All Forum Posts by: Max Emory

@Julia Myers, I use QuickBooks Online. I like having access no matter where I am. Are your two companies related or under an overarching management company? You could get 1 QBO Plus subscription and track each individual company's transactions using the location/business tracking feature. 

If you're just looking for a P/L, it may be hard to justify the monthly fee for QBO. QBO is pretty powerful and can pull a ton of different types of statements. I would weigh how much time QBO would save you by being able to automate a lot of your bookkeeping if you have a lot of recurring transactions for your businesses.

What are some software and apps that you guys have found helpful to manage your business(s)?


Here are the few software/apps I currently use every single day.

-G Suite: Sales & Operations Management

-QuickBooks Online: Accounting

-Trello + @canva: Social Media Campaign Management

-Social Media: Marketing

Some additional ones that I use weekly are below.

-Zoom

-Whatsapp

-Geniusscan

-Docusign

-REI Hub

-Stessa

Some software we are potentially moving towards are below.

-Asana: Sales & Operations Management

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Real Estate Investor | USMC Veteran

80/20 Rule Reminder: 

I try to always keep this rule in the back of my mind. It's a super useful tool to help trim fat in a business.

No matter what your business is or what you invest in, it's likely that 20% of your products/clients/properties/etc generate 80% of your revenue. This same rule can be applied to other numbers within your business as well.

So, consider putting more time, energy, and focus into that 20% that generates the majority of the results you are after. Simultaneously, consider cutting some of the 80% (fat) to yield better results and begin to optimize your business/investments.

I hope this helps!

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Real Estate Investor | USMC Veteran

Your friendly neighborhood reminder to not wait until the end of the year to address your books.

Do yourself a favor! If you haven't already done so, go ahead and get them cleaned up to a state to where you can use them to make decisions that are in your best financial interests.

Allow yourself to continue the rest of this year elevated and more secure!

I hope this reminder helps someone!

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Real Estate Investor | USMC Veteran

You hate to see it.

A reminder that whoever is involved with the financial side of your business should have intimate experience in and/or with your industry.
Real Estate Investing is a unique beast when it comes to the books.

---A real estate investor may have LTRs, STRs, commercial spaces, flips, and wholesales all under one business (not recommended).

---Constantly adding new flips and rentals to the books and disposing of flips and rentals that were just sold using different methods. 

---Accounting for flip repairs differently than rental repairs/CapEx.

---Making sure transactions are property-specific and entity-specific appropriately.

---The list goes on and on and on

All I'm saying is vet the people you're trusting with a super important side of your business. I hope this helps!

I hope this helps!

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 Real Estate Investor | USMC Veteran

You can do this yourself if you have the TIME to spend. 

It comes down to having a bookkeeping system with documented processes that make up your system.

A process for…

—keeping up with receipts and paperwork for each transaction that flows through your business.

—categorizing transactions in a way that gives you the best financial picture of your business.

—managing your financial account structure.

—managing your cash flow to make sure each section of your business has what it needs (including paying yourself).

—managing bills and sending invoices.

—reconciling your accounts regularly to make sure everything is accounted for.

—analyzing your financial statements regularly to stay on top of positive and negative trends. This ultimately helps you better make strategic decisions for your business.

—etc

—etc

—etc

More often than not, your time as an investor and/or small business owner can be used on other revenue-generating tasks that you are better at and that will push the needle in your business.

I hope this helps!

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Unfortunately, the burden of proving and qualifying business transactions for the IRS is on us as the investors and small business owners.

Most people think if the IRS can’t prove something wasn’t a business expense in an audit then they’re good to claim it but that’s not the case. The burden of proof is always on us.

Receipts, activity logs, pictures, paperwork, etc for all transactions is key!

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Bookkeeping Professional | Real Estate Investor | USMC Veteran

Depreciation for real estate investors is magic. I couldn’t agree with Tom Wheelwright more.

I’m still trying to figure out how we are allowed to take a tax deduction for an asset that generally appreciates.
I can’t seem to make the math work… Oh well, I’ll take it!

Circling back to when I mentioned Uncle Sam incentivizing certain behaviors…buy some real estate.

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Bookkeeping Professional | Real Estate Investor | USMC Veteran

It's incredible. It's magic. It's delightful.

QuickBooks, Stessa, Mile IQ, and Google Drive are four of my most used apps for my personal bookkeeping.

And, I encourage my clients to make a habit of using these and others that make sense and make their lives easier (and mine) as well.

I hope this helps!

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Bookkeeping Professional | Real Estate Investor | USMC Veteran

Your financial team (meaning CPAs and a Bookkeeping Professional or two for most of us small business owners and investors) should have significant experience in or with your industry.

They should be an operator in your industry and/or your industry should be their niche for their accounting/financial business. You should be their “ideal” client.

For real estate investors, this means your financial team members should invest in real estate themselves or have previous experience doing so. If not, at a minimum, they should primarily serve real estate investors in their accounting/financial practice.

Your financial team speaking your language from the get-go and bringing you value within your industry rather than you having to teach them your industry will be huge for your business!

Less time & energy spent on the financial side of your business means you have more time & energy to devote to those higher revenue generating activities.

I hope this helps!

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 | Real Estate Investor | USMC Veteran