Have a bank account per property?

[Kevin Kite]

I am going from one property to three this month which I expect to get a little more difficult when it comes to following the money.  So, I was wondering how other are keeping track of their banking finances.  I have read that some investors lump all their real estate income into one account.  I have also read that that is a bad idea because you lose track of where your money is coming from and going to.

So I am asking what method you use for "banking". I have spreadsheets and I am aware of money tracking programs which is not what my question is. What I am asking is... Do you have a savings and checking account per SFH? How do you decide what money goes into which account?

[Jeff Filali]

It depends on what you're doing, rentals, flipping, etc.  Maybe you have 2-4 accounts, an Operating Checking Account, an Escrow Account, and maybe a Reserve Account.  I guess if you're not good at tracking it, you may want separate further to have a tax account and insurance account also, to hold back for taxes/ins.  But I wouldn't see any reason to have individual accounts per property, that's what accounting software is for. 

I would bet most people only have 2 accounts (Operating and Escrow).