Best accounting software for real estate investors

Buildium is the ideal solution for managing rental properties with confidence. Starting at just $52, it offers an impressive array of features that streamline financial management and enhance tenant experiences. With Buildium’s powerful accounting tools, you can effortlessly record resident and rental payments. Additionally you can manage fees and deposits, process vendor calculations, handle bill payments, automate transactions, e-file 1099 forms, and process online payments with ease. Also the online portals provided by Buildium enable tenants to conveniently submit payments online, ensuring a seamless transaction process.

When it comes to property management, trust in Buildium to provide the confidence and efficiency you need.

• One of the key features of this software is its robust accounting capabilities. With this platform, you can easily track income and expenses, generate custom reports, and handle financial tasks such as rent collection, late fee tracking, and invoice generation. Buildium also provides seamless integration with popular accounting software like QuickBooks, allowing you to effortlessly synchronize your financial data.
• Moreover, it offers a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to navigate and manage your properties. You can access important information at a glance, keep track of maintenance requests, communicate with tenants, and even market your vacant units through their website templates.
• In addition, it offers convenient online portals for both property owners and tenants. Owners can login to view financial reports, access important documents, and stay up-to-date with property performance. Tenants, on the other hand, can use the portal to pay rent, submit maintenance requests, and communicate with the property management team.
• It offers a comprehensive suite of features to manage every aspect of the tenant journey. From lead generation and tenant screening to lease application processing, property maintenance issue management, and business performance analytics, Buildium has you covered.
• Additionally, users even receive a free stylish DIY marketing website hosted by Buildium, making property marketing a breeze.
• Also with Buildium’s mobile app, you can manage your properties remotely, giving you peace of mind wherever you are.

• Limited on some common accounting features
• Extra fees for property inspection, e-signatures and bank accounting set-up tools
• Ticket support only in first-tiered plans

Overall, Buildium is a comprehensive property management solution that provides powerful accounting features, seamless integration options, and user-friendly interfaces. Buildium is a reliable choice for property managers and owners.

This is another top real estate accounting software worth considering. It is best known for its hands-off bookkeeping approach, which is particularly useful for real estate professionals who prefer to delegate their bookkeeping tasks. With Bench, users can rely on a team of professional bookkeepers who will take care of recording and categorizing their financial transactions.

• Expert Bookkeeping: Bench provides access to a dedicated team of bookkeepers who will handle all aspects of your financial record-keeping. They will ensure that your books are accurate and up to date, allowing you to focus on your core real estate activities.
• Bank Account Sync: Bench integrates with your bank accounts, credit cards, and other financial institutions to automatically import your financial transactions. This automated process saves you time and minimizes the chances of manual entry errors.
• Categorization and Reconciliation: The Bench team will categorize your transactions based on industry-specific rules, making it easier for you to monitor your income and expenses. They will also reconcile your accounts to ensure accuracy.
• Financial Statements: Bench generates financial statements, including balance sheets and profit and loss statements, to provide you with a clear overview of your real estate business’s financial health.
• Tax-Ready Financials: When tax season arrives, Bench can generate tax-ready financial reports that are compatible with popular accounting software like TurboTax. This simplifies the tax preparation process and helps ensure compliance with tax regulations.

• No software
• No payroll services
• No real estate management services

Overall, Bench offers a comprehensive and hassle-free bookkeeping solution for real estate professionals, looking for a hands-off basic bookkeeping and tax service.

By leveraging their expertise, you can have peace of mind knowing that your financial records are well-maintained and your real estate business’s financial performance is accurately tracked.

Zoho Books is a user-friendly accounting software for real estate professionals. It helps simplify financial management, create professional invoices, track expenses, and also reconcile bank transactions. With integrations to popular real estate applications, Zoho Books improves your workflow.

Here are some notable benefits of using Zoho Books for real estate accounting:

• Customizable Invoicing: Zoho Books allows you to create professional invoices and personalize them with your company logo and branding elements.
• Expense Management: You can effortlessly track and categorize expenses, making it easier to analyze your financial situation and track your profitability.
• Bank Reconciliation: Zoho Books automatically imports and matches bank transactions, making it easy to reconcile your accounts and ensure accurate financial records.
• Useful Reporting: The software provides a variety of pre-built reports that offer valuable insights into your financial performance, including profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and cash flow reports.
• Integration Capabilities: Zoho, a powerful business software suite, provides numerous integration capabilities to enhance productivity and streamline operations.

Here are some cons of using Zoho Books for real estate accounting:

• Limited Third-Party Integrations: While Zoho Books offers integration capabilities, it may have limitations in terms of integrating with certain third-party applications that are specific to the real estate industry.
• Learning Curve: Like any accounting software, Zoho Books may have a learning curve, especially for users who are not familiar with accounting principles and software navigation. It may take some time to get accustomed to the interface and features.
• Advanced Reporting Features: While Zoho Books provides useful pre-built reports, it may not offer advanced reporting features that some real estate professionals may require. This could be a limitation for those who need in-depth analytics and customized reporting options.
• Customer Support: Some users have reported mixed experiences with Zoho’s customer support. While they offer support resources, including documentation and email support, some users have found it challenging to get timely assistance for specific issues.

It’s important to assess these cons against your specific needs and preferences when considering Zoho Books as your real estate accounting software.

Overall, Zoho Books is suitable for individuals and businesses in the real estate industry who want to streamline their accounting processes, improve financial management, and make informed business decisions. It offers features that cater to the specific needs of real estate professionals, making it a reliable choice for their accounting needs.

FreshBooks is a cloud-based accounting software designed to simplify financial tasks for small businesses and self-employed professionals. With its user-friendly interface and robust features, FreshBooks allows you to streamline your invoicing, expense tracking, time tracking, and also reporting processes.

Some of the key features of FreshBooks include:

1. Invoicing: Create professional-looking invoices in just a few clicks. Customize your invoices with your branding, set up recurring invoices for recurring clients, and track invoice status to ensure timely payments.
2. Expense Tracking: Easily keep track of your business expenses by capturing receipts, categorizing expenses, and attaching them to specific projects or clients. FreshBooks enables you to stay organized and have a clear overview of your business expenses.
3. Time Tracking: Track billable hours accurately with the built-in time tracker. Whether you charge by the hour or need to track project durations, FreshBooks allows you to log and categorize your time spent on different tasks or projects.
4. Financial Reports: Gain valuable insights into your business performance with FreshBooks’ financial reports. Generate detailed reports on profit and loss, tax summary, expenses, and more to help you make informed financial decisions.
5. Client Management: Keep all your client information in one place. Store contact details, communication history, and important notes to maintain strong relationships with your clients.
6. Integrations: FreshBooks seamlessly integrates with popular business tools such as Stripe, PayPal, and G Suite, allowing you to streamline your workflow and automate tasks.

Here are some cons of using FreshBooks as your accounting software:

1. Limited Customization: While FreshBooks offers various invoice templates and branding options, it may have limitations in terms of customization. Users looking for extensive customization options, such as complex invoice designs or advanced formatting, may find FreshBooks lacking in this aspect.
2. Lack of Advanced Features: FreshBooks is designed to be user-friendly and streamlined, which means it may lack some advanced features that more complex businesses or industries require. For example, if your real estate business has unique accounting needs, such as specific expense categorization or robust reporting capabilities, FreshBooks may not provide the level of customization and advanced features you require.
3. Limited Integrations: Although FreshBooks does offer integrations with some popular business tools like Stripe, PayPal, and G Suite, it may have limitations when it comes to integrating with other industry-specific or niche software. If your real estate business relies heavily on specific integrations for your workflow, it’s important to ensure that FreshBooks supports those integrations.
4. Pricing Structure: While FreshBooks offers various pricing plans to cater to different business sizes and needs, some users may find the pricing structure relatively higher compared to other accounting software options. It’s important to assess your budget and consider whether the features and benefits offered by FreshBooks justify the cost for your real estate business.
5. Learning Curve: Like any accounting software, FreshBooks may have a learning curve for users who are not familiar with accounting principles or software navigation. While FreshBooks strives to be user-friendly, it may still require time and effort to get accustomed to the interface and features, especially if you have complex accounting needs.

Whether you’re a freelancer, consultant, or small business owner, FreshBooks provides a reliable and convenient solution to manage your finances and focus on what you do best. Try FreshBooks today and experience the efficiency and ease of cloud-based accounting!

Xero is an accounting software that is highly regarded in the real estate industry. It offers three plans ranging from $13 to $70 per month (75 percent off for the first three months during the current promotion). Starting from the Early plan that offers quotes and up to 20 invoices per month. Additionally adds bill payment for up to five bills, bank reconciliation, bill and receipt capture tools and short-term cash flow and business snapshots. Their Growing and Established plans offer added features like bulk-transaction reconciliation, multicurrency support, analytics, expense tracking and management tools. Last but not least it offers project tracking tools.

Here are some key features and benefits of using Xero for real estate accounting:

1. Comprehensive Accounting Tools: Xero offers a wide range of accounting tools to effectively manage your real estate finances. From tracking income and expenses to generating financial reports, Xero provides the essential features you need to stay organized and make informed financial decisions.
2. Real Estate-specific Functions: Xero understands the unique needs of the real estate industry and provides specific functions tailored to these requirements. For example, you can easily track property rentals, manage lease terms, and reconcile rental income and expenses.
3. Integration Capabilities: Xero seamlessly integrates with various real estate-related applications and services, enhancing efficiency and productivity. For instance, you can integrate Xero with property management software or CRM systems to streamline data entry and ensure accurate financial records.
4. Automation and Time-saving Features: With Xero, you can automate recurring tasks such as invoicing, expense tracking, and bank reconciliations. This helps save time and reduces the chances of manual errors.
5. Cloud-based Accessibility: Xero is a cloud-based software, which means you can access your financial data from anywhere with an internet connection. This is particularly beneficial for real estate agents and professionals who are constantly on the go.
6. Collaboration and Multi-user Access: Xero allows multiple users to access and collaborate on the same set of financial data. This enables real estate teams to work together efficiently and ensures everyone has the most up-to-date information.
7. Third-party Integrations: Xero has a vast marketplace of third-party integrations, allowing you to connect with other tools and services that are essential to your real estate business. Whether it’s payment gateways, expense management apps, or reporting tools, you can easily extend the functionality of Xero through integrations.

1. Learning Curve: Like any accounting software, Xero may have a learning curve, especially for users who are not familiar with accounting principles or software navigation. However, Xero provides extensive support documentation and resources to help users get up to speed.
2. Pricing Plans. Must pay an additional $40 per month, plus $6 per person for Payroll processing
3. No time tracking
4. No discount for paying annually
5. No free plan

With its robust features and user-friendly interface, Xero is an excellent choice for real estate agents and also professionals looking to streamline their financial management processes.

QuickBooks Online Accountant is a program that trains accountants on proper accounting practices. It helps businesses improve their financial health and grow. So to find a QuickBooks Online Accountant learn about their pricing and visit the Find a ProAdvisor website and enter your zip code. You can filter the results based on the services you need, such as accounting, payroll, or bookkeeping. Hiring a QuickBooks Online Accountant gives you access to their expertise in identifying bookkeeping issues, analyzing your business performance, and also offering advice for improvement. With their guidance, you can ensure accurate accounting practices and compete effectively in your industry.

• Learn financial strategies
• Easy to use
• Full-featured services
• Industry-specific options

• No clear pricing
• No free trial
• More expensive than other options

Consider hiring a QuickBooks Online Accountant to help grow your real estate business and ensure financial health.

Sure! Intuit QuickBooks has four plans with prices ranging from $15 to $549.99 per year. The plans include features like expense tracking, receipt organization, tax deductions, mileage tracking, unlimited invoices, financial reporting, estimates, and also bill pay capabilities. All plans also offer unlimited invoicing and payment acceptance.

• Unlimited invoicing and payment acceptance in all plans
• Affordable small-business or solopreneur plans
• 1099 contractor management tools
• Unlimited basic accounting features in all plans

• Must pay extra for Payroll services
• Limited users per plan
• No real estate-specific accounting features

Solopreneur real estate professionals can use Intuit QuickBooks for their accounting needs, especially when working with contractors.

Sage Accounting offers two plans: $7.50/month (current promotion) and $10/month. The $10/month plan includes tracking expenses, sending invoices, and reconciling bank accounts. On the other hand the $7.50/month plan (current promotion) adds receipt capture tools (free for three months), unlimited users, quotes and estimates. Additionally includes cash flow forecasting and invoice management tools. Sage Intacct has introduced a new integration called Sage Intacct Real Estate, which includes features for managing subleases. This includes unique lease provisions for each sublease, tracking move-ins and move-outs. Additionally it is calculating prorated amounts, managing deposits, issuing tenant 1099-INT forms, and reconciling final charges, credits, and deposits.

• 30-day free trial
• 6-month promotion: 70% off Sage Accounting Plan
• Workflow automations
• Basic accounting features
• Cash flow forecasting

• No free plan
• No specific features for real estate
• No payroll processing
• Need to add integration for real estate features

If you have many subleases to manage, consider using Sage Accounting with Sage Intacct Real Estate integration for your real estate accounting software needs.

Quicken offers different plans, starting from $2.99 to $5.99 per month. The Home & Business plan, which costs $5.99 per month, is designed for real estate professionals. It also includes features like property value assessment, rental income tracking, and expense management. All plans have budgeting, bill payment, tax planning and reporting tools. However, the Home & Business plan is best suited for landlords with a small number of properties, as it does not have payroll tools and is only available for Windows computers. As a result it may not be suitable for landlords with a large portfolio or those who need to manage their business on the go or with multiple devices.

• Robust real estate-specific features
• Competitively priced plans
• Full-featured plans
• 30-day risk-free guarantee

• First-tier plans don’t have real estate-specific features
• No free plan
• Real estate-specific plan only works on Windows computers
• No payroll processing

If you’re a landlord with a few properties and you use a Windows computer, Quicken’s Home & Business plan is a good option for managing your real estate accounting.

NetSuite provides advanced accounting software for large real estate businesses. It offers features like financial metrics tracking, automation tools, mobile accounting capabilities, and also real-time reporting. With NetSuite, businesses can manage their real estate operations more efficiently, including tasks like reconciling bank statements, tracking liabilities and cash positions, and managing taxes. It also offers customer service management (CRM) and human capital management features, such as tenant profile building, payroll, and performance management.

• Customized tools for managing real estate finances and operations
• Automation features
• Comprehensive accounting software
• Advanced financial reporting

• No pricing transparency
• No free trial
• One-time implementation fee
• Large learning curve
• No payroll processing in core accounting software

NetSuite is a great choice for big real estate companies that want custom digital tools to manage properties and also their staff efficiently.

Our team has handpicked the finest real estate accounting software options that prioritize user-friendly interfaces. Whether you are a tech-savvy real estate corporation or an individual landlord with limited technical know-how, we’ve got you covered.

We understand the importance of affordability, especially for small to medium-sized real estate agents. As a result we have curated a list of software providers that offer plans starting from under $50 per month, ensuring that you get the most value for your money.

We value your business and also strive to provide top-notch service. That’s why we specifically selected software options that offer live customer support, including options like phone or chat support. Should any questions or issues arise, rest assured that you will receive the assistance you need during regular business hours.

Our curated selection of accounting software is equipped with all the essential features that real estate professionals require. As a result, you can effortlessly track expenses, invoice clients, manage accounts receivable and payable, and even accept online payments. Furthermore, many of these software options offer additional features tailored to the specific needs of real estate professionals, such as the ability to send estimates or implement unique sublease provisions.