Real estate accounting software.
Not everything else.
QuickBooks is general-purpose accounting software. RealBooks is purpose-built for property investors — with property-level reporting, cost segregation tools, and tax-ready forms QuickBooks doesn't offer.
No credit card required.
See how RealBooks compares
Both handle the basics. Only RealBooks is built around your properties.
QuickBooks figures reflect Intuit's published usage limits and US list pricing as of August 1, 2026.
What per-property books actually cost
Splitting income and expenses by property in QuickBooks Online means class tracking, and class tracking starts at Plus — $140/mo, capped at 40 combined classes and locations. It isn't available on Simple Start or Essentials. Removing the cap means Advanced at $340/mo.
- Penny AI — 25 scans/mo
- Bank sync, expense and project management
- Watermarked Schedule E preview
- Unlimited Penny AI, plus Dollar Bill and Uncle Sam
- Schedule E, Form 4562 and full CPA reports
- CPA collaborator seat and ad hoc reporting
- Full Penny, Dollar Bill and Uncle Sam AI
- Full tax package — Schedule C, D, 8949, 8582, 8825
- Multi-entity consolidation and custom attributes
Add capacity to Landlord without a full tier jump: $15/mo per extra entity (up to +2) and $4/mo per extra unit (up to +5). A Cost Segregation Report is a one-time add-on — $495 per property on Bird Dog, $395 on Landlord and Rehabber. Bird Dog users can unlock a CPA-ready Schedule E for a single tax year with a $249 Tax Season Pass.
See the full plan comparison
No credit card required.
Property and unit-level reporting
QuickBooks tracks your business as a whole. RealBooks tracks each property and unit, so you can see exactly which assets in your portfolio are performing — and which aren't.
View P&L by property or unit, then roll everything up into a single portfolio-wide report. No custom classes or workarounds required.
Cost segregation, built in
Cost segregation studies can accelerate depreciation and free up cash — but QuickBooks has no way to flag or track segregated assets.
RealBooks lets you tag components by asset class and recovery period, so your depreciation schedule reflects the study — not a generic fixed-asset list.
Explore cost segregationA generated Schedule E
Come tax season, QuickBooks users export general ledgers and reclassify everything by hand. RealBooks generates a Schedule E, per property, ready to hand to your accountant.
Built on an investor-focused, editable chart of accounts — so every transaction already maps to the right line.
Explore tax reportingReporting that ends in a tax form
QuickBooks Online doesn't produce Schedule E. The standard process is to run a P&L by class at year end and have your CPA map those figures onto the form — billable time, spent months after the transactions, when nobody remembers what a $4,200 payment in March was for.
RealBooks generates a complete Schedule E and Form 4562 from Landlord up. Bird Dog includes a watermarked preview, and a $249 Tax Season Pass unlocks a CPA-ready copy for a single tax year. Rehabber adds the full multi-form package — Schedule C, Schedule D, Form 8949, Form 8582, and Form 8825.
Your CPA gets a free collaborator seat starting at Landlord. RealBooks isn't replacing them — it's cutting down what they have to bill you for.
Explore tax reportingOne login for every LLC
The common QuickBooks workaround for multiple entities is a separate company file per LLC — separate subscriptions, separate logins, and manual consolidation when you want to see the whole portfolio.
RealBooks gives each entity its own ledger, and Rehabber consolidates all of them into a single portfolio view. Bird Dog covers 1 entity, Landlord 2, Rehabber 5 — and Landlord takes up to 2 additional entities at $15/mo each.
Switch without the setup headache
Setting up QuickBooks for rental accounting often means hours of customizing classes, locations, and a chart of accounts that wasn't built for real estate.
RealBooks comes pre-configured for rentals — no class or location setup required. Bank sync pulls your history in and Penny classifies it, so you can watch a close happen on your own numbers before you commit.
The three questions investors ask before switching
Most CPAs prefer clean books. On Landlord and up, yours gets a collaborator seat, a generated Schedule E, and P&L by asset — fewer hours reconstructing your year.
Bank sync pulls history in and Penny classifies it. 14 days of full Rehabber access, no card, so you can watch a close happen on your own numbers first.
Then Bird Dog is free — 3 units and 1 entity, no time limit. The setup work you'd do in QuickBooks doesn't get cheaper by waiting.
Frequently asked questions
Is QuickBooks good for real estate investors?
It works if you build it out. Class tracking on Plus or above gives per-property P&L, and you'll need a chart of accounts that mirrors Schedule E categories. It handles the accounting correctly — it just doesn't know what a property is, so the structure is yours to create and maintain.
Does QuickBooks generate a Schedule E?
No. You run a P&L by class and your CPA maps it to the form.
How many properties can QuickBooks track?
Plus allows 40 combined classes and locations. Class tracking isn't available on Simple Start or Essentials. Advanced removes the cap at $340/mo.
Can QuickBooks show a balance sheet per property?
Not natively. You can add class columns, but they don't balance per class, so property-level basis and loan tracking stay incomplete.
Does RealBooks replace my CPA?
No. It automates the bookkeeping and form generation that fills their billable hours, and gives them a collaborator seat (Landlord and up) in your account.
Is my bank data safe?
Bank connections run through a secure, read-only third-party provider — RealBooks never sees or stores your bank login credentials. Data is encrypted both in transit and at rest.
Ready to leave general accounting software behind?
Start free on the Bird Dog plan — no credit card, no commitment. Paid plans start at $49/month as your portfolio grows.
Replacing more than QuickBooks? See the full stack RealBooks replaces →