10 Property Management Bookkeeping Basics

All these questions can be answered when you have a good accounting system that is updated regularly. Download our brief brochure for a quick overview of all of the services we offer. FreshBooks lets you work with many custom forms and parameters for work.

• Some of our clients simply want us to set up their accounting system then they will take over the monthly accounting function, but still have our Accounting Advisors available should issues arise.
• We understand the sensitive nature of changing the way you do business, and we’ll be here to support you every step of the way.
• Below, we review the critical accounting terms you should learn to do your property management accounting.
• The most obvious example is the properties themselves, but this can also include any cash deposits, land, and your accounts receivable.

Available for AppFolio, Buildium, Propertyware, & Rent Manager. Too busy managing 200+ units to stay on top of your bookkeeping? No in-house accounting team to make sure your financials are in order? Even if your collections are up-to-date, there’s always going to be that one expense that you didn’t see coming. Instead of scrambling to come up with the cash to cover a last-minute purchase, or even lost revenue from an owner who parted ways, keep a rainy-day fund. Look at your expenses over the previous year, especially the unexpected ones, and try to put aside enough money to cover similar costs for the year to come.

Services

Most property managers spend a ton of time each month trying to get their tenants to pay overdue rent. We’ll help you get in the habit of collecting management fees on a regular schedule. real estate bookkeeping A regular schedule will help you to collect your fees, which, in turn, will keep your business in the black. Full-service monthly bookkeeping for scaling property managers.

• This is always either a product or a service that you use to run your business in some form, such as the bill for a contractor to fix a property.
• This is when managing your finances on a spreadsheet begins to become too tedious and inefficient.
• We can help — SLC Bookkeeping is a certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor.
• A typical early accounting mistake is to do your property and other business transactions from a personal account.
• That said, a lot has changed throughout the pandemic—and will likely continue to do so with the goal of stimulating the economy.

However, we’ve found that landlords should generally begin considering outsourcing at around 3-4 properties. This is when managing your finances on a spreadsheet begins to become too tedious and inefficient. Starts with understanding where you are, then building a strategy and framework to meet the needs of your business and plans for growth. It has a good balance of features, though it misses some critical features such as work order management and calendar management. Wild Apricot is a dedicated HOA management software for small associations.

Bookkeeping

In many cases, we’ve had clients delegate this responsibility to an assistant, office manager, or another staff member, further reducing the amount of time our clients need to spend on this process. Meet your accounting advisor to discuss your business, engagement expectations, timeline, and transfer the information required to complete your engagement. Some bookkeeping software programs focus on specific real estate industries. Sage 300 has a construction-focused version of its bookkeeping program available for your use. Realtyzam is a cloud-based solution that lets you review your expenses and track fees and other things that might enter your business. TOPS lets you manage Condominium and Homeowners Associations with all aspects of property management integrated and address the need of organizations of all sizes.

Managing multiple locations, service requests, updates, and amenities can be burdensome, and all of that is before you even think of collecting rent from your tenants. Chances are, you got into property management to turn a profit, and you shouldn’t have to find yourself drowning in a backlog of financial issues. Each month, you’ll get audit-ready financial statements and reports. Instead of confusing you with unnecessary charts and jargon, our reports make it easy for you to understand your business’ financial situation. Solid bookkeeping for property management not only keeps you in the black, but it also keeps your business compliant and reduces the risk of liability.