Property management bookkeeping services for managers who hold owner and tenant money: we reconcile your trust accounts every month, check owner statements against the bank and keep your management company’s own books separate, in AppFolio, Buildium or QuickBooks Online.
A property manager really keeps two sets of books. One is the money you hold for owners and tenants: rent, security deposits and reserves. The other is your own company’s management fees and costs. Keeping the two apart, and proving every month that the trust money is all there, is most of the job.
What do we handle each month?
- A three-way reconciliation of every trust account: bank, trust register and owner and tenant balances
- Security deposits tracked by tenant and tied to the deposit account
- Owner statements and owner distributions checked before they go out
- Rent, late fees and tenant receivables reconciled, with a delinquency report
- Vendor bills and maintenance costs coded to the right property and owner
- Reserves and owner contributions tracked by property
- Your management company’s own books: management fees, payroll and operating costs
- Vendor W-9s kept on file and year-end 1099 vendor reports from your software
Do you work in AppFolio and Buildium?
Yes. We work in AppFolio, Buildium and QuickBooks Online, including the common setup where the property management software holds the trust accounting and QuickBooks Online holds the management company’s own books. We work in the system you already use and only suggest a change when there is a clear reason.
What is a three-way reconciliation?
Every month, three numbers must agree: the trust bank balance after outstanding checks and deposits in transit, the trust account register in your software, and the total of every owner’s and tenant’s ledger balance. If one of them is off, money is sitting in the wrong place, and the sooner it is found the easier it is to fix.
State real estate commissions set the rules for trust accounts, and many require regular reconciliations and records you can show on request. The details differ by state, so we follow your state’s requirements. Our guide to trust accounting and the three-way reconciliation walks through it step by step.
Who is this for?
- Property management companies managing residential or commercial units for owners
- Managers taking over a portfolio whose trust accounts haven’t been reconciled
- Investors who self-manage several properties through separate LLCs
If you own rentals rather than manage them for others, see our real estate bookkeeping services and our rental property bookkeeping guide.
What does property management bookkeeping cost?
We charge a fixed monthly fee based on the number of doors, bank accounts and transactions, confirmed in writing after a free call. Plans start at $199 a month for a single rental property; managers with trust accounts and several owners need a larger scope.
Frequently asked questions
Can you clean up trust accounts that haven’t been reconciled?
Yes. We reconcile back to the last month that balanced, find the differences and document the corrections, then start monthly reconciliations. That work is quoted as a fixed-fee cleanup.
Do you send owner distributions?
We prepare and check owner statements and distribution amounts. You approve and release the payments from your own software, so money only moves on your say-so.
Can you work alongside our in-house staff?
Yes. Your team can keep entering rent and work orders while we handle reconciliations, owner statement review and the month-end close.
Do you prepare tax returns for owners?
No. We give each owner’s tax preparer clean year-end owner statements and the reports they need, and the tax preparer files the returns.
Trust accounts that balance every month
Book a free call and tell us about your portfolio and software.