How to Keep Organized Accounting Records For Your Rental Property
It should not be a challenge to keep records for your rental property. A rental property is a simple business to run. With no inventory to track, a small group of employees, and minimal transactions, it should be no problem to keep clear, organized records. With decades of bookkeeping experience, we are here to help you through this so you will be enabled to do it yourself and save money. By following a few simple rules and using the unique features of the Big E-Z Accounting for Google Sheets Add-on, you will find yourself on top of your records in no time.
First, Let’s Start With Some Tried and True Tips
Tip #1: Keep a separate checking account and credit card for your business. It is too difficult to stay organized when you combine personal expenses with your business. Many banks or credit unions offer free checking accounts. Additionally, there are new online banking services with fewer fees and more accessibility. Tip #2: Determine which categories need to be tracked. This is another way in which Big E-Z can help you. By allowing our software to do its job, your records will be crunched down to a dozen or two category totals come tax time. What a breeze, right?For Income Categories
Depending on the size of your rental, you may have various income streams from different properties or units. Breaking these down into separate categories enables you to track how units are performing against each other.For Expense Categories
The following list of categories will show you the deductible expenses for your rental property. Since these are so straightforward, there should be no challenge in keeping these records. You can even keep track of subcategories for each property or unit you have, again helping you rate their individual performances. Tip #3: It will save you time (and therefore money) to use a payroll service. Trust me. In all my years I have come across only one client that really had a handle on all the payroll deductions and reports, and knew how to stay out of trouble by filing timely returns. There’s such a learning curve to generating payroll, it is best to let a service do it for you. Then simply record your payroll totals in the system to track totals of taxes withheld and money owed. This will save you headaches and frustration. Don’t be tempted to spend withheld tax money! By putting that money aside until it is due, you save yourself all kinds of trouble with tax authorities. Big E-Z Accounting for Google Sheets Add-on has a Cash Management report to help you see how much money must stay in reserves until needed. Tip #4: Viewing your end-of-month records is the most effective way to check up on your business. You need to see clear, concise records you can understand and trust. Big E-Z has many reports to help you do just that. For example, we offer this exclusive Direct Cash Flow Report which is useful to give you a picture of all money that flows in and out of the organization. You can match up the Net Cash Flow for the year with the difference in your cash accounts year-to-date. With 12 professional-looking reports, you will be able to clearly see your profits, and determine estimated tax payments, or view overspending within your expenses, and much more.How Easy Is It To Correct?
At Big E-Z, we have worked tirelessly to make the most user-friendly software available. Many people don’t consider the value of easy correction. Time is money: wasting time in a cumbersome accounting program is wasting money! Instead of wasting hours troubleshooting or searching for solutions, you can instead focus your attention on your business. It doesn’t get much easier than simply entering amounts under a few columns and then categorizing those entries. Big E-Z then generates professional-looking reports for you. There is great power in knowing you are in control and all is running smoothly.Benefits
- Know your true bank balance at all times
- Track all money in and out, down to the cent
- No money lost on hiring an accountant to do the recordkeeping for you
More Benefits You’ll Receive
- Professional-looking reports
- No time lost or headache come tax time
- Clear records of your business’s value, if and when you decide to sell your business