Rental Property Bookkeeping for Real Estate Investors
Rental property bookkeeping is more than getting your taxes filed.
Done well, it shows you what each property brings in, what it costs, and whether it's actually pulling its weight.
I set up your books in QuickBooks Online by property, keep your business overhead separate, and send you a recap every month that explains your numbers in plain language. You don't have to live in QuickBooks to know how your rentals are doing.
Who is this for
This is for you if you own multiple rentals and your books have stopped keeping up with your portfolio. Maybe that sounds like:
You're fully rented, but you can't tell which properties are actually making money.
Everything lands in one P&L, so you get one net number and no story behind it.
You're doing the books yourself, or someone on your team is, and it keeps sliding to the bottom of the list.
You have a bookkeeper, but your reports don't answer the questions you actually have.
You've added properties, loans, or LLCs, and the system underneath hasn't grown with you.
Long-term, mid-term, and short-term rentals are all welcome, along with renovation projects and the occasional flip.
What your books will show you
With your books set up by property, these questions have answers you can actually find:
Which rental is carrying the portfolio? Income and expenses for every property, side by side.
Which one is quietly eating into it? Repairs, turnover, and vacancies show up on the property they belong to.
Where did the cash go this month? Cash flow by property, plus a plain-language explanation of what changed.
What has that renovation cost so far? Spending for last month and since the project started, broken down by category, so you can compare it to your budget.
What's the property, and what's the business? Property expenses stay separate from overhead like software, phone, and professional fees.
What do I owe? Every mortgage and loan balance, at a glance.
How I set up your books
Most bookkeeping is built for tax time. Mine is built around your properties, from day one.
Every property gets its own lane. Each transaction is assigned to a property, to business overhead, or to owner draws and contributions. Nothing sits in a general pile.
Your P&L stays readable. You get one clean set of books you can view by property, instead of a separate account for every property that turns your reports into a maze.
Renovation spending is tracked by category. Rehab costs are sorted by cost code (demo, plumbing, flooring, and so on) without cluttering your P&L with dozens of extra lines.
If your books are behind or messy, we fix that first. A cleanup restructures past months the same way, so your property-level picture starts on solid ground.
What a month looks like
Every month ends with your numbers wrapped up in a bow: one email that tells you how the business did, with detailed reports attached if you want to dig in.
During the month, you snap receipts in Hubdoc (included at no extra cost) and add a quick note, like which property or project it's for.
Early the next month, I pull your statements, match receipts to transactions, and send one organized list of anything I need from you. Some months that's a few questions, some months it's none.
I close the month. Every bank account and credit card is reconciled, and every transaction is assigned where it belongs.
You get your recap. It covers cash flow by property, renovation spending for the month and since the project started, and anything that looks off or deserves your attention.
Reports attached each month: a P&L by property, a balance sheet by property, and renovation spending by cost code when you have an active project.
You can reply to any recap with a question or more context. Over time, the recap gets tailored to the numbers you care about most.
Rental property bookkeeping FAQs
Do I need to be on QuickBooks Online already? No. I work only in QuickBooks Online, but if you're on spreadsheets or another system, we can talk through whether moving makes sense for you.
My books are behind. Can we still work together? Yes. We'd start with a cleanup covering the months since your last tax filing, set up by property, then move into monthly bookkeeping. I never change years that have already been filed.
I have properties in more than one LLC. Is that a problem? Not at all. Multiple entities are part of the fun. Pricing reflects how many QuickBooks files your setup needs.
Do you work with short-term and mid-term rentals? Yes. Long-term, mid-term, and short-term rentals are all welcome.
How much of my time will this take? Onboarding takes the most, since I'll need access, statements, and some answers only you have. After that, it's uploading receipts as you go and answering one organized list of questions each month.
Will my CPA get what they need? Yes. Clean, reconciled books by property give your tax preparer reliable numbers, and I'm happy to answer their bookkeeping questions directly.
What I don't do
I focus on bookkeeping and doing it really well. That means I don't handle tax preparation or tax advice, payroll processing, paying your bills, or invoicing tenants. I also don't create budgets, but your recap shows actual renovation spending so you can compare it to yours.
I work closely with your CPA or tax preparer, though. With your permission, I'm happy to answer their questions straight from the books.
What it costs
Pricing is based on your portfolio: how many properties and doors you have, active renovations or flips, how many QuickBooks files you need, and how many bank and credit card accounts are involved.
You can get a quick monthly estimate with the estimator on my Services page. Final pricing comes after I review how your books are set up today.
Tell me about your rentals
You don't need to have your books in order or know exactly what you need before reaching out. Tell me a little about your properties and where your books stand today, and we'll start there.