Using Quicken To Manage One Or Multiple Properties

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I am using Qicken 2002 Home and Business, so the step by step directions are what I am using to manage 33 rental units. I am also using MS Works spreadsheets for this year as a kind of backup system, but I believe this will do the job sufficiently to turn over to my

accountant at year end. I also use this program for my car lot, my Rent to Own company and my warranty Company.



First, open Quicken. Select New Account. Select or type in the Financial institution (Bank) that you will be using. Next, use the statement date as the date you open or create that account. Mine in this example is titled S&E Properties. The ending balance should be zero, or the account balance on the last statement of the account you currently use. Once you set up the account, click on it to open it. Click Finance, then Category and Transfer list. Delete all categories not relevant to your needs. Add the categories and whether they

are expense related or income related and if you plan to use turbo tax or a program like it, the tax relationship of the transaction. Do not relate these to a particular property, we will do that later. Keep it simple. For example, your 1st category would be Rental Income.

Next might be advertising, maintenance, property insurance, interest paid, property taxes,dues and subscriptions, legal and professional, etc... Next go to Classes and you will see a class list. The are your individual properties. My accountant says to list a duplex as 1

property a MH park as 1 property, but you can break them down as individual units too if you wish. The reports that you will create later can tie any unit you wish with another. IE.Class 1 might be 123 Main st, 2. 2046 Elm, 3. 2 Alder, 4. 3 Pine, 5. 62 Sycamore, etc...

After setting up your properties or Classes, backspace to the account register.Enter a sample transaction, like a deposit. Click to the date, hit enter, hit d for deposit, hit enter,

type deposit then enter, type amount deposited then it will take you to category. Type in rent income, (once you type in R, rent income should come up automatically if you have created your categories correctly) Once rent income is highlighted, hit the right arrow key

to move you to the last letter in rent income. Type forward slash which tells the program that you will next enter the Class. Type in the address which again should show automatically. In the memo section you can enter a description of the transaction.

(Name,whatever) after you ar done hit enter to finalize the transaction. OK, youve done all this. How do you retrieve and organize it all? Click reports, business, profit & loss statement, then click yes to modify your report settings. Click on Accounts, Include the categories you want for an individual property then click classes and only check mark the one for that particular unit or property. Thn click create report. Click memorize and save as that particular address and/or unit. Repeat with each property. Also create one with all the properties for an overview of your entire business. You can also make monthly P&L statements as well. I hope this is helpful material for someone. Anyone wishing to add to or point out any errors or ommisions, is encouraged to reply.

Thank You,

and Good Investing,

Good Luck,

Shawn(OH)

Comments(5)

  • ram23rd March, 2004

    Ditto...been using Quicken since Quicken2 for DOS...I log everything, incl. dividends, interest, mort., notes, rents, expenses, even household inventory for insurance records...very capable piece of software for $29.

  • garcidan24th March, 2004

    Has anyone used ms money to manage their property?

  • niravmd26th March, 2004

    thanks.i just have 6 mortgages and i'm going nuts figuring out if i've paid them or not. this will definitely help.

  • Jeana17th April, 2004

    1.Can loanwizard or anyone give me specific directions on getting a report in Quicken that lists all classes (rental properties) individually with detailed categories and totals. When I select all classes I seem to get inclusive totals, not separated by classes.

    2. Are the reports saved by individual classes static, or do they automatically update if you run them when information in the register has been updated?

    • loanwizard17th April, 2004 Reply

      If I am reading your question properly, No I do not know a way of showing them all together on one report. That said, I run an individual report per property, or one report on them all. If you run 1 report on all classes, as you indicate, it will do just that.



      Good Luck,

      Shawn(OH)

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