Bookkeeping for property managers and real estate management companies
Trust account compliance, owner distribution reconciliation, property-by-property P&L, and 1099s for property owners and contractors — bookkeeping built for how property management actually works.
We work with residential and commercial property managers on the bookkeeping complexities that general firms get wrong: trust account segregation, per-owner distribution statements, CAM reconciliation, and the dual 1099 obligation to both owners and vendors.
QuickBooks Online · Gusto · Ramp — professional liability insured — month-to-month, 30-day notice
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Property management has bookkeeping requirements most general firms have never touched. Separate trust accounts. Per-owner distributions. Management fee income vs. pass-through distinctions. CAM reconciliation. Dual 1099 obligations. We handle every one.
What changes with TurnkeyCFO
Every service below is built for how property management companies actually operate — across multiple properties, multiple owners, and multiple compliance obligations.
Full monthly close for your management company — accurate categorization of management fees, maintenance costs, vendor payments, and operating expenses. Monthly close package with P&L, balance sheet, and written commentary ready for your review every month.
Security deposits tracked by tenant and property in a separate trust account — never commingled with operating funds. Monthly trust account reconciliation to protect your license and keep you compliant with state requirements. Disposition accounting when tenants vacate so deductions are documented and defensible.
Every owner statement reconciled to source — rent collected, maintenance deductions, management fee, repairs, and net distribution clearly separated. If you manage multiple properties for the same owner, we roll it up and break it down. No more owners asking where the money went.
Your management fee income is your revenue. Rent collected on behalf of owners is a pass-through — not your income, not your expense. We structure the books so these are never confused, your gross margin on management services is always visible, and your P&L reflects your actual business performance.
Common Area Maintenance reconciliation calculated by your lease terms — eligible expenses tracked throughout the year, per-tenant allocations based on square footage or lease provisions, and annual CAM statements prepared and ready to deliver. We build the process so it runs on time every year instead of becoming a year-end scramble.
Property managers have a dual 1099 obligation: 1099-MISC for rent paid to property owners and 1099-NEC for contractors and vendors paid $600 or more during the year. We collect W-9s from day one, track both thresholds throughout the year, and file both returns by January 31. No missed filings, no penalty exposure.
Your QuickBooks chart of accounts built around your property list — every revenue and expense line tagged to a specific property or portfolio. Monthly reports showing gross income, vacancy loss, maintenance spend, and net operating income per property. You see which doors are performing and which need attention.
Tax filings and legal matters — coordinated with your CPA or attorney. TurnkeyCFO does not provide tax or legal advice; we keep your books filing-ready and support the process.
The day-to-day realities most bookkeepers have never touched. We have.
Illegal in most states. The most common audit trigger for property managers.
Security deposits held in the same account as operating funds expose your license and create legal liability in most states. We treat trust account segregation as a compliance requirement, not an accounting preference — separate accounts, separate reconciliations, monthly. Tenant deposit balances tracked to the penny against trust account balance at all times.
Your revenue is the management fee. Everything else is a flow-through.
Rent collected on behalf of owners is not your income — it's a liability until it's paid out. Management fees are your revenue. Confusing these distorts your P&L, inflates your apparent revenue, and creates tax complexity. We structure the chart of accounts so the distinction is built in, not bolted on at year-end.
Commercial leases — annual reconciliation of estimated vs. actual CAM charges.
CAM-eligible expenses must be tracked throughout the year against lease-specific definitions of what qualifies. Allocations are calculated by square footage or lease-specific formulas. Reconciliation statements must be delivered by the deadline in each lease. We build the tracking process so year-end reconciliation takes days, not weeks of forensic accounting.
Two separate returns — one for owners, one for vendors. Both due January 31.
Most property managers know they need to 1099 their contractors. Many don't realize they also need to 1099 property owners for rent proceeds under certain circumstances. The rules depend on how many properties you manage and how payments flow. We track both obligations from the first payment so there's no scramble at year-end and no missed filings.
HOA and commercial reserve funds kept separate from operating accounts.
Reserve contributions must be tracked in segregated accounts — HOA capital reserve, roof replacement reserve, equipment fund — separate from the HOA's or property's operating budget. We maintain the accounting structure, record contributions and disbursements properly, and give boards and owners a live reserve balance at any time.
Per-door margin analysis — not a blended number that hides underperformers.
A blended P&L across 50 properties masks the two properties losing money. We build your chart of accounts around your property list so you get gross income, vacancy, maintenance, and NOI per property every month. Add a portfolio view for ownership groups, geographic clusters, or property types — structured however you need to make decisions.
Simple, fast, and designed not to disrupt your operations.
We learn your portfolio — property count, owner relationships, commercial vs. residential mix, current software, trust account setup, and pain points. No sales pitch.
We connect to QuickBooks, review your chart of accounts, map your properties and owners, assess trust account setup, and clean up any historical issues before going live.
Monthly close package, property-by-property P&L, owner distribution statements, trust account reconciliation, and 1099 tracking running clean from month one.
Yes — and we treat it as a legal compliance issue, not just a bookkeeping one. Security deposits must be held in separate trust accounts in most states. Commingling them with operating funds is illegal. We set up and maintain the proper trust account structure, track each deposit by tenant and property, and reconcile the trust account every month so you're never exposed.
Owner distributions are one of the most mishandled areas in property management accounting. We reconcile every distribution to the source — separating management fee income from pass-through rent proceeds, documenting maintenance and vendor deductions, and producing a clear owner statement every period. If you have multiple owners across multiple properties, we track each relationship individually.
Property management companies have a dual 1099 obligation: 1099-MISC for rent paid to property owners (under certain circumstances) and 1099-NEC for unincorporated contractors paid $600 or more during the year. We track both, collect W-9s from day one, and file both returns by the January 31 deadline.
Common Area Maintenance reconciliation applies to commercial leases where tenants pay an estimated monthly CAM charge and the annual actual is reconciled against that estimate. We track CAM-eligible expenses throughout the year, calculate per-tenant allocations based on your lease terms, and prepare the annual CAM reconciliation statements. Most commercial property managers dread this process — we systematize it.
Yes — property-by-property P&L is one of the most valuable reports a property manager can have and one most general bookkeepers can't produce. We build your QuickBooks chart of accounts around your property list so every revenue and expense item is tagged to a specific property. You see margin per door, not just a blended total.
Yes. HOA bookkeeping shares DNA with property management — reserve fund segregation, assessment tracking, vendor 1099s, and board-ready monthly reporting. We handle both. If your company manages HOAs alongside rental properties, we can structure the books to serve both needs.
Reserve funds — for capital improvements, equipment replacement, or HOA major maintenance — must be tracked separately from operating funds. We set up dedicated reserve accounts, record contributions and disbursements properly, and give your board a live reserve balance so you always know what's available for planned capital expenditures.
Yes — month-to-month engagement, 30-day notice. No multi-year contracts. We keep clients because the work is good, not because paperwork traps them. Use the Instant Estimate to get a real price range before we ever talk.
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