Tips for Bookkeeping By Yourself

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Tips for Bookkeeping By Yourself

Kevin Phu
Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2016 · 507 posts · 171 votes

Hey all! Hoping to get some advice from my fellow landlords who manage their own properties. I currently have one SFR (4 bedroom) that I rent out room by room. I do my own finance tracking through some basic Excel spreadsheets and I am looking for a better, more efficient way to keep the books. The main goal is to get a finance system working that is intuitive and will allow me one day to outsource it when I grow my portfolio.

One option I have been looking at is using Quickbooks to log all the expenses and income. Would this be a good start and worth the cost? 

Do you guys have some tips and lessons learned for a noob landlord like me? 

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Daniel HymanBusiness Member
CPA · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
6y

Paying for accounting software is usually recommended if you are planning to scale up. 

If you are holding steady at 1 property, a spreadsheet would be fine.

My Online Accountant572 Reviews
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  • John Teachout
    Rental Property Investor · Concord, GA · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    6y

    We use quickbooks. It works for what we do.

    0Reply
  • Ed B.
    Real Estate Investor · Sacramento, CA · Member since 2010 · 292 posts · 103 votes
    6y

    I've used Quicken for over 20 years to keep track of about 20 properties. Works fine for me. I think Quickbooks might be a bit overkill for one property

    0Reply
  • Domenick T.
    Investor · Springfield , NJ · Member since 2017 · 192 posts · 93 votes
    6y

    Quickbooks is overkill for 4 doors.  Most online rent collection services will track the revenue and expenses which you can then upload into your excel file and track them the way you have been.  I use Cozy but most of them have this feature now.

    0Reply
  • Ralph Poirier
    Rental Property Investor · Wrentham, MA · Member since 2019 · 137 posts · 104 votes
    6y

    Try Stessa!  Has a ton of great features and you will be able to grow without worry if you will out grow it.  Best of all it is free!

    0Reply
  • Allan Smith
    Contractor · Nashville, TN · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    6y

    we use qbo and kind of regret it. If you get past 30 or so units, you have to bump up to their $150/mo plan. Yeesh. Buildium maybe is better.

    0Reply
  • Kevin Phu
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2016 · 507 posts · 171 votes
    6y

    Thanks for the advice! I use Cozy for rent collection but never explored using it for financial tracking *face palm*

    0Reply
  • John Thedford
    Real Estate Broker · Naples, FL · Member since 2013 · 9k+ posts · 6k+ votes
    6y

    Quickbooks. Easily tracks expenses, income, mortgages, etc. If you do so, you can PROBABLY write off the cost of the computer as well. Talk to your CPA

    0Reply
  • John T.
    Rental Property Investor · Central U. S. A. · Member since 2013 · 296 posts · 149 votes
    6y

    QuickBooks with desktop software so that you maintain control of data.  You can back it up to the cloud if you like.

    QuickBooks is the small business standard.  CPAs and accountants love QuickBooks.

    There are many CPAs, accountants and consultants who can help you set up QuickBooks for your rental business for a small fee.

    0Reply
  • Mary M.
    Rental Property Investor · Portland OR · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    6y

    What is wrong with excel? Seems like a good solution for a small number of rentals. You can use QB but please have somone set it up for you and train you on its use. 

    I have spent far more time than I can count redoing clients messed up books. This is great for me ($$$$) but bad for you as it means you will spend $$$ that did not need to be spent. 

    Most CPAs have an inhouse bookkeeper that can set it up and show you how to use it 

    0Reply
  • Daniel HymanBusiness Member
    CPA · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    6y

    Paying for accounting software is usually recommended if you are planning to scale up. 

    If you are holding steady at 1 property, a spreadsheet would be fine.

    My Online Accountant572 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    1Reply
  • Basit SiddiqiBusiness Member
    Accountant · New York, NY · Member since 2015 · 8k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    6y

    @Kevin Phu

    You can continue using Excel. You are able to export all your transactions in excel when you log into your banking website.

    Alternatively, I would recommend Quickbooks. While you can use excel, Quickbooks is good as it can allow you to generate a number of reports in a matter of seconds.

    You may want to reach out to some accountants now to see if it would be worthwhile to outsource the task now.

    [email protected]917-280-8544
    Basit Siddiqi CPA4.979 Reviews
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  • Kevin Phu
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2016 · 507 posts · 171 votes
    6y

    @Daniel Hyman I currently only have 1 but am looking to grow my portfolio. Ideally I'd get a bookkeeping system down in place before it becomes more of a headache down the road. 

    @Basit Siddiqi Thanks for the advice! I am going to continue using Excel while I figure out scalable solution. Most likely gonna be QuickBooks.

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