Accounting software recommendations
Hello, I am looking to upgrade from excel spreadsheets and go with an accounting software. I have 28 rental units, I flip 6 or so houses a year, and do a handful of retail listings as an agent. What software do you recommend? Quick books, Buildium? Others?
@Joe Doman if you are just looking for accounting then I've been liking REI Hub (https://www.reihub.net). It is like Quickbooks, but specifically for real estate. I had been using Stessa but I would not recommend that.
If you are looking for property management and accounting then you may want to consider RentRedi (free with BP Pro) and they directly integrate with REI hub.
When I looked into Buildium and Yardi for both management and accounting I felt like their accounting was lacking and they were expensive for what they are.
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#2 Managing Your Property Contributor
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Upgrade to BP Pro membership and use Rent Redi (free) for accounting and management!
@Joe Doman I do bookkeeping for REI and I work mainly in QBO but have a handful of clients in Buildium. I agree with @Tim Delaney, Buildium is horrible for accounting and not worth the money. I haven't heard a lot about REI Hub which means a lot of bookkeepers probably don't work in it. If you are planning on doing the books yourself for a while then it may be a good option. But if you plan on hiring someone soon then I may look into getting into QBO. With you having 28 + doors it would be worth your time to start looking into help potentially so you can focus on growing the business.
I have to disagree. Buildium is pretty good for accounting. QBO is not good for real estate accounting.
I would take Yardi, AppFolio, and Buildium over QBO.
Quote from @Joe Doman:
Hello, I am looking to upgrade from excel spreadsheets and go with an accounting software. I have 28 rental units, I flip 6 or so houses a year, and do a handful of retail listings as an agent. What software do you recommend? Quick books, Buildium? Others?
I would highly recommend QuickBooks Online as your accounting software. QuickBooks is widely used and trusted by many real estate professionals. It is a comprehensive software that can handle all of your bookkeeping needs, including rental property management, income and expenses tracking, and financial reporting.
QuickBooks Online is specifically designed for small businesses and has a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to navigate and use. It also offers a wide range of features that cater to real estate professionals, such as property management tools, income and expense tracking, and detailed financial reporting.
In addition, QuickBooks Online also offers integrations with other popular real estate software, such as Buildium, making it easy to connect and manage all your data in one place.
Overall, QuickBooks Online offers a great combination of affordability, reliability, and robust features that cater to the needs of real estate professionals. You can also check out the free trial and see for yourself how it can help your business.
I hope that helps!
I agree with my fellow Quickbooks Online colleagues. QBO has many features (like reports) to help you know your numbers. I have several clients that have used Stessa for rental tracking. You connect your bank account just like you do with Quickbooks Online and the transactions get loaded in the same way. You can then categorize those transactions. My other advice would be if you do decide to go with Quickbooks Online, find a bookkeeping/accounting firm that are pro-advisors that will pass on their Quickbooks Online monthly subscriptions at a discount. All the Best,
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Quote from @Simon W.:I agree. QB can be used for RE, but it doesn’t have any built in features specifically for RE and is somewhat cumbersome in this regard. However, I’ve been using QB forever.
I have to disagree. Buildium is pretty good for accounting. QBO is not good for real estate accounting.
I would take Yardi, AppFolio, and Buildium over QBO.
Hey @Joe Doman - you might have to find a solution that isn't completely all in one. I'm a much smaller investor than you and use QuickBooks as that's an easy way for me to share any needed data with my tax preparer's firm too.
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I highly recommend QuickBooks Online for your real estate business. Not only does it allow you to manage your rental properties, but it also has a feature for class tracking which can help you keep track of your flipping and retail listings. QuickBooks Online is user-friendly and offers a variety of features such as income and expense tracking, invoicing, and reporting. It also allows you to access your information from anywhere, as it's cloud-based. Additionally, there are various tutorials and support available online. Buildium can also be a good option but QuickBooks is more robust and customizable.
@Joe Doman I use Quickbooks because my accountant (CPA) pretty much requires it.
It takes a little to learn it but the reports are awesome. I have an old desktop which they will do away with and my accountant would prefer I use online. Everybody is going to subscription. Better cash flow for them.
Quickbooks Online can work and even though it is not the best at real estate if it is setup properly it can work pretty well. No matter what software you go with you will still need to know what categories the transactions go to.
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#3 Managing Your Property Contributor
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@Joe Doman since they quit offering quickbooks desktop pro and I am not a fan of quick books online I was hoping you got other answers. Anyone want to comment on why they like something that isn't qbo? Features? Accessibility?
@Simon W. Buildium appfolio and Yardi are great for tracking basic rental and repairs costs, which makes them great Property Management tools. But they do not do well handling mortgage payments and capex accounts which makes them sub par accounting tools.
Quote from @Tim Delaney:
@Simon W. Buildium appfolio and Yardi are great for tracking basic rental and repairs costs, which makes them great Property Management tools. But they do not do well handling mortgage payments and capex accounts which makes them sub par accounting tools.
How does it not handle them well?
I do it for my clients. Just create the GL codes for it and book it against them.
If Yardi Voyager decides to just sell their accounting module, I would take that over any other platform.
Has anyone utilized Xero? I'm starting out and am debating between Xero or Freshbooks. I've considered QB and/or QBO but they're a little more costlier for functions I may not need.
Quote from @Simon W.:
Quote from @Tim Delaney:
@Simon W. Buildium appfolio and Yardi are great for tracking basic rental and repairs costs, which makes them great Property Management tools. But they do not do well handling mortgage payments and capex accounts which makes them sub par accounting tools.
How does it not handle them well?
I do it for my clients. Just create the GL codes for it and book it against them.
If Yardi Voyager decides to just sell their accounting module, I would take that over any other platform.
When I was evaluating those options last year none seemed to work properly and the sales reps for each of the softwares was not able to show me how they properly accounted for some balance sheet items. I'll have to give them another look at some point.
typically sales reps aren't really good at the accounting aspect of it.
Quote from @Dustin Verley:
Has anyone utilized Xero? I'm starting out and am debating between Xero or Freshbooks. I've considered QB and/or QBO but they're a little more costlier for functions I may not need.
Xero and Freshbooks aren't as good as QBO since they are mainly built to take on QBO. Xero is really bad when you have multiple properties/llcs they way transactions are being coded is just a headache. I haven't used Freshbooks so can't comment on it.
Are you looking to handle the accounting all by yourself or would you rather just have an accountant maintain it for you?
Quote from @Ragan Manning:
Hello, do you do bookkeeping in REI HUB? I currently use RentRedi & REI Hub and always have questions and would like a reliable booking keeper that I can call and pay for these one off questions. Fixed Assets, balance sheet and such. I know I could pay REI Hub $50 to set up each new hope I buy (which is great!) but was curious if I you did something like this for Investors? Thanks for your feedback as I am searching for a on-demand/support for book keeping.
-Britney
Quote from @Britney Omlor:
Quote from @Ragan Manning:
Hello, do you do bookkeeping in REI HUB? I currently use RentRedi & REI Hub and always have questions and would like a reliable booking keeper that I can call and pay for these one off questions. Fixed Assets, balance sheet and such. I know I could pay REI Hub $50 to set up each new hope I buy (which is great!) but was curious if I you did something like this for Investors? Thanks for your feedback as I am searching for a on-demand/support for book keeping.
-Britney
Hey @Britney Omlor,
I haven’t ever used it but most softwares overlap so I doubt it will be hard to learn. You can message me on here and I can give you my email so I can try to help with any questions you have 🤗
Quote from @Ragan Manning:
Quote from @Britney Omlor:
Quote from @Ragan Manning:
Hello, do you do bookkeeping in REI HUB? I currently use RentRedi & REI Hub and always have questions and would like a reliable booking keeper that I can call and pay for these one off questions. Fixed Assets, balance sheet and such. I know I could pay REI Hub $50 to set up each new hope I buy (which is great!) but was curious if I you did something like this for Investors? Thanks for your feedback as I am searching for a on-demand/support for book keeping.
-Britney
Hey @Britney Omlor,
I haven’t ever used it but most softwares overlap so I doubt it will be hard to learn. You can message me on here and I can give you my email so I can try to help with any questions you have 🤗
@Ragan Manning That would be fantastic!