All Forum Posts by: Max Emory

Hey @Greg Wasmuth, I have a large network of bookkeepers who specialize in serving REIs that I can refer. What's your portfolio look like (what type of rentals; how many; SFH/MFH; etc)? Just rentals or do you do any flipping/wholesaling/etc? Any other businesses you need bookkeeping help with?

If you don't want to share all that here, I get it. You can shoot me a DM.

I'll relay your info to my group and shoot over some bookkeepers who work with Stessa for you to interview.

Happy to help!

Hey @J Newman, I see this is a controversial topic haha. There are different ways of skinning this but I'll tell you what works for our Clients. We track properties using the customer feature. So, the property is the customer and each unit within the property is a sub-customer. 

We use the Location/Business feature to track multiple disregarded entities within 1 QBO. Entities that are not "disregarded" need their own QBO to ensure their balance sheets remain 100% accurate.

To @Jake Baker's point, we do run into an issue every now and then with some transactions that don't allow us to designate the customer/property but we've found ways to get around this and still have the transaction reflect the appropriate customer/property.

This allows us to pull all the financial reports our Clients and their tax pros need to see.

I'm in no way saying our way is the end-all-be-all but it works for us and our Clients' tax filers/advisors.

There's a FB group called, "Bookkeepers for Real Estate Investors". Your bookkeeper may want to check it out!

Hey @Brian Plajer, it depends on what that $500/mo covers. I would be weary due to that being so cheap. They must be doing a ton of volume for that amount to be worth their time. So, I would inquire as to how much attention they will be able to give you. But, at your current size, you may not need a ton of attention.

Any decent REI-savvy tax advisor will save you a whole lot more than $6k/yr using basic tax strategies available to REIs. But, that doesn't mean you need their help on a monthly basis. You can achieve that by hopping on a quarterly 30min-1hr call.

We don't provide tax services but have a lot of experience collaborating with our Clients' tax pros and I've taken advantage of tax strategy services as an REI myself. So, wanted to jump in!

If you have any questions about your bookkeeping, I'm happy to answer your questions (for free). You'll need some accurate and timely bookkeeping records for them to take a look at as they're advising you.

Here to help!

@Mikhail Egorov, for your first few properties a Google sheet or excel will work just fine to keep up with your income and expenses per property. If you know what should and shouldn't be capitalized, you can get fancier with it. You could even create a free Stessa account if you want a software.

When you get past ~3-5 properties, I recommend QuickBooks Online. We use QBO exclusively for all of our REI Clients. 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/passthrough, 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.

Best of luck!

@Priti Gupta, definitely separate accounts for the "business" side of your househack. It makes your bookkeeping and tax filing a breeze at year-end. Your tax pro will thank you and you'll keep your sanity.

For considering entity structure, consult with an attorney and let them know your plans for the property. And, make sure this is good with your tax pro and doesn't present any negative consequences on the tax side (throughout your investing journey).

I'm on my 2nd househack now. Great job!

@Becca Pariser, Relay has an official partnership with Profit First and I've heard good things.

Hey @Dan Panea, I'm also located in NC! But, we provide specialized bookkeeping services for REIs all around the U.S.

If you don't currently have the funds to hire a professional bookkeeping firm due to being in "start up" mode, I recommend keeping up with your income/expenses using excel or a free software such as Stessa.

Once your cash flow grows, hire a professional bookkeeping firm that specializes in serving REIs. This will save you a ton of time, energy, and frustration.

I'll leave the tax-side to the tax pros here but just ensure all of your financial team members specialize in real estate.

I'm happy to discuss more and will help any way I can.

Hey @Steve Dunford, I lived in OR for a little bit. Love it out there! 

I own a cloud-based bookkeeping firm that specializes in serving real estate investors all over the U.S. We're real estate investor-owned, veteran-owned, and 100% remote. All Team Members are U.S.-based, Bookkeeper Launch certified, and QBO ProAdvisor certified (also, experienced with common REI PM/Project Management software such as Appfolio, Buildium, DoorLoop, BuilderTrend, etc etc).

We have a Client Portal you can run those receipts through to get rid of the shoebox!

I also run a large community of bookkeepers who serve the REI industry. So, lots of people to connect you with to find the right fit.

If you have any other specific questions, I'm here to help just like everyone else in the BP forums. 

There are a lot of great bookkeepers and accountants in this community!

I hope this helps!

@Kyle Wainwright, lots of good options here!

How's your bookkeeping looking? I know you said you're a small investor but are you currently keeping your financials organized to make things easier on your tax advisor and tax filer?

I'm happy to discuss more with you and help any way I can.

Hey @Susan Passaro, once you have more than a few properties, you'll want to consider QuickBooks Online (QBO). We use QBO exclusively for all of our REI Clients. 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/passthrough, 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!