Rental Property Accounting: Stepping Things Up As Your Business Grows

Are you still managing your accounting with spreadsheets or simple online accounting programs designed for household use? if so, it's time to move your rental property accounting into a new era. Take control of your finances with a cohesive accounting system that seamlessly integrates with your tenant and owner information and contractor billing.

The Benefits of Accounting for Rental Property

As a rental property manager, you keep many different balls in the air. It can be challenging to keep track of the many different areas of your business, such as home maintenance, legal matters, and accounting. Choose an accounting software that's specifically designed for rental property management so that you can focus on management rather than struggling with the details and reporting of an out-of-date system.

Keep Your Documents Handy

When you're evaluating property accounting systems, seek out a system that not only tracks your finances but also stores key documents such as invoices. By moving your documents online, you'll never lose a bill again. Instead, they will be right at your fingertips so you can easily access and manage them when needed.

Organize Your Contracts

Property accounting software allows you to keep your financial information organized and easily track invoices from contractors. You can also track bills and note when they've been paid, ensuring that you remember to pay all of your contractors promptly. This helps you build stronger relationships with those who work for you and coordinate property maintenance and repairs.

Synchronize Your Accounting

The right accounting system will accomplish work for you, even when you're out of the office. According to Realtor.org, property management products "can automate a significant portion of your work." Connect your accounting system to your bank account and online payment systems, and you'll reduce the amount of data that someone has to move back and forth manually. This removes many sources of error and decreases the time spent synchronizing between different systems.

Communicate Your Accounting to Owners and Tenants

When you're working with many different owners and tenants, it's important to communicate consistently and clearly about money matters. From move in to move out and at all of the stages in between, your tenants need to be able to track their payments. Owners also want to stay updates about revenues and expenses from their properties. Use an accounting system that's connected to owner and tenant portals, and you, your owners, and your tenants will be able to easily track costs and payments online.

Add Reporting to Enhance Your Property Management Bookkeeping

You need accounting that can grow with your business and provide key insights. According to Rent Fax Pro, "as you expand your business you will need an accounting system that allows you to keep accurate real time financials that is easy to use." In addition to up to date financials, you need a reporting tool. Using a spreadsheet alone, it can be complicated and time-consuming to interpret data and tell the story of your business. With rental property accounting software, you can set up reporting that gets to the details that you must see to thoroughly understand your properties. Learn which properties have the most ongoing maintenance costs and what areas of town have the highest nonpayment rates. Reporting will not only help you understand your bottom line, it will help you change your processes to improve that bottom line.

"Without Propertyware I don't think we would have been able to add 400 units in the last 18 months." - Eric Wetherington / Carolina One Real Estates

Are you curious to see how enhancing your property accounting software can help your business as it grows? Learn more about Propertyware's accounting software and sign up for a free tour of Propertyware today.