Buildium for accounting instead of Quickbooks?

Question

Looking for easy book keeping and accounting programs to help get us organized.  We have 11 doors (5 units) and are starting to feel disorganized especially with the accounting.  We are in the process of looking into a good real estate CPA in the Salt Lake City area but want to find a program that helps us organize our real estate business.

Does anyone use Buildium alone as for property management and also for book keeping/accounting?  Is it easy to use?  Any tips or advice?

Do people use quickbooks and a property management software with small portfolio's?  It seems costly and they don't interact so would have to do them separately and learn both programs separately as well.

Any tips or advice on recommendations for book keeping for a small but growing portfolio appreciated.  OR any recommendations on CPA's in SLC, UT area that are great with real estate portfolio's and taxes?

Renee Fulcer · Answer

I use Quickbooks for books and accounting and Buildium for everything else. If I ever found something that does both equally well I'm sure I would switch, but I've used Quickbooks for 20+ years for other people's businesses - using it for mine was a no-brainer. My home office is in a rural area, my internet can be dicey - cloud based software is not always my friend, so there's that - my QB is on the Desktop and not online for the same reason.

I do it a little different than Shane, each property is a class, each tenant is a customer. Just bought an 11 unit last week so there is 1 class for the building, 1 sub-class for the common area, and 1 sub-class for each unit, so there is some flexibility in how you set it up.

Good Luck!

Gita Faust · Answer

With 5 doors definitely QuickBooks Premier version. Start small and you can grow as you need.

Get a list and check it twice, for the bells and whistles you need now, in 6 months and a year.

- How are you advertising to get your tenants?

- How are you collecting rent payments?

Michael David Pagan · Answer

I haven't used Buildum, but I would just try to analyze what you are trying to achieve.  Buildum is your property management tool, and there is promise of having it solve some accounting functions (which could be a major plus).  If you have some experience in the back end, bookkeeping, reconciliations, depreciation, etc this could be a good option.  Just make sure you are able to stomach any problems if they do arise.

QuickBooks Online, Xero, and the likes of products are specific for accounting functions so it's easy to rely on them for keeping your accounting in good order.  If you need to hire a pro to do this it will be a breeze as far as finding people capable (choosing them is another story).

My biggest concern with placing all of your accounting functions in a fairly unknown software to Accounting and Tax professionals, is getting someone that will be able to assist in the process if you do have problems with your books in the future.  QuickBooks and Xero are almost universal and it's fairly easy to find a pro that can assist with the tool.  Of course using Buildum and QBO will require more work, but it might save time in the long run.

If you soley rely on Buildum, you just might have to pay a pro down the road to migrate the data into QBO or the like.

- Michael

Shane H. · Answer

I like that Renee! I could set it up for sub tiers and customers vs Jobs. I just ran with the default and haven't had to set it up for any larger units yet, just 4 and under. But it is definitely something I will try out. Happy Halloween! =)

Joel Florek · Answer

@Ayne C. @Monte Blunk I use Airtable for keeping track of my tenant information(property management) and General Ledger www.getledgers.com for managing my bookkeeping. Airtable is free and General Ledger is about $5  month for me since I connect a few credit and checking accounts for automated transaction downloading. My problem with a lot of the other software suits is I am forced to use or see a bunch of functionality that I dont want. Gets noisy and difficult to focus on the few tasks I care about. Anyway, best of luck in growing your portfolios stronger in 2019!

Christopher B. · Answer

@Monte Blunk little late response here but I have used both QB and Buildium for my rentals. QB is great, very powerful. I still have the construction side of my business in QB. However, I switched my rental books over to Buildium earlier this year and am happy with it. I have a smaller portfolio like you and Buildium does everything I need it to do for accounting, and more. When I switched, I had intended to aggressively grow my rental portfolio, though that goal has changed I still don't plan on switching back. Here is why I made the switch:

• I use Buildium to manage my rentals end to end and wanted everything in one place, no back and forthresidents pay online via Buildium and the rent is automatically logged in my books for example
• residents pay online via Buildium and the rent is automatically logged in my books for example
• I wanted my business systems and processes in place now so I can just feed the machine as I groweasier for an employee to learn just Buildium vs multiple softwares
• easier for an employee to learn just Buildium vs multiple softwares
• Saves moneyI am already paying for Buildium, why keep another monthly QB subscription? 
• I am already paying for Buildium, why keep another monthly QB subscription? 
• Easy to useWhile I know how to use QB, Buildium is easy and intuitive to use plus has great support
• While I know how to use QB, Buildium is easy and intuitive to use plus has great support
• I spoke with a guy here on BP that managed a portfolio of over 100 units and he used Buildium only for his accounting and was happy with it. I figured if it can work for a portfolio of that size, then it can easily handle mine. And it does

• residents pay online via Buildium and the rent is automatically logged in my books for example

• easier for an employee to learn just Buildium vs multiple softwares

• I am already paying for Buildium, why keep another monthly QB subscription?

• While I know how to use QB, Buildium is easy and intuitive to use plus has great support

Good luck

Monte Blunk · Answer

Thank you all for your advice! I’ll look into Quickbooks.  I already have buildium but I’m a little clunky with it.

Shane H. · Answer

QB is absolutely amazing and such a time saver once it's been set up. I use it for my few rentals in addition for keeping books for other Landlords in my area.

Once you set up your classes, your unit's as customers, and your tenants as jobs, then you will not believe how easy it is to track everything and how useful the reports are.

If you need any help feel free to PM me.

Monte Blunk · Answer

Thanks Michael!

Ayne C. · Answer

Following.  I just got QB and I'm wondering if I need something else if I self manage (I don't currently).

Buildium for accounting instead of Quickbooks?

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