It was at the suggestion of my accountant that I hired the bookkeeper.

Baselane is a banking and bookkeeping platform that was built specifically for real estate investors.

Microsoft Excel, and most budget or free online bookkeeping isn't going to cut it in this situation.For the rental properties you own directly, I often tell clients and prospects that a P&L in Microsoft Excel is just fine and a balance sheet is not necessary for tax purposes. 

It's a banking and bookkeeping platform built specifically for real estate investors.

(i.e. initial decorating and painting, bookings, rate structures, marketing, bookkeeping housekeeping, etc)? 

Accounting & Finance: What tools make bookkeeping and financial tracking seamless?

For bookkeeping purposes, I recommend designating a separate bank account exclusive to the house hack activities to keep some sanity.

Keep personal and business finances separate to create less headache.You should also do the following to make your bookkeeping easier:- File all receipts in a dedicated Google Drive folder.

Bookkeepers are fairly cheap, even good ones and should be able to setup for 2 units in a couple/few hours.  

I use QBO to keep track of my properties and do this for my bookkeeping clients also.