Accounting Software to manage Rental Properties

[Ronald Buzzetta]

Hi - I need to purchase an accounting software to manage rental properties. My accountant recommended Quickbooks. Any other recommendations out there that may be better/easier to use? 

[Melanie P.]

We use Yardi. It has two main competitors that I know of Appfolio and Buildium. Check them out and pick a favorite. They manage every aspect of your rentals not just accounting. 

[Josh St Laurent]

Here are a few of the most popular.  Ultimately it is going to boil down to personal preference and what types of rentals you have (As well as how many).

DoorLoop
Stessa
Landlord Studio
Rent Manager
And of course the tried and true - QuickBooks

Any of these will work for simple accounting/bookkeeping but some will excel depending on if you have short term rentals vs long or a lot of properties.

[Jake Baker]

@Ronald Buzzetta

I use QuickBooks Online for all of my clients. For most real estate investors, a Plus subscription is needed. It is the most popular software in the industry and all CPAs know how to navigate it which is nice.

How many properties do you have? Sometimes smaller portfolios don't need software like QBO

[Tom Server]

 Which would work best for 1unit with 3 doors ?

[Josh St Laurent]

Quote from @Tom Server:

 Which would work best for 1unit with 3 doors ?

 Any would work, it's just going to come down to personal preference as well as what is preferred by your CPA.

[Jamie Banks]

Baselane is a bookkeeping software that is designed for landlords, I've been using it over a year and it's helped me stay organized as my portfolio has grown. The bookkeeping software is currently free of charge and connects to other banks / credit cards or you can choose to bank with them, which is what I'm doing. 

[Soh Tanaka]

It's important to know that some software is made for property managers (those who manage other people's properties,) some are made for landlords (those who manage their own properties,) some are made for accounting (which can be used by both property managers and landlords.)

I do use QuickBooks, and I'm NOT saying not to use it, but know that there is some initial learning curve that you have to go through.

[Dee Mandrekar]

any program or training available to learn how to use Quickbooks? I am LL and want to manage my own properties

[Andrew Syrios]

Quickbooks is good although I would definitely prefer to have my accounting software be the same platform as our property management software. RentManager has a really good accounting module, so if you use RentManager, I don't think there's a need for a separate accounting program. I've heard Appfolio is pretty good too but have never tried it. 

[Soh Tanaka]

@Dee Mandrekar I used different things to learn. One of the things you can do is to watch YouTube videos. I personally like "the quickbooksdude," "Hector Garcia CPA," and "Income Digs."

[Basit Siddiqi]

If you are doing this for your personal properties, I would consider Quickbooks or Stessa.