We’ve identified the best five accounting software for real estate businesses, including property management companies, real estate agents, and landlords. We choose them based on a rubric weighted specifically for real estate companies, which gives extra importance to features like tracking income/loss by property, automatic monthly e-payments, and real estate-specific management tools.
Top Real Estate Accounting Software
- QuickBooks Online: Best overall for real estate businesses, property managers, and real estate agencies (4.18 of 5 points)
- Buildium: Best for property management features (3.63 of 5 points)
- Quicken: Best for individuals owning a few rental properties (3.54 of 5 points)
- Wave: Best free real estate accounting software for businesses willing to sacrifice tracking income or loss by property (3.03 of 5 points)
- Realtyzam: Best easy-to-use accounting software for real estate agents (2.73 of 5 points)
To help narrow down the best software for you, answer a few questions below. This will provide a personalized recommendation based on the responses you provide.
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Features to Look For in Real Estate Accounting Software
Real estate companies need accounting software to help them track the expenses and profitability of individual buildings or units. Therefore, a must-have feature for real estate accounting software is the ability to assign income and expenses to a particular class, location, or other identifiers.
Here is a summary of accounting software features that most real estate companies will find either important or unimportant.
Real Estate Accounting Software Features | |
Important | Less Important |
Separates profit/loss by property | Professional Invoices |
Great mobile app with receipt capture and mileage tracking | Manage sales tax |
Multiple users | Inventory tracking |
Common area expense allocations | Track hours and bill to customers |
Automatic monthly e-payments | |
Integrates property management features | |
If you need more features than a typical real estate company, such as inventory, sales tax, or hours tracking, see our guide to the best small business accounting software.
How We Evaluate Real Estate Accounting Software
We evaluated a range of software based on pricing, features, ease of use, and our own expert analysis. We looked at bookkeeping systems that could be tailored to real estate companies as well as real estate-specific programs with a bookkeeping component. We evaluate software on features that are useful specifically to real estate companies, such as the ability to track profit and loss by property. After identifying features, we apply a higher weight to items important to real estate companies and a lower―or, in some cases, no―weight to features unimportant to real estate companies.
20% of Overall Score
The most important factor in our pricing score is the monthly cost of the program. However, we also consider any limitations on transactions, vendors, or customers. Finally, we score programs higher that offer a month-to-month option vs an annual license.
20% of Overall Score
Along with a subjective evaluation by our accounting expert, the ease-of-use score includes the availability of customer service by telephone or direct message. Other components include whether online payments require third-party integration and the likelihood of finding third-party accountants familiar with the program and able to assist you.
20% of Overall Score
General features include bookkeeping features typically found in modern bookkeeping software, including online payments, mobile apps, and receipt capture. We also determine whether the software is a double-entry system, which means it tracks both assets and liabilities as well as income and expense. Double-entry systems are the standard for bookkeeping and provide checks and balances to ensure accuracy.
20% of Overall Score
The most important real estate feature evaluated is the ability to track profit and loss by property. Other features include the ability to track automobile mileage, automatic monthly e-payments, tenant portals, and maintenance management.
20% of Overall Score
Our expert evaluation is a subjective analysis of the software’s features, mobile app, and reports. It also includes the availability of bookkeeping assistance from third parties.
QuickBooks Online
PROS
- Outstanding general bookkeeping features
- Track income and expenses by class and location
- Integrates with QuickBooks Payments to schedule automatic monthly e-payments
- Great mobile app with mileage tracking and receipt capture
CONS
- No customer service telephone number
- No integrated property management features
- Expensive for self-employed and independent agents
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 2.90 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Ease of Use | 4.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| General Features | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Real Estate Features | 4.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Analysis | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
Our Expert Opinion
QuickBooks Online is full-featuref accounting software that is relatively easy-to-use, considering its powerful features and reports. It can be adapted to real estate companies easily by using the class and location tracking feature. You can define classes for each of your real estate segments and then locations for each property. Most of its vast array of reports can be customized to include only classes and locations you choose. So, you could look at the profitability of a particular building by running a report showing only those units, or locations, within the building.
QuickBooks will handle your bookkeeping easily, but it’s not designed to help with other aspects of your real estate business like managing leases, maintenance requests, rental applications, and showings.
QuickBooks Online Pricing
- Simple Start: $25 per month for one user
- Essentials: $40 per month for three users
- Plus (required for class and location tracking): $70 per month for five users
New subscribers have a choice of a 30-day free trial with no credit card or 50% off for three months.
Buildium
PROS
- Outstanding property management features
- Separate profit & loss by property
- Allocate common area expenses to properties automatically
- Inexpensive for companies with 20 units or less
CONS
- Mobile app doesn’t include accounting functions
- Lacks common accounting features like mileage tracking and receipt capture
- Not very easy to use
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 3.25 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Ease of Use | 3.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| General Features | 3.25 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Real Estate Features | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Analysis | 3.13 | OUT OF | 5 |
Our Expert Opinion
Buildium is property management software with an accounting component. It manages rental listings, tenant screenings, and online payments. It also provides both a resident portal and owner portal to create and track communications. The accounting features allow you to collect rent, manage bills, and classify transactions transferred from your bank account. There is also a feature to record general journal entries for more experienced accountants. Buildium provides the basic financial statements, including a balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows, plus many reports analyzing your activity by property.
There are pros and cons to using management software for your bookkeeping. If used correctly, it can eliminate the need to enter the same information in multiple systems. However, bookkeeping tends to be more difficult when it is not the software’s focal point. It’s not always easy to understand how―or if―a particular entry in the management software affects your financial statements.
Buildium Pricing
- Essential (recommended): $50 per month for 20 units to $235 per month for 141 units―maximum of 15 units
- Additional one-time fee of $99 to set up each linked bank account
- $5 per eLease
- Growth: $160 per month for 50 units to $5,400 per month for 5,000 units; custom pricing for more than 5,000 units
- First five bank accounts free, then a $99 one-time fee each
- Unlimited eLeases
The Essential subscription will provide most small property management companies with everything they need. However, if you have more than 150 units, you must upgrade to the Growth package—even if you don’t need the extra features. Buildium offers new subscribers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.
Quicken
PROS
- Very affordable
- Track profit & loss by property
- Manage lease terms, rental rates, security deposits, and maintenance
- Track personal finances, retirement accounts, and self-employed income
CONS
- Doesn’t track assets and liabilities so it can’t print a balance sheet
- Cannot include more than one user
- Software must be installed on your computer
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 4.23 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Ease of Use | 3.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| General Features | 3.88 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Real Estate Features | 4.10 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Analysis | 2.50 | OUT OF | 5 |
Our Expert Opinion
Quicken is designed predominantly to manage your personal finances, but the Home & Business edition is very capable of managing a few rental houses owned by an individual. It has some great features typically found in more expensive bookkeeping software like a mobile app with receipt capture, receiving online payments, managing unpaid bills, and tracking income and expenses by rental unit. It also has basic property management features like a property dashboard, rental agreements, and a report of income and loss formatted as the Schedule E required on your individual income tax return.
Quicken is not a double-entry bookkeeping system and not appropriate for a corporation, partnership, or limited liability company (LLC) because it does not track assets and liabilities. While the mobile app will sync with your desktop computer via the cloud, the software itself is not cloud-based and must be installed on your computer.
Quicken Pricing
- Starter: $35.99 per year
- Deluxe: $51.99 per year
- Premier: $77.99 per year
- Home & Business (required for rental property): $103.99 per year
All plans are limited to one user. You’ll need to pay for the software to download it, but Quicken offers a 30-day money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied.
Wave
PROS
- Free forever for unlimited users, transactions, and customers
- Connect bank account to import transactions
- Set up automatic monthly e-payments
CONS
- Cannot track profit & loss by property
- No property management features
- Cannot track automobile mileage
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 5.00 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Ease of Use | 4.25 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| General Features | 2.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Real Estate Features | 1.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Analysis | 2.13 | OUT OF | 5 |
Our Expert Opinion
Wave is a good free bookkeeping system that will allow you to connect to a bank account to classify transactions and reconcile the account. It also provides a good balance sheet and income statement. You can add Wave Payments easily to your account to collect online payments and even set up recurring payments. As with all the software reviewed here, there is an additional charge for the payments service.
While Wave is pretty good for most companies, it lacks the capability of creating different classes or locations, which means you won’t have any way to classify income and expenses by property. Wave also doesn’t have a comprehensive app. It does have an app for invoicing and another for capturing receipts. However, beyond that, you’ll need to log in to their website to complete your bookkeeping.
Wave Pricing
- Wave is free forever.
Since Wave is free, you can sign up and start using it immediately.
Realtyzam
PROS
- Affordable for even part-time agents
- Easy to use
- Good mobile app
- Tracks automobile mileage
CONS
- Cannot speak or chat with customer service
- Doesn’t track assets and liabilities, so it can’t produce a balance sheet
- Cannot reconcile your bank account
| RATING CRITERIA | Pricing | 4.64 | OUT OF | 5 |
| Ease of Use | 2.50 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| General Features | 2.00 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Real Estate Features | 2.75 | OUT OF | 5 | |
| Expert Analysis | 1.75 | OUT OF | 5 |
Our Expert Opinion
Because RealtyZam is designed for a very specific purpose, it didn’t score well in our rubric. RealtyZam does a great job of tracking commission income and expenses for real estate agents. It doesn’t have bookkeeping functions not needed by real estate agents like invoicing, online payments, inventory, and time tracking. The result is software that is very easy to use. You set up each of your listings in the software and assign expenses and mileage as they’re incurred. When the listing is sold, you confirm your commission and view your profit and loss details instantly. Of course, when tax time comes, you can print a cumulative profit and loss statement for the whole year.
While RealtyZam is easy to use, it scores low in our Ease of Use rubric because it lacks personal customer support. You must submit your question and wait for an emailed response. Unfortunately, RealtyZam doesn’t provide a way to reconcile your bank account. Monthly reconciliation is the only way you can be confident you’ve picked up all the activity in an account. RealtyZam is only for self-employed individuals―not corporations, partnerships, or LLCs―because it doesn’t track assets and liabilities.
RealtyZam Pricing
- $12 per month or $119.40 per year
RealtyZam offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card required.
Bottom Line
We’ve rated five real estate accounting software and discussed how each could serve the needs of particular real estate businesses. If you’re looking for software to track your profit and loss by property and prepare financial statements easily, QuickBooks Online is a terrific choice. However, if you also want help managing your properties, you should consider Buildium. Finally, real estate agents have very specific needs that can be addressed affordably with RealtyZam.
Shashank Raj Holavanalli
Hi Tim,
Thank you for comparing the different softwares available for real estate accounting. With my experience searching and using different softwares as a real estate investor I can further categorize your options this way:
1. Small business accounting softwares: QuickBooks online plus, QuickBooks desktop, QuickBooks self employed, Xero and Wave. These software can create bills, reconcile bank accounts, generate sophisticated reports, create budgets, track employee time, calculate payroll withholding, and generate and maintain fixed asset records. These programs are more expensive, not tailor made for real estate personnel and is hard to learn. For a real estate person who wants to just do accounting or record keeping or portfolio performance tracking then these softwares have too much to offer and there is a steep learning curve.
2. Property management softwares: Buildium property management. These are softwares designed specifically for rental property management have features specifically useful to landlords. They are hard to learn and implement and it is useful only if you do complete property management and hold hundreds of units. If you’re an investor and delegate property management to another person or company then these softwares are too much to learn and implement. They have owner portals that give you access to statements and invoices but they lack performance metrics like cash on cash return, net cash flow, etc. They also don’t have the complete picture of your income and expenses because in most cases property managers don’t take care of paying your property taxes, insurance bills, utility bills, etc.
I am a real estate investor with 17 properties who delegate property management to another company. I personally use cashonplex.com for portfolio performance tracking and book keeping. The software is tailor made for land lords. It can pull transactions automatically from most banks in the US and Canada and most importantly it has in built set of tags that is used by every REI to categorize their transactions. It is also very simple to use, has a free 2 month trial and it costs only a fraction of some of the other softwares mentioned in this article. I encourage you to review it. Once again thank you for comparing all the options out there.
Amanda Norman
Hi Shashank,
Thanks for reading and sharing your insight!
Best wishes,
Mandy, Moderator
Jordan Aibel
Hi Tim & Mandy –
Thanks for preparing this helpful article! I read – and benefited from – it while I was working through my own decision re: which accounting software to use after purchasing my first multi-family rental property.
I ultimately ended up going with RentalHero (rentalhero.io). After struggling with more (unnecessarily so for me) sophisticated accounting software for my primary job, I wanted something for my rental property business that was intuitive to use, quick to set up, mobile-friendly, and built specifically for purpose. Just as Benjamin encouraged you to give AcctFusion a look for your next buyer’s guide, I encourage you to do the same for RentalHero!
Keep up the good work! – Jordan
Amanda Norman
Hi Jordan,
So glad you found the article helpful, and thanks for suggesting RentalHero and sharing your insight.
Best of luck with your rental property!
Mandy, Moderator
Benjamin Davies
You should do a review of AcctFusion! It is a fully automated and cloud-based accounting system for real estate brokerages. It can be used by those with or without accounting background.
Amanda Norman
Hi Benjamin,
Thank you for suggesting AcctFusion for our buyer’s guide. We take pride in independently researching a range of companies before writing a buyer’s guide. We decide to include those companies that we believe provide the best value and features for small businesses.
We update buyer’s guides approximately once per year, so we’ll have another look at AcctFusion before the next update.
Thanks for reading!
Mandy, Moderator