Hiring a VA for Quickbooks

[Pavlos Kasselouris]

I just reached a point in my business that I need to improve my bookkeeping systems and procedures. I feel that with the 5th property I can support the cost of buying Quickbooks.

BUT I dont want to spend hours and hours training to learn it. I will do some seminars in Lynda, but that just to get a taste. I decided that I will hire a VA from upwork ( I already found one and interviewed her) to set it up and maybe do once a month my book keeping.

My questions are:

1) She said that she will create a QB file and set up the accounting system in her computer . Once she's done she will send the back up to me. Then I can restore it and check it. Also, each month she will update entries in QB file and send the back up. Same deal, I will restore and check her work. Does this make sense?

2) What information and in what format should I send her? I was thinking the a. Chart of Accounts that I want to use (I took this from J. Scott when I purchased his book) b. bank transactions and cc statements c. export in excel format from my PM software (I use RENTEC direct)

Any more advise you think of in automatising my bookkeeping procedures I would appreciate.

[Jana Cain]

@Pavlos Kasselouris My clients provide me with access to their bank accounts so I can pull the statements myself (in all cases I can only pull statements and view transactions - no money moving activities). I've never liked needing to follow up with my clients to get statements, so I require that I have direct access. This is particularly helpful for check payments, as nowadays banks provide the images online.

I second the recommendation for going cloud-based. I work on a laptop at home, but use a desktop at my office, which necessitates a solution that I can access from anywhere. It also saves time for both my client and myself, since we're not dealing with the hassle of sending files back-and-forth.

None of my clients are flippers or wholesalers, so I'm not as well-versed in the tips/tricks/recommendations specific to the needs of non-landlords. It's certainly worth investigating, though (note to self!), as I know the Intuit folks want their online product to be as universal as possible.