Quickbooks for Rental properties - need help with setup

[Or Y.]

Howdy,

I've searched both here, on google and youtube - but I'm seeing so many different takes and just getting more and more confused. This website and the users here are often the best resource in the industry so I figured I should ask (and if you have a link to a recent thread here that already covered the topic - please share).

Long story short: I'm tired of trying (and failing) to control my accounting using google spreadsheets, I tried using Stessa last year but they were not reliable, and with my recent TX real estate license I figured I should just get my entire accounting in order and use a proper tool. Everyone were recommending Quickbooks Plus so I opened an account.

From past experience, I know that it's better to set it up properly from the get-go instead of doing OJT, hence this thread.

Generally speaking: my household got multiple businesses - I got a real estate transactions income, the wife got interior design income, and both of us got rental properties. I'm planning to differentiate between the three using the locations feature on QB.

I think I got a good grasp of how to manage our businesses, but the rentals are giving me a harder time. 

My current plan is to define a class per rental property, and assign my tenants as customers (when they pay rent). But I'm not sure how to go about creating a proper Chart of Accounts.

I'd like to have IRS Schedule E form as the type of expenses, but I'm not sure what is the Account Type and the Detail Type I should utilize.

And generally speaking, I'd love to learn from those who use this tool - how do you use it? Any best-practices I should get familiar with?

Thanks,
Or