Hi,
If you are still struggling with how to set up your QBO for managing other people properties, I might be able to help a little. QBO for managing properties that others own is a bit complicated . You should have two company files. One for your property management company and another for the rentals. You should also have two separate bank accounts. One where the rent payments are deposited and that you pay the landlords and repair bills with, and another for your business. Tenants are customers and the landlords are vendors. This is because you have to pay the rent to the landlords, less expenses and you can't pay a customer. Customers owe you money. You owe money to vendors. Each landlord should be a Class and then each property is a subclass of that landlord. Do not use the tenant's names in the Class because tenants come and go, but the properties remain. The tenants are projects.
Create the tenants' invoices and save them as a recurring transaction. I don't know any tenant that receives a monthly invoice from the landlord or property manager. If you've ever rented an house, apartment or office space, can you say you received monthly invoices? If you need to invoice them for a billable expense, like utilities you pay but the tenant reimburses you, or an HOA violation, those don't go on their monthly rent invoice. A late fee, NSF fee, or application fee, can be added to a rent invoice, with your company in the Class field, not the property.
Create the landlord's payment as a bill, not expenses or a simple check. Save the bill as a recurring transaction.
Create a bill for your management fees.
Create a P&L by Class for each landlord. You can save each one as a custom report. Any repair bills you've paid the property will show up here, assuming you assigned the Class to the invoice from the repair company. You adjust the landlords bill by deducting any repair bills and your fee. The Net Income will be zero is you did this right. You pay the landlord the third number from the bottom. Caveat here. You have to be sure the tenant has actually paid their rent before you pay anything to the landlord.
This is the tip of the iceberg.
Good luck!
