Book keeping. What to use?

[Brandon Metz]

Well it looks like ill finally be getting into my first house-hack as long as everything in the buyers process goes smooth. One area that is still a little foggy for me is book keeping. Id love to hear some opinions/recommendations on what this community uses as an aid when it comes to tracking all expenses so i can take a look and a possible test. Ill only have my first property for now but i would love to find something easily expandable.

[Robert Angle]

@Brandon Metz - I use QuickBooks desktop for my construction business, and when I was previously into real estate I used QuickBooks for that also.

I also tried Freshbooks and GoDaddy Bookkeeping for a while, and they were alright. Those worked by automatically importing transactions from your bank account. Then you'd create filters so they would automatically be categorized.

I would definitely create a separate bank account for all your income and expenses related to your properties.

[Robert Angle]

@Brandon Metz

I use QuickBooks desktop for my construction business, and when I was previously into real estate I used QuickBooks for that also.

I also tried Freshbooks and GoDaddy Bookkeeping for a while, and they were alright. Those worked by automatically importing transactions from your bank account. Then you'd create filters so they would automatically be categorized.

I would definitely create a separate bank account for all your income and expenses related to your properties.

[Bob Collett]

@Brandon Metz

Don’t over complicate. For one or a few properties, a separate bank checking account with its own credit card and a simple spreadsheet should be all that you need. Also open a “Pro  Account” at Home Depot. They will email you copies of material bills.

Bob

[Federico Gutierrez]

A spreadsheet has worked wonders for me for the last 5yrs

[Brandon Metz]

your right one property that im living in as well should be fine with some spreadsheets. perhaps im thinking too far down the road at the time.

[Daniel Hyman]

A spreadsheet should suffice for one property. One of the main concerns with house hackers is how to correctly categorize expenses. Ie: What is deductible on schedule E vs what is a personal expense. There is some good material on that subject here on BP. Of course, it also makes sense to connect with a tax pro who can address your particular situation.

[Tristan Colborg]

One thing you could use for just a couple properties is Stessa. It is free to use, connects to your bank accounts, and has some great features. I think if you get more and more properties you may need to switch to QuickBooks for some additional functionality unless Stessa adds it.