Bookkeeping and Operations
Rodolfo MercadoPro Member
Member since 2025 · 2 posts · 0 votesBookkeeping and Operations
Most Popular Reply
Investor · Pflugerville, TX · Member since 2014 · 152 posts · 95 votes
2moIf you are working on your first few deals you don't have to immediately jump into software, excel and attention to detail will get you by. I do not have any experience with Base Lane but do have a lot with other software programs. After a couple of decades of real estate investing I landed on Quickbooks as it is the most commonly accepted by accountants come tax time. If you can try a software for a few months without being locked in that is better than committing to a year subscription then realizing that it wont do all that you need.
In the beginning I tried Quickbooks and found it to be pretty daunting and went to excel spreadsheets, which got me by for many years. I tried Quicken Property Manager (no longer available) which was better and then Quicken Business which was only OK and my accountant could not work with the files easily.
As my real estate journey got more complex I ended back up with Quickbooks Online and really had to spend the time to figure out how to set it up correctly. We did land flips, fix/flips, long term rentals, owner finance deals and all the software had limitations with how they handled these situations.
12 Replies
- Investor · Pflugerville, TX · Member since 2014 · 152 posts · 95 votes2mo
If you are working on your first few deals you don't have to immediately jump into software, excel and attention to detail will get you by. I do not have any experience with Base Lane but do have a lot with other software programs. After a couple of decades of real estate investing I landed on Quickbooks as it is the most commonly accepted by accountants come tax time. If you can try a software for a few months without being locked in that is better than committing to a year subscription then realizing that it wont do all that you need.
In the beginning I tried Quickbooks and found it to be pretty daunting and went to excel spreadsheets, which got me by for many years. I tried Quicken Property Manager (no longer available) which was better and then Quicken Business which was only OK and my accountant could not work with the files easily.
As my real estate journey got more complex I ended back up with Quickbooks Online and really had to spend the time to figure out how to set it up correctly. We did land flips, fix/flips, long term rentals, owner finance deals and all the software had limitations with how they handled these situations.
- Accountant · Long Island, NY · Member since 2021 · 184 posts · 148 votes2mo
Quote from @Christopher Gilbert:
If you are working on your first few deals you don't have to immediately jump into software, excel and attention to detail will get you by. I do not have any experience with Base Lane but do have a lot with other software programs. After a couple of decades of real estate investing I landed on Quickbooks as it is the most commonly accepted by accountants come tax time. If you can try a software for a few months without being locked in that is better than committing to a year subscription then realizing that it wont do all that you need.
In the beginning I tried Quickbooks and found it to be pretty daunting and went to excel spreadsheets, which got me by for many years. I tried Quicken Property Manager (no longer available) which was better and then Quicken Business which was only OK and my accountant could not work with the files easily.
As my real estate journey got more complex I ended back up with Quickbooks Online and really had to spend the time to figure out how to set it up correctly. We did land flips, fix/flips, long term rentals, owner finance deals and all the software had limitations with how they handled these situations.
As @Christopher Gilbert stated - QBO could be daunting at first, but is widely recognized as the best software to handle mostly everything from businesses to rentals.
I've worked with Baselane as it grows (newer software) and it's definitely more user friendly I would say. If you get the hang of Baselane for rental properties specifically, there is no need for a switch. Use whatever you feel comfortable with.
I would say I'm not a fan of Stessa or Wave, which seem to have BS limitations. Baselane and QBO are the better of the bunch
- 2moDenise SuppleeBusiness MemberRealtor · Willow Grove, PA · Member since 2017 · 991 posts · 647 votes
You're off to a great start, and it's great to see you're staying persistent. I'd focus on using the system that keeps you organized and works well for you. As your business grows, you'll have a better idea of whether you need something more robust.Wishing you much success with your first deal!
Spark Rental Co-Investing Club582 Reviews It depends on how fast you want to scale. If you want to do it slowly, start with free software or simple excel sheet to track your transactions.
Set up a dedicated bank account (emphasis added) for the property (and a dedicated credit card if possible) so all business transactions flow through the same accounts. This keeps your records clean and avoids commingling personal and rental transactions.Each month, download your bank and credit card transactions into a spreadsheet and add a few key columns, such as Payee/Tenant, Description, Property, and Unit (if applicable). Developing this habit early will make bookkeeping, tax preparation, and future growth much easier.
- 2moJason MalabuteBusiness MemberAccountant · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 906 votes
On the software question, QuickBooks Online can feel pretty daunting when you first open it, but it's widely regarded as the most capable option out there and handles just about everything from operating businesses to rentals. Baselane is newer and, in my experience, noticeably more user-friendly, so if you've already got the hang of it for your rentals specifically, there's really no need to rush a switch. I'm not a fan of Stessa or Wave, they tend to come with frustrating limitations, so of the bunch, Baselane and QBO are the two I'd point people toward. At the end of the day, use whichever one you'll actually stay consistent with, because the best system is the one you keep up with.
Malabute & Company CPAs525 Reviews - 2moAaron WeikleBusiness MemberMember since 2026 · 82 posts · 24 votes
First thing I would suggest is that you should setup your banking with a group that you can build a relationship with. That will pay you dividends and will also ease the burden when it comes time to get a mortgage or a refi. Online banking solutions are flaky at best so be cautious there.
When it comes to accounting platforms like QuickBooks be aware they are designed and built to be EXTREMELY flexible. This is great if you want to support multiple industries buts it terrible if you want to ensure things are done correctly. The flexibility of these systems tends to empower bookkeepers and accountants to do things their own way.
True story, I have hired and fired 5 different bookkeepers over the last 7ish years and every time I have hired a new one there is always an up front "clean-up" fee because the last bookkeeper did it wrong. Even if they are "Real Estate Experienced" the application of accounting process is different for each and every one of them! Even when I hired a bookkeeper and CPA team I had to pay for the CPA to "clean-up" the chart of accounts because too many of them were in the Other Expense category.
All the variability ends up getting paid for when it really matters.... at Tax time because guess what? IRS doesn't care how your accountant or bookkeeper does there books their list of expense categories as very specific and you then have to map all of those accounts into those categories. Time consuming and costly regardless if you are doing it or your CPA is.
I would suggest you use a bank that provides you better localized serivces that you can use in the future for loans and other needs. As for accounting go with an industry built solution like I use that helps you to navigate the operational workflow from acquisition to taxation the right way and provides the pre-populated tax forms you actually need at the end of the year.
- 2moAaron ZimmermanBusiness MemberAccountant · Chicago, IL · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
I'd say use what's free for now and then evaluate if it's working later.
Brick House CPAs53 Reviews - 2moBasit SiddiqiBusiness MemberAccountant · New York, NY · Member since 2015 · 8k+ posts · 3k+ votes
I would focus moreso on your ability to put in more offers/acquiring a property instead of what comes after the acquisition.
It takes 30+ days to close on a property once you are under contract if you are using a mortgage. You can focus on accounting software after getting under contract.
If you are looking for a software, I would recommend REIHUB over QBO, Stessa, baselane.
Best of luck
Basit Siddiqi CPA4.979 Reviews - 2moAndrew SeverinoBusiness MemberBroker / Owner / Real Estate Investor · Fairhope, AL · Member since 2017 · 36 posts · 14 votes
I would start with Quickbooks. It only seems daunting for real estate investor newbies because a lot of the features are for different businesses - invoicing, employees etc. and they are for and center. If Quickbooks is set up properly with classes, it works great for investment property portfolios that are smaller. I can help you with this, I have helped others set their QB up the correct way initially for property management. One thing I like about using Quickbooks is I have never had [problems, with bank syncs, I save a lot of time compared to the old days importing all my bank and credit card transactions automatically and just logging inactive nd categorizing them properly. If you need to more complex things like tracking liability accounts with principal payments on amortized loans, you can do that as well pretty easily.
I've been investing in Georgia since 2018 and currently manage 5+ properties (feel free to check out my profile for details).
Based on my experience, if you only own a single property, platform setups like Baselane aren't necessarily the best fit—I've outlined my own preferred solution on my profile page.
Beyond software, my biggest piece of advice for new buyers right now is: do not buy in the second half of the year. Closing on a rental heading into the fall/winter holiday season can be brutal—tenant demand drops significantly, and extended vacancy over the holidays will eat into your margins very quickly.
- 1moLucas PolowickPro MemberSpecialist · Vancouver · Member since 2026 · 2 posts · 1 vote
Baselane is probably fine to start with, they make money on deposits which keeps their software free. Also, keeping expenses low by using excel/google sheets works as well. Once you start adding multiple LLCs and properties, Quickbooks is the best choice as you transition to hiring a bookkeeper.
I would caution setting up and using Quickbooks yourself if you don't have an accounting background, I've seen too many people try to do their own books to save money and it ends up costing them more in the end because come tax time their books need to be cleaned up, chart of accounts rebuilt, etc. - Investor · Pacific Northwest · Member since 2026 · 538 posts · 309 votes1mo
I’d skip all of them for now.
QuickBooks, Baselane, Stessa, Wave, REI-specific accounting platforms — they're all variations of the same basic idea: take financial activity that already happened, categorize it, and produce reports.
That’s useful. It’s also the wrong place to start.
QuickBooks is extremely flexible because it has to work for everything, which means you end up designing your own system inside the software. Baselane and Stessa simplify that by making more decisions for you, but now you’re operating inside somebody else’s version of how a rental business should work. The niche platforms usually just move that same problem around.
Then your portfolio changes, you add entities, partners, different deal types, financing, renovations, dispositions, whatever — and suddenly the “simple” system becomes the thing you’re fighting.
I’d build the information structure first: clean accounts, clean source data, consistent transaction records, property/entity attribution, receipts and documents attached to the underlying activity, and an audit trail that can move into whatever accounting layer you eventually choose.
Then the accounting software becomes an output, not your operating system.
There are much better ways to architect this than picking a vendor and building your business around its limitations.
If you have questions about how I’d structure it, reach out. Happy to walk through it.
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