For small landlords + property managers.
Per-property bookkeeping that closes clean at year-end.
One workspace per LLC. Rent on the right property, mortgage on the right property, depreciation on the right schedule. Security deposits live as liabilities — not income. At year-end, one P&L per property feeds the Schedule E line by line.
No card required · $15/mo after trial · 30-day money-back
Workspace per property
Each LLC gets its own workspace, its own chart of accounts, its own journal. Rent deposits, mortgage debits, repair invoices, property-tax escrow — all coded to the property they belong to. No co-mingled ledgers.
Security deposits as liabilities
Tenant deposits sit in a separate liability account on the Balance Sheet — not in income. When a tenant moves out, PlainBooks reverses the liability against any damages, with the clean entries your state's security-deposit law expects.
Schedule E ready at close
Each property closes to a P&L that maps line-by-line to Schedule E. Mortgage interest, depreciation, insurance, maintenance, property taxes, repairs — already split. Your tax pro gets one PDF per LLC, not a year of comingled statements.
Where the books get messy
You own eight units across three properties — two duplexes and a small four-plex. Each property is its own LLC. Rents land between the 1st and the 8th. Mortgages auto-debit on the 1st. Property tax escrow accrues monthly but pays quarterly. Tenant security deposits sit in a separate account and have to stay separate by state law in most jurisdictions. Depreciation runs 27.5 years for the residential structures and 39 for the commercial half of one duplex. At year-end you file three Schedule E forms — one per LLC.
This is small-landlord bookkeeping. Each property needs its own ledger, the security deposits need their own liability accounts, and the IRS expects clean separation between properties at tax time.
What PlainBooks does
PlainBooks gives you the books per property — one workspace per LLC, each with its own chart of accounts, journal, and reports. Rent deposits get posted to that property. Mortgages, maintenance, property tax, insurance — all coded to the property they belong to.
Security deposits live as liabilities (Tenant Security Deposits Payable), not as income. When a tenant moves out and you refund the deposit minus damages, PlainBooks reverses the liability and posts the damage portion to repair income or maintenance offset — clean trail for the security-deposit accounting most states audit.
Capital improvements go to the Building Improvements asset account and run depreciation on the schedule your accountant sets. Regular repairs hit Maintenance Expense and flow through the P&L. The split matters at year-end.
When the year closes
Close December and PlainBooks generates each property's full report set: Trial Balance, P&L (the basis of Schedule E line by line), Balance Sheet (with security deposits as liabilities and accumulated depreciation visible), GL detail, AR aging if you have month-late tenants. One PDF per property, ready for the tax pro.
PlainBooks does not run depreciation calculation against IRS tables — that's between your tax pro and the depreciation schedule. PlainBooks records the entries when the schedule says to record them and shows you the accumulated total on the Balance Sheet.
If a tenant disputes a deposit deduction or a property tax reassessment lands late, reopen the period with an audit-preserving reversal, fix the entries, re-close. Each property keeps its own audit log.
Bills you can't afford to forget
PlainBooks puts each one on the same calendar as your real bank balance, so you see the collision before it happens.
- Mortgage paymentsMonthly, the 1st$3,000–$10,000
- Property taxes (escrowed)Monthly set-aside or quarterly$800–$3,000/mo equivalent
- Property + landlord insuranceMonthly or quarterly$500–$1,500
- Maintenance + repairsOngoing, lumpy$1,500–$5,000/mo avg
- Property management software (AppFolio, Buildium)Monthly$60–$300
- Common-area utilities + pest controlMonthly$400–$1,000
Depreciation, recorded on schedule
Residential structures depreciate 27.5 years. Commercial 39. The schedule is your tax pro's call — but the journal entries that record it month after month sit in the books. PlainBooks posts the depreciation JE each month and accumulates it on the Balance Sheet as Accumulated Depreciation. Year-end Schedule E gets the right number; the basis tracking gets the right number; the asset's book value is honest.
What PlainBooks doesn't do
Honest about scope. If you need any of these, you need different software.
- Collect rent or screen tenants — AppFolio, Buildium, Rent Manager, Zillow
- Compute IRS depreciation tables — that's between your tax pro and the depreciation schedule; PlainBooks records the entries when the schedule says to record them
- Send lease renewals or eviction notices — your property management software
- Track maintenance work orders — your property management software
- Tell you whether to buy another property. The investment call is yours; PlainBooks just keeps each property's books honest.
Ready to see your cash position?
$15/month or $150/year (two months free). 14-day free trial. No card required.
Start your free trialCommon questions
- Does PlainBooks work for real estate / property management?
- Yes. PlainBooks is general-ledger bookkeeping software — workspaces, chart of accounts, journal entries, period close, bank reconciliation, the full report set (Trial Balance, P&L, Balance Sheet, GL detail, AR aging, AP aging, 1099 summary). The real estate / property management-specific copy on this page describes the accounts and bills that matter most in this vertical.
- What does it cost?
- $15/month or $150/year when signups open. One price, all features, no tiers. Signups aren't open yet — leave your email on the home page and we'll send one note when launch happens.
- Do I need to connect a bank account?
- No. PlainBooks does not ingest bank feeds. You post journal entries directly (and for trucking workspaces, trips and state-mileage entries write the underlying entries automatically). If you want bank-fed cash visibility, that's a different category of tool.
- What about cash-flow forecasting?
- On the roadmap, not in the current build. PlainBooks today shows what your books say — current balances, what's open in AR and AP, what's posted, what's pending close. We don't promise features that aren't built.