Managing your IPs - do you have any methods / software?

Discussion in 'Property Management' started by 2409, 18th May, 2016.

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  1. 2409

    2409 Active Member

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    Hi guys,

    Interested to know how you guys keep track of everything with your IPs, especially when it comes down to making sure you're on top of your payments and doing your taxes.

    Right now I just have a folders which have physical receipts and use a Dropbox folder with an excel sheet outlining everything.
     
  2. Jamie Moore

    Jamie Moore MORTGAGE BROKER - AUSTRALIA WIDE Business Member

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    Just a boring old excel spreadsheet that gets updated whenever I remember to do it.

    I've got a page for each IP - with expenses down one side and income on the other. Everything feeds into a front summary page that shows total income/expenses from the portfolio for the FY.

    Cheers

    Jamie
     
  3. Rossario

    Rossario Member

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    I use Xero Accounting software for my rentals as they have their own bank account.
    Setup with automatic bank feeds and lots of bank rules to faster process transactions. Subscriptions is $5p/m or $10 with the bank feed (tax deductible).
    Spend 10 minutes a week keeping on top of it so come June 30 its all done and ready to "invite" the Tax agent into Xero. Can even upload soft copies of invoices and do away with paper.

    Cheers,
    Ross
     
  4. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    @Presto - who 'owns' your data? Are you able to easily change providers & take your financial records with you? Are they compatible with other platforms?
     
  5. hash_investor

    hash_investor Well-Known Member

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  6. Rossario

    Rossario Member

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    Xero is cloud based so its good to have an understanding of security measures they have in place to protect your information.
    Cloud Security | Xero Accounting Software
    All your data (not only the numbers but supplier listings ) is easily exportable back to excel and then to other systems but never heard of anyone leaving Xero.
    Cheers,
    Ross
     
  7. Andrew H

    Andrew H Well-Known Member

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    I'm with @Presto i use xero and would never leave. Updating is extremely easy with their iphone app too. Also their reports are just too good
     
  8. Yann

    Yann Well-Known Member

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    +1 for Excel
    1 tab for P&L of each IP and one master tab to check tax return summary from Accountant
     
  9. Rumpelstilzli

    Rumpelstilzli Member

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    +1 for Excel.
    I have one tab per property and I assign each incoming/outgoing entry to a category which matches the one in my tax return.
    My summary page then shows the summary per property & per tax category - makes my and my accountant's life a lot easier.
     
  10. Blueskies

    Blueskies Well-Known Member

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    Excel setup similar to others and a good old fashioned filing cabinet, divided by property and financial year for all the paper records (seems to be mainly bunnings receipts!)
     
  11. Peter_Tersteeg

    Peter_Tersteeg Mortgage Broker Business Member

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    I get my property managers to pay as many bills as possible. They send a summary at the end of the year and we do our accounting off that. Everything gets emailed to us so we store it all digitally.
     
  12. trinity168

    trinity168 Well-Known Member

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    Just additional info: Xero is NZ owned, the cloud is local to NZ if I remember correctly. ( Not affiliated with Xero, just had a project and Xero was one of the accounting s/w that was being considered ).
     
  13. the world is your oyster

    the world is your oyster Well-Known Member

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    I use
    My property tracker
    I feel that's good value at $49 a year a cloud based program
     
  14. Thorm

    Thorm Well-Known Member

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  15. dabbler

    dabbler Well-Known Member

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    Do any of you share your excel templates, or did you start it from scratch and IP highly protected :)
     
  16. big_ben02

    big_ben02 Well-Known Member

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    I budget in excel but use quicken (now reckon) personal plus to keep track of my income and expenses.
    I'm looking at alternatives. I had thought xero was $50 or $60/m. How are you paying only $5?
     
  17. Cactus

    Cactus Well-Known Member

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    I've just started using Xero on advice from my accountant. There is a $25 plan but it's limited in number of transactions per month. I went with the $50 plan, but this is for my business with heaps of transactions. I would happily pay another $5pcm per property to put them on seperate accounts but it's not available.
     
  18. BuyersAgent

    BuyersAgent Well-Known Member Business Member

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    I am gradually getting "xerofied" as well, but for the last decade all the paperwork was stored in filing cabs. Setting up a consistent naming convention for each property makes it SO much easier to see where everything is. I could fit 2 properties per draw this way and always know where to put things.

    The filing system should have at least the following sections:

    ● Purchase Documents

    ● Legal

    ● Insurance

    ● Building & Pest Inspection

    ● Pest Control Ongoing

    ● PM Contract

    ● PM Monthly Statements

    ● PM Inspection Reports (include Photos or have separate section)

    ● Body Corporate/Strata

    ● Renovation Receipts

    ● Quantity Surveyors Report

    ● Other expenses

    ● Council Rates

    ● Water Rates
     
    ellejay and Cactus like this.
  19. Thorm

    Thorm Well-Known Member

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    In regards to xero, googling found this article from a couple of years ago. Sounds like this is what it is.

    The Rise of the $5 Accounting Program - Digital First
     
  20. peastman

    peastman Well-Known Member

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    Is that why they call New Zealand the "Land of the long white cloud."