Rental Property Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2012 · 34 posts · 12 votes
Is anyone using the software YNAB (You Need a Budget) to operate their rental business? We currently use Quickbooks, but it lacks the budgeting portion that I am finding more and more critical to mapping out our cashflow and expenditures. I already use YNAB for my personal finances and love it. However, I really don't want to do double entry to both QB and YNAB in order to add these features, so I am thinking of making a clean break. Would love to hear from others that may be doing the same. How do you structure YNAB for your business?
Would anyone currently using YNAB for their Rental Property budget be willing to share their setup? Here's what I'm thinking but I'm just having some trouble setting up the whole thing.
We have 2 rental properties, so I set up a category group for each property, each with the same budget subcategories:
Legal & Professional Fees (Includes things like inspections and appraisals, as well as any wire transfer fees at closing) Advertising & Marketing Property Management Utilities Mortgage Payments Property Taxes Insurance Repairs & Maintenance Vacancy & Collections CAPEX Security Deposits (Tied to a separate savings account as required by state law)
Then I have a General Category group with the following subcategories: Travel Software Subscriptions (Includes things like YNAB any any management software I use) Printing & Office expenses (basically just printing, but I guess if I needed to buy supplies... Legal & Professional fees (Such as my tax accountant and any legal consulting I may need)
Am I missing anything that you can see? I'm not going to take a home office deduction (frankly I don't currently have a stationary home; we work from the road), but how do you handle things like your mobile phone bill, Internet expenses, etc. that you use for business. I don't have dedicated lines for these types of things.
Would anyone currently using YNAB for their Rental Property budget be willing to share their setup? Here's what I'm thinking but I'm just having some trouble setting up the whole thing.
We have 2 rental properties, so I set up a category group for each property, each with the same budget subcategories:
Legal & Professional Fees (Includes things like inspections and appraisals, as well as any wire transfer fees at closing) Advertising & Marketing Property Management Utilities Mortgage Payments Property Taxes Insurance Repairs & Maintenance Vacancy & Collections CAPEX Security Deposits (Tied to a separate savings account as required by state law)
Then I have a General Category group with the following subcategories: Travel Software Subscriptions (Includes things like YNAB any any management software I use) Printing & Office expenses (basically just printing, but I guess if I needed to buy supplies... Legal & Professional fees (Such as my tax accountant and any legal consulting I may need)
Am I missing anything that you can see? I'm not going to take a home office deduction (frankly I don't currently have a stationary home; we work from the road), but how do you handle things like your mobile phone bill, Internet expenses, etc. that you use for business. I don't have dedicated lines for these types of things.
Definitely following. Been using YNAB for years. We just set up a checking account for our first rental and am going to use YNAB before trying anything else.
Would be nice if those who posted many months ago give us an update on how things are going. Still using? Shortcomings? Thanks!
Investor · CT · Member since 2017 · 30 posts · 12 votes
3y
So I use YNAB for my 2 LTRs and plan on using it for the STR I'm closing on next week. I have a section for each property and then line item each needed category (mortgage, utilities, etc.) I have a general house fund for each address that I put all my expenses I plan to claim as write offs that aren't recurring like a new boiler. It's work well so far!
Rental Property Investor · Alpharetta, Georgia (GA) · Member since 2016 · 145 posts · 68 votes
3y
I have been usinging YNAB for about 3 yrs now and I would not go back to QB. Its also easy to pull data out for tax purposes. With tracking multiple properties, bank accounts and credit cards, it helps me stay on top of my cashflow.