Bookkeeping for House Flippers: Know the Profit on Every Property

What do you get every month as a house flipper?

A profit and loss for each deal, budget against actual on active rehabs, holding costs month by month and cash against profit, from a month-end close with every account reconciled. Contractor totals build up for January.

• Per-deal profit and loss: one row for every property, sold or active.
• Budget against actual: each active rehab compared with its budget.
• Holding costs: what each property has already cost to hold, plus what is building up and not paid yet, month by month. Here is how we track holding costs every month, worked through on a sample flip.
• Cash against profit: what is in the bank next to what the deals made.
• Month-end close: every bank and card account reconciled.
• Contractor totals: what each contractor has been paid this year, with any missing W-9 flagged. You or your CPA file the 1099s.

How do you keep each flip on its own books?

Every cost is tagged to the property it belongs to as it arrives: purchase and closing costs, rehab invoices, loan costs, holding costs and selling costs. Each flip closes out on its own, so every deal shows its own profit.

Each property gets its own project in your books, from purchase through sale. Every material, subcontractor and permit is recorded against that property's rehab budget. With more than 1 LLC, each LLC keeps its own books as well.

Each property's books start from its purchase closing statement. The guide to purchase closing statement bookkeeping shows where each line of it goes.

What does the per-deal report show?

One row per project with its purchase cost, the rehab, loan costs, holding costs, selling costs, net profit, return on cash and days held. Active projects show costs so far. A full sample is on the site.

Page 1 of the sample report: every project for Demo Flips LLC, October 2025 to September 2026.

Active projects show costs so far. The totals row counts sold projects only.

This is the report you would get, in full, every month after the close. Read our real estate bookkeeping report example, explained line by line, including the month-end summary on page 2.

What happens when a rehab runs over budget?

You hear about it while the work is running. Rehab spend is compared with the budget every month, so a project tracking over budget is flagged before the sale rather than explained after it.

In the sample books, Project 7 at 88 Imaginary Ln, Modesto, CA had a rehab budget of $55,000. Spending reached $72,050, which is 31% over budget.

The overrun was flagged in the monthly report while the work was still going. The project still sold at a profit of $12,351 after 142 days. On the same report, Project 8 at 1500 Sample Pl, Folsom is still in rehab with $42,240 of its $95,000 budget used, which is 44%.

Overruns show up early because every cost is job-costed to its property. The guide to job cost accounting for house flips explains how that tracking works.

How do you handle hard money loans, draws and points?

Points, draw requests, interest reserve and the payoff at closing are all recorded against the property: points on its loan costs line, interest in its holding costs. So the cost of the money sits inside that deal's profit instead of in a general expense account.

• Points and lender fees, recorded when the loan closes.
• Draws, recorded as loan money received for that property.
• Interest, including any interest reserve the lender holds back.
• The payoff at sale, taken from the closing statement, so the loan clears on that property.

The monthly report also shows what is still owed on each active project:

The lender's side of each deal has its own guide. Read hard money loan bookkeeping for the entries behind each line.

When you apply for the next loan, the lender reviews these same books. Our guide to the schedule of real estate owned lists what lenders ask investors for.

What do you need from me to start?

Share one folder from your own Dropbox or Google Drive with your bank and card statements, rehab invoices and draw records. Send closing statements to a mailbox we set up for you. We do the rest.

1. 1Share one permanent folder from your own Dropbox or Google Drive. Drop in your monthly bank and card statements, rehab invoices and lender draw records.
2. 2Send closing statements to the mailbox we set up for you. Or we request them from escrow with your authorization.
3. 3Photograph paper receipts into the folder or mailbox. For cash with no receipt, send a short note: date, amount, property and what it was for.

No bookkeeping software is needed. QuickBooks is fine if you already use it. We never need access to your personal email.

Who is this for, and who is it not for?

Active flippers running several projects at once, often across more than 1 LLC. It is not for someone with a single property and no plans for another.

Who it is for

• Active flippers with several projects running at once.
• Flippers with more than 1 LLC, each kept on its own books.
• Flippers who fund rehabs with hard money.
• Flippers who want the per-deal numbers without keeping the books themselves.

Who it is not for

• Someone with a single property and no plans for another.
• Someone who wants taxes filed. We deliver tax-ready books, and you or your CPA file.
• Someone looking for bookkeeping software. This is a service, not an app.

Planning the next deal? Estimate it before you own it with the house flipping calculator.