Can anyone please help with some tips on taming the paperwork I am accumulating with my properties. I have spoken to several other people with investment properties and they all tell me the same story. Come tax time they have paper spread everywhere. Does anyone know of an off the shelf accounting program which will allow one lot of data entry but spit out individual P&L and Bal Sheets on several properties. Even a few tips on designing a chart of accounts would be helpful.
Thanks JoyHi Robynhood,
Check out this link. Property investor software designed to make managing multiple properties ezy. http://www.apimagazine.com.au/pages/magazine/software.html#POSHPersonally I use Microsoft Money. Each property has it’s own account where inflows and outflows are recorded with categories. I print a report at tax time. Hardcopies of all correspondence I keep in individual folders for each property in a simple little filing cabinet. No need to take hardcopy to accountant. Only there incase of ATO audit. Each year end, do an archive copy of money file to floppy disk and place in fireproof safe.
Repeat process for next year. Hope this helps.
Cheers
Ca$hking[8D]I keep a manual file for all of our properties which I start as soon as we pay the deposit. Also has a photo or in the case of internet purchase, what I have printed out. I separate the file into sections such as purchase/settlement, bank,
insurance, property management, and pages where I note any phone calls with managing agents or anything else relating to the property. I find I refer to these files almost on a daily basis as there is a lot of paperwork, filing of rental statements, accounts, etc. Always keep an A4 size diary on the phone table and any bills that have to be paid are written in and highlighted if I haven’t scheduled them on the net or the managing agent isn’t paying them.I bought the Power over Money last year, ran out of time with work & renovations but intend to set this up as well for the accountant next year.
Anna
Thanks Ca$hking and annaw2.
Firstly I found a copy of Money and will try that and let you know how I go.
Secondly to annaw2 I to have a file (some on the bench, some in my brief case, some in a filing cabinet, some in a spreadsheet, some on the dining room table and finally some at work)
Almost forgot todays mail still on the coffee table. Maybe I need more than a program. Thanks for the tips.
Regards JoyMe too Joy. I’m purchasing an office so that I can hire a friend of mine to deal with the nightmare one day per fortnight – which will grow I’m sure, but it’s as much as i can convince her to take the time off her ‘real’ job at the moment.
At the moment I have paperwork at her house, my bedroom floor, the loungeroom floor, the study, my partner’s house (SOME of that’s in a filing cabinet) etc. etc. I want to do my tax return so I can get my refund, but I’m drowning.[
][!][xx(][xx(][xx(]Cheers
MelI can’t believe my eyes over 100 people have read my message and only 2 people have a suggestion.
Where are all the experts, does the silence mean its a secret or does everyone have a big mess.
Please speak up. If the answer is in the treasure chest, I tried to get in, but it was locked.Joy.
Hi
I use software called property manager pro, at least I think that is what it’s called, as I am not home presently. Ordered it online some time ago through API magazine. It was about 89 bucks I think. It does the job.
All purchasing details, valuations, income and expenses are entered and reports generated at end of financial year for multiple or single properties.
This of course doesn’t mean a paperless office, just less paper for the accountant! Still have to sit down and enter the information from various sources, eg bank statements, rental statements, land tax, depreciation, council rates, insurance blah, blah.
I don’t think there is any way out of it unless you let your property manager pay all outgoings or pay someone else.Regards
Clive
Hi,
Here’s something perhaps out of left field… pls don’t take it personally [
]I suggest that a large part of your problem seems to be that you wait until tax time to get all your reports together.
You’d be better served allocating an hour a month to keeping the records in order, perhaps on something like MYOB and the just running off summary sheets for tax purposes.
Sometimes electronic record keeping is more effort than the old yet simple paper trail anyway.
No matter how efficient the software, responsibility for using it and retaining control remains with the investor.
Anyway, just another angle to think about the issue, if appropriate.
Good luck!
Steve McKnight
**********
Remember that success comes from doing things differently.
**********Steve McKnight | PropertyInvesting.com Pty Ltd | CEO
https://www.propertyinvesting.comSuccess comes from doing things differently
Hi All,
Check out this link. It might help a bit for free.
http://www.reduceyourtax.com.au/download.htmCheers
[]Thanks everone for the tips so far, please keep the comments coming, even as to how you all organise your paper files for multiple properties.
I have looked at the 2 programs suggested so far and previously at MYOB. I am just interested to know as many options as possible.
Each to their own as they say.
P.S. No critiscism taken, so please even if you think your system may not be the best, it may be the one I would prefer.
Thanks Joy.Hi Robynhood, my opinion is that the 2 most important parts is time management and one area that is designated as the investment area( table, computer desk what ever. No paper work is taken out of this area and read else where(in front of TV, at the dinner table or in the toilet) I use a simple filing cabinet broken up in to property and each one is then broken down into months, each month that a bill needs to be paid has a red sticker and a list of what needs to be paid and the month before a orange sticker of what needs to be paid the next month. Yellow stickers indicate when money(rent) is meant to be paid in. Also don’t jump from one property to the other when doing paper work. Write a list of what you find on each property and then compare the lists and see what can be added to each property. One piece of equipment that I have found a god send is a wipe on wipe off white board.
C2
“Is it true the more you owe the more you grow until the bank steps in?”C2 wrote:
‘No paper work is taken out of this area and read else where’
Such common sense, but never have I seen this written anywhere else ; )
But what a difference this one thing would make!
Even if you’re a messy type, this narrows down where you can ‘lose’ things. Instead of finding a needle in a haystack, you might only need to find it in a matchbox! My investment ‘office’ is a 2x2m area in the corner of the lounge. I especially like it near the front door as mail immediately finds its way to the ‘office’ rather than somewhere else.
If I was really good, I’d act on that mail immediately, answer, file or chuck it as apprpriate. Unless its a request for payment from the ATO, which can wait until next March (spending postponed is almost as good as spending avoided)!
A good book on all this stuff is ‘Getting Things Done’ by Edwin Bliss. ‘Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ also has some pointers.
A common theme seems to be distinguishing between important and urgent, and making sure the urgent doesn’t crowd out the important. Also there is the principle of ‘doing it now’, ‘handling the paper once only’ and not keeping unnecessary paperwork.
Peter
Hi Peter, The urgent and important is where the whiteboard comes into use. It’s big, noticeable, doesn’t get lost and cuts down on a lot of little notes and paper work.
C2
“Is it true the more you owe the more you grow until the bank steps in?”We use the following system:
After settlement on a property, we prepared a detailed list with all the important info:
Contract signing date and amount
Settlement date
Vendor’s details
Bank, legal fees, stamp duty etc.
Source of funds balanced against costs of purchaseWe keep a manilla folder for daily mail relating to properties. We use Excel spreadsheets for each property to record all income and expenses.
Also use a big calendar for noting when a/cs are due and a ring binder for each property where everything is kept (for when the Auditor comes knocking!)
Our accountant is very happy with what we provide as it makes his job easier.
I’ve also prepared a detailed list for our 3 adult children of all the important info including where our Wills are kept, our assets, personal banker, solicitor, accountant etc.
We regard our investing as a home business so it’s important to handle things professionally.
My 2 cents worth!
Cheers
Shirley
From sunny Townsville where it is currently 37 degrees and bl….dy hot!Hi Robinhood, I too use Property Manager Pro. It is very good as it prints out a complete Income, Expenses, Profit & Loss for each property for each financial year as well as initial purchasing costs and also a Capital Gain schedule. However, all the programs i have looked at require accurate information input. Experience has shown that it is best to do this as you go, at least monthly.I have a 31 day wooden folder which I put the bills in so they can be paid on the due day, I also use a direct debit to pay the regular accounts automatically from the LOC that the rent is paid into. Each property has its own folder for current ongoing info like leases, bonds, tenant Info, Insurance, Council & water Rates, repairs & maintenance. A seperate folder for each prop for contracts, mortgage info, conveyancer info, house plans & other stuff which I dont need very often.As the bills are paid they go into a pending file for transfer into Prop Mngr Pro when monthly Bank Statements arrive, then sorted into folder & pinned with same A/c’s I.E. Water rates, council rates, bank stmnts etc so they are easy to find when I need them. Thus I am confident that nothing has been missed when I do a printout for my Accountant at tax time.You need to try a few of these programs and put in actual info then do a final printout to see if it satisfies your needs. I hope this makes sense. Regards Summo
hi all
there is one simple answer, become more disciplined, as steve said once a month sort it all out. i’d go further and say you must do it once a week. sit down make a time right now that you commit to doing your paperwork and stick to it. grab your partner (or someone elses, no perhaps not) and work on it. if you find this works let me know because i’ve got paperwork all over the house.
westan
Again thanks to all who have replied.
I always believe there is an easier way and I reckon if enough people throw in their 2 bits worth, someone will come up with it and hopefully share.
Don’t forget they used to light fires by rubbing two sticks together.
Regards Joy.
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