Is Quickbooks good for bookkeeping in real estate?

Question

I'm a partner in a small intermediate level real estate company.  We own just a single family home and condo for long term rentals and a four-plex for mid-term rentals.   Although we are looking to begin scaling aggressively and growing.   We started working with Stessa but the automatic bank sync always has errors and we have to call support for the bank and Stessa to get it to work again, or we have to enter transactions manually.   We are also growing to a level where we don't want to do our own taxes any more and want to hire a CPA.  It seems all CPAs are trained in Quickbooks making tax filing easy.   Although I am reading that Quickbooks requires some work arounds for real estate since it is not specifically designed for it.   Does anyone have any feedback on Quickbooks that uses it for their books?   Does it work well or would you recommend something else to replace Stessa?   We use Rent Redi as our property management software and are happy with that.

Gita Faust · Answer

QuickBooks can work very well for real estate, but only if it is set up correctly. The biggest mistake I see is using a generic chart of accounts and then wondering why the reports do not make sense.

Since you are happy with RentRedi, I would keep it as your property management system and use QuickBooks for your accounting/tax reporting. RentRedi can manage the tenant side, while QuickBooks can handle the books, property-level reporting, loans, expenses, owner contributions, and CPA handoff.

The “workarounds” people talk about usually come from the fact that QuickBooks is not property management software. But for accounting, it can be a strong tool when the structure is built around real estate from day one.

Aaron Zimmerman · Answer

It can Be. I'd say the majority of my clients use quickbooks and seems to work well

Gregory Kraft · Answer

We use Quickbooks Online for all of our clients and it works well, as long as you set it up correctly. Using the "Class" option helps track each expense and income transaction to it's appropriate job or project. Quickbooks Online can be a little more pricey than other bookkeeping softwares, but it is by far the best in my opinion.

Seph Hancock · Answer

From what I’ve seen, QuickBooks is very common among real estate investors, especially once they reach the point of working with a CPA or bookkeeper. One of its biggest advantages is that nearly every accounting professional is familiar with it, which can make tax preparation and financial reporting much smoother.

That said, you’re correct that QuickBooks isn’t specifically built for real estate. Investors often have to use classes, locations, or a customized chart of accounts to track properties separately and generate property-level reports.

For a portfolio your size, QuickBooks could work well, particularly if your goal is to scale and eventually hand bookkeeping off to a professional. The tradeoff is that you may lose some of the real estate-specific features that platforms like Stessa provide out of the box.

I’m curious what other investors are using as they grow beyond a handful of units:

• Has anyone successfully transitioned from Stessa to QuickBooks?• Are there any real estate-specific bookkeeping platforms that integrate well with property management software?• For those with larger portfolios, do you still use QuickBooks, or have you moved to something else?

It seems like the ideal solution would combine real estate-specific reporting with CPA-friendly accounting and reliable bank integrations.

Jason Malabute · Answer

From the accounting side, I'd second moving off Stessa. A lot of investors have noticed it slipping since it changed hands, and its free version won't generate a balance sheet, which you'll really want once you're operating through an entity. QuickBooks is a solid choice, and since most CPAs already work in it, tax season gets a lot smoother. Just plan to set it up with each property tracked separately from the start so you can pull a profit-and-loss per property. If you'd rather have something built specifically for rentals, REI Hub is another one worth a look. The best fit really depends on how you're structured and where you're headed, so it's worth talking through with whoever ends up handling your books.

Jeff Harding · Answer

thanks for all the input everyone.   Based on the feedback it seems that because it is not real estate specific that you need to set it up properly from the beginning.   Any bookkeepers out there that would be willing to just help us with the setup, and then we can manage it ongoing?   We are in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota and prefer to work with someone local but are open to others as well.  If interested, please respond and we can set up a meeting.

Also, I didn't mention in my original post that we also own a LLC that is part of a self directed IRA for offering private money lending and also owning/managing rental properties.  this has certain tax nuances so it would be great if we can work someone that is familiar with these nuances.

Thanks!

Daren Viray · Answer

Bookkeeper here — QBO is still widely used in the REI space and it’ll make your CPA’s life much easier.

The workarounds people mention are real but not a big deal once you’re set up correctly. You use Classes to track each property separately, and having your Chart of Accounts properly set up early will help you a lot down the road.

One thing worth knowing — multiple entities can technically be handled under one QBO setup using the Location (Business) feature, though that’s not what Intuit recommends since they’d prefer each entity has its own account. But it is costly, and a bit cumbersome since you need to login and logout to manage each entity. Something to keep in mind as you scale.

Basit Siddiqi · Answer

Stessa has gone downhill from what a lot of clients have been telling me.I think it was purchased by a private equity firm a few years ago and the quality has gone downhill.Furthermore, Stessa normally does not generate a balance sheet with the free version. Balance sheets(Complete financials) are normally required when you have an entity.I would recommend either REIHUB or Quickbooks.Best of luck!

Brandon M. Townsend · Answer

One thing I've noticed with growing real estate portfolios is that the accounting software itself is rarely the bottleneck—the reporting structure and processes usually are.

As your portfolio grows, lenders, investors, CPAs, and partners all start asking for information in different ways. At that point, consistency becomes more important than convenience.

I've worked with a number of developers and operators who started with real estate-specific platforms because they were easy to use, but eventually migrated to QuickBooks simply because every CPA, lender, bookkeeper, and financial professional already knew how to work with it.

If you're planning to scale aggressively, I'd evaluate the software based on:

• CPA compatibility• Reporting flexibility• Entity-level tracking• Capital expenditure tracking• Project and renovation accounting• Ease of lender reporting

The platform that saves 30 minutes a month today may not be the platform that supports 50 units, multiple entities, renovations, or future development projects.

Personally, I'd be less concerned about whether QuickBooks requires a few real estate workarounds and more concerned about whether your future CPA, lenders, and partners can easily work within the system.

Curious to hear from larger operators—at what portfolio size did you decide it was time to move beyond Stessa?

Jake Baker · Answer

@Jeff Harding

I use QuickBooks Online (QBO) for my flipping business, rental businesses, and bookkeeping clients. QBO has every feature you need to run a business, excellent reporting features, and integration with other software. It is the most popular software in the industry, and most Tax Preparers are familiar with it, which makes tax season easier.

You can separate properties by class. You can manage your tenants as customers. You can create property-specific profit and loss statements. Many on the forums will advise against QBO. It can feel like feature overload sometimes. The main reason is that it is not initially set up for a Real Estate business like other “real estate-specific” accounting software. It takes a certain level of QB knowledge to set it up correctly.

Is Quickbooks good for bookkeeping in real estate?

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