QuickBooks Online for Rental Properties: Setup by Property

Which QuickBooks Online plan do rentals need?

Plus or Advanced, because those are the plans with class and location tracking, the tools that tag each line to a property. Each LLC needs its own company file, and each file is its own subscription.

Intuit says class tracking is available in QuickBooks Online Plus and QuickBooks Online Advanced. Location tracking is only available in Plus and Advanced.

On Intuit's pricing page, Plus is listed with "Track classes and locations (40)" and Advanced with unlimited classes and locations. The page does not say what the 40 counts, so ask Intuit if you will have many properties.

Intuit also says each company you create requires its own separate paid subscription. Plan prices change, so check the pricing page on the day you buy.

Should each property be a class, a location or a project?

A class is the simplest choice. A class can be set on each line of a transaction, so one bill that covers 2 properties splits cleanly. Use 1 class for each property and put it on every line.

Intuit describes classes as a way to track income, expenses or profitability by business segment. A class can be set once for the entire transaction or on each row.

Locations are meant to categorize data from different locations, offices, regions, outlets or departments. They suit a second view, such as one city against another, once each property has its class.

Projects are meant to track income and costs for specific projects. A job with an end suits a project. A rental has no end, so a class fits it better. A BRRRR rehab does have an end, so that phase can carry a project as well as the property's class.

Whichever tag you choose is one part of the property-to-portfolio system in the rental property bookkeeping guide.

How do you set up QuickBooks Online for your rentals?

Open a company file for each LLC, turn on class tracking by row, create 1 class for each property, give each property its own asset and loan accounts, connect the bank, and reconcile every account each month.

1. 1Open 1 company file for each LLC that owns rentals.
2. 2Turn on class tracking: the gear icon, then Account and settings, then Advanced, then Categories, then Track classes.
3. 3Choose to assign classes to each row in a transaction, so one bill can be split between properties.
4. 4Create 1 class for each property, named with its address, for example "Property 1, 275 Demo St".
5. 5Give each property its own accounts on the balance sheet: the property, its loan and, where the lender holds one, its escrow.
6. 6Connect the bank and card accounts, then reconcile each one to its statement every month.

Intuit's help article gives the path Advanced, then Categories, then Track classes. Connected accounts mean QuickBooks downloads your transactions automatically. A download is not a reconciliation: each account still has to agree with its statement at month end.

The property, loan and escrow accounts each rental needs are listed in the real estate chart of accounts. Those accounts are what put each loan on the balance sheet report, which Intuit describes as a snapshot of the company as of a date.

How do you record a mortgage payment with escrow?

As 3 lines, each with the property's class: principal reduces the loan, interest is a cost, and escrow is an asset the lender holds. When the lender pays tax or insurance from escrow, that payment is the cost.

Here is the October 2026 payment on Property 1, split the way the lender's statement splits it.

Demo Rentals LLC is a sample company.

Only the $1,214.60 of interest is a cost of Property 1 in October. The escrow pays Property 1's property tax in 2 installments and its hazard insurance once a year. Each of those is recorded as a cost in the month the lender pays it.

Property 2's new loan has no escrow. Demo Rentals LLC pays that property's tax and insurance itself, so its payments will have 2 lines, not 3.

The lender's statement is the source for every split, as in how to record a rental property mortgage payment.

What should the report for one property show?

Its rent and other income, its costs by type, and its profit, for the month and the year to date. Principal and escrow deposits never appear in it, because neither is a cost.

With a class on every line, Property 1's report reads like this.

Demo Rentals LLC is a sample company. The management fee and repairs come from Sample Property Management's owner statements. Insurance includes the $1,140.00 liability policy paid on Sep 15, 2026 on the Demo Flips LLC card and owed back to Demo Flips LLC. Depreciation is a year-end entry your CPA sets, so it is not in these figures.

In October, Sample Property Management collected $2,900.00 of rent, took its $232.00 fee and paid a $185.00 faucet repair. It sent $2,483.00 on Oct 10, 2026. The books record the gross rent and both costs, and the net matches the deposit.

The $14,800.00 roof replaced on May 14, 2026 is not in the table. It was recorded as an improvement to the property, on the balance sheet. Whether a cost is a repair or an improvement is your CPA's call.

Property 2 was in rehab until Oct 9, 2026 and rented from Oct 15, 2026. Its first rent, for 17 days of October, was $1,343.55, so it has no full month to report yet.

How do you record a BRRRR refinance?

As a loan swap, not income. The new loan goes on, the old loan comes off, the loan costs go to an asset account, and the cash left over sits in the bank. Each line carries the property's class.

Property 2 was refinanced on Oct 22, 2026. Here is how each line lands, all with the class Property 2.

Demo Rentals LLC is a sample company.

The property itself does not change at the refinance. Its recorded cost stays $299,480: the $250,000 purchase, $3,100 of settlement costs and the $46,380 rehab.

Recorded as income, the $55,200 would make Property 2 look $55,200 more profitable in a month it was only borrowing. How the loan costs are written off over the years is a tax question for your CPA.

Do you need QuickBooks to work with a bookkeeper?

No. Flipper Bookkeeping works from your bank and card statements, so you need no bookkeeping software to work with us. If you already use QuickBooks, you can keep it.