All Forum Posts by: Justin R.

@Chad Hale Because my accountant has access to QBO, and my bookeeper breaks down all the PM monthly reports into QBO each month, there is no need for me to send monthly/annual reports to my accountant. I do send him the 1099M of course but that is it.

Thanks for confirming it does double entry accounting. Im assuming that is what would catch any errors in owner distributions, deposits, profit/loss? 

@Bonnie Low this is great info and exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!

 Yes @Bonnie Low this does help. Both Business' are real estate, so that doesn't really matter, just the fact I need to have double the QBO subscriptions. 

Everyone should have some "general expenses" I would think, that are not tied to a particular property. Such as Accounting fees, home office, business liability insurance, and similar. Does Baseline give you the option to track expenses without attaching it to a particular property?

How does your accountant pull info from baseline to do taxes, or track your cost bases/balance sheet?

@Alecia Loveless thanks for your thoughts. I don't think Im paying my bookeepeer an outrageous amount, although with economies of scale (I have one commercial insurance plan, commerical portfolio loan from a single bank, one bank account, etc) it probably doesn't take the Bookeeper 3x to do my books compared to yours. 

If I could move to a more simple software than QBO, it would save me several thousand a year, and the simplicity would be valuable as well. Best to you!

 What's your thoughts on using Rent Manager for an investor that already has professional property management? Is it overkill as I would not be dealing with leases, work orders, etc?

How do you share your accounting from the software to your Accountant?

Thanks @Jake Baker for the info. I have 22 properties (about 100 units.) I do all the expenses (simply because that is easier than me communicating with Bookeeper every time I have a charge) and she does inputs on monthly statements, balance tracking, basis, loans (7 loans), and reconciliation. 

I would definitely not want to make the change, and then regret it. I was actually a little low, I pay $154 per month ($1848 annual) for my two QBO plus accounts. That's a lot for use of software. Last year I spend $9500 additional in bookkeeping (not including my accountant or tax filing.)

That's correct, I spend $140 per month on QBO ($90 for one LLC, and $50 for the other) plus my bookkeeper that averages about $500-$600 per month.

Great idea, and yes I would do a trial for a few months using both. I just don't know if it's worth having my bookkeeper set up all the balances, cost bases, and loans for all the properties for the trial. 

As an accountant it makes sense for you to use the desktop version. I feel that the QBO is the only way to go for me, as I am remote from my Accountant and Bookkeeper. Is there a way for me to give them access with the desktop version?

Thanks

Ive been using QBO for 8 years and it has been O.K. at best. I have a decent size RE portfolio, and use professional property management. I don't need a property management based software.  I know how to use the basic features of QBO, as I do my own expense tracking, but my Bookkeeper is needed for the more complex entries (Loans, capital balances, reconciliation, data entry from PM monthly statements.)

I spend almost 8k per year in QBO and Bookkeeping costs (Not including my accountant or tax prep.) I would like to go to a more simple software like Rentastic, but here are my concerns.

- Loss of historical data (for both IRS audits and for personal portfolio tracking.)

- Unfamiliarity of software with my Bookkeeping and Accounting team.

-Will it be robust enough to track additional business expenses that are NOT tied to a single property (IE; Business insurance, Home office, ETC?)

If anyone has made the move, please let me know how the transition was, and if you are happy.

Cheers!

 Hello Max. Ive been using QBO for about 6 years for my properties (I have professional PM so I don't need the management software.) The Rentastic (and other RE focused systems) do seem way more simple, and user friendly than QBO. Im trained enough myself at this point in QBO, but my bookeeper still does the more complex entries (Loans, capital balances, reconciliation, etc) I just do the data entries for expenses. 

The cost is really expensive for QBO. I spend $90 a month for one LLC, and $50 for another. That's $1680 per year for QBO, plus my Bookeeper at another $500 a month to log monthly statements, break down loan payments, and reconcile. Thats $7700 a year NOT including my accountant/Tax prep.

I do feel QBO kinda traps you into the system (Like Apple products, haha) becuase it is the "Go-To" for Bookeepers and Accountants.  I feel that if I did switch to another software platform like Rentastic, I would have to get a new team, or expect them to learn a new system.

What's your thoughts? Thanks for any help.

 What software did you end up going with? Are you happy with it?

Congrats on getting the home and starting the process. I too live in Marin, and feel it is a solid long term market for apprecaition, and utilizing the power of principle reduction.

When it comes to refinancing, figure out what the loan costs will be, then divide that buy the monthly savings with the new loan in order to determine how long you have to maintain that loan to break even. 

If you use the Heloc option and decide to rent it out, don't forget that property (or you) will have to cover both your primary and secondary position notes.

I don't personally see Marin being a great mid term market. Perhaps if you were right next to the college, or a hospital. Otherwise with the dwindling tech sector in SF, and the remote work (2-3 days a week) that is most likely here to stay, it just doesn't seem like a strong mid term market to me. With that being said, look up other mid term postings in our area and do some research on it. 

Your mentioned Heloc a few times. If the property breaks even, or operates in the red currently, it will only operate deeper in the negative (unless you find a strong ROI like creating more bedrooms, convert a non living space to living space, etc) with another loan.

Figure out what your goals are before you make your decision. If you like your job, and your goal is to create long term wealth through equity then keep the property, fix it up over time, and in the future you will be able to rent it out for profit. If your goal is cash flow, then your best bet may be to live in it for 2 years, and then take that tax free gain (250k single person, 500k married) and buy elsewhere. 

Best to you and this journey. Be proud that you were able to break into this market. If you ever want to meet up in Marin and grab a coffee to discuss, let me know.