Tracking Rental Property income and finances

[Kenton C.]

How do you guys track rental income from your properties? More specifically, do you put it into a bank account (savings or checking) that is specifically for your rentals? What are the disadvantages/ advantages. I only have 1 property so far, and am not operating under an LLC.

I am also setting aside a % of my rental income for vacancies, and repairs. Do you group save this into the same account where all your rental income goes and just track the amount thats supposed to be for vacancies and repairs via a spreadsheet or something? Is it suggested that I open a credit card for my real estate matters only?

[Account Closed]

QuickBooks Pro has been taking care of landlord needs for as long as I can remember.  It is a stable software program that you can purchase at your local office supply store.

QuickBooks is always striving to make itself user friendly and giving it's customers what they want.

QuickBooks has a feature called the "Class Feature".  This keeps track of all your properties individually.  How much income each property individually made, how much money you dished out in expenses per property individually, each unit inside an apartment building etc., and then gives you your bottom line.

You know how much money you made in profit on each individual property any time of the day, any hour, any minute, any week, any month, you type in the date and run the Profit and Loss Report by Class and voila you know exactly where you stand to the penny any time you want on whatever property you choose to view. 

No matter what software program you buy, you will have to learn how to use it.  Nobody can just jump into any endeavor and know how to do it.  Everything we do in life, takes some reading, or studying, or learning, e.g.,  how to walk, talk, read, write, and become adults, and then business people.  That's how life is.  

So when we choose a software program we want to choose one that not only is quicker to learn, but is easy to understand and that is why I recommend QuickBooks.  It is great for landlords who have only one property or 100 and has been for over 20 years. 

Nancy Neville