All Forum Posts by: Jillyan MacMorris

Baselane was actually built for preparing taxes! The chart of accounts is structured around the Schedule E, so you simply export it and send to your tax professional. This will be my first year submitting from Baselane since I switched from QuickBooks Online and it's already infinitely easier!

Hey there René!

From Excel, I originally switched to QBO, but I had to do quite a bit of finagling to build it properly for my use as a REI. I used it for a few months and it worked fine, but I ended up switching mid-year to Baselane. Have you heard of it? It's a banking/accounting software where the structure of the chart of accounts actually fills out your Schedule E. This will be the first year I will be able to deliver to my tax man a really clear, concrete report. You can organize your entries by unit, and it's all free to use. QBO I think was $30/month.

It sounds like my refrigerator/freezer is passing away! I would love any advice on landlords' favorite brands or models that last well and are not complicated. And are there any tricks to for the purchase as a landlord? I am planning to make the purchase with a Black Friday sale!

I LOVE the idea of simplifying my tech stack with a solution like Monday.com. I'm an MTR operator too, and I needed to learn to cobble system integrations together in the beginning to understand the benefit of bringing so much of operations together in one place! In addition to some of what you've mentioned, I have also been able to eliminate Turno! I love them for their cleaner marketplace, but now that I have an established cleaner relationship, I'd prefer to avoid the fees and pay her better directly!

Thank you for tagging me @Jamie Banks! I love this question. Have you operated an MTR before? My biggest piece of advice is to get a killer rental agreement/lease for Cook County. I don't use any of the boilerplate options, even from the realtors association. I would also make sure to add addenda regarding pets and furnishings, and make sure of course that any HOAs allow flexible leasing. Make sure to get a pretty tight tech stack figured out, especially to track your income and spending. Send me a direct message if you'd like to chat further! I exclusively operate in Cook County.

I'm an MTR/STR investor, so I use a pretty involved set of automations! I have used Avail for lease generation and applications, Turno for cleaning and inspections, Hospitabke for channel management, and Baselane for rent collection, banking and bookkeeping! In Baselane, I can categorize rental payments to distinguish between short- and mid-term rental payments automatically. My tech stack together has made the daily operations a lot tighter!

I love that you are up to this challenge! I still manage my own properties, and there are so many intangible benefits to learning the ins and outs. This seems like a comparatively low-risk opportunity, and you can prove to yourself that you can do it!

As someone who started with very little help, I think your tech stack is one of the best things to focus on, to keep everything clean and simple. RentRedi and other similar services can help manage applications, leases, and maintenance requests in one place. And I use Baselane for for rent collection, banking, and accounting. Between the two, it keeps my full business processes tight and organized. Limits the steps and the logins to manage as well!

Hey there Jess!
I'm glad to hear your issue's been resolved. I haven't experienced problems with Baselane, but it's always good to reach out for advice from others in the community when something comes up. I've had the fewest issues with Baselane out of all the options I've tried so far! The development they've undergone since I started using it has made me a user for life! Have you tried out the board for submitting enhancement requests yet? 

Hey There Derrek! 

Depending on how you have things set up, there are lots of great options! I hear great things about Innago personally, but I use Baselane for a rent collection/banking/accounting. I got into it initially to eliminate having to integrate my bank with Quickbooks but rather have both of those pieces together in one place. Since then I've begun to use the rent collection portion as well, which removes yet another layer of complexity! I set up the rent payments in Baselane, the payments go directly into the appropriate account, and my accounting system already has it categorized, so I have very little to do to close each month.

I use separate accounts for rent collection and security deposits (distinct from my personal checking&savings accounts), and they don't have to be under an LLC unless the property is operated under one. I use a product called Baselane, which combines rent collection with banking and accounting. I can set up the rent payments, collect them into easy-to-create bank accounts, and then have the system automatically categorize those payments for my Schedule E at the end of the year because Baselane already knows what each of the payments was. It's really simple to set up!