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Rental Property Profit and Loss Statement

Profit and Loss Statement
The P&L shows how well or poorly the business is doing.

The rental property profit and loss statement is a report that summarizes revenues received and expenses incurred. Also known as a P&L or income statement, it shows how well or poorly the business is doing by its net income or loss. The majority of income is reflected by the rent landlords collect from tenants. As for expenses, they can vary and can range from general maintenance such as lawn care to property taxes. With the profit and loss report, landlords can identify areas to reduce expenses or make improvements to strengthen the business.

How do you create a an income statement? The easiest way is with landlord accounting software. There are free templates available, like the Zillow worksheet. Templates and spreadsheets are not the best choice for landlords because they are not powerful enough and can be one dimensional with limited reporting capabilities. Believe it or not, similar to templates, there is free landlord accounting software. For example, RentalIncomeExpense.com is an income and expense tracking tool designed for landlords. It is free and easily generates a rental property profit and loss statement. When using a good tool to generate reports, landlords can quickly determine how their business is doing.

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The Landlord Cell Phone Expense

landlord cell phone expense
Are you expensing your cell phone usage for your rental properties?

Ever since some company named for a fruit unveiled the iPhone, the cell phone has changed from an important part of daily life to an essential part. From texts to emails to even (gasp! old school!) calls, most landlords today manage their rental property using their pint-sized touchscreen sidekick. Because it is so critical, cell phone related costs are a legitimate expense for a landlord.

What Phone Expenses Count For a Landlord?

There are two main components to cell phone expense.

  • The phone itself
  • The cellular plan (talk, text, and data) that allows you to use the phone on the go

Fortunately, both your purchase of a cell phone and the monthly cellular plan are legitimate landlord expenses. If you run your rental property business as a “pass thru” entity that shows up on your personal taxes (as many landlords do), these expenses will show up on the Schedule E of your IRS tax return.

Additionally, if you use just one phone for both business and personal, you’ll want to calculate roughly how much of your use of your smartphone is split between your landlording business and your personal use of the phone and allocate the expense appropriately (example, if 30% of the usage was for property management, expense 30%).

You may want to talk to a CPA about the expense also, as there are some advisors who suggest you can deduct the full cost of your line if you already have another line you use for your personal use.

Where On the Tax Return Does Cell Phone Expenses Appear?

If your rental property activities are as a ‘pass thru entity’ (aka appear on your personal return), then your landlord cell phone expense can appear on the ‘Other’ line of Schedule E.

Does tracking rental property expenses seem daunting? Never fear! Look into a free online tool like RentalIncomeExpense.com. With this software, you can easily record property expenses and generate a Schedule E Helper report at tax time.

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Free Landlord Income & Expense Tracking Software

Free Landlord Accounting Software
Get started with free landlord accounting software at RentalIncomeExpense.com!

Landlords wear a lot of different hats. They are marketers when trying to advertise and find tenants. They are handy people when trying to maintain the physical upkeep of their rental property. And they are accountants who have to keep track of the income earned and expenses made related to their rentals. There is a lot of choice for landlords when it comes to accounting software to help manage rental property. One of the free landlord income & expense tracking software that is easy to learn and designed specifically for landlords is RentalIncomeExpense.com.

Expensive property management software (like Renttec Direct, Tenant Cloud, or Buildium) is overkill for the small landlord – costing more in time and money than it is worth. On the other hand, an Excel spreadsheet isn’t nearly powerful enough.  For example, it cannot easily generate the different reports that a landlord needs.

RentalIncomeExpense.com is the best of all worlds:

  • Simple to setup
  • FREE
  • Designed for landlords
  • Instant reports that matter (such as profit & loss and the 1040 Schedule E helper)
  • Accessible from your smartphone
  • Backed up by ClearNow’s proven online infrastructure (since 2000)

To get started with free landlord income & expense tracking software, set up a free account today at RentalIncomeExpense.com today!

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Helpful Tools for Small Businesses

Tools for Small Businesses
There are many helpful tools that make running a small business easier.

Starting a business is not easy. Managing the day to day activity while trying to grow the business is not easy either. With today’s modern technology and innovative minds, there are many helpful tools for small businesses to make their lives easier. Here are a few to mention:

Accounting/Bookkeeping Tools

Keeping track of income and expenses is important for two primary reasons. First, you need this information to complete income taxes every year. Second, this information will give you an idea of how well your business is doing – Do you have profits? Are you growing? There is a variety of accounting tools available for small businesses. Some are free and focus on a target market like RentalIncomeExpense.com, which caters to landlords and rental property. Some are expensive but applicable to any business like QuickBooks. Whatever accounting tool you choose, know that this tool is pretty important and helpful, especially if you can run reports that summarize how your business is operating.

Communication Tools

Communicating with customers and employees is important. How you communicate and the ease in which you communicate can make running your business easier. Email is pretty standard and in many respects becoming more popular than telephone. Similar to accounting tools, there is a lot of choice with email providers. One of the most popular email providers is Google’s Gmail. For businesses, Google Workspace consolidates a number of tools, such as email and storage, enabling you to better manage operating your business.

Similar to email, electronic signatures are another paperless communication tool that can streamline your business. Whether you need signatures from employees or from customers, using electronic signature software will save everyone time. There are some esignature tools that charge a low flat fee like eSignToday and some that charge a recurring monthly fee like DocuSign.

The tools available make running a small business easier. Some are free and some are well worth the cost. Nevertheless, there is a lot of choice, and finding those that best fits your needs will put you on the road to running a successful business.

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Automatic Landlord Income Expense Tracking

Landlord Income Expense Tracking
Automatic and free landlord income expense tracking software makes life easier.

As we’ve already discussed, landlord income expense tracking is an important yet time consuming task for landlords. With all of the options available from a worksheet to landlord accounting software, each one has its pros and cons. We are going to highlight two major pros for landlords using RentalIncomeExpense.com – automatic recording of information and price.

Automatic Landlord Bookkeeping

If landlords want to save some time on tracking rental income and expenses when using RentalIncomeExpense.com, then they should use ClearNow for online rent payment. Rent collected via ClearNow is automatically recorded as income in RentalIncomeExpense.com. Furthermore, fees paid to ClearNow to collect rent online are also automatically recorded in RentalIncomeExpense.com. So just by using ClearNow, landlords eliminate the need to manually record rental income and the associated expense and thus save time.

Free Income Expense Tracking

RentalIncomeExpense.com is free rental property software. It’s hard to beat free. Many will ask, “What’s the catch”, when something so valuable is free. Believe it or not, there is no catch. Designed for landlords, RentalIncomeExpense.com is simple yet powerful landlord accounting software. Because it is free, landlords lose little when trying it out before taking out their wallets and purchasing software for their rental property needs. Beyond free, it also provides reports, like profit and loss, that tell landlords how well business is doing.

Information is powerful. A free tool like RentalIncomeExpense.com makes the mundane task of landlord bookkeeping all the more valuable.

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Should Landlords Use Quickbooks?

Should Landlords Use Quickbooks
Quickbooks is great software for small business. But landlords can do better with other services.

Quickbooks by Intuit is a leading small business accounting software. Landlords often consider Quickbooks to do rental property accounting. However, there are much easier tools for landlords to use.

Quickbooks is too complicated

Quickbooks, by reputation, is not easy to learn. People buy books and videos to answer questions about how to set-up things in Quickbooks.

Moreover, even for Quickbooks experts, using Quickbooks for property management is difficult. In fact, it is challenging enough to warrant a video course on how landlords can use Quickbooks.

Landlord-specific accounting software is easier to use

Fortunately, there is a lot of landlord accounting software available as alternatives to Quickbooks. Just as a handyman has many tools in their toolbox (hammer, screwdrivers, wrenches) to fix problems, the right sized landlord software can make your life so much easier.

For landlords who just need a few reports and simple income and expense tracking, RentalIncomeExpense.com is an easy-to-use and free alternative to Quickbooks. For large property managers with complex needs, there are property management accounting services such as Appfolio and Buildium.

As one example of the benefits of using a dedicated tool like RentalIncomeExpense.com, a landlord can quickly create an IRS Schedule E helper report with just a click of a button. This report contains all categories on the IRS form that their accountant will need at tax time. Try doing that with Quickbooks!

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Increase Rental Income & Value of Rental Property with Simple Steps

Simple steps to increase rental income and value of rental property
There are simple steps landlords can take to increase rental income and the value of rental property.

Successful landlords want to increase rental income and the value of their rental property. There are some simple ways to achieve both goals. With any business, investing in your property so that you can offer more value can justify commanding a higher rent from tenants.

Boost Curb Appeal & Rental Income

One of the driving factors tenants consider when searching for a rental is location. If your property is located near parks, popular businesses like grocery stores, or main travel routes, stressing the benefits of the physical location of your rental property can boost interest and value. Following close behind geographic location is the curb appeal of your property. Is the exterior clean and in good shape? Is the landscaping neat and attractive? If the answers to these questions are “YES”, then you’re already one step ahead in providing value.

Take a Look Inside

You don’t have to do a major renovation to make the interior of your rental property feel fresh and clean. Instead, simple upgrades like a fresh coat of paint, new hardware, and brighter lightbulbs can create an attractive vibe. And something as simple as a good scrub – in the bathrooms and kitchen for example – make a clean unit go a long way. If the interior of your rental property looks and feels great, then it’s easier for you to find a tenant willing to pay your asking rent.

Sell Amenities

Who doesn’t like great amenities especially if they are included in the rent? You may be able to earn more if you charge a la carte for extras, but no one likes to be nickeled and dimed. If you offer great amenities just include them as part of your rent and thus get the asking rent that you want. Here are some amenities that can increase the value of your property and your rental income:

Online rent payment: Tenants want an easy way to pay rent. If rent payment is on auto pilot for tenants, it will make your life easier to get paid. Consider services like ClearNow or RentPayment for online rent payment.

Short term leases: Typically, rents tend to be higher for shorter term leases. So if you have a prospective tenant willing to pay more for a shorter than standard lease term, you can enhance your rental income.

Boosting curb appeal, improving the look and feel of the inside, and offering great amenities will help you increase your rental income and value of your rental property. These steps are easy to take and can make a lasting difference. Whatever you decide to do to increase rental income and the value of your rental property, be sure to keep track of what you spend. Tracking your rental property expenses with a free tool like RentalIncomeExpense or other form of rental property accounting software will make your life so much easier!

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Landlord Accounting with RentalIncomeExpense

Landlord Accounting
Landlord accounting with RentalIncomeExpense.com makes tracking rental property income and expenses free and easy.

Landlords can manage their recordkeeping task in a variety of ways which can range from using a simple paper ledger to expensive sophisticated software. We’re going to take a look at RentalIncomeExpense.com as an ideal landlord accounting solution because it’s free, and it generates powerful reports when tracking rental property income and expenses.

FREE & EASY

Yes, you read correctly . . . RentalIncomeExpense.com is free. Landlords do not need to pay anything to use this tool. Most accounting software, like QuickBooks, Buildium, and RentecDirect, are fairly expensive, especially for the small landlord. Tracking rental property income and expenses is not the most exciting task, but it is a very important task. Making landlord accounting easy where you simply just record dates, vendors/customers, and amounts according to simple drop down menus makes the entire process painless.

POWERFUL REPORTING

Every business wants to know how well it is doing, and landlording is no exception. Generating reports from income and expenses that are tracked is powerful. RentalIncomeandExpense.com provides instant reports that matter, like Profit & Loss and a 1040 Schedule E helper. Because RentalIncomeExpense.com follows the income and expense categories used by the IRS’ Form 1040 Schedule E, the helper report makes tax time easier. You wouldn’t be able to generate such powerful reports if you were using a paper ledger or a simple spreadsheet for landlord accounting.

There is a lot of different accounting software to choose from. Because landlord accounting is such an important task, we encourage you to consider RentalIncomeExpense.com. It’s free and provides powerful reports that tell you how your landlording business is doing all the while making tax time a whole lot easier.

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Tips & Costs to Advertise Rental Property

tips to advertise your rental property
There are numerous low cost ways to advertise your rental property

Every business needs customers to generate revenue. For landlords, those customers are tenants. So when a tenant vacates, it is critical for the landlord to fill the empty unit as quickly as possible. The longer the rental property is empty, the longer the landlord does not make any money. Here are some tips on how landlords can advertise rental property effectively and associated costs:

1. Decide Where to Advertise

Landlords should think about where most of their tenants will search for an available property to rent. Online advertising is one of the most popular and wide-reaching methods today.

Landlords can advertise listings with a real estate specific site such as Zillow or Apartments.com. Note that Zillow has recently started charging $9/week for advertising each property whereas before they had been free. Other online options include social media platforms like Facebook or Nextdoor or a more general site such as the ever popular Craigslist. Many of these online advertising options are free, which is a real plus for the landlord’s bottom line.

A simple yard sign can still catch the eyes of a promising tenant. The cost for the “For Rent” sign in your yard is minimal.

2. Post High Quality Pictures

For tenants who prefer to search online, pictures become a critical basis for decision making. Landlords should post high quality photos of the empty unit so tenants searching online have a good idea of the rental property and can make a decision from the photos alone. With today’s smartphones, landlords can take their own high quality photos instead of hiring a professional photographer. Once a tenant is serious about renting a particular property, they benefit from a physical walk through of the rental property.

3. Be Responsive to Inquiries

In describing your rental property, identify key selling points. For example, you will want to mention if you accept online rent payment, as that may be an important criteria for tenants. While the description of your property for rent should be thorough, tenants may have questions. Providing accurate contact information and responding promptly to inquiries makes your unit and your reputation as a landlord positive selling points. In terms of cost here, it will be your time again. Being a responsive landlord will help you meet your goal of filling your vacancy as quickly as possible.

Good Advertising will Fill an Empty Unit

Advertising your rental property online or on paper, showing your rental property with good pictures, and being responsive to inquiries are all steps in the right direction to filling your vacancy. The cost to advertise your rental property is reasonable, especially for some online listings. For any costs you do incur to advertise your rental property, be sure to track them with a good tool such as RentalIncomeExpense.com, which is free, follows the Schedule E income and expense categories, and enables you to generate reports.

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Why Landlords Should Not Use the Zillow Worksheet

The Zillow Worksheet is a popular spreadsheet to download that Zillow provides for landlords to track rental income and expense. It is free to download and, at first, sounds like a great way for small landlords to track income and expenses.

Zillow Worksheet Has Many Issues

Unfortunately, by the time most landlords sink hours entering in their income and expenses with Zillow Worksheet, they’ll realize its significant limitations. Paraphrasing the old movie ‘The Untouchables’, Zillow worksheet is the technological equivalent of bringing a ‘knife to a gun fight‘.

  1. There is no individual income or expense item detail tracking. With the Zillow worksheet, you can only enter in the amount for a category and month. Do you want to know what the breakdown was for your ‘Advertising’ expense between different advertising options for a given month? There’s no way to provide that detail, just a dollar amount. Do you want to search for when you made a repair to the floor? Again, no item detail means you can never track this down. This will be a HUGE headache if you’re trying to make sure that you’re properly accounting for all the expenses (as you should, to reduce your taxes as much as you should be able to).
  2. The spreadsheet is only designed for up to five properties. If you start using the Zillow worksheet, you’ll quickly run out of room if you have more units. Or, if you rent to a roommate situation and want to track which individuals have made rent payment, you’re limited again.
  3. The Zillow worksheet has no way to generate reports. Want to know the profit and loss for an individual property? You can’t do that. The Zillow worksheet only totals the income and expenses for all properties and shows that number as a cell. There is no way to see profit and loss by month. And, the categories selected in this worksheet do not match up to the IRS 1040 Schedule E categories, which means this worksheet cannot easily generate a report for Schedule E.

When one really looks at the Zillow Worksheet, it is almost malpractice for a beginning landlord to use it – it doesn’t track income and expense item details, doesn’t show basic reports like profit and loss, and doesn’t grow with a landlord’s needs. It is surprising that for years, Zillow promotes this worksheet as a viable tool.

RentalIncomeExpense.com is a Better, Free Alternative to Zillow Worksheet

A better, completely free alternative is RentalIncomeExpense.com. It is free. It allows landlords to enter income and expense detail and Schedule E categories. Profit and Loss reports can be generated with just one mouse click. And, it allows an unlimited number of properties to be tracked.