Online Bookkeeping

[Melanie802]

Hello,

I only have one rental and I am not sure if quickbooks is the right one.  I see REI Hub but do not know anything about that. Thanks for any info.

[Rebecca]

Hello @Melanie802 👋

Great question as keeping accounts is very important. I wonder if @Frances3408, @Zachary289 or @New-Bern-Vacation-Rentals0 may be able to share what they do when it comes to bookkeeping.

Thank you so much for sharing and supporting 😊

[Lorna170]

@Melanie802  With only one rental a simple Excel spreadsheet may be all that you need.  I recommend that you talk to your tax accountant about what expenses to track and how to record your reservations.

I have had multiple rental properties over the years and a spreadsheet listing reservations, their dates, what the guest paid, what taxes were collected as well as another spreadsheet tracking utility costs, maintenance and other topics found on Schedules C or E very helpful in reporting property income.

[Melanie802]

Thank you. I will check with the tax accountant and look at Schedules C and E as well.

[Melanie802]

Did you make your own spreadsheet? I see there are many excel spreadsheet templates available to purchase.

[Frances3408]

@Melanie802 . I think @Lorna170 gave some sound practical advice.

Here our OZ tax office claims 90% of property owners get their tax returns wrong! So its important to record all related Purchases (whether expenses or capital items) and income (spreadsheets are a good start then maybe software like Quickbooks as you get up to speed, which is popular here for ease of use. Then if not sure what you can claim, see a tax agent.

[Melanie802]

Thank you. I will see if a spreadsheet is all I need or what our tax person needs to see for filing.

[Zachary289]

Hello @Melanie802!

@Rebeccatagged me in this and I thought I would comment.

My day job is an accountant and I just moonlight as a host.  The advice of using a spreadsheet is great advice.  I do use QuickBooks, but I think QuickBooks is little bit much for just one rental property and if you're not familiar with it, it can be overwhelming.  AirBnB tracks all the payments and taxes collected and provides a nice summary for each stay.  You could easily record this in a spreadsheet and make your appropriate filings based on that.  Track every single expense related to that property and save your receipts.  Let a tax pro (CPA or EA) decide what will qualify and what will not.  I could go on and on for awhile.  If you have any specific questions, I would be happy to help and provide some guidance.

[Kia272]

@Melanie802  I recommend Quicken as a good option. It's much simpler and more user friendly (and cheaper!) than Quickbooks, and it can definitely track everything you need to track for the rental. I'm a bookkeeper and I use Quicken for my business and rental, even though I work in Quickbooks all day long. 

Feel free to DM me if you have more questions about it. I'd be happy to guide you in setting it up as well.