Bookkeeping for Real Estate Investors
For Houston-area landlords, flippers, short-term rental operators, and small real estate portfolios that need clean property-level books — for lenders, CPAs, and their own peace of mind.
The bookkeeping problems specific to your industry
You can't see per-property profitability
One P&L across the whole portfolio hides the losers. Without class or location tracking, you can't tell which unit is dragging returns.
Cap-ex vs. repairs is a guess
The difference between a repair (expensed now) and a capital improvement (depreciated) is worth thousands in taxes. Most investor books get it wrong.
Security deposits and prepaid rent
Deposits are a liability, not income. Prepaid rent is deferred revenue. Handling them like regular income leads to inflated P&Ls and painful year-ends.
Multiple entities, one shoebox
Investors often have an operating LLC plus a series of holding LLCs. Commingling in QuickBooks makes it impossible to hand a clean Schedule E to your CPA.
Refinance or DSCR loan coming up
DSCR and portfolio lenders want a rent roll, property-level P&Ls, and clean owner-draw records. Assembling that after the fact is a nightmare.
Short-term rental (Airbnb/VRBO) revenue
STR income needs to be tracked net of platform fees, cleaning, and occupancy tax — otherwise your gross revenue looks great and your net is a mystery.
Industry-specific patterns we clean up regularly
- One QuickBooks file used across multiple LLCs, so each property's P&L can't be produced in the format a lender or 1031 exchange requires.
- HOA fees, property management, and maintenance capex all lumped into 'Repairs' — misses the capitalize-vs-expense distinction that changes basis.
- Security deposits held as revenue instead of tenant liability.
- Owner draws taken from rental accounts without partner capital tracking on the balance sheet.
- Mortgage payments booked entirely to interest expense (no split between principal, interest, escrow, tax, insurance).
- Depreciation schedules maintained by the CPA once a year but never pushed back into the monthly books, so book equity is wrong every month.
Investor with 6 rentals across 3 LLCs building a portfolio lender package
Illustrative composite based on the type of engagement we handle. Not a specific client.
A Houston real-estate investor held six single-family rentals across three separate LLCs and wanted a portfolio loan to consolidate three high-rate DSCR loans. Their bookkeeping used one shared QuickBooks file with property names in the memo line. Mortgage payments were booked entirely as interest, security deposits sat in revenue, and there was no per-property P&L or per-LLC balance sheet.
Outcome: We split the file into three entity-specific QuickBooks files, back-loaded the mortgage principal / interest / escrow split from lender statements, moved deposits to a tenant liability account, and produced per-property and per-LLC financials plus a consolidated portfolio DSCR schedule. The consolidation loan closed at the target rate.
A bookkeeping system built for Real Estate & Investors
- QuickBooks setup with per-property tracking (class or location)
- Rent roll integration & security deposit tracking
- Cap-ex vs. repair categorization
- Multi-entity structure for holding LLCs
- Schedule-E-ready year-end package
- DSCR / refinance financial packages
- STR platform reconciliation (Airbnb, VRBO)
- Dedicated bookkeeper, monthly close
Bookkeeping across Houston & by industry
Monthly bookkeeping, cleanups, loan-ready financials and QuickBooks setup.
Compare bookkeeping playbooks for contractors, retail, legal, healthcare, and real estate.
Neighborhood-by-neighborhood bookkeeping coverage across the Houston metro.
What lenders want to see in your books before approving an SBA 7(a) or 504 loan.
Common questions
Do you work with multi-entity real estate structures?
Yes. Many investor clients have an operating LLC plus one or more property-holding LLCs. We keep them separate in QuickBooks, handle inter-company transfers cleanly, and produce combined reports when a lender asks.
Can you help me get ready for a DSCR refinance?
Yes. We prepare the rent roll, property-level P&L, and 12–24 months of clean operating statements DSCR lenders require. Doug spent years underwriting these loans on the banking side.
Do you handle short-term rental (Airbnb) accounting?
Yes. We reconcile Airbnb and VRBO payouts, split gross revenue from platform fees, track cleaning and occupancy tax, and produce a clean per-property P&L each month.
Let's talk about your books.
Free 30-minute consultation. No sales pressure — just a clear look at where your books stand.