7 Best Accounting Software for Real Estate Business (2024)

Upfront Conclusion

The best accounting software for real estate business right now is Freshbooks and Xero.

Every real estate broker or realtor knows the plethora of accounting and bookkeeping they have to do to keep at the top of their real estate business finances.

You will have to keep track of your income, expenses, taxes, schedule and track payments, and have an excellent tracking of mileage, and this won’t be easy without the right accounting software at your side.

The National Association of Realtors estimates that in the 4th quarter of 2020, there were over 2 million real estate agents and a host of more than 150,000 real estate corporations in the U.S. This means that for you not to be run over by the competition, you need to be at your best, which entails spending less time managing your finances, balancing accounts, etc., and focusing on your real estate business.

There are many accounting software that can enable you to do this, but then making the right choice of your best fit and sieving the best from the worst can’t be that easy for you. Hence, we have compiled this list of the best accounting software for real estate businesses just for you. Let’s dive in!

Best Accounting Software for Real Estate Business Ranking

Freshbooks – best overall accounting software for accounting software.
Xero – best integration for real estate.
Bonsai – Best For Managing Clients and Getting Paid On Time
Realtyzam – best specifically built for real estate agents.
Quickbooks online – great for small real estate businesses.
Buildium – good for property and residential management.
Wave – top free accounting software for real estate business.

1. Freshbooks

Freshbooks tops our list of the best accounting software for real estate business with its wealth of tools and resources, which any real estate business would love. Starting from time tracking to comprehensive income and expenses analysis, it tops the game.

What’s more? Freshbooks accounting is a good value for your money and has excellent customer support that will work to support your real estate business.

Pricing

Freshbook’s pricing entry price is $4.50/month and $108/year for its Lite plan.
Plus plan: $7.50 per month and $180 per year.
Premium plan: $15 per month and $360 per year
It also offers you a 30 days free trial.

We recommend its popular Plus plan because it is the best option for small businesses and would be the right plan if you are operating as an independent real estate agent.

Features

It offers excellent time and mileage tracking, which would help you optimize your business efforts.
It integrates with more than 100 apps to give you the best experience.
It also has a double-entry bookkeeping feature just for you.
You will also be able to make faster online payments, track payments, and receive payments.
It enables faster and easier IRS compactible tax return deductions and reporting.

You can easily create, send and track estimates, invoices, etc.

Why Do We Recommend Freshbooks?

We recommend Freshbooks as it tops our list of the best accounting software for real estate business. From our research and reviews, most of those in the real estate business are either independent agents or small businesses, and FreshBooks. Its features that fit small businesses also offer lots of tools and resources that will help you grow your real estate business.

Visit Freshbooks

2. Xero

Founded in 2006, Xero is another awesome cloud-based accounting software for the real estate business. Xero is rampant for its integrations and nice features. It gives you more than 700 integrations that you can access.

Xero is exceptionally very good for small and growing real estate businesses, and you will find it very simple to use.

Pricing

Xero’s entry price is $20/ month for the starter plan.
The standard plan: $30/month.
Premium plan: $40 /month.
Xero also offers you a 30 days free trial.

To get the best of all of its integrations, excellent features as well as a great value for your money, we recommend the standard plan for your real estate business.

Features

It makes it possible for you to track payments and stick to payment schedules
You can simply track projects as well as time, the cost involved in your real estate business.
With Xero, you can create a smart list of real estate Clients and prospective buyers.
It can also serve as your online filing system.
It automatically calculates your sale tax and automates tax reports.

Why Do We Recommend Xero?

We recommend Xero because of its integrations with so many apps and software. This combination will give you the right experience from the best accounting software for the real estate business.

Even with these integrations, Xero is simple and easy to use and offers you a user-friendly interface. Yes! You should try it for your real estate hustle.

Visit Xero

3. Bonsai

Managing the finances of a real estate business can be tricky if you don’t have much accounting experience. That is where Bonsai comes into play. It can help you manage unlimited clients using its well-developed CRM system for maintaining relations.

The bookkeeping features of this software will also help you get paid on time by keeping track of the hours you have worked for a client. Setting reminders will also ensure you never miss payment deadlines. This will help you save money.

Bonsai also offers banking features such as linking your credit cards to the platform to analyze your cash flow. You will also receive thorough reporting from the software after every few months.

Pricing

To make things easy for real estate businesses, Bonsai has three packages for ease of use:

The Starter package costs $24 per month, and annually it costs $17 per month
The Professional package will charge you $39 per month, and annually it will cost $32 per month
The Business plan will cost you $79 per month, and annually it will lead to a payment of $52 per month

You will get two months free on annual packages, which is the per-month charges are low. With each plan, a seven-day free trial is also offered.

Features

The time tracker will help you understand your billed and non-billed hours
Use tax estimates to prepare for the annual tax period easily
Grow your business by collaborating with other teams to enhance a project
Enjoy making contracts for clients using pre-made templates by Bonsai
Offer access to your Bonsai account to an experienced accountant easily

Why Do We Recommend Bonsai?

We recommend this software to all real estate agencies because of the numerous banking and bookkeeping features. Using the platform is also easy because of the robust software.

Visit Bonsai

4. Realtyzam

Coming second in our review is cloud-based Realtyzam, specifically built for real estate agents to optimize their work. It offers most of the best features needed by real estate agents, has a user-friendly interface, and access good customer service.

Are you looking for simple and inexpensive accounting software for the real estate business? If yes, then Realtyzam is the right option for you.

Pricing

Realtyzam prices are $9.95/month billed monthly and at $12/month when you want to cancel at any time.

It also offers you 30 days free trial, which you can increase to more than 30 days if you are just entering the real estate business market or just coming back to it.

Features

It offers you top-notch security in protecting your data. Your data gets encrypted with 128-bit SSL/ TLS encryption.
It sets up data feeds with your bank, credit cards, and fintech to easily get all your payment information.
You can also easily track income and expenses such as commissions, listing fees, etc.
With Realtyzam, you can easily scan and convert paper receipts to digital files.
With just one click, you can prepare your tax deductions and reports.

Why Do We Recommend Realtyzam?

We recommend Realtyzam because it has one of the best accounting software for real estate agents. It provides faster services and will do most of its features in a few minutes.

Realtyzam is also the best option for independent, startup real estate agents. Suppose you are looking for bank-level security as a startup. Then, Realtyzam is your right option.

5. QuickBooks

Offering different plans, QuickBooks, the most popular accounting software, is next on our list. It has earned its place in this list because of the excellent customer service and different options, and compatibility with small businesses.

Built by Intuit, QuickBooks offers you a nice user-friendly, simple navigational interface. You can use it on your PC, Mac, or phone, and it also has a web-based online plan that you can access from anywhere.

Pricing

Its entry price is $7.50/ month for the self-employed plan.
Simple start: $12 50 / month
Essentials: $20 /month
Plus plan: $35/ month
Advanced plan: $75/month.
You can access its 30 days free trial to see how it matches your real estate business.

We recommend for your real estate business that you subscribe to its self-employed plan as it will give you the flexibility you need as a small business real agent or broker.

Features

Quickbooks lets you easily run real estate reports.
You can create and send Customized invoices and receipts.
It also lets you track miles, projects, and payments.
It makes your monthly and yearly tax deductions and reporting simple and easier.
You can convert estimates into invoices with just one click.
You can also track sales, sales tax, and even time.
Easy bills management and arrangement of payroll of employees of your real estate business

Why Do We Recommend QuickBooks?

QuickBooks has one of the major tools and features for a real estate business. It offers ample advanced add-ons for you too. Over the years, it has grown in popularity among real estate agents and brokers with its collection of features and integration, such as DocuSign.

It is also a good option for all types and sizes of real estate business. You will fall in love with it too.

6. Buildium Accounting

Next, our research of the best accounting software for real estate business is Buildium. This property management solution offers residential and property management real estate agents to optimize their accounting and bookkeeping.

Buildium is also good in facilitating effective communication between real estate agents and prospective buyers, residents, and clients. You will also have access to lots of resources and tools to help grow your business.

Pricing

Its entry price is $50/month for the Essential plan. Other plans are;

Growth plan: $160/month
Premium plan: $460/month.
Buildium accounting also offers you 14 days free trial.

Though it might seem pricey, yes, we know, but we recommend you buy Buildium’s Growth plan. Effective use of this plan, and you will see your business scaling soon. It’s worth it.

Features

For any of its plans, you will get awesome business insights and analytics.
You can also easily track payments.
It lets you easily communicate with clients, buyers, and residents from a central point.
You can track budget, rent, and vendor payments.
It automatically updates and analysis your banking records.
You can also manage accounts payable, track your income and expenses, and help you hunt for real estate buyers.

Why Do We Recommend Buildium?

We recommend Buildium because it is the best accounting software for real estate agents involved in property and residential management. Buildium is also very good with the wealth of resources and tools it provides to real estate businesses.

Another reason we recommend it is that it enables effective communication between real estate agents and buyers.

7. Wave Accounting

The last accounting software that makes our list of the best accounting software for real estate business is Wave accounting, free software that offers awesome features to real estate and small startup businesses.

It features double-entry bookkeeping and will be the best choice for you if you are looking for accounting software to serve your real estate business even though you do not have enough money in your budget.

Pricing

Wave accounting is free.

Features

You have access to unlimited creating, customization, and sending of invoices.
Wave accounting offers you bill payment and invoice reminders.
It tracks all your real estate income and expenses.
It’s a double-entry feature that gives you an excellent view of your real estate and how it’s performing.
You can also find a combination of other businesses with your real estate business in one account.
You can also easily export your accounting information and reports.
Simplifies multiple currencies accounting with its automatic exchange rate calculations.
Wave accounting is good for analyzing your real estate sales tax returns and reports.

Why Do We Recommend Wave Accounting?

Most independent real estate agents need cheap accounting software that will help them get a nice view of their finance when they are starting, and Wave accounting would be the right option for you if this is your position.

Even though Wave accounting for not offering many integrations and add-ons, it is still a good option for startup, small businesses.

Final Tip

Choosing the right accounting software for your real business can be daunting. Still, with this list from our extensive research of the best accounting software for real estate, you can easily make a more rational and informed decision and choice.

It is paramount you know that you should choose through what features and duties you must need and perform respectively in your real estate business. This will cut across these questions; do you need to keep track of mileage? Do you want to keep track of commissions and listing fees? Do you want accounting software with a contract management feature? How much is your budget? Etc.

While every real estate business needs to keep track of the above features, our last tip to you is to make sure that your choice’s accounting software features you most need.

To further make your decision process for you, we have recommended the best plans of these accounting software that will best fit a real estate business and their respective prices just for in this post.

Oh yeah. You can also use their free trial feature to have a taste of them. Isn’t that sweet?