efficient track of money in BAH: how many business accounts and which ones

[Edita D.]

Hey guys,
we are BAH (buy-and-hold) property owners that just separated our business account from personal.
To efficiently operate rentals, what business accounts would you recommend to have? Would you recommend:
-a small business CREDIT CARD on top of a small business CHECKING account (all the rental income?
-SAVINGS account to put away 10% of the rental income form CHECKING acct for future maintenance expenses?
-separate SAVINGS account for tenant's DEPOSIT or just put the tenants deposit to the SAVINGS account receiving 10% of rental income?
I just want to simplify tracking of income/expense.

It seems to me just one checking account (income from properties and expenses associated with properties) would be easier to track rather than checking acct AND a small biz credit card. In the same time do not want to miss out on the perks of a small business credit card.
PLease, advise ;)))
Thank you!
Edita

[Dave Toelkes]

Edita,

How many accounts you have or need somewhat depends upon your bookkeeping system and your cash management practice.

For your tenant's security deposits, you may be required by law to keep security deposits in a separate "escrow" account and may even be required to pay interest on your tenant's security deposits. This is a matter of state law, and may vary state to state, so check your local landlord tenant law.

Good business practice suggests that you keep your personal funds separate from your business funds, and do your accounting accordingly. For my own rental activities, I have two banking accounts -- a checking account for my rental operations and a savings account for my reserve funds and annual property taxes.

All of my properties are professionally managed so I depend upon the property managers to keep the escrow accounts for tenant's security deposits. If I did not use professional property managers, then I would have a separate savings account just for the security deposits.

The property managers direct deposit rent proceeeds into my checking account each month. I pay bills and mortgage payments from the checking account. I transfer a fixed amount of excess funds each month from the checking account to the savings account to cover property taxes and major systems replacements as they occur.

For your bookkeeping system, you may need a checking account, a savings account, a property manager deposit account for each property (even if you self-manage), an escrow account for each financed property, an asset account for each property, a liability account for each mortgage loan, and if you decide to use a credit card, you will need an account in your bookkepping system to track your credit card charges. Many on these forums suggest Quickbooks for your rental activity bookkeeping software. I use Quicken Rental Property Manager and have found it quite adequate.