What’s everyone using for STR bookkeeping with taxes coming up?

Question

Every year, I feel like I end up piecing everything together at the last minute, a mix of spreadsheets, exports, receipts, etc.

Curious what others are doing:

• Still spreadsheets?
• QuickBooks / Stessa / something else?
• Or do you actually have a system that feels dialed in?

Would love to hear what’s working (and what’s not).

Aaron Zimmerman · Answer

If you have a single member LLC, then a tool like stessa will work. If you have a multi member llc with multiple properties, then I'd consider quickbooks.

I'd encourage you to start doing your bookkeeping quarterly at a minimum. Doing it at Year end is going to be a miserable experience for you and you're likely to miss deductions. You're a business owner and bookkeeping is one of those thankless jobs that does pay dividends for proper tax estimating as well as tax planning.

Kenneth Garrett · Answer

I use an excel spread sheet.  Update it every two weeks.  It details every transaction and what the purpose of each line item is for.  My CPA never has to contact me about what an expense or income is related to.  Each property is identified.

It’s pretty simple and after years of this system the bottom line is “It Works”.

Jake Baker · Answer

@Tyler Davidson

QuickBooks Online for STRs. You can set up direct syncs for your listings to avoid manual data-entry errors.

Michael Baum · Answer

LibreOffice for the win. Simple spreadsheets for everything.

You could look at Zoho Books - https://www.zoho.com/us/books

It is free with a lot of tools for up to 50k in yearly revenue.

John Underwood · Answer

I also use spreadsheets (Excel) for many properties.

My CPA says I am one of his most organized clients.

I have very detailed records.

Lisa Graesser · Answer

I've been using quicken for 11 years. I now have 5 rentals. I enter all info monthly and can easily print up all monthly income/expenses reports and end of year schedule E totals.

Collin Hays · Answer

Our PMS does most of the heavy lifting. I send it all to my accountant.

Krishnan Iyer · Answer

Stessa! Specifically built for real estate - love it! Also generates a full Schedule E (if needed).

Ken Boone · Answer

I used to use custom spreadsheets, but about 2 years ago I switched over to REI Hub and I have been very happy with that.  It generates all the tax info my CPA needs with a click of a button.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

I used Wave. Nice easy, free, system.

What’s everyone using for STR bookkeeping with taxes coming up?

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