All Forum Posts by: Max Emory

 Hey @Nelisa Lee, @Gregory Schwartz is referring to the profit & loss within QBO not showing the cash flow of each property since it does not factor in things like principal paydown, PITI escrow payments, CapEx, etc (those are balance sheet accounts).

However, the "statement of cash flows" report within QBO combines balance sheet accounts with data from the profit & loss to show cash flow (aka what happened to cash over the period).

And, an easier way to allocate monthly loan/mortgage payments is to split the transactions directly from the QBO bank feed rather than create journal entries. We try to limit the number of journal entries as much as possible as a general rule in bookkeeping. Keeps things cleaner. 

Although, REI does require a ton of journal entries compared to other industries haha.

Hey @Jeff S., yes, we purely operate on QuickBooks Online and love it. It integrates directly with our operations management software and Client Portal. We're familiar with most of the REI-specific software since we've tried them in the past. But, we switched over to QBO as the master accounting software for all Clients because it's more efficient for us and has more powerful reporting features.

The price has increased lately but all of our Clients get our ProAdvisor discount which helps out.

@Gregory Schwartz, we use the statement of cash flows within QBO to calculate cash flow per property/entity/etc. It does take a little finagling but our processes are set up for it since we purely use QBO for all Clients.

@Landon Mizuguchi, nice. Does your software allow you to have a 100% accurate balance sheet per separate filing entity? That's usually the main issue we see with QBO. Other than that, it's great for what we do for REIs (and myself as an REI).

Hey @Tyler Gilpin, once you have more than a few properties, you'll want to consider software. But, excel is totally fine in the beginning.

We use QuickBooks Online exclusively for all of our REI Clients. I use it for my personal portfolio as well. We've found it has superior reporting features, integration features, and is overall more efficient to work within than other REI-specific software.

The downside is QBO is not set up for REI so you'll need to do that or work with an expert to ensure it is set up for your business appropriately.

Something else to keep in mind is your entity structure and how your entities file tax returns. As a general rule, each entity that files a separate tax return (partnership, s-corp, c-corp, etc) will need its own QBO subscription. If entities are disregarded, you can keep up with more than 1 in a single QBO account using the location/business feature to keep track of them separately.

If you want to discuss any of this further, I'm happy to answer questions and help walk you through it.

Best of luck!

Hey @Tyler Gilpin, once you have more than a few properties, you'll want to consider software. But, excel is totally fine in the beginning.

We use QuickBooks Online exclusively for all of our REI Clients. I use it for my personal portfolio as well. We've found it has superior reporting features, integration features, and is overall more efficient to work within than other REI-specific software.

The downside is QBO is not set up for REI so you'll need to do that or work with an expert to ensure it is set up for your business appropriately.

Something else to keep in mind is your entity structure and how your entities file tax returns. As a general rule, each entity that files a separate tax return (partnership, s-corp, c-corp, etc) will need its own QBO subscription. If entities are disregarded, you can keep up with more than 1 in a single QBO account using the location/business feature to keep track of them separately.

If you want to discuss any of this further, I'm happy to answer questions and help walk you through it.

Best of luck!

@Andrew C., we track all the data per each fixed asset in Google Sheets and it's a part of our monthly/yearly processes to input the appropriate adjusting journal entries so the depreciation and amortization are reflected on the financial reports on a monthly basis for each fixed asset.

We have a depreciation worksheet, an amortization worksheet, and another worksheet that details all other aspects of each fixed asset (placed in service date, type of property, partners, etc etc) per client.

It's nothing fancy but it works for us. We keep them up to date on a monthly basis.

When our clients' tax pros file their tax returns, we get a copy and make any necessary adjustments so each client's fixed asset balances match their previous tax returns. We refer to this as reconciling to the previous tax return.

As far as where to get the information to calculate some of these values, most of it can be derived from the closing/settlement documents for the fixed asset.

To calculate depreciation, amortization, etc, you'll dig through IRS publications. Riveting stuff haha.

@Jeffrey Albaum, some of our clients have had good experiences with BuilderTrend as a project management software. It directly integrates with QuickBooks Online (which we recommend for your accounting software).

Happy to discuss further. Best of luck!

Hey @Jan Neruh Kelsey, I'll second @Jake Baker. 

Once you have more than a few properties, you'll want to consider a software. But, excel is totally fine in the beginning.

We use QuickBooks Online exclusively for all of our REI Clients. I use it for my personal portfolio as well. We've found it has superior reporting features, integration features, and is overall more efficient to work within than other REI-specific software.

The downside is QBO is not set up for REI so you'll need to do that or work with an expert to ensure it is set up for your business appropriately.

Something else to keep in mind is your entity structure and how your entities file tax returns. As a general rule, each entity that files a separate tax return (partnership, s-corp, c-corp, etc) will need its own QBO subscription. If entities are disregarded, you can keep up with more than 1 in a single QBO account using the location/business feature to keep track of them separately.

If you want to discuss any of this further, I'm happy to answer questions and help walk you through it.

Best of luck!

@Austin Jones, to @Simon W.'s point, we use QuickBooks Online exclusively for all of our REI Clients but I've heard great things about Xero. It's definitely worth checking out!

Hey @Brent Bagen, for bookkeeping, we use QuickBooks Online exclusively for all of our REI Clients. I use it for my personal portfolio as well. We've found it has superior reporting features, integration features, and is overall more efficient to work within than other REI-specific software.

The downside is QBO is not set up for REI so you'll need to do that or work with an expert to ensure it is set up for your business appropriately.

For tenant management, our Clients use Doorloop, Buildium, Appfolio, etc. This will depend some on your portfolio's size.

Best of luck!