10 Best Accounting Software For Real Estate Investors In Nov-Dec 2022

Regarding your accounting software for your business, you should consider keeping both afloat and legally compliant. This can be not easy, but luckily, many different platforms have made the decision that much easier. We’ve narrowed down our list as best we could so that you know your options for finding something that works best for your personal business needs.

TenantCloud, Stessa, and Freshbooks are only a few of the software programs that have been used by several businesses that have been the most successful in their fields regarding accounting.

We’ve been using these three in our company and they seem to work well for us. Here is some more information. Once you’ve chosen which software best suits your needs, you’ll be able to keep better track of all your finances for your business or real-estate portfolio!

TenantCloud

TenantCloud combines cross-platform compatibility and integration with QuickBooks Online accounting software for landlords and real estate investors. The platform also supports credit checks and background checks (pending confirmation by the permission of your applicants). Although straightforward, some users report long wait times or lackluster customer support. Meanwhile, the file storage limits at 512MB, one gigabyte, and tenGB, respectively, may be a downside. Fortunately, a 20% discount promotion on an annual plan makes this package a good deal considering its relative cost.

A common complaint among TenantCloud users is the long wait for customer service. Unexpectedly, the company offers a robust customer support system. Still, many customers report that their calls take more than 30 minutes to be answered, and sometimes they never get an answer. With clients across 100 countries worldwide, TenantCloud boasts impressive cross-platform compatibility with QuickBooks Online.

Other property management software doesn’t include a screening hub and online rent collection. But it has additional features. For example, a screening hub provides an online centralization of tenant information, enabling the landlord to quickly check information such as a credit score, eviction history, or criminal background.

An online rent collection is another excellent tool real estate owners can take advantage of to let tenants pay their rent electronically where they can choose how frequently. With this tool, landlords don’t need to worry about handling cash or checks while increasing their cash flow simultaneously due to the reduction in costs involved with printing and mailing checks!

FreshBooks

Even though accounting is time-consuming and error-prone, FreshBooks’ cloud-based accounting services are a top choice in the real estate industry. Their invoicing suite offers many advanced features to make tracking time, expenses, and rent easier, plus it integrates with Stripe payment processing systems so that you can take payments online.

Other features include estimate and project creation tools and digital receipts through WePay, which allows you to accept credit cards online. You must verify your account to use FreshBooks accounting software for real estate investors immediately. Your first 30 days are free, allowing you time to get up to speed with this all-inclusive software from FreshBooks.

It includes three users, ten accounts, and up to 200 workflow rules. It’s a functional tool for those looking to save time, not money.

Its free trial offers a free trial of the software, but you can also opt for premium service if you want it to be more comprehensive. As a real estate investor, you’re likely a self-employed person who wants an easy way to track your finances and create invoices. FreshBooks gives you the tools needed to streamline these simple but essential tasks, spending less time at the computer the app allows you to manage team projects instead — and more time doing what you love.

FreshBooks makes managing bills simpler without sacrificing features that make accounting difficult when trying to juggle multiple projects scattered across different departments or various companies. Who needs slow customer support anyway?

Stessa

The most impressive feature of Stessa is its ability to help you prepare your taxes. This program allows tenants, property managers, and contractors to make tax time less of a headache from one central location. If you’re a real estate investor who wants to be more efficient and in charge of your money, switching to Stessa can help you maximize things like IRAs, rental losses – even the depreciation write-off.

This platform integrates flawlessly with a certified public accounting firm, so you no longer need multiple spreadsheets floating around your office. Now it’s all organized inside an intuitive dashboard that lets you streamline how you handle invoices, late payments, and much more.

Redlands, California-based RealData is a leading analytics and reporting software provider for residential and commercial properties. The company’s user-friendly software provides comprehensive usage reports that enable property owners to make informed investment decisions.

In 2015, the RealData founders saw an opportunity to offer additional features in its product set by addressing the needs of real estate investors seeking professional management platforms. To accommodate this new group of users, the company has upgraded its interface and developed new product variants like Property Matrix Enterprise, which includes specialized tools for commercial properties.

In addition, the Enterprise plan offers recurring automated invoices, budget reports, and other valuable features.

Xero

Xero is one of the most popular accounting software among real estate investors because of its accuracy, massive range of automated transactions, and user-friendliness. It’s so easy to use that property investors can do their bookkeeping. The program is highly-customizable even for highly demanding accountants when it comes time to make changes.

Xero also helps real estate brokerages comply with accounting regulations while performing accounts payable and receivable functions and keeping track of expenses, income tax, and loans.

Xero’s comprehensiveness is a plus, but it does add countless hours to your task list. You must manually create forms and fields if you don’t use PDFelement when creating conditions in accounting workflows. This significantly adds more time because Xero cannot manage your data with its form-filling functionality.

Compared to other products like Intuit, you are limited regarding the number of accounts and categories that can be added in a single tax return submission. Self-serve platforms have their limitations, so even if you do get used to them, the need for third-party integration always arises at some point or another.

Buildium

Buildium is easy to use, and the company offers several assistance services, including online tech support. While some users have reported receiving mixed or unhelpful responses, Buildium includes 24/7 phone and email assistance and user forums. They also offer a comprehensive help center with video tutorials that provide step-by-step instructions for using their software.

It would be even better if they offered online classes and integrations with other real estate or financial software, such as HappyCo Inspections. Its Rent page is also prone to frustrations, and its financial reports are not formatted as accountants prefer when reviewing an apt for possible purchase (most report margins on gross cash flow rather than net operating income).

While some more advanced features are available in niche programs like Appfolio, Buildium has been popular among small landlords as it caters to their specific needs. Some of its more prominent selling points include online rent payments, tenant screening, eSignatures for leases, and more. In addition to basic accounting, Buildium gives you a free site to promote your vacancies and lets you receive online payments from tenants.

It also tracks tenant payment history and nonpayments, maintains bank accounts, and files 1099s and other tax forms. Pricing varies depending on the number of units managed.”

Property Matrix Pro

This product is a sophisticated piece of software with a robust and adaptable database, allowing you to track units. It boasts an interface that’s easy to use and reporting tools that let you create your essential reports in no time. Moreover, you can run it on three different plans: the Standard, Business, and Enterprise.

You can also obtain a free demo or money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied. The standard plan costs $400 monthly for 250 items, while each additional unit is sold at $1.50. The Enterprise solution is $1,200 monthly, supporting up to 800 units.

Another excellent option is to use Stessa, a free accounting software that helps real estate investors manage their rental properties.

Whereas most of the accounting software options out there are paid, they’re pretty costly. Stessa’s software is free though it comes with a premium version. It also comes with an offline version and mobile application, which means you can access it wherever you are. It’s simple to use and suitable for both Mac and Windows-based devices.

Landlord Studio

When you work with Landlord Studio, you can rest assured that everything is taken care of. This makes your landlords happy because they’ll be able to focus more on taking care of their leasing process and have less worry about their money. Landlord Studio is the ultimate accounting tool for rental businesses that want to make keeping track of their finances easy and efficient.

If a landlord uses Landlord Studio’s complete service package, then s/he will be covered and enjoy the benefits of having a financial expert look after the funds for them.

This team offers an integrated billing solution that provides landlords with features like late rent reminders, real-time push notifications, and automated recurring invoicing. Someone does not miss out on being paid for something important, like collecting or running reports.

Wave

This application is an automated platform to manage multiple properties you might own. The features include posting advertisements to screening applicants, operating leases, and coordinating with outside maintenance companies.

The main difference between the Free and the Premium versions is that the latter gives you access to financial statements and accounting tools to plan your budget with easy-to-navigate reporting capabilities. The Essential plan costs $34 per month, while the Premium version costs $160 monthly.

MRI Software

The MRI Software is lowering barriers to entry in the mobile app market by cutting down on development time, making it easier to build apps that connect and mobilize users. The company’s cross-platform technology allows individuals and businesses to access their data via different devices.

The platform virtually supports all mobile operating systems and features an extensive suite of application programming interfaces with corresponding protocols and tools. This end-to-end solution supports nearly all real estate business functions and drives daily management tasks closer together with strategic planning activities.

It also offers a suite of applications connecting executive dashboards to each specific business function.

LeaseFlow manages leasing and rental property transactions, work orders, and AR. Corporate AR is its invoice generator that allows users to bill accounts outside the MRI property management modules while maintaining a comprehensive transaction history across the accounts.

It will enable users to run accounts receivable and review accounts—the MRI software suite used by commercial property owners.

AppFolio

The property management segment of the cloud-based technology market for Real Estate has been dominated by a single player for quite some time now, AppFolio. AppFolio Property Manager is at the forefront of the cloud-based software trend, and it’s more than ready to continue growing as it recently reported its first quarter 2022 earnings which were up 33% from last year. Revenue figures grew from $6.57 million units served in the first quarter of 2021 to $105.3 million.

The AppFolio allows investors to manage their rental properties effectively without investing additional time and money in accounting software. Users can choose from various plans, starting with a premium plan costing just $5.99 per month, giving you up to three properties to track.

This is perfect for people just starting out investing in real estate who don’t feel they need to be bogged down by papers or analysis-heavy software. Advanced users who have been investing in real estate for years can take advantage of one of their different starter plans, which starts at $19 per month, offering all the tools you would expect to see when completing financial reports across your property portfolio.

Final Words

If you’re looking to learn more about the most popular accounting software solution for the real estate industry, you’ve certainly come to the right place! Whether you own what is known as a “mom and pop” shop or a large enterprise with hundreds of agents, QuickBooks Online has all the features your real estate business needs.

It offers contract management support for helping clients quickly get through any paperwork related to purchasing their new home or building, its DocuSign eSignature integration is perfect for streamlining your sales process, plus plenty of payroll options are available for efficiently invoicing customers. And its easy-to-use interface makes it great for any real estate agency, from single agent firms to large multi-agent groupings.