QuickBooks For Prop Management

I am hoping you QB experts can help me out here. So, I manage 91 units with 12 clients. What I believe I need to do is set up each property as a customer and each tenant as a job under that customer. Then, when they pay their rent, I apply the rent against that job ... correct?



How do I set up my clients (property owners)? My thought is they would also be a customer and I would invoice them for maintenance, management, etc? Correct? If yes, are they a "job" under the property too or something else.



I have to admit that I am BRAND new to getting this set up so ANY ideas ... please feel free to share.

Comments(7)

  • d_random19th March, 2006

    If you find that QB does not have all the features that you need get REALTOOLS, a lot of people on the board use it and like it. Unlimited properties for $89.

    Here is the direct link to the eBay auction of REALTOOLS:
    http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZnichesw

  • Jim_O20th March, 2006

    I set up QB with each property as a class, and each tenant as a customer. You can then create reports based on a filter by class and save the filtered reports associated with each of your clients. And yes, each of your clients would be a customer. With 91 units that should work fine for your accounting.

  • lavonc20th March, 2006

    Well, with all your feedback I am in a quandry. So, I already have Quicken Property Management software and really like it. However, there are numerous things I pay monthly that I may or may not bill to my clients. For example, licensing fees for my LLC, general postage costs, business cards, etc.

    Also, I write checks every month for utilties that I would like to use a tool like Quickbooks to write the checks for me. But now looking at everyones feedback it looks like there would be a lot of double duty work. I enter bills / fees into Quicken Prop Management and then enter some (or all) things into Quicken?

    Sorry if I am sounding thick on this but I am just learning all this.

    Thanks for all your input ... it is very much appreciated.

  • datalynx229th March, 2006

    lavonc is cool! Help them out as much as you can. I help as much as I can on the stuff i know (anyhting but software). This person helped me hugely!
    [addsig]

  • ypochris29th March, 2006

    Without knowing what you paid for the property, what your taxes and insurance are, what you are asking for rent, or what the local rents run, its hard to say much.
    I find I break even when I rent for 1% of the total purchase and fix up cost per month. This is assuming that I have put down enough of a down payment to get a reasonable interest rate- I figure my down payment as bringing in the same interest as my loan costs. I am also considering the tax benefits of the rental (which are substantial!) and potential appreciation as bonuses- I am not counting it as cash flow, although it does eventually contribute to my total income.
    Basically, you have to look at the going monthly rent for the area and multiply it by 100- that is the most you can pay for a cash flow property. In some areas-Hawaii leaps to mind, since I looked for years- you will simply never find one 20 years ago they were there, but not today. Lansing, where I live now, has hundreds on any given day on the MLS.

    I have more to say, but I have to go. Perhaps later...

    Chris

  • mritorto17th April, 2006

    is Lansing in MI?

  • ypochris19th April, 2006

    mritorto: Lansing, Michigan. Yes.

    Chris

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