We recently received the following inquiry. If you are wondering about using QuickBooks to manage real estate properties or rental property, here is the answer you’ve been looking for.

Q: Hi Gita, my brothers and I recently inherited two rental properties 1 seasonal rental and an undeveloped property. I’ve never used any kind of accounting software before, but I just purchased QuickBooks Pro. I was wondering if I should use this version for our needs. I want to track payments coming in, payments going out, maintenance costs, keeping track of everything for tax time–and I guess anything else we don’t know about yet. Can I also maintain a separate account for my personal property with the same software or would QuickBooks meld everything together?

A: Congrats to you and your brother on becoming landlords. Yes, you can use QuickBooks Pro for your rental property business. Just make sure you keep your income and expenses in a separate file then your business. For more information on how to use QuickBooks effectively for real estate management, reference my books.