What do you call an accountant without a spreadsheet? Lost!
As a landlord, you’ll also be lost with your accountant if you aren’t tracking your Rental Property Expenses correctly. Tracking your expenses is of the utmost importance when it comes to accounting for your rental business. Keeping detailed expense records will not only help you feel more organized but it will also make filing your taxes easier, allow you to see more opportunities for deductions, and understand the return on each of your rental investments.
Keep reading as we guide you through tracking rental property expenses:
- Why You Should Have Detailed Rental Property Expenses
- Ways to Track Rental Property Expenses
- What You Should Keep Track Of
- How to Track Rental Property Expense with TurboTenant
- Exporting Your Rental Property Expenses
- FAQ
Why You Should Have Detailed Rental Property Expenses
While it might seem like common sense to keep track of your rental property expenses as part of the rental management process, there are other benefits of doing so that are related to your financial standings as a landlord. Here are some key reasons to have detailed rental property expenses:
- Maximize tax deductions – this might be one of the best reasons for you to carefully keep track of your rental expenses, as it will not only make filing taxes easier and more accurate, but you won’t miss out on any deductions that you qualify for (all the deductions please!).
- Be prepared for IRS audits – while we don’t wish this upon you, it’s well known that the IRS audits many companies every year. If there are any discrepancies on your tax return, having your tracked rental expenses as proof to back up your claim will come in handy.
- Helps you calculate the NOI on your properties – the NOI (Net Operating Income) is the calculation you use to analyze the profitability of your rental investment properties. The NOI is calculated by subtracting all of your expenses from your total revenue, which helps you understand how much you’re spending for each property and how it’s impacting the ROI of your property.
Your future self (and CPA) will thank you for accurately keeping track of your rental property expenses so you can avoid the headache of going back in time to calculate gas money or find receipts.
Ways to Track Rental Property Expenses
There are really only two ways to track your rental property expenses: manually or with the help of online tools.
Manually
Keeping track of your rental property expenses manually used to be the only way to do it. When we say manually, we mean creating your own spreadsheets on Excel or Google Sheets, or even doing it by hand with a worksheet. Along with writing in expenses manually, you also have to keep receipts organized in a folder online, which may require scanning them, or in a physical file somewhere. Keeping track of expenses manually can become stressful and not to mention extremely time-consuming – luckily, in the age of virtual landlords, there are other options out there.
Online Tools
The alternative to tracking your rental expenses manually is to use an online tool like TurboTenant. Online expense tracking tools were built to be fast, secure, and help you prepare for tax season. Your hand won’t cramp from writing in expenses, and you won’t have to worry about stapling receipts anywhere. Plus, if you manage other aspects of your property online like tenant screening or rent payments, tracking your expenses in the same place will be convenient.
What You Should Keep Track Of
When it comes to what you should be keeping track of, it comes back to the Schedule E Form. This is the form used to report income or loss from rental real estate – for expenses to be deducted, they must be tied to a rental property as you file a Schedule E form for each property you own.
Here are some of the categories listed on the Schedule E you should be tracking:
- Advertising – this consists of all marketing costs such as for rent yard signs, advertising on certain websites, or sending out mailers.
- Auto and Travel – driving back and forth to your rental? Driving, along with other necessary and ordinary auto and travel costs needed to maintain your rentals, would qualify in this category.
- Cleaning and Maintenance – includes all cleaning expenses you spend on your rental after a tenant moves out as well as common maintenance expenses like yard work, painting, and other upkeep or maintenance requests you tend to.
- Commissions – this means real estate agent or property management commissions you paid to help find a tenant.
- Insurance – there are a variety of insurances you can report such as homeowners, hazard, and flood insurance. Remember that this is the amount you actually paid to your insurance company (not what you pay in escrow).
- Management Fees – if you have a property manager or agent helping manage the property, their fees would be included in this category.
- Legal and Professional Fees – if you have any expenses related to accounting, attorney fees, or other business costs related to your tenants, it can qualify for this category.
- Utilities – this includes utility expenses you have incurred, even if your tenant reimbursed you for them. Do not include utilities that the tenant has paid for solely themselves.
- Taxes – all of the tax expenses you have accrued from owning and operating your rental property such as property taxes, land taxes, school district taxes, or special easements can be included in this category. This does not include income taxes.
- Repairs – tracking repairs made to the property that were not considered “capital improvements” would be in this category. For example, small repairs like fixing a broken window – not large renovations like replacing floors or the roof.
The above is not an exhaustive list of everything you should track as there is more on the Schedule E form, plus you may want to track additional expenses not listed on the form.
Another thing to consider is how often you should be tracking expenses. Ideally, you should always be tracking your rental expenses as they occur, however, choose a cadence that works best for you whether it’s as you go or monthly. Tracking your expenses monthly when you are also tracking your online rent payments is a great way to start.
How to Track Rental Expenses in TurboTenant
If you are ready to make the move to tracking your rental expenses online, you can easily do so in your TurboTenant account. Below we’ll walk you through how to start tracking expenses:
Step 1
Locate the expenses tab in your dashboard – it will be on the bottom left-hand side under Financial. To record an expense, click add new and then record expense.
Step 2
You will then input information related to the expense including the date it was paid, the amount, the associated property, and the associated category (corresponding to the Schedule E Form). You will also be able to add receipts or any other important documents for each expense.
Step 3
In the expense table, you can edit expenses, delete expenses, and you can even filter by categories, property, or date ranges.
Exporting Your Rental Property Expenses
Now that you have all of your rental property expenses categorized correctly in TurboTenant, you can export the expenses you tracked to give them to your CPA or upload them to any financial software you use.
All you have to do is click the export button in the top right-hand corner and a CSV will be downloaded. Whether you want to export weekly or monthly, you can upload the CSV to the bookkeeping software of your choice. Two that work well for independent landlords are QuickBooks and Bench.
QuickBooks is the classic tried and true financial tracker – here, you’ll find various reports, easy organization, the ability to send estimates, and various plan options. QuickBooks is also known for its excellent online support and online community that is available 24/7.
On the other hand, Bench provides a more simple and modern interface – it even offers a retro feature that’s perfect if you are behind on your bookkeeping. Its financial reporting allows you to easily understand and see the big picture for your business. Bench also provides more of a one-on-one experience for support where you can chat with their business experts online or by phone.
Long gone are the days of digging for receipts and scrambling to find the right documents for your rentals when tax season rolls around. Tracking your rental expenses in TurboTenant allows you to manage all aspects of your business in one place so you can maximize your tax deductions and increase the ROI on your rental investment.
Start adding expenses today!
FAQ on Tracking Rental Expenses
What are typical rental property expenses?
When you own and manage a rental property, there are several types of expenses that you will incur. You’ll have expenses related to your business such as legal and property management fees, and also expenses related to the property itself like maintenance and utilities.
What rental expenses can I deduct?
To find out the category and type of rental expenses you can deduct, reference the Schedule E Form from the IRS.
Is it free to use TurboTenant’s expense tracking feature?
Yes, it is completely free to use TurboTenant’s expense tracking feature. See here for a full list of features TurboTenant offers.
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