Accounting Software for Vacation Rental

[Bruce Wofford]

Our family here in the Kansas City metro just formed an LLC to purchase a vacation rental property (3BR, 3BA condo) in a Colorado resort area. For at least the immediate term, we will continue using the incumbent property management company; thankfully, there are a number of established contenders in the area. Meanwhile I have been assigned the task of bookkeeper and I would greatly appreciate any suggestions any of you might pass along.

I signed up for a 30-day trial of the web-based accounting package Xero, which I know has far greater capability than I need. However if it helps me record the basic transactions that will drive the required quarterly reports for the family and for our tax accountant, then it doesn't matter if I'm not using all its features.

What I would really appreciate from any of you would be one or more recommendations of sources for best practices for those in my situation. Product tutorials would be helpful but so too would be any overviews in the broader context of tracking finances associated with a vacation rental property. Many thanks in advance,

Bruce Wofford, Lenexa, Kansas

[Paul Sandhu]

I agree with Tim. That software is overkill.  I have 22 STRs.  My wife and I do the book keeping.  I have a dead tree calendar where I write down the rent collected each day.  At the end of the week I total the amount collected for the 7 days.  At the end of the month I total all the weeks.  At the end of the year I total all the months and use that number for my taxes.

My wife does all the expenses in a spreadsheet.  The 3 categories are utilities, supplies, repairs & maintenance.  There is also depreciation, but we let the accountant figure that out.  It's simpler than it sounds.  

Now if you were running a petrochemical factory, an amusement park, or a grocery store; then I can see the necessity of software.  

The accounting for a STR shouldn't be much more complicated than the accounting for a lemonade stand or a garage sale.