accounting issues

[Jessica Foy]

I'm just trying to find out some accounting info about my rental property. I have one of my employees renting a house from me, we have worked out an agreement to have them pay partial rent each paycheck that I take out of his payroll. My accountant was looking at my books and told me that what i am doing is wrong. He told me that for accounting purposes rent needs to be handed in by the first of each month, and also that it should be in the form of a check not through direct deposit. My question is, is he right? Is what we've been doing possibly damaging the books and could it cause accounting problems?