Rental Property Investor · New York City, NY · Member since 2017 · 93 posts · 101 votes
Since I am very new and green, I'll continue to crowdsource insights/ideas. How do you keep track of your expenses for each property? I want to be able to have separate P&L statements for each property. I am thinking whether I should use Quickbooks for it or just maintain an Excel file. Below are my questions to the community:
1. Do you have a property management LLC you formed for your rentals? If yes, do you use the same bank account or separate bank accounts for each property?
2. How do you track Revenue/expenses for each property? Do you do it yourself in Excel or use any kind of software (QB?) and if you are using the same bank account for all properties how do you remember which expense was for which property (same goes for rental income)?
Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2016 · 533 posts · 433 votes
9y
Hi Julia,
I'm all about setting and forgetting (partially). I use mint.com to track my personal and STR finances. Since my LLC is single member, it all flows to me anyway so I figure "why not make it simple and nearly free". I did setup a separate bank account but in hindsight I may not have because of the above. I then use Mint to create categories, tags, and notes to track and manage. The reason I say nearly free, is that mint.com is free, but I did buy an add on product for mint called minttoreport. It allows me to export my data from mint.com and import it into minttoreport to create P&L reports and track income and expenses. Works really great once you "tweak it" and get used to how to use mint.com
Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2016 · 533 posts · 433 votes
9y
Hi Julia,
I'm all about setting and forgetting (partially). I use mint.com to track my personal and STR finances. Since my LLC is single member, it all flows to me anyway so I figure "why not make it simple and nearly free". I did setup a separate bank account but in hindsight I may not have because of the above. I then use Mint to create categories, tags, and notes to track and manage. The reason I say nearly free, is that mint.com is free, but I did buy an add on product for mint called minttoreport. It allows me to export my data from mint.com and import it into minttoreport to create P&L reports and track income and expenses. Works really great once you "tweak it" and get used to how to use mint.com
Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
9y
I use an LLC for my multiple rentals. A business account for it.
Track everything easily with Excel.
I have categories that I repopulate each year. I have a separate tab for each property. I have a Summary tab that adds all the categories pulling from each tab. ad a few formulas and it is super simple to stay organized and submit data to my CAP at the end of the year.
Investor · The worst town to live in, KS · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
9y
I print out a calendar each month on my computer. I write down the rent that is paid each week for each address. At the end of the week I add up the total rent for the week. At the end of the month I add up the total rents for each week.
My wife takes all the expense receipts and puts them in a spreadsheet. Each column is the address of a property.
Each line is an expense category that is used by our accountant. Supplies, repairs and utilities.
Investor · Milpitas, CA · Member since 2015 · 278 posts · 155 votes
9y
I have multiple rentals.
I use QBO for the auto import, the ease to make PNL graphs and charts, and to be able to analyze what my expenses are across time, and where I can cut costs and make more money. QBO has pretty charts.
Rental Property Investor · Tennessee Florida · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 5k+ votes
9y
Not sure why this is short term specific. Ask 100 people how they do their books you'll likely get 100 answers. Just buy a property that doesn't stink and figure out what works for you!
Boston, MA · Member since 2016 · 50 posts · 34 votes
9y
If you end up going the quickbooks route, there is a function which lets you categorize your properties so you can easily make reports for each property. Additionally you can "memorize" reoccurring transactions so you can set you entries on autopilot.
Investor · Ocala, FL · Member since 2016 · 47 posts · 48 votes
9y
I use quickbooks. It has some pretty strong reporting capabilities. You can assign each property as a class, and then run P&Ls by class to drill-down into all those details.
Investor · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2016 · 192 posts · 95 votes
8y
1. I have an LLC, but I waited until I had 2 properties to do it and beefed up my umbrella policy in the meantime. I'd advise talking to your lawyer for your own assessment. If you want to be able to treat it as a business, than you'll definitely want to keep your personal and business money separate. I have separate accounts and credit cards and never comingle the money. Makes it much easier to make your case in an audit.
2. I used spreadsheets until I got to my fourth rental. Then it started to get a little tedious and I switched to Xero (very similar to QBO, but much cheaper since it doesn't require the highest tier to track properties like QBO does). I also use Podio to track more details on CapEx and leases, etc.
Just another example for the list. That said, I agree with @Luke Carl. There's no right answer. Just figure out your comfort/OCD/stress/cost levels and choose accordingly. ;)