Learning Book Keeping

[Colin Reid]

I need to learn how to bookkeep. Until now, my real estate investing has been sloppy and amateur. I have three SFRs, two of which were my primary residences. I know I'm making money because there's money in the accounts from rent income, and I pay the mortgage and repairs out of those accounts. Positive numbers mean I'm in-fact making money. But that's about all I know.

I've attempted to learn Quickbooks in the past, and it's overwhelming. My dad is a CPA and tried to give me a crash course, but I still can't wrap my head around it, especially double-entry accounting. I paid for a recommended "quickbooks for real estate" type of book (don't remember the name, but I believe it was recommended here) which I both couldn't grasp, and disagreed with my dad's methods.

I feel like I need to keep more professional books to grow my business. I don't want to pay someone to do it yet, because I want to understand it.

Are there generic (meaning non-real estate specific) courses online you'd recommend? Should I take a class at the local community college? How did you learn to maintain your financials for your business?