Rental Property Accounting & Bookkeeping 101: Landlord’s Guide

rental property bookkeeping

MRI Software has been in business since 1971, a testament to its reliability and expertise in providing a variety of services to clients across different industries. Buildium integrates with several outside software platforms, including TransUnion, RevSpring, MSI, Nelco, Happy Inspector, PayNearMe, and more. This solid list of integrations, the recognition it has received from G2 and Capterra, and its active updates to resolve issues make it a reliable platform. Premium also allows you to have up to 5,000 units and offers features like Business Analytics and Insights and Buildium Rewards.

Furthermore, it integrates with other common programs and can be learned by landlords with little accounting experience while still meeting the needs of more advanced users. Property Matrix serves accountants, investors, and property managers through its numerous affiliates, such as the National Apartment Association and the American Apartment Owners Association. Users can customize the features they use, making it suitable for any experience level. However, enterprise-level landlords and their accountants will benefit more than small and medium-sized landlords due to the robust accounting software. The Plus tier stands out for accounting because the advanced performance insights and revenue management take the strong bookkeeping tools to the next level of business growth. To help you choose the right property management software, we have compared them based on their features, pricing plans, pros and cons, etc.

How to categorize rental expenses

Next, your banking needs to be built out to optimize for the above real estate accounting best practices. It’s impossible to plan for every unexpected expense, but experienced property managers typically know how to budget for these events. And rental property accounting software helps them set aside these funds. Not only does it help you stay organized rental property bookkeeping and keep track of your income and expenses, but it also allows you to identify trends and potential problems early on. Rental bookkeeping software can be a good alternative to using a spreadsheet. These programs often have features specifically designed for tracking rental income and expenses, making them easier to use than a spreadsheet.

  • With the Plus tier, you also get a variety of strategic performance insights to scale your portfolio.
  • Buildium is a property management software that helps property managers and landlords with rental property management, accounting, leasing, and maintenance.
  • As a landlord, rental property owner, or real estate investor, you know that bookkeeping is essential to the success of your business.
  • This will help you keep track of the condition of the property, and any damage that may have occurred.
  • Schedule E forms essentially provide a summary of rental income and expenses for each property owned by the landlord.

Perhaps most critically, it can help you accurately account for rental property depreciation. Accounting software for rental properties allows you to record daily bookkeeping items, track receipts, create reports, and prepare for tax season in minutes instead of hours (or days). Rental property accounting, when done correctly, brings about valuable benefits for any business owner. Advantages include safeguarding your business against debt or fraud, forecasting future expenses, and saving time and resources during tax season. Rental property owners can use bookkeeping to their advantage to track the financial flows for each property so that they can fine-tune their operations.