Xero---I think it boils down to personal choice based on what features you want vs price---for me the answer was Xero and the first month of entering/reconciling/paying bills went quite smoothly! Nothing is perfect, but so far I'm good w my choice.

Ragan Manning · Answer

@Lynn Quire Someone mentioned this on another post, and I thought it was very smart to think about. Make sure you have a CPA or accountant who will work in that software. Obviously, there are some, but more lean into QBO. If you ever do look into QBO, and you're planning on growing, use customers instead of classes. This will give you more room to grow without having to move to a higher subscription, like advanced. You still need QBO Plus to track customers, but it doesn't limit you to 40. It seems like a lot, but if you have multiple flips per year, it goes by very quickly! 100% quickbooks is such a pain because they keep raising their prices, but I still prefer them over Xero. Good Luck!

recommended simple bookeeping software?

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