The 8 Best Real Estate Accounting Software Tools (2023 Updated!)
Our top picks are based on features they offer, pricing, and reviews from real estate agents themselves. Here are the eight best real estate accounting software tools proven to help you take your business to the next level.
The 8 Best Real Estate Accounting Tools of 2023
- #1 Overall: Best Accounting Software for Real Estate Agents: Bench
- Best for Useful Integrations: Zoho Books
- Best Property Management Accounting Software: FreshBooks
- Best Accounting Software for Real Estate Agents On-The-Go: Xero
- Best for Business Growth: QuickBooks
- Best Accounting Software for Realtors on a Budget: Sage Accounting
- Best Value: Quicken
- Best Tax Software for Real Estate Agents: Realtyzam
#1 Overall: Best Accounting Software for Real Estate Agents: Bench

Why we chose it: Bench is an ideal option for ‘hands-off’ accounting. Unlike other platforms that require a learning curve, you simply sync your bank account and payment platforms with their service. Their dedicated team of bookkeepers and tax professionals will take care of the rest. Here’s more about what they offer:
One on One Support: Customers have access to a dedicated bookkeeper and a team of experts. They will provide you with answers to complex questions. They are accessible with just a few clicks of the mouse.
Financial Reporting: Bench’s reporting system allows you to see how your financials are doing at a glance. Or you can request more specific reports to keep track of profit and loss, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and so much more. This will give you a good handle on what’s bringing in income and what’s not.
Stress-Free Taxes: The platform can also help you at tax season. Their basic plan will get you prepared at tax time. Upgrade to Premium and they will provide everything you need to get your taxes filed.
Retro Services: The Bench experts are there for realtors who aren’t caught up on their accounting. They have separate services available to businesses that are 2 years or less behind on their financials, and those behind two years or more.
- 30-day free trial which includes one prior month of bookkeeping and a set of financial statements
- Tax services included
- Live support with no learning curve
- No software so agents are unable to handle their accounting themselves
- No payroll services
- Not specific to the real estate industry
Best for Useful Integrations: Zoho Books

Why we chose it: Zoho Books is an easy-to-use cloud-based software system that offers invoicing, inventory, and project management features. It’s a good option for small and medium sized businesses. It’s affordable and offers services that will make your accounting more convenient. It includes the following features:
End to End Accounting: Zoho handles everything from invoicing to accounting. It reduces the time you spend dealing with accounting matters so you can focus on your business.
Tax Compliance: The platform will keep you on top of your tax liability and prepare audit reports in accordance with IRS guidelines, so you don’t have to worry if big brother is watching you. It helps you maintain tax records, so you are ready at tax time. It offers Alvara integration which calculates your tax liabilities in real time, so you always know how much you owe. You can also see how much you paid your vendors and export 1099 reports.
Integrated Business Platform: Zoho offers over 50 apps that you can integrate into your platform to scale as you grow.
Reconcile: The system allows you to reconcile your books each month to ensure you are not leaving any money on the table.
Mobile App Available: The platform offers a mobile app so you can do your accounting from anywhere at any time.
- Free plan available
- Mobile app available with a large variety of features
- Focus on tax compliance
- Maximum of 10 users
- Must pay more for advanced features
- Payroll services are confusing
Best Property Management Accounting Software: FreshBooks

Why we chose it: FreshBooks is an accounting software system recommended for small business owners, sole proprietors, and freelancers. It makes it easy to keep track of payments and expenses and stay organized. It is intuitive and easy to use. The platform offers a variety of features including the following:
Expense Tracking: You can snap photos of receipts, email receipts to your account and import expenses from your bank account. This will allow you to track every dollar, so you are ready at tax time.
Time Tracking: FreshBooks’ time tracking system allows your team to log billable time, so your payroll is accounted for.
Project Management: The project management feature is valuable to realtors. It allows teams, clients, and contractors to share updates and files in one place to keep everyone on the same page.
Automated Payments: The system allows clients to pay in a variety of ways including credit cards, checkout links, and more. With all the methods available, you will get paid quickly.
Reports: FreshBooks’ dashboard and reports allow you to see how your business is doing in terms of profitability. This will be especially helpful at tax time. Its Double-Entry Accounting tools make it easy to determine how healthy your cash flow is.
Mobile App: The mobile app allows you to do your bookkeeping and accounting on the go.
Mileage Tracker: The mileage tracker is another valuable realtor tool. It will keep track of how many miles you drive and how much gas you use.
Invoicing: Create customizable professional invoices in a few clicks of the button. The many payment options will allow you to get paid quickly.
Payroll: The system can integrate with Gusto to offer payroll as well as automatic tax filings, payments and direct deposit.
- Intuitive and easy to use
- Double entry accounting features
- Ideal for realtors due to project management and mileage tracker tools
- Affordably priced at a lower tier
- Not tailored for larger businesses
- Additional monthly cost to add extra team members
- Fewer customization options as compared to other accounting software
Best Accounting Software for Real Estate Agents On-The-Go: Xero

Why we chose it: Xero is a cloud-based accounting software program designed for small and medium sized businesses. It saves agents tons of time spent on administration and accounting. It is easy to use and affordably priced. Here are some of the features is offers:
Pay Bills: Xero helps you track and pay bills on time. You can store your bills all in one place. You can make batch payments and schedule them in advance. You can also get an overview of accounts payable and cash flow.
Track and Manage Expenses: The platform’s Xero management tool helps you manage spending and submit or reimburse expense claims. It allows you to approve expenses without delay. You can review reports and analytics to track expenses and claim mileage and expenses from your phone.
Bank Connections: You can set up Xero to connect with your bank so your transactions flow securely straight into the platform. This will help you keep track of the money coming in and going out.
Accept Payments: The platform can integrate with Stripe, Go Cardless and other systems so you can easily accept payments online.
Track Projects: The project and job tracker software will allow you to create quotes and invoices and get paid for jobs. It will also help you keep track of the profitability of each project.
Payroll: Integrate with Gusto’s payroll software to calculate pay and deductions.
Bank Reconciliation: Xero integrates with your bank account to make reconciliation easy. It will help you categorize and reconcile account transactions every day using suggested matches.
Contact Management: The platform allows you to input client details so you can see their sales, invoices, and payments at a glance.
Capture Data: Use Huboc to capture data without manual entry. It will allow you to get copies of documents and key data into Xero automatically.
Files: Xero’s online file storage allows you to manage and share documents, bills, and receipts from anywhere.
- Unlimited users and clients
- Extensive online tutorials so you can learn more complex systems
- Free 30-day trial with wide range of features
- Quotes and invoices are limited to 20 per month
- Involves a learning curve
- Multiple currencies available only with the highest subscription tier
Best for Business Growth: QuickBooks

Why we chose it: QuickBooks is an online accounting tool widely used by small and large businesses, bookkeepers, and accountants alike. It’s a subscription-based service that addresses all your financial needs. It allows you to track finances easily. Here are some of the features QuickBooks has to offer.
Job Costing: This feature helps you determine which jobs are costing you money and which are making you money.
Expenses: You can track expenses across all your accounts.
Invoices: QuickBooks allows you to create invoices quickly and easily.
Manage Bills: Organize and manage bills online so you always pay on time.
1099’s: The system allows you to create and file 1099s for your independent contractors.
Advanced Bookkeeping: Advanced bookkeeping provides the capabilities to create customizable, presentation-ready reports. You can do less manual work by sending hundreds of invoices and expenses at once and entering multiple bills and checks in a few steps. The encryption and security safeguards will keep your information protected.
Premium App Integration: This advanced system will allow you to integrate with premium apps like DocuSign, Bill.com, HubSpot, Salesforce, and more.
Virtual Bookkeeping: You can partner with a live bookkeeper who understands your business. They will bring your financials up to date and manage your books with accuracy.
Payroll: QuickBooks offers a payroll system that provides tax penalty protection, same-day direct deposit, automated taxes, time tracking and 24/7 support.
Payments: The platform offers multiple ways for you to get paid online. You can take contactless payments from anywhere. You can access the payments the next day or instantly for 1%.
- Widely used by bookkeepers and accountants
- Straightforward implementation
- Easy tracking of finances
- Advanced bookkeeping options
- Plans can be expensive
- AI is sometimes too smart
- Limited support
Best Accounting Software for Realtors on a Budget: Sage Accounting

Why we chose it: Sage is a cloud-based accounting software program that offers an all-in-one integrated financial service system. It is the first and only financial management solution to be endorsed by the AICPA. It provides real-time insights across multiple entities. It offers the following features:
Core Financials: Sage is a modern accounting solution that’s affordable, secure and boosts productivity.
Accounts Receivable: The system allows you to automate invoicing, collections, and reporting so you can improve your performance and provide increased client satisfaction.
General Ledger: The virtual general ledger provides optimal financial visibility.
Cash Management: Gain an overview of your cash and working capital to find out how your money is working for you.
Accounts Payable: The platform will streamline manual processes by automating accounts payable processes.
Reports & Dashboards: Sage creates reports with a few clicks of the mouse saving you over 40 hours of time and producing financial results with 75% more accuracy.
Purchasing: The Sage Intacct Purchasing tool can be used to create structured and predefined transactions and purchase approval workflows that increase accuracy and efficiency.
SaaS Metrics: Detailed real-time SaaS metrics will help you make more educated strategic decisions.
Order Management: Our order management module allows you to simplify complex quote to cash processes. It can handle high order volume and inventory challenges.
- Workflow automations
- Cash flow forecasts
- 6-month promotion for 70%off
- No free plan available
- No real estate specific features
- No payroll processing
Best Value: Quicken

Why we chose it: Quicken software is ideal for realtors thanks to tools like property value assessment and expense tracking with IRS categories. While it’s commonly used by landlords, it can also be helpful to real estate agents. It provides standard bookkeeping software tools like account payable, accounts receivable, reporting, invoicing and more.
The software has a variety of plans, each offering individual features. They include the following:
The Simplifi plan allows you to see all your finances in one place, so you know where your money is going, It assists you in planning and tracking long and short term goals. You can use it to generate a personalized budget that tracks your spending, so you gain powerful insights.
The Deluxe plan will allow you to connect to your credit cards, loans, investments, and properties. You can use it to create customized monthly and annual budgets. It assists with financial planning allowing you to create a road map for loans, investments, and retirement. It can sync with Quicken web and mobile apps so you can manage your money on the go.
The Premier Plan offers all the features of Deluxe as well as analysis tools that help you make the most of your investment portfolio. It provides tax benefit reports that make tax prep easier. It allows you to track your bills and pay them. It offers priority access to customer support.
The Home & Business Plan comes with everything the Deluxe plan offers but also allows you to separate and categorize your business and personal expenses. You can email custom invoices with payment links and simplify and track your business deductions and profit and losses.
- Allows you to sync all your accounts in one place
- Comes with bonus real estate features
- Splits receipts across multiple spending categories
- Investing features may not be useful to everyone
- No customer portal for paying invoices
- The Home & Business package is only available for Windows users
Best Tax Software for Real Estate Agents: Realtyzam

Why we chose it: Realtyzam advertises itself as the best accounting software for real estate agents. It allows you to track expenses and instantly generate reports. You can use it to do your accounting in less than 10 minutes. Here are some of the features it provides:
Fast Accounting: Realtyzam strips down everything for a fast, efficient accounting process.
Advanced Automation: The system’s advanced automation eliminates data entry. It allows you to set up data feeds from over 15,000 banks and credit cards. It downloads transactions into your system daily with your own custom rules. Or, if you would prefer not to use a bank feed, you can download your statements from your financial institution’s websites and upload the files into the system.
Less Stress at Tax Time: The system will generate all the reports you need at tax time in just minutes.
Stores Documents: The system can be used to upload receipts with your computer, tablet, or phone via the Realtyzam mobile app. It will automatically scan a digital copy and link it to the expense.
Realtyzam reviews are a pretty mixed bag. While they generally have a pretty high customer satisfaction rate, there are some complaints about the speed of the mobile app.
- The cost of the subscription is tax deductible
- Allows you to track receipts
- Free 30-day trial or until you sell properties or log $3000 of gross incomes and expenses
- No mileage tracking
- Not designed for teams or brokers
Real Estate Accounting 101: 60-Second Primer
Real estate accounting software is a comprehensive, all-in-one financial logging, management, and auditing solution that can help you scale your business. In the real estate sector, you want to keep track of your books and expenses so that you can easily manage your taxes and plan for any down times in the industry. Most online systems come with invoicing, expense management, reporting, cash-flow monitoring, and client management features.
Real estate accounting involves the financial management and record-keeping of real estate transactions. It helps track income, expenses, and profitability. Here’s a quick primer:
- Income: Real estate accounting involves recording rental income, lease payments, and other sources of revenue related to property ownership.
- Expenses: It includes tracking expenses such as property taxes, insurance, repairs, maintenance, utilities, and property management fees.
- Depreciation: Depreciation is the gradual decrease in the value of a property over time. It’s an important concept in real estate accounting for tax purposes.
- Cash Flow: Real estate accountants calculate cash flow by subtracting expenses from income. Positive cash flow indicates profitability.
- Financial Statements: Accountants prepare financial statements, including income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements, to provide a snapshot of a property’s financial health.
- Tax Deductions: Real estate accounting tools help identify tax deductions, such as mortgage interest and property taxes, which can reduce taxable income.
- Capitalization Rate: The cap rate is used to evaluate the potential return on an investment property. It’s calculated by dividing the property’s net operating income by its value.
- 1031 Exchange: Accountants assist with 1031 exchanges, which allow investors to defer capital gains taxes by reinvesting proceeds from the sale of one property into another.
Most of the best accounting software for real estate agents is available as a web-only solution, with the back-end deployed in the cloud for backup. This makes it easy for users to access their day to day financial data from any device on the go. Agents can also invoice, add expenses, or view important reports without having to log on to their desktop or laptop. Real estate accounting software helps agents save a lot of time and money while improving productivity levels. The goal is to provide a digital interface that performs most of your financial transactions. It’s also best to find a system that automates some of the most routine accounting chores like reconciliation and transaction matching.
For real estate agents and brokers, you can sometimes find free accounting software options that will have the basic features you need to keep your finances in order. These are good options to get started with as you work to grow your business, and then you can easily upgrade to a paid plan as you need to.
What to Look for in Accounting Software for Real Estate
There is a wide range of accounting software for real estate out there to help you fulfill all of your bookkeeping needs. Some come with more perks than the rest, but here are some basic features you should look for before committing:
Payroll and accounting management systems
Payroll software is a comprehensive solution that addresses your business’s accounting requirements. It combines payroll management with essential accounting tasks, offering a range of features and reports.
With payroll software, you can efficiently handle accounts receivable and accounts payable, track expenses, accurately calculate employee salaries, generate cash flow reports, and set up reminders for late payments. Moreover, certain software providers allow customization to accommodate industry-specific needs, enhancing the software’s suitability for your business.
Enterprise resource planning systems
ERP systems are comprehensive software solutions that integrate various systems involved in financial planning, inventory management, accounting, distribution, finance, marketing, HR, and more. These systems offer a range of accounting tools and reports, along with additional features like inventory control and point-of-sale functionality.
In addition, ERP software often includes a customer relationship management module, enhancing customer interactions and streamlining sales processes. These systems are particularly beneficial for large companies with multiple departments and geographically dispersed teams. They are also well-suited for organizations that require detailed accounting records across complex systems, as they help streamline processes vertically throughout the entire organization.
Billing & invoicing systems
This type of accounting software covers the day-to-day tasks involved with check writing and updating customers about payments due. Billing and invoicing systems help maintain accurate accounting figures and are used to generate professional-looking invoices or bills to the end recipient. These tools keep track of your company’s financial activity so that you’re ready for auditing.
Property management accounting software
Property management accounting software is a specialized software solution designed to streamline and automate financial processes specifically tailored for property management companies. It enables efficient tracking, organization, and management of financial transactions, such as rent collection, vendor payments, expense tracking, and budgeting. This software provides tools for generating comprehensive financial reports, facilitating real-time visibility into income and expenses, and assisting with tasks like lease management and reconciliation. By integrating various accounting functions into a single platform, property management accounting software improves accuracy, reduces manual errors, enhances financial control, and simplifies the overall financial management of properties and portfolios.
Real Estate Bookkeeping Mistakes Software Won’t Save You From
While software can be a valuable tool for real estate bookkeeping, there are certain mistakes that it won’t be able to save you from. Here are some common bookkeeping mistakes that software alone can’t prevent:
- Data Entry Errors: Even with software, manually entering data can lead to mistakes like transposing numbers or omitting crucial information. It’s important to double-check your entries for accuracy. This usually applies with data imported from PDF invoices, or scanned documents. Whether you input this data manually one-by-one or try to upload a list, things can go wrong. Even the smallest typo in a number, name, or vendor can mess up an invoice. This can cause you to lose at least 20-30 mins if you have to go back to correct each field. That’s time you don’t want to have to worry about upfront. A small typo likely won’t cause a big wave, however, the wrong amount extracted from the invoice usually leads to incorrect tax being paid.
- Misclassification of Transactions: Software relies on proper categorization of transactions, but if you misclassify expenses or income, it can affect your financial reports and tax filings. Understanding proper categorization is essential.
- Failure to Reconcile Accounts: While software can automate bank reconciliations, it still requires regular oversight to ensure accuracy. Neglecting to reconcile accounts can lead to discrepancies and errors in your financial records.
- Lack of Knowledge or Training: Software is only as effective as the user’s understanding. Without proper knowledge or training, you may not utilize all the features correctly or misinterpret the data generated.
- Ignoring Regulatory Compliance: Software can assist with compliance, but it’s crucial to stay informed about real estate-specific regulations and tax laws. Failing to comply can result in penalties or legal issues.
- System Failures: While these are few and far and between, it’s important to note that no amount of preparation will prepare you for a system failure. If the software isn’t backed up properly, one big company mistake could completely diminish your bookkeeping. Make sure you effectively back up all of your information, and keep it somewhere safe and secure. That way you have the information ready to pull in in a crunch of the accounting software is starting to glitch.
To avoid these mistakes, it’s important to combine software with good bookkeeping practices, such as regularly reviewing your records, seeking professional advice when needed, and investing in ongoing education to stay up-to-date with industry standards and regulations.
Advice From The Pros on Accounting Software for Realtors
Chris Heller, a member of the Agent Advice Editorial Board, and a long time leader in the real estate industry says that bookkeeping is the most important part of building a successful team. Finding the right accounting software for Realtors, and keeping up with finances is the first step in making sure you can plan ahead and grow your business.
“Years ago, I was working with a very talented team in California. Each agent played their own role in ensuring the smooth operation of my growing business. Among them was Emily, an experienced accountant with a keen eye for numbers and a passion for accuracy.
One day, the real estate team encountered a major accounting challenge. Due to an oversight, a significant financial discrepancy was discovered in the records of a recently closed deal. The mistake threatened not only the agency’s reputation but also the trust of our clients.
Emily took it upon herself to investigate the issue. She meticulously reviewed all the transaction documents, cross-referenced financial records, and double-checked every entry. It became clear to her that the error was a result of manual data entry and a lack of standardized processes.
Determined to prevent such mistakes in the future, Emily researched modern accounting solutions specifically designed for real estate businesses. She discovered a comprehensive real estate accounting software that offered automated workflows, integration with other systems, and real-time financial reporting.
Convinced that this software could revolutionize their accounting practices, Emily presented her findings to the me and my management team. We recognized the importance of investing in technology to enhance efficiency and mitigate potential errors. The decision was made to implement the new accounting software.
With the software in place, our team experienced a remarkable transformation in our day-to-day operations. The software streamlined everu processes, eliminating the need for manual data entry and reducing the risk of human error. It provided us with real-time visibility into financial data, enabling them to track expenses, commissions, and overall profitability with ease.
As the months went by, the team as a whole noticed significant improvements in our accounting practices. Financial reconciliations were done in a fraction of the time, and accurate reports could be generated at the click of a button. The newfound efficiency allowed Emily and our team to focus on more strategic tasks, such as financial analysis and planning, ultimately benefiting the agency’s bottom line.
Word spread within the real estate industry about the agency’s commitment to accurate and reliable accounting practices. Clients and partners praised their professionalism and trustworthiness, resulting in increased business opportunities and referrals.
Emily’s proactive approach to addressing the accounting challenge and her advocacy for implementing modern technology earned her recognition and respect within the team. She became known as the go-to person for financial insights and guidance, and her expertise played a pivotal role in the team’s continued success.”
Our Methodology:
Our in-house real estate experts spent hundreds of hours researching, scoring, and ranking the top real estate accounting software companies on the market. We looked at everything from pricing and ease of use to the specific real estate industry features that are available. We’ve ranked and rated each accounting tool on 5 different factors to come up with the very best real estate accounting software companies. The short version of factors considered are:
- Cost: Not all real estate accounting tools are created equal, so it’s important to look at what’s included with your purchase. Some software companies charge upwards of $300/month for outdated spreadsheet templates, which is why we take into account the price of the service and compare it to the features and extra resources provided to help each agent succeed.
- Features & user friendliness: Different accounting services come with different feature sets, some more important for teams than solo agents. Additionally, agents don’t have a lot of extra time to learn a complicated accounting system, so the more it just works with their natural workflow, the better. That’s why we’ve rated the tools that are easier for agents to navigate without a tech team higher than the ones that are more complicated to use.
- Payroll & taxes: When tax season rolls around real estate agents are often very stressed out making sure they have all of their write-offs available. Some accounting tools can keep track of this information all year long – making filing taxes a breeze. Many teams are also looking to keep track of their bottom line while paying their team members in an efficient way. It’s much easier if there is one tool that can handle all of an agent’s accounting needs in one place. That’s why this was a big factor we considered when coming up with our real estate accounting software rankings.
- Customer support: Many real estate agents don’t have the time to fix technical glitches and/or don’t have access to a tech team, so customer support is very important. Whether you might need help setting up integrations or just to get the software up and running, customer support plays a big role in finding your ideal software—especially when it comes to a real estate accounting service that you’ll be using on a daily basis.
- Overall performance: At the end of the day, all accounting investments need to have a good ROI. Our experts looked for how the features meet the specific needs of real estate agents and teams.
Sources & Additional Resources
- https://www.agentadvice.com/blog/real-estate-accounting/
- https://www.inman.com/2017/09/08/10-dos-and-donts-of-starting-a-real-estate-career/
- https://www.nar.realtor/lease-accounting
- https://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/the-smarter-mutual-fund-investor/articles/2017-07-27/5-dos-and-donts-of-investing-in-real-estate#:~:text=Particularly%20when%20investing%20in%20a%20buy-and-hold%20property%2C%20your,out%20a%20model%20to%20tie%20it%20all%20together
- https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/audit/articles/real-estate-accounting-guide.html
- https://bestaccountingsoftware.com/real-estate-accounting-software/