Hola,
I was curious if anyone had recommendations on software or a training manual to properly setup and manage real estate investing thru Quickbooks. I have used Quickbooks for years with another business I had but setting it up for real estate has been a big pain in the rear!
Any suggestions, ideas?
Thx in advance!
use classes for each property. then you only need one expense account (repairs, for example) and use a different class to break out the expense by property (repairs: 123 main street).
You can get a P&L by class - by property - which greatly simplifies both management and tax time.
Can’t do that with assets, though.
just my 0.02
Thanks Mark!
Ok, so now that I have each property as a “class”, how do I enter tenants? Do I enter them as a customer and use invoicing to create the security deposits, lease payments, etc…?
tenants are customers, but unless you’re operating an apartment complex, I wouldn’t bother with invoicing. Just enter deposits to whatever general ledger account is appropriate. You probably have a good idea who owes and who is paid. don’t make it more complicated than it needs to be.
Ok. So if I like to create invoices for rent, I assume I just attach it to that class? I just tried it and it seemed to work. 
Ill keep messing with it and send a note over if I have trouble! Thanks for your time and assistance!
Ok, I am :banghead so I will just schedule some time with my accountant. Mark you did help but I think I want to do too much and I will work with him to makes sure it make sense for end of year processing, etc… Thanks so much!
If anyone still has any suggestions for user friendly books to set this up, I would still be interested.
John Hyre has a QuickBooks plug in that gives you a chart of accounts and a detailed user guide. You can purchase it from the product catalog at this site. Here is the link
Thanks for the plug, Dave T.
I am a little biased in favor of my product - I would note that it is “recession” priced and we get very few returns (<1%), with many positive comments on it. We do try to keep it simple, b/c investors will not spend any more time than they must on admin, even if that time creates nice bells and whistles.
John – So it works with Quicken? I just receive my first copy of Quicken property manager and I am trying to set it up. Should I wait and get your product before I set it up or are there any recommendations you can make as to setting up quicken to prepare for your software?
I have a ton of questions on how to set up Quicken for the best way to take advantage of tax laws and also the best way to “pay yourself”, save for future investments, and give to charity. Through the LLC, or to myself (labor) and then divide?
Thanks Tamara
Don’t confuse Quicken Rental Property Manager with Quickbooks. The two are completely different.
John’s KISS bookkeeping guide is designed around Quickbooks.