Heter Accountancy · Real estate accounting
Real estate & rental property accounting
Bookkeeping and tax for rental owners, real estate investors, agents and property managers, from a licensed professional with 18 years of accounting experience and deep experience in real estate and construction. Books tracked by property, depreciation done right, and your tax return prepared by the same team that keeps your books, all in one house. We work with owners who self-manage and with any property management company.
Real estate bookkeeping & tax
- Monthly books for each property
- Depreciation and fixed asset schedules
- Cost segregation studies, in house
- 1031 exchange planning and reporting
- Vendor 1099s
- Tax preparation and planning
Any manager, or none
- Self-managed or professionally managed
- Owner statements from any property manager reconciled to your books
- Long-term, mid-term and vacation rentals
- San Luis Obispo County, Santa Barbara County and South Lake Tahoe
Who it's for
Built for rental owners, investors and property managers
Rental owners
One rental or several. Know what each property actually earns, and have your tax return built from those same numbers.
Vacation, short-term & mid-term rentals
Nightly and 30-day income, cleaning, supplies and platform fees, tracked by property and ready for your tax return.
Property managers & investors
Bookkeeping and controller support for your own company, on the same flat monthly plans as our other business clients.
From a fellow rental owner
"We own and run The Pads, two lakefront townhomes in South Lake Tahoe. I keep those books myself, so I know the owner side firsthand: the seasonal swings, the turnovers and the tax paperwork."
Alexa Heter · Heter Accountancy · The Pads: Airbnb Superhost, 4.91★ across 57 guest reviews
What you get
Owner accounting, month by month
Books by property
Income and expenses tracked for each property, reconciled monthly against your accounts.
Depreciation done right
Purchase, improvements and fixed assets on a proper schedule, so you take the deductions you're owed.
Bookkeeping and tax in one house
The same team keeps your books and prepares your return, so nothing gets lost between your bookkeeper and your tax preparer.
Cost segregation
In-house studies that move appliances, flooring, furnishings and site improvements onto 5-, 7- and 15-year schedules, with 100% bonus depreciation for qualified property. How it works
1031 exchanges
Sell a property and defer the gain by buying another. We plan the exchange with you and your qualified intermediary, keep the 45-day and 180-day deadlines in view, and report it on Form 8824.
Selling a property
Know your gain, depreciation recapture and tax before you list. We'll compare a straight sale, a 1031 exchange and other ways to spread or defer the tax.
Get started
Tell us about your rentals
We'll email you back within one business day.
Based in San Luis Obispo, CA. Working with owners wherever their properties are.
Prefer email? alexa@heteraccountancy.com
Phone: 805-250-3434
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Case study
A property management company: 45 properties in year one
How we set up the accounting from scratch for a new property management company, trained the team on Guesty, Lodgify, Buildium and AppFolio, and supported their short-, mid- and long-term rental business.
Case study
$1.2M off a developer's tax bill in one year
How cost segregation, a deferred gain on a property sale and corrected past returns lowered a real estate developer and investor's tax bill by about $1.2 million.
Case study
Standing out when Tahoe's rental market saturated overnight
How The Pads booked 284 nights in year one, then stood out with amenities and room for groups of up to 16 when South Lake Tahoe opened up more short-term rentals.
Need more than bookkeeping?
Our controller and fractional CFO services add a monthly close, financial reporting, budgets and cash flow forecasting, from $1,500/month.
Case study
$1.7M in missed depreciation, found during tax prep
How we traced nine years of ownership changes in a real estate partnership, corrected every partner's basis and recovered about $1.7M of missed depreciation in one year.
Cost segregation
Depreciate your property faster
An in-house cost segregation study can move appliances, flooring, furnishings and site improvements onto 5-, 7- and 15-year schedules, for bigger deductions in the early years.
Questions
Common questions
Do you work with my property manager?
Yes. We work with owners who self-manage and with any property management company, and reconcile your manager's owner statements to your books every month.
My properties aren't in San Luis Obispo. Can you still help?
Yes. Bookkeeping and tax work is done online, so we work with owners wherever their properties are.
Do you prepare my tax return too?
Yes. Your bookkeeping and your tax return are handled in one house, so your books flow straight into your return with nothing lost in between.
Do you help with 1031 exchanges?
Yes. We help you plan the exchange before you sell, work alongside your qualified intermediary, track the 45-day identification and 180-day closing deadlines, carry your basis and depreciation over to the new property, and report the exchange on your tax return (Form 8824). We can also look at a cost segregation study on the replacement property.
Is cost segregation worth it for a rental?
Often, especially for short-term rentals, recent purchases and renovations, or properties you've owned for years without a study. We do studies in house and can tell you in a free consultation whether yours is likely to pay off. Learn about cost segregation.
What does it cost?
Rental property bookkeeping is quoted after a free consultation, based on the number of properties and their activity; business bookkeeping plans start at $500/month. Tax preparation is billed at an hourly rate.