Single-Family & Small Multifamily Rentals

Property-level accounting for single-family and small multifamily portfolios. We track each rental individually, maintain depreciation schedules, and keep the books clean as you grow from a handful of doors to dozens across multiple entities.

The Industry

Small rental portfolios seem straightforward. You buy a property, collect rent, pay the mortgage, and deposit what’s left. One rental with one bank account is manageable. Two properties is still fine. But somewhere between three and ten doors, the simplicity disappears. Multiple bank accounts, multiple loans, insurance renewals at different times, repairs hitting different properties, and suddenly you can’t tell what’s actually happening without spending an entire weekend sorting through statements.

Most small portfolio owners hold properties across multiple entities as they grow. The first rental might be in personal name. The next few end up in an LLC. A duplex purchase with a partner goes into a different LLC. Each entity needs its own books. Each property within each entity needs tracking. The proliferation happens gradually, but the accounting burden compounds faster than the portfolio itself.

Who This Covers

Owners with a handful of single-family rentals up through small multifamily buildings like duplexes, triplexes, quads, and small apartment communities. Portfolios held personally, in LLCs, or spread across multiple entities. Investors anywhere in the U.S. who treat their rentals as a business and want books that reflect it.

What Makes It Complex

Multiple properties with different purchase dates, cost bases, and depreciation schedules. Loans with different lenders at different rates. Insurance policies renewing throughout the year. Repairs and capital improvements that need proper categorization. Entity structures that multiply as the portfolio grows. The need to track each property individually while also seeing the whole picture.

What We Handle

We set up your books with each property tracked separately from day one. Every rental shows its own income, expenses, and profitability so you know which doors perform and which ones drag. Bank accounts, loans, and credit cards get reconciled monthly. Depreciation schedules are maintained for every property, using the correct cost basis and accounting for improvements that add to the depreciable amount. When tax time comes, your preparer has clean numbers instead of a mess to untangle.

For portfolios spread across multiple entities, we keep each entity’s books separately while giving you a consolidated view across the whole portfolio. Debt gets tracked by property and by lender so you know what’s outstanding, what’s due, and when loans mature or reset. As you add properties, the system we build scales with you. Whether you have five doors or fifty, the books stay organized and the monthly close happens on schedule.

Property-Level Tracking

Each rental tracked individually within your accounting system. Income, operating expenses, mortgage interest, insurance, repairs, and capital improvements all assigned to the right property. Property-level profit and loss statements show performance per asset so you can see which rentals make money and which need attention.

Depreciation and Tax Readiness

Depreciation schedules maintained from acquisition with correct cost basis and proper treatment of land versus improvements. Capital improvements capitalized and depreciated separately. The records your tax preparer needs to maximize deductions and handle a sale correctly. For full-service clients, returns are prepared by our in-house CPA so the books and the returns already tie out.

What Goes Wrong

The most common problem is not knowing which properties actually make money. Owners know total rent collected and total expenses paid, but the picture stops there. That duplex with the low mortgage might be your worst performer after accounting for constant repairs and turnover. The single-family that feels like a headache might be your best return. Without property-level tracking, you can’t see it, and you can’t make informed decisions about what to keep, sell, or reinvest in.

Depreciation is where small portfolios get hurt worst at tax time. Properties bought years ago with depreciation never tracked, or tracked incorrectly, or started and then abandoned. A property sold without accurate cost basis records and no clear accounting for improvements made over the years. The IRS requires depreciation recapture on sale whether you took the deductions or not. If your records don’t support what you claimed, you’re either paying too much tax or creating an audit problem.

No Clear Picture of Performance

Properties mixed together in a single bank account or lumped together in accounting. No way to see which rentals generate positive cash flow after all expenses. Decisions about selling, refinancing, or improving made on gut feel instead of numbers. The profitable properties subsidize the underperformers and you never realize it.

Depreciation and Cost Basis Problems

Depreciation schedules never created, lost, or maintained inconsistently. Improvements made over the years without records of when they happened and how much they cost. Selling a property and scrambling to reconstruct the cost basis. Tax preparers making guesses instead of working from accurate records. Recapture surprises at closing.

What Changes

Every property shows its own profit and loss. You see which rentals perform, which ones underperform, and why. Decisions about selling, keeping, or reinvesting flow from real numbers instead of vague impressions. When a tenant moves out and the property needs work, you can see whether it makes sense to invest more or list it for sale based on actual returns, not just cash in the bank.

Depreciation stays current and accurate from the day we start working together. Cost basis is documented. Improvements are tracked and capitalized properly. When you sell a property, you have the records to calculate gain correctly and plan for the tax consequences before closing. When tax time comes, your return is prepared from clean books with all the deductions you’re entitled to. As the portfolio grows, you have a system that scales with you and a team that understands how real estate accounting works from the first property through the fiftieth.

Property-Level Clarity

Clean profit and loss for every rental showing actual performance. Confidence in which properties to hold, sell, or improve based on real returns. A consolidated view across entities for owners with multiple LLCs. Monthly closes that keep the numbers current instead of letting a backlog pile up.

Tax-Ready Records and Room to Grow

Depreciation schedules maintained and accurate. Cost basis documented with capital improvements tracked. Clean handoff to your tax preparer, or for full-service clients, returns handled by our in-house CPA with the books and return already reconciled. A foundation that supports the portfolio as it grows from a handful of doors to dozens across multiple entities.

Boutique Real Estate Accounting Firm