Are there samples to help small landlords? The categories don't seem to work for me.

hoveyjiler · ‎December 10, 2018

I don't have vendors and sales, I have maintenance or capital improvement providers and consistent rent.

qbteachmt · ‎December 10, 2018

I get this question in my class from Landlords every time. Don't get hung up on Terminology.

Vendor = payee names for goods and services. So, of course you Have Vendors, such as the Names you pay for electricity and Repairs and the City for taxes.

Of course you have Sales = Charges. You "sell" the use of Spaces. Rent is a Charge item as a Sale you make every month.

The next thing to do is get your Tax forms and look at the Account Reporting. You cannot report what you do not Track in the bookkeeping.

"I have maintenance"

Repairs is an Expense account.

"or capital improvement"

Asset accounts.

"providers"

Names on the transactions that you enter, to show Who you are paying and Why you are paying them. That is why you add them as Vendors = I write a check to pay sewer and water every month, and I pay a Vendor (who might be subject to 1099 reporting) for Lawn Care and Snow Removal, etc.

"and consistent rent."

Customers pay you Rent, which is what you Charge to them and is your Operations as Sales. Sales Revenue.

Think of this as a Business and the terminology starts to apply.

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qbteachmt · ‎December 10, 2018

I get this question in my class from Landlords every time. Don't get hung up on Terminology.

Vendor = payee names for goods and services. So, of course you Have Vendors, such as the Names you pay for electricity and Repairs and the City for taxes.

Of course you have Sales = Charges. You "sell" the use of Spaces. Rent is a Charge item as a Sale you make every month.

The next thing to do is get your Tax forms and look at the Account Reporting. You cannot report what you do not Track in the bookkeeping.

"I have maintenance"

Repairs is an Expense account.

"or capital improvement"

Asset accounts.

"providers"

Names on the transactions that you enter, to show Who you are paying and Why you are paying them. That is why you add them as Vendors = I write a check to pay sewer and water every month, and I pay a Vendor (who might be subject to 1099 reporting) for Lawn Care and Snow Removal, etc.

"and consistent rent."

Customers pay you Rent, which is what you Charge to them and is your Operations as Sales. Sales Revenue.

Think of this as a Business and the terminology starts to apply.

IntuitBrooks · ‎December 10, 2018

If you have a lot of rentals (like an apartment building) I've seen the "customers" set up as the apartment numbers. I don't know how that turns out ultimately but thought it was interesting.

qbteachmt · ‎December 10, 2018

"I've seen the "customers" set up as the apartment numbers."

Yes, you set up Customer Name for the Property and Tenants are Job Names; or, even Sublevels like this:

Building address:Unit #:Tenant

That allows you to track Rent to the Current tenant, track if you still have the security deposit for the prior tenant and even track a Pre-move in deposit for the Upcoming tenant. That allows you to track Job Status for the Unit = Needs Repair or Ready To Rent, and Job Type for the unit, such as 2 bed/2 bath. It also allows you to Job Track all repairs and improvements, such as Building 1 gets a new roof, and units 2 and 3 got new Appliances; unit 4 gets Window Blinds; unit 5 gets Carpet.

Now you have Costs, revenue, profitability, and Sales reporting.

AlcaeusF · ‎December 10, 2018

Hello hoveyjiler,

Thank you for getting in touch with us about setting up the categories.

If you're trying to add new accounts to your Chart of Accounts, it would be best to check our QuickBooks for Mac User's Guide. The user's guide will help you correctly set up your QuickBooks for Mac. Let's scroll-down to page 46 for the steps on adding or editing accounts.

Let me know if this helps. If you're referring to something else, please provide us with more details. Sending us a screenshot by editing your post would also be a great help as well.

rhonda24 · ‎July 12, 2020

Can you provide a very clear, precise example of this? I see people talking about how to do it, but I've never actually seen any clear, step-by-step instructions on how to do this in quickbooks. I've been looking at a couple of other options besides QB just because I cannot find any clearly written instructions on how to set up the rentals.

rhonda24 · ‎July 12, 2020

Can you provide a very clear, precise example of this? I see people talking about how to do it, but I've never actually seen any clear, step-by-step instructions on how to do this in quickbooks. I've been looking at a couple of other options besides QB just because I cannot find any clearly written instructions on how to set up the rentals. I've looked all over YouTube on clear instructions for this.

Mark_R · ‎July 12, 2020

Glad to have you here in the Community, @rhonda24.

You can create a new company file for your rental property company. This is to ensure you can keep track of the transactions for each property you manage.

Here's the step by step process to set up rentals in QuickBooks Desktop:

Step 1: Set up tenants and vendors

Step 2: Set up accounts and items

Step 3: Record security deposits

Step 4: Track the rent income

Step 5: Record expenses for each property

Step 6: Pay the property owners

For the detailed instruction for every step, you can read this article: Record transactions for a property management company.

As always, feel free to visit our QuickBooks Community help website if you need tips and related articles in the future.

Keep in touch if you need more help with setting up rentals, or if there's anything else I can do for you. Of course, I am always here ready to help you whenever you reach out. Have a great day and keep safe.

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Are there samples to help small landlords? The categories don't seem to work for me.