Managing finances and accounting is one of the biggest struggles I see real estate investors handling. Whether you are flipping properties, wholesaling, or doing buy and hold with long-, mid-, or short-term rentals, no matter what your investing strategy is, it’s really important that you’re tracking the numbers to make sure that it’s all worth it and to know what’s working best. And yet, that key part is often so challenging for investors. So what I’d like to do today is talk about the number one tool in the market for that—QuickBooks—and talk about how I use it as an investor, how other investors can use it, what its pros and cons are, so that if you’re considering whether or not to get QuickBooks, or maybe you have it and you’re not sure if you’re using it right or what else you could be doing with it, this video is going to help.
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Managing finances and accounting is one of the biggest struggles real estate investors face. Whether you’re flipping properties, wholesaling, or managing buy-and-hold rentals of any term length, keeping track of your numbers is essential. It helps ensure your investments are profitable and shows what’s working best. Yet, for many investors, bookkeeping is one of the most challenging aspects of the business.
That’s why today, I’m diving into QuickBooks—the leading accounting tool in the market—and how it can be used effectively for real estate investing. Whether you’re considering getting QuickBooks, already have it but aren’t sure if you’re using it right, or want to know what more you can do with it, this breakdown will help you optimize your financial tracking and make better investment decisions.
Before we dive in, if you want more strategies to optimize your real estate investment portfolio and help you get the systems in place so that you can continue to grow and scale your portfolio without spending more time, head on over to adriennegreen.com and download my resources. I walk you through my essential systems that helped me go from overwhelmed to organized and scaling.
Now let’s start with why bookkeeping software is even necessary for investors. Why do we need it in the first place? Big picture, real estate investing is about making money. Whether that’s through cash flow, building equity, or creating a legacy of financial success to pass down, part of the goal is financial. There can be other aspects, like making the world a better place, helping people find great homes, or providing wonderful vacation rentals, but at the end of the day, we are spending time and energy on real estate investing, and we need a financial return as well. Money is a way to measure energy, effort, and success.
Bookkeeping software is how we track that money. We need to track what is coming in, what is going out, and categorize it effectively so that we can do analysis and determine where we are getting a good return on investment and where we may be losing money. The great thing is that when you use QuickBooks, you can start to track things much more easily. You can use automation, and you can have someone else, like a virtual assistant, help you, taking a lot of work off your plate while still ensuring that you have all the financial data you need.
If you are just starting out, you may be using a simple notebook to write things down, or you may be using a spreadsheet. Many people begin with Excel or Google Sheets, tracking their income and expenses manually. While this is a good place to start and provides your accountant with the basics for tax season, it does not allow for deeper analytics or a true understanding of what is working and what isn’t. Additionally, manual bookkeeping is very time-consuming. What got you here will not get you there—doing manual accounting will not allow you to grow, scale, or remove yourself from these tasks so you can focus on your top 20% of high-value activities.
Using something like QuickBooks can help with that. It eliminates the need for spreadsheets, makes it easy to track receipts, and simplifies tax season. Applying for loans becomes much easier because you can simply print a profit and loss statement or any other report the lender needs. And when you use QuickBooks, you can easily have a virtual assistant or bookkeeper handle these administrative tasks for you.
Why is QuickBooks so popular? Why is accounting nearly synonymous with QuickBooks? QuickBooks has dominated the industry, becoming one of the most widely used accounting software options. It is incredibly prevalent, and part of the reason is that accountants prefer it. Many real estate investor-focused bookkeepers and accountants have a strong preference for QuickBooks or even require their clients to use it. While I am not the biggest fan of Intuit and do not love QuickBooks’ customer support, it remains the industry standard and has many robust features that make it a go-to choice for investors.
If you are new to QuickBooks or are unsure whether you are using it to its full potential, let’s walk through some of the features that are great for real estate investors.
First, QuickBooks automates income and expense tracking. I have all of my bank accounts and credit cards linked in QuickBooks, and transactions are automatically pulled into the software. I do not manually input transactions at all. That is the first level of automation—transactions being automatically imported versus being manually entered into a spreadsheet.
The second level of automation is that QuickBooks learns from your categorization. If you frequently categorize transactions from Home Depot as “supplies,” QuickBooks will begin to auto-suggest that category for similar transactions. Instead of manually categorizing each transaction, you just review the suggestion, attach the receipt, and click confirm. This saves time for you, your virtual assistant, or your bookkeeper.
Another fantastic feature is the ability to create a customizable chart of accounts. You can break down expenses however you like. For example, if you are flipping houses or doing a lot of BRRRR projects, you may want to track specific categories like lumber, drywall, and tile. If that level of detail feels overwhelming, you can keep it general with broader categories like “supplies.” The flexibility allows you to structure your bookkeeping in a way that suits your business needs.
One of my favorite features in QuickBooks is profit and loss reporting, also known as the income statement. As long as transactions are up to date, you can easily pull up a P&L report to see your profitability for any given time period. You can compare different time periods, such as year-to-date this year versus last year or Q1 this year versus Q1 last year. This allows you to analyze trends and make data-driven decisions.
I also use QuickBooks’ “classes” feature, which allows you to categorize transactions by property. This means I can track the profit and loss of each individual property separately. If I complete a flip on 123 Main Street, I can assign all related transactions to that class and compare it to a flip on 456 Banana Street. The same applies to rental properties—I can see how each one is performing separately while also tracking overall portfolio performance.
Another QuickBooks feature you could use is invoicing and rent collection. While I do not use it for this purpose, QuickBooks does allow you to send invoices and collect payments directly. Additionally, QuickBooks offers mileage tracking for property visits, which can be easily recorded in the mobile app for tax deductions.
One of the biggest advantages of QuickBooks is that it simplifies tax preparation. Your accountant will love you if you use QuickBooks because it allows them to easily access your financial data, minimizing their workload and your stress.
QuickBooks offers multiple plans at different price points, so you can start with a simpler plan and upgrade as your business grows. This scalability prevents the need to switch systems later.
If you have multiple properties or a growing portfolio, QuickBooks is an excellent choice. However, if you only have one or two doors and do not plan to scale, it may be more than you need. In that case, alternatives like Stessa or Wave may be a better fit.
No matter where you are in your investment journey, keeping up with your bookkeeping is critical. If you’re ready to optimize your real estate financial tracking, consider using QuickBooks to streamline your process. And if you want more strategies to level up your investing business while reducing your workload, visit adriennegreen.com and download my resources today.