Paperwork for multi properties.

[Sunfish]

I'm sorry about this. I know the question has been canvassed many times but I've never had an interest before.

Mrs Fish has been helping out a friend of hers do her husband's tax and it's been a lot of work because he has 5 properties and typical of a miner, everything was a mess. He didn't even know which loan applied to which property.

Mrs Fish is an old-fashioned accountant who is perfectly happy with a paper based system [We ran our business via a multi-column cash book for many years] while the friend is young and computer savvy.

Would a cash book work well or are there simple programs you would recommend more?

As I said, sorry.

BTW I don't need details, officially I don't know the properties exist. They have never been discussed in my presence.

 

[weg]

My husband uses 'Cashflow Manger' because it was recommended for it's simplicity and ease of use.

Now I can't make any comparisons, and husband is not very computer savvy, but he has had no problems using this, nor had any problems getting started (he did however have an excellent understanding of basic bookeeping and accounting).

Perhaps your wife's friend could set something like this up, and your wife shows them what's needed to be recorded, otherwise she could start a paper based system and they transfer to computer once they understand what is required of them.

 

[westminster]

I use Microsoft Excel. It's easy enough for me to import information from my online banking manipulate and send off to my accountant.
My system is very very basic.

 

[Scott No Mates]

www.rentmaster.co.nz/download.aspx

 

[Sunfish]

Weg, I just had a look at the package you recommend. It looks as if it is what Quicken once was. Do you know that one?

And thanks for the lead to RentMaster too.

 

[chrispy]

I use Rent Manager, which is an off shoot of Cash Flow Manager, but you only pay for the Rent Manager part.

Its great, so simple and easy to use. I have used it for years.

You can use it for residential or commercial, as you can say whether you want to claim GST. I had properties in both, so it worked well for me.

Chris

 

[Jamie M]

A simple excel spreadsheet does the trick.

If he has five properties, then he just needs to set up five sheets.

Insert income on one side and expenses on the other.

Most of this data can come from PM and bank statements.

Give that to the account at EOFY.

Cheers

Jamie

 

[Dazz]

A simple excel spreadsheet does the trick.

Amen to that.

I'd imagine our portfolio would be reasonably complex compared to most, and XLS handles everything easily.

At the end of the day, it's { + / - / * and / }.

Seriously, how complex can that get....

Don't know too many high level algorithms and Laplace transforms necessary in the property world.

Grade 5 Maths pretty much gets you to a decent level and beyond.

 

[westminster]

Big fan of KISS principles here.

I can import photos/scans of invoices etc if I want even. Good old Microsoft

I can calculate yield, play with proposed scenarios, look at how different bank interest rates impact, import bank transaction histories, import reports from depreciation, import rental reports and statements.

If I really wanted to I can even get it to do reverse Polish notation

 

[ozsupra]

If I really wanted to I can even get it to do reverse Polish notation

Is that safe without a net?

 

[joanmc]

I also use a spreadsheet for each property. I created it myself and I am NOT very computer literate!

 

[Suzy912]

Seems like Excel is very popular thanks for the tip!

 

[matto_]

a whole spreadsheet thread here - with various peoples spreadsheets they have posted. Linked below

http://somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26452