I like it so far but have not gotten too in depth with it yet. I have gone to Fiverr and had some people help me customize the GL's for my rental portfolio etc and started entering asset values. My objective is to start using it full time Jan 1. That will let me wrap up my last project for a while and I can quit comingling funds etc because up to now I have been paying for things out of whatever account or credit card was convenient and just submitting receipts.
An issue with Xero is that not many people in my area use it. All teh full time accountants I know and have talked to about using going forward all use quickbooks and aren't familiar with Xero. That said, with it's cloud based model, I am able to find someone outside of my area and leverage their services. I like their plug ins, their newer look and price point for cloud based software. I decided against Quickbooks online due to their tiered pricing model and higher cost in order to integrate with Shoeboxed etc.
Wave is not robust enough for real estate with cumulative depreciation etc.
At the time, they did not have this functionality at the time but am glad to hear they have added it.
Also, a lacking feature was accounting for the property management company. It was fine at tracking revenue and operating expense per property, but did not have a way to account for expenses like advertising, the cost of the buildium software, referral fees, phone service, mileage or auto expense etc. There was a way I could create another unit and treat it as the property management co as a work around but that would not be a very clean or efficient effort.
Now that I am expanding into real estate sales etc, it is just easier to get set up under a true accounting model and grind through double entry of what exists in my rental software and add it to the accounting software.
I had a large (to me) growth period this year and once i get done with this last property, I will take some time off, let the dust settle and focus on building my back end processes or infrastructure for lack of a better word. I am familiar with quick reviews of balance sheets and P&L statements but the whole nuts and bolts of correctly entering transactions into an accounting software to generate these things is new to me.
I prepaid for 2.5 years and at the end of that will assess how Rent Post compares with other applications and could likely switch back to Buildium or some other system at that time. I will be looking more for long term features and less at value since I have grown and will likely have 20+ units by then.
Wholesaler · Flushing, NY · Member since 2013 · 12 posts · 3 votes
10y
hi, i own a commercial strip center with 7 stores, a few single family homes, need recommendation for software that can do rent collections and invoicing for tennant and want to go paperless, any recommendations greatly appreciated
Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2010 · 64 posts · 34 votes
10y
I use propertyware for a little over 100 units and after learning the system it's great for handling: application, leases & rent collection. You can use it to track expenses and export to quickbooks, but I have a bookkeeper and simply give her access to propertyware so she can see how to allocate the deposits.
The bookkeper was a better investment than the property management software and wish I had started that earlier.
I see buildium most often from other investors so would recommend checking that out too.
@Sarnen Steinbarth what parts of accounting does the landlord software not do well in your opinion?
I teach real estate agents and property managers - and a consistent complaint I hear from them on the pro's and con's of their software (that they use for being a property manager / landlord) is accounting. I think this really varies between software service, but I do think it is hard to have a really great landlord software, that is also a really great accounting software.
Accounting software's like Quickbooks and Xero are complicated enough to do well, as are landlord software's. Hard to find one that does both well.
Off the top of my head I don't have a specific list of XYZ, but usually the more sophisticated accounting practices like transferring balances, vendor credits, cash vs. accrual, etc. are what I hear that are the most common complaints.