Property management & rentals
Bookkeeping for property managers and rental owners
Rental bookkeeping is really several sets of books that have to agree: one per property, one per owner, and one for the business itself.
A portfolio reported only in total tells you the rentals made money. It does not tell you that one property has been subsidizing another for two years, which is the thing worth knowing before a renewal or a sale.
Money that belongs to someone else makes it more serious than most small business bookkeeping. Security deposits and rent collected on an owner's behalf are held funds, and the accounting has to reflect that plainly.
Where the books go wrong
What we look at first
Everything reported in total
Without per-property tracking, a weak unit disappears inside a strong one and stays hidden until it cannot be.Security deposits treated as income
A deposit is the tenant's money held by the business. It belongs in a liability account, matched to funds actually held.Repairs and improvements mixed together
Fixing a faucet and replacing a roof are not the same thing in the accounts. Recording them alike creates work, and questions, at year end.Owner draws and mortgage payments recorded as expenses
Principal is not an expense and a draw is not a cost. Both are common, and both distort the property's real performance.
What we do each month
- Income and expenses tracked per property, and per unit where it matters
- Rent roll reconciled to what was actually collected
- Security deposits held in a liability account and matched to the funds on hand
- Mortgage payments split between interest, principal and escrow
- Repairs recorded separately from improvements, with detail your tax preparer can work from
- Owner statements prepared so the money in, money out and balance all tie
Setting up QuickBooks for it
In QuickBooks Online, each property is a class or location and each unit a sub-customer, which gives per-property statements without a separate file for every building.
Security deposits sit in their own liability account, ideally matched by a separate bank account so the balance can be proved at any time.
Where you already run a property management platform, QuickBooks receives summarized figures from it rather than duplicating the tenant ledger.
Carey is a QuickBooks Online Advanced ProAdvisor, so a file can be set up, cleaned up or migrated as part of the same engagement — see QuickBooks services.
Reporting
The numbers worth watching
Net operating income by property
What each property earns after operating costs, before financing. The comparison that drives most decisions.Vacancy and collection loss
Scheduled rent against rent actually received, so a quiet problem becomes a visible one.Maintenance cost per unit
Which units keep asking for money, tracked over a long enough period to mean something.
Questions we are asked
We use property management software already. Do we still need bookkeeping?
Often yes, in a smaller form. Management platforms handle tenants, leases and rent collection well. They are not a general ledger, and the business still needs reconciled accounts, correct treatment of deposits, mortgages and improvements, and financial statements. We make the two agree rather than replacing what works.
Can you advise on whether a repair is deductible?
That is a tax question for your CPA. What we do is record repairs and improvements separately with enough description that your adviser can make the call quickly, instead of asking you what a payment from eight months ago was for.
Start with a conversation
Let's look at your books together
Tell us about your church or business and where your bookkeeping stands. Carey will follow up to arrange a consultation, and you'll receive a written scope before any work begins.