All Forum Posts by: Cliff Benner

For my clients we set up a Box account, because it is free and tell them to put both in there, name it the same thing with a "A" and "B" at the end or a "1" or "2" just for proof. But I would suggest keeping whatever proof it would take to prove an expense to an Auditor as a rule of thumb. That could be both because a receipt might not have details on what something is but shows what you paid while an Invoice shows the item's details with the wrong amount having both helps prove it is X but it only costed me Y

If you are scaling and not an Accountant, I would look to outsource Bookkeeping. I have been doing Bookkeeping and Financial Reporting for 7 years for Small Businesses and even I have to educate myself on certain transactions and changes and I know what I am looking for. Most business owners don't. And they just dont know what they dont know so they maybe missing out on deductions they are allowed and could take to reduce their tax burden but they don't and Tax Accountants are way to busy from January to April to sit and explain that to their business clients. Plus a good bookkeeper can be a second pair of eyes to your Return to make sure everything looks right, if they know taxes. I caught a tax accountant missing Meals from the deductions because there were so many changes to the IRC one year that they focused on Personal Return changes and may have missed Business Return changes. 

Hope that helps! Good Luck!

@Geri May I agree with @Rachel Mazzanti That you want to set it up right to begin with to be better down the road. 

When it comes to Specific "Codes" I am not sure what you mean. If you mean like a number system, from what I have experienced: Assets start with 1, Liabilities with 2, Equity with 3, Income with 4, Cost of Goods/Service/Expenses related directly to Income is 5, Expenses are 6, Other Income is 7, and Other Expenses are 8. You can choose how many numbers you want after that but plan on what you see the end goal would be. Got lots of Assets and Notes due? start at 10000. I have seen some go 10-001 but the starting digit follows that "code" in Accounting from where I have been and learned. 

Travel to me is a parent account because if you spend money on traveling to see a property, that expense is allowed to be included in the basis of the asset purchased. But over time the IRC has changed on how meals are tax deductible so Travel meals were 100% allowed while non-travel meals were 50%. This has changed and will change again in the future but it is broken out to also help YOU read YOUR Financials. Rehab, above a certain threshold should be an Asset because you are affecting the life of the asset so it would be in the "1s".

Hope that helps! Good luck!!

@Jay Hinrichs That would be a fun trip!

"where did you get your funding from?"
"Table 3 just now" 

Haha Great trip that would be!

To the BP Planners, has there been a location picked for next years BPCon?? Selfishly I would love it to be here in Denver but I understand that you guys need to branch it out over the country for the farthest reach.

I just look forward to going to one soon!

Thanks!

What about throwing it out to your Network first or here on BiggerPockets?

I would be surprised that you couldn't find a buyer that way.

Can a VA loan be assumed by investors as a non-owner occupied property, Veteran or not?

@Peter Vekselman That's what happen to me when i bought my Property! Realtor was not on my side and ok with me getting burned, PM was bad at best, oddly my contractors were the best of all of it.

This has set me back two years now, gonna change that next year though!

Since you own it free and clear, when you find a buyer, think about Step Up Payments.

We used it to buy a business, I know this is Real Estate and a bit different, but you could still explore the option.

Agree upon an interest rate, decide if you want a long term note and maybe with a balloon payment but the issue sounds more like the monthly payment. So start at a lower base,  increase the payment $50-$100 a year. Make an amortization schedule to see how payment will go and how long something like this would take to pay off. 

What kind of Property management is used for a MHP? Do you look for a MHP Specific PM for this?