Quickbooks, STESSA or Something else?

Question

Hi BP,

I'm trying to move away from spreadsheets for managing my RE. I have rentals I hold and I also have a small, active flipping business. I checked out STESSA and the platform looks nice and I like that it's free but it is geared towards landlords which gets me part of the way there but that still leaves the flipping piece to figure out.

I also looked at Quickbooks which I like because most CPA's drool over it. I know it's very robust software but it comes with monthly fees and I'm not sure if I need that much horsepower just yet so I am concerned I might be overpaying for features I'm not sure I'll use. My goal is to keep flipping to generate extra cash and use those profits to continue growing my rental portfolio with residential units (4-plexes) and commercial apartments (5+ units per building).

So I thought I'd throw this question out to the seasoned investors. Do you guys just use Quickbooks for everything? Use STESSA for the rentals and Quickbooks just for flipping? Use something entirely different?

Account Closed · Answer

I've never used QB, but I guess it's still the gold standard for bookkeeping. I only have rentals and started using Stessa at the beginning of this year. I like the ease of use, it's really intuitive and definitely an upgrade from the spreadsheets I've been using previously. Some things could be improved. For instance, one of my data sources (bank account) constantly fails to synchronize, and I've been trying to figure out if it's the issue with Stessa or the bank. Support is patchy. You shoot them an email, and they can be silent for days. Then they would respond very quickly a few times, and then go silent again. Now that they are part of JLL, hopefully, the support will get better.

Basit Siddiqi · Answer

@Russell GronskyI love the quickbooks desktop version. You can't beat the price. $200 or $300 over a life of 3 years comes out to less than $10 a month. Furthermore, it can be used for multiple properties where the online version wants like $7 to $10 for each property.Quickbooks can also help with the payroll/W-2's.The most important thing is that you should do it make sure that the chart of accounts properly accounts for the income/expense items that you will see in an Airbnb business.

Dan V. · Answer

If the rental and flipping business is under the same entity, then I suggest using one software only, Quickbooks in this case. The online version will give you more flexibility on your choices of CPA. Desktop version will cost you less but you might be limited to local CPAs only. If you already have CPA, you can ask for a recommendation, if not, include this question in your screening process. Good luck!

Russell Gronsky · Answer

@Lisa Lincoln, after further research, I decided to go with desktop Quickbooks. It's cheaper than the online "never truly own it" model many software companies are trying to force on consumers. But it does everything a business could ever need and I can easily share the data with any CPA via dropbox or google drive.

I opened a multi-member LLC that will be taxed as an S-corp. I'm still learning how to use quickbooks to keep track of everything but I like the year of free support for payroll, which I will need to do for myself and my partner, since we are both employees of the LLC. I can't imagine payroll being too hard for 2 people who will each take a salary once a quarter.

Vacation rentals should be fairly simple to account as well. I run an AirBnB and starting in 2018, they send actual tax statements to you. Aside from that, you'll just need to verify the income is accurate and account for operating expenses, which in my case have been very minimal, aside from cleaning supplies, my hourly wage to clean it and the recurring monthly ones like internet, and utilities.

Chris Kim · Answer

Account Closed

@Angela Yan

If you are having difficult time getting support, I would suggest Stessa's community site: https://community.stessa.com

Brian Ortins · Answer

I use QB for financial tracking,  with my bookkeeper and accountant, and Stessa as an asset management platform to review with stakeholders.

Lisa Lincoln · Answer

You could check out RentalHero.io, or freshbooks.com. I looked at Rental Hero and it does primarily support rental properties and expenses. I've used Freshbooks and this is great if you are contracting out work and billing others. I agree that Quickbooks is a power horse and the learning curve is high, maybe it's better as my experience is a few years old. Let me know if you run across somthing that works for vacation rentals as I too am looking for the right software to use for 2018/19.

Arielle D Brown · Answer

Hi, Mary! I had this same question and found this AMAZING youtube page with GREAT tutorials!! Seriously....AMAZING. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkgrMBXBF7sFkx36m0KU5Tw

Angela Yan · Answer

Account Closed.  Hi, has anything improved with Stessa since you used it.  I am looking into it for myself.

Account Closed · Answer

Hi Angela, I don't believe that customer service has improved much, but I have not had any issues lately. It's really user friendly, I like it a lot, but if you need help with anything, you're pretty much on your own.

Quickbooks, STESSA or Something else?

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