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OWood
Level 1

Set up Chart of Accounts for Property Management in QuickBooks Online.

I have been online searching both in youtube and here looking for help with qbo for setting up CoA for property management. Its a two fold issue being I am accounting for Owners books & my own PM bus books which go hand in hand, any insight is appreciated

 

 

(Title has been edited by moderator for clarity)

Solved
Best answer June 09, 2018

Best Answers
Rustler
Level 15

Set up Chart of Accounts for Property Management in QuickBooks Online.

@OWood

 

You have two businesses, the owners and your prop management, therefore you should have two QBO subscriptions

 

The only hand in hand thing is that what happens in the prop management business feeds the owner account.

 

as property manager, you invoice the tenant for rent and receive the payment as a liability (you owe the owner)

then as property manager you send a check the owner
line one, the liability account, and the full amount of rent received
line two, your commission income account, and the amount of your fee as a negative number

(and keep in mind the requirement to 1099 the owner at year end for the full amount of the rent collected)

 

then in the owner books
create a sales receipt
line one, rental income service item, full amount of rent
line two, management fee expense item, fee expene amount as a negative number
save

then deposit the funds.

 

IRS Pub 583, Page 5 - must keep separate books per company

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6 Comments 6
Pen
Level 5

Set up Chart of Accounts for Property Management in QuickBooks Online.

I would like to gain a little clarity on what you are trying to do. 

 

You said that you are accounting for "owners" books and your own Property Management books. 

 

Is this for two completely different companies or are they different parts of the same company? 

 

You also said they go hand in hand. In what way do they go hand in hand? 

Rustler
Level 15

Set up Chart of Accounts for Property Management in QuickBooks Online.

@OWood

 

You have two businesses, the owners and your prop management, therefore you should have two QBO subscriptions

 

The only hand in hand thing is that what happens in the prop management business feeds the owner account.

 

as property manager, you invoice the tenant for rent and receive the payment as a liability (you owe the owner)

then as property manager you send a check the owner
line one, the liability account, and the full amount of rent received
line two, your commission income account, and the amount of your fee as a negative number

(and keep in mind the requirement to 1099 the owner at year end for the full amount of the rent collected)

 

then in the owner books
create a sales receipt
line one, rental income service item, full amount of rent
line two, management fee expense item, fee expene amount as a negative number
save

then deposit the funds.

 

IRS Pub 583, Page 5 - must keep separate books per company

eClientLink1
Level 2

Set up Chart of Accounts for Property Management in QuickBooks Online.

I suggest there is a way to do this in one QBO company.

 

First set up your chart of accounts with two different sections. One for property owners and one for your company. Then add classes for each property and when posting to there accounts use the class for the property. 

 

When posting for your own company use the accounts setup for your company. Don't use the individual property classes. 

 

Reporting will be a challenge, but the eClientLink Custom Report Writer could solve this problem. For more information on eClientLink see the QuickBooks Online App store here > https://appcenter.intuit.com/eclientlink?locale=en-us 

 

Thanks

eClientLink.com

 

 

 

elizabethcberg
Level 1

Set up Chart of Accounts for Property Management in QuickBooks Online.

Hi, I would like to understand more about your proposed solution for creating ONE Company to encompass a property management business for which there are two concurrent and related entities controlled by one set of books.  This is exactly how I would like to set mine up.  Could I speak to you directly? I would very much like your help on this!

Thank you for any support you can lend.

 

liz

Jen_D
Moderator

Set up Chart of Accounts for Property Management in QuickBooks Online.

Good day, @elizabethcberg,

 

To shed some more information about tracking income and expenses for different departments, you may use the Class or Location tracking. These two features will let you run through account balances by department, business office or location, separate properties, or any other meaningful breakdown of your business, and other segments you want to keep a close eye on.

 

To turn these features on, follow the steps below:

 

  1. Tap the Gear icon and choose Account and Settings.
  2. Go to the Advanced tab and pick Categories.
  3. Check the Track classes or Track Locations to turn on class tracking. 
  4. Select Save and then Done.
  5. When creating a new transaction, just fill in the Class or Location field to include them on your reports. See this sample screenshot:

When you run financial reports, simple include the class or location by clicking the Customize option. See this:

 

To learn more about these features and tutorials, check out these links:

 

If you have further questions about this or need anything else with QuickBooks, let me know by adding a comment below. I'll be right here to help you. Have a great rest of the week.

Granite Key
Level 1

Set up Chart of Accounts for Property Management in QuickBooks Online.

I know this is an older thread, but I don't understand why QB cannot support a Property Management business without requiring us to pay for TWO accounts? I am set up as an LLC / Sole Proprietor, so I will still be filing a Schedule C. Sometimes owners send me 1099's and other times I send THEM 1099's depending on their entity type.

 

I left QB years ago when I first started this company, and have been painstakingly managing the books on my own. They are very accurate and precise, but too time consuming for our growth. So I gave in recently and purchased the ONLINE version, when I began setting up everything, I went into the forums, learning that apparently QB still can't support a true PM business. 

 

In this I mean; as the agent for the investor or property owner, my job is to collect rents and security deposits, procure and pay vendors on owners behalf, pay the owners each month their yields (minus our fees) and provide them with a monthly Profit and Loss Statement. 

 

Then, there's me. My business, where I need to show all those fees from all different owners, as income to us, as well as my own expenses such as QB, utilities, insurance, etc.. and so on and so forth. 

 

Surely there has to be a way in QB to do this in one account. The other forums say to buy QB Desktop, pay additional fees and create a second company and go back and forth from there. This is not efficient or cost effective at ALL for my business type. Frankly, I'm discouraged. I had hoped there was a better way. Is there?

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