Why accounting software?
Not sure if this is the right forum for this, please move the thread if it belongs somewhere else.
I'm very computer literate and I'm comfortable putting in the time and learning new programs. I've been a Quicken user for personal finances since around 1999. I love spreadsheets. With all that said, I'm not familiar with the lingo and features of accounting software like Quickbooks, Xero, FreshBooks, etc.
I'm going to be investing in single and multi-family real estate out of state. We'll be using a property management company. They use AppFolio, and I'll be able to log into their portal anytime. But I still have real estate business expenses I want to track, and I want to track each property myself. My thinking is that if I have all the data myself, I can analyze it however I want later.
I don't need software to actually manage the properties, but I do want something to track expenses and income for each property individually as well as overhead expenses for the whole business.
Is QuickBooks or similar the right tool for this? I'm leaning towards an online tool but without know knowing the lingo of accounting software it is difficult to determine which "level" of QBO or Xero or similar I would need.
Finally, would it be possible to run my personal finances with the same tool? For the personal side, I need transaction download for personal banking, credit cards, equity investments, and similar. It would be very valuable to me if I could reconcile my personal accounts and run my fledgling RE business in the same workflow.