Landlords with several rentals: books, depreciation and taxes done for you

Each month we keep the books property by property, sort repairs from improvements, update every depreciation schedule, and at year end we prepare the return. Bookkeeping starts at $375 a month, quoted as a flat fee in writing before we start. Based in Santa Clarita, we work with landlords with several rentals in any state.

Each rental’s rent and expenses kept on its own Every property on a depreciation schedule Repairs sorted from improvements, invoice by invoice One team for the books, payroll and the return

Free tax review

Find out what we’d handle and what it costs

Thirty minutes by phone; you leave with one written price.

Typical situations

Do you work with landlords who own several rentals?

Yes, we take on landlords with several rentals who hold them in their own name or in one or more LLCs, with or without a property manager. If your rentals are short stays rented by the night, see our page for short-stay hosts who rent by the night; if you’re renting out one former home, see our page for an owner renting out a former home.

Four rentals, one checking account

A landlord with four single-family rentals runs everything — the rent from all four, the four mortgages, the repairs, the insurance — through one checking account; the records are the bank statements and a spreadsheet. With everything in one account, nobody can say which property makes or loses money, and costs land in the wrong property’s figures. Schedule E, the page of the personal return where rentals go, lists each rental by street address in its own column, with its own rent, expenses and depreciation (writing off the building’s cost over years). We keep each property as its own category in the books, so every month has a P&L (profit and loss statement) by property and every Schedule E column ties to the books. Monthly bookkeeping from $375 a month: how the monthly books run.

A property manager on two duplexes

A landlord’s property manager collects the rent on two duplexes, pays the repairs, takes a fee and sends a monthly owner statement; the deposits arrive net of everything, and the year-end packet holds the manager’s Form 1099-MISC, the form reporting rent paid over to an owner. Booked from the bank deposits alone, the rent comes out too low and the fee and the repairs never reach the books. All the rent is reportable, with or without the form. We book each statement in full — the gross rent, the manager’s fee and each repair — and tie the year to the manager’s year-end statement and the 1099-MISC.

A third rental, bought last year

A landlord bought a third rental, a condo, last year; the closing statement sits in a folder, and the return for that year never put the condo on a depreciation schedule. Depreciation that isn’t taken still lowers the property’s basis (what it counts as having cost you) when it’s sold, because the IRS counts what could have been taken. We set up the schedule from the closing statement, split out the land, start it from the month the condo was ready and available for rent, and flag the missed year before the next return is filed.

Rentals in two LLCs

A landlord holds rentals in two LLCs, one owned alone and one with a co-owner; the records are the LLC papers, each LLC’s bank statements and last year’s return. With both LLCs’ rentals on the owner’s own Schedule E, the two-owner LLC’s partnership return and the K-1s were never filed. The one-owner LLC’s rentals belong on the owner’s Schedule E; the two-owner LLC files its own partnership return. We file that return (Form 1065) and the K-1s — each owner’s share of the results — and keep each LLC’s books and filings separate. Business returns from $850 with the owner’s personal return included: how we prepare the returns.

A handyman, a gardener and a cleaner, paid by check

A landlord pays a handyman, a gardener and a cleaner between tenants by check, with no W-9s (the form a contractor fills out with their name and taxpayer ID number) on file; the records are the check register and the contractors’ invoices. Schedule E asks every landlord whether they made payments that required Forms 1099 and whether they filed them. With no W-9s on file there’s no taxpayer ID number to put on a 1099 and no way to tell which contractor is a corporation, so a form that’s due can’t go out by the deadline. We check whether the landlord’s payments are made in the course of a trade or business, collect a signed W-9 before the next payment, track each contractor’s total through the year and file the 1099s where they’re required.

Two years behind

A landlord is two years behind, with the rent in a spreadsheet, the manager’s statements in email and the receipts in a box; neither year’s return has been filed. Until the books are rebuilt, neither return can be prepared from real numbers. We rebuild the books first, property by property and oldest year first, then prepare the returns. Cleanup from $750: how a cleanup project runs.

Repairs and improvements

Is a cost on my rental a repair, or does it have to be depreciated?

A cost on a rental is an improvement, depreciated over 27.5 years instead of deducted the year it’s paid, when it betters, restores or adapts the building to a new use; other work is a repair, deducted that year. The test is applied to the structure and to each building system, such as the plumbing, electrical or HVAC, separately. The de minimis safe harbor, an election to deduct small purchases in the year you buy them, covers items and invoices of up to $2,500 each when the books expense the same items; we check it each year and attach the election statement to the return. The safe harbor for small taxpayers covers a building with an unadjusted basis of $1 million or less when the year’s repairs, maintenance and improvements on it don’t exceed the smaller of $10,000 or a set share of the building’s unadjusted basis; we test it building by building and elect it each year when it fits.

We sort each invoice by property and by the system it touches, check the routine maintenance safe harbor before treating anything as an improvement, and add each improvement to that property’s depreciation schedule when it’s placed in service, so the write-off starts on time.

Rental losses

Can rental losses offset my wages or other income?

Usually only through one allowance: an owner who actively participates can deduct up to $25,000 of rental loss a year against wages or other income, reduced once modified adjusted gross income passes $100,000 and generally gone at $150,000. Rentals are passive, however involved you are, unless you meet the real estate professional test in the FAQ below, so a rental loss generally can’t offset wages or business income outside that allowance; active participation means making the management decisions — approving tenants, setting rents, approving repairs and other spending — and it still counts when a property manager runs the day-to-day. A loss that can’t be used isn’t lost; it’s carried forward to later years until there’s passive income, room under the allowance, or the whole property is sold to an unrelated buyer in a fully taxable sale.

We check active participation and modified adjusted gross income (the income figure from your return that this test is measured against) each year, apply the one allowance across all the rentals, and keep each property’s carried-forward loss on its own schedule.

Catch-up work

What does a catch-up look like when a landlord’s books are behind?

A catch-up rebuilds the missing months and brings every property’s books current so the returns can be prepared from real numbers, from $750.

What we ask for

The property manager’s statements, the mortgage statements and Forms 1098 (the lender’s year-end interest statement), each property’s closing statement, improvement invoices and contractor bills, the prior returns, and the bank and card statements for every account.

How the cleanup runs

Missing months are rebuilt property by property, oldest year first: repairs separated from improvements invoice by invoice, each depreciation schedule rebuilt from the closing statements and prior returns, and any year where depreciation wasn’t taken flagged before the next return is filed.

What you get

Books by property for each missing year, a depreciation schedule for every property and improvement, the unfiled returns with one Schedule E column per rental tied to those books, and quarterly estimates from the real figures.

Cleanup is billed half to start and the balance on delivery — the cleanup project page covers scope, timing and billing.

The monthly close

What do you check every month?

Every month we reconcile each account and check, property by property, the rent against the rent roll and leases, each manager’s owner statement, the mortgage statements, repairs versus improvements, property tax and insurance, contractor payments and W-9s, and the mileage log.

The rent roll and leases matched to the deposits, property by property
Each property manager’s monthly owner statement booked in full — gross rent, fee and repairs
Mortgage statements and Forms 1098 recorded to the right property
Improvement invoices and contractor bills sorted, repair from improvement
Property tax and insurance bills coded to each property
W-9s on file and payments to contractors tracked through the year
The mileage log for trips to the properties kept current
Bank and card statements reconciled for every account rent or expenses run through

Each month you get the P&L by property, the balance sheet and a short note on what needs attention. See what the monthly bookkeeping includes.

California

What’s different for a landlord in California?

In California, six things change for a landlord: depreciation, passive losses, LLCs, owners who live out of state, City of Los Angeles registrations, and a state contractor report.

Depreciation. California starts from the federal rental figures and adjusts where its law differs; it doesn’t follow the federal first-year write-off, which reaches only property with a recovery period of 20 years or less and never the building, so when the federal return takes it we keep a separate California depreciation schedule alongside the federal one.
Passive losses. Every rental is passive in California, even for someone who meets the federal real estate professional test, and the federal election to treat all rentals as one activity doesn’t apply; the same allowance applies, and the California carried-forward loss can differ from the federal one — we carry both.
LLCs. Every LLC organized or doing business in California, a one-owner LLC included, files Form 568, California’s LLC return, and pays the $800 annual tax every year until it’s canceled; we track each LLC’s Form 568 and payments.
Owners who live outside California. California taxes the rent from a California property, and a later sale of it, even when the owner lives in another state; an owner over the filing thresholds files Form 540NR, California’s nonresident return, and we prepare the 540NR for the California rentals.
The City of Los Angeles, inside the City limits only. Every residential rental unit is registered each year with the Los Angeles Housing Department before rent can legally be collected; an owner renting four or more residential units in the City needs a business tax registration certificate from the Office of Finance (one certificate can cover several City properties), while an owner renting three or fewer needs none. We flag both on the first call and don’t file them.
Contractors. California has its own report, the DE 542, due to the EDD, California’s Employment Development Department, within 20 days of the first payment or the contract, whichever comes first, for the contractors it covers; we check whether each contractor you pay is one of them.

Pricing

How much does tax help for a landlord cost in 2026?

In 2026, bookkeeping for a landlord starts at $375 a month, payroll at $95 a month for an employee such as a resident manager, the return alone at $650 for one rental on Schedule E or $850 for a partnership return (a rental LLC with two or more owners) with the owner’s personal return included, and a cleanup at $750. A return with several rentals is quoted above the $650 starting figure. W-2 and 1099 filing on their own, without monthly books, starts at $95. Each is a flat fee quoted in writing before we start.

Building or rebuilding each property’s depreciation schedule, the repair safe-harbor elections, the hours log and statement for the QBI safe harbor — the qualified business income deduction, a deduction for part of a business’s profit — and figuring a sale before the closing sit inside the quote. What moves a quote: how many properties and units, and in which states; owned in your name or through LLCs, and how many with one owner or two or more; whether a property manager collects the rent and sends statements; whether each property has its own account or the money is mixed; what the books are kept in now (QuickBooks, a spreadsheet, a property-management system, nothing); purchases, sales, refinances and improvements this year; contractors paid and whether W-9s are on file; whether every property has a depreciation schedule; how many years are behind. The quote is the price.

Books

from $375/mo

Books kept property by property, reconciled monthly
Manager statements booked in full, tied to the year-end 1099-MISC
Depreciation schedules kept current for every property
Monthly P&L by property and a short note

Payroll

from $95/mo

For an employee such as a resident manager or a maintenance worker on payroll
Pay runs, direct deposit and pay stubs
The 941 and 940 federal payroll returns and California’s DE 9 and DE 9C for a California employee
The year-end W-2

How payroll runs

The return alone

from $650

From $650 for one rental on Schedule E; several rentals quoted above it
From $850 for a partnership return (a rental LLC with two or more owners) with the owner’s personal return included
Every Schedule E column tied to the books
Passive-loss carryforwards tracked by property

See how we prepare returns

Book my free 30-minute call

How it works

What happens after you book?

After you book there are five steps: the free 30-minute call, the engagement letter, the portal invite with a short checklist, any cleanup and then the first monthly close, and the return, which you see before it’s filed.

The 30-minute call

We ask about your properties, how they’re held, who collects the rent, what the books are kept in, this year’s improvements, the contractors you pay, and how far behind the books are. It ends with one flat price for the work we’d take on, quoted in writing before we start.

The engagement letter

Sent during the call and signed when you’re ready — it doesn’t expire. Signing books a short onboarding call, and the secure-portal invite comes from that call.

Access and documents

The portal invite, read-only bank feeds or the QuickBooks file, your prior returns with every Schedule E and the depreciation schedules, the closing statement for each purchase and refinance, and the property manager’s statements — with a short checklist so nothing is missed.

Behind first, then monthly

If the books are behind, the cleanup comes first, then the first monthly close.

You see the return before it’s filed

Half the return fee starts the work and the balance is due before e-file.

Communication

How you reach us

The person who answers the phone is on the same team that keeps your books and prepares your return.

The same-day rule

Call or email during business hours and you’ll hear back the same day — all twelve months.

The monthly report, walked through

Each month’s report comes with a short note, and we walk through it by phone or screen share when you want the detail.

Admitted to practice before the IRS

Our team of IRS representation specialists is admitted to practice before the IRS. If an IRS letter shows up, forward it: how we handle IRS letters.

The N&T Tax & Advisory Group team

For a landlord, we keep the books for each rental on its own, keep every depreciation schedule current, and prepare the return from the same numbers.

Bookkeeping · Tax preparation · Tax planning · IRS representation · Direct line: (661) 554-4495

Reviews

Rated 5.0 on Google

★★★★★ Twelve reviews, every one five stars, every one verifiable. Read all of them on Google →

"Alex helped me resolve a complicated tax situation that had been causing me a lot of stress. He was extremely knowledgeable, responsive, and efficient throughout the entire process."

Kevin B. — via Google

"Working with Alex was straightforward. I hadn't looked at my books all year, but he made my life easy and handled the whole profit and loss at the end of the year so I could get my taxes done."

Levon B. — via Google

"I came to this company with previous tax years and bookkeeping that were done incorrectly. They're very knowledgeable about what they do and help me get everything in order at a very reasonable price."

Sayra A. — via Google

Where we work

Do you work with landlords outside California?

Yes — based in Santa Clarita, we work with landlords remotely, in any state. The manager’s statements, mortgage statements and invoices come in through the secure portal, and the monthly P&L by property is gone over on a call. If your rentals are in another state, we prepare that state’s return too and price it into your quote.

Anywhere in the US Santa Clarita Los Angeles San Fernando Valley

What we don’t do

We handle the books, the returns, the payroll and the 1099s. Rent setting, property management and tenant screening, leases, evictions, rent control and other landlord-tenant law (security-deposit rules included), insurance, property-tax assessments, lender questions, whether to buy, sell, refinance or hold a property, whether to form an LLC or how many — an attorney’s question; we cover only how each LLC is taxed — cost segregation studies, and filing City of Los Angeles registrations are outside our work; we also don’t give legal advice or prepare reviewed, compiled or audited statements.

Worth reading

What can you read before you call?

Short articles from our blog — each written for a different reader, each useful to a landlord.

Written for self-employed owners: how long to keep receipts and property records

What Receipts to Keep for Taxes in 2026: The Self-Employed Owner’s Keep-or-Toss Guide

If your rentals are in an LLC with a partner: what your K-1 means

What Is a K-1? Your Share of the Partnership’s Income — and the Tax Bill That Comes With It

Written for contractors who pay subs: the W-9 and 1099 steps for anyone you pay

When to Give a 1099 to a Contractor: 2026 Rules for Every Sub and Supplier on Your Job

Written for anyone with unfiled returns: what each missing year costs and how to get current

Not Filed Taxes in 3 to 5 Years? What Each Missing Year Costs and How to Get Current

FAQ

What should a landlord ask before booking?

Do my rentals qualify for the qualified business income deduction?

They can, when the rentals amount to a trade or business. One safe harbor, from Rev. Proc. 2019-38, treats a rental real estate enterprise (the rentals treated as one business) as a trade or business for the year when four things are true: it’s chosen for the year; separate books and records are kept; 250 hours or more of rental services are performed (by you, employees or contractors such as a property manager; financing, buying property and travel to the property don’t count) and logged as they happen; and a statement goes with the timely filed return. A property you live in and triple-net leases (leases where the tenant pays the property’s running costs) are excluded, and missing the safe harbor doesn’t rule the deduction out. We keep the hours log during the year, from your calendar and the manager’s records.

Do I have to send 1099s to the handyman, gardener and other contractors who work on my rentals?

It depends on whether you pay them in the course of a trade or business, which the IRS says you’re in if you operate for gain or profit; whether that fits your rentals is a facts question we answer with you. Where it applies, a contractor who isn’t your employee and generally isn’t a corporation, paid $2,000 or more for services during 2026, gets a 1099-NEC, the form reporting what you paid a contractor, by February 1, 2027 (January 31 is a Sunday); card and payment-app payments are reported by the card company or app instead. We get the W-9 on file before anyone is paid, keep a running total per contractor, and send the 1099-NECs by the deadline. We never decide who is an employee: we run payroll for anyone you put on it, and we tell you when a case needs an employment attorney.

Do I count as a real estate professional for my rentals?

You count only if you meet two tests in the same year: more than half of the personal services you perform in all your trades or businesses are in real property businesses you materially participate in (renting and managing rentals count), and those hours come to more than 750. On a joint return one spouse has to meet both tests alone, and each rental is then tested separately for material participation unless you elect to treat all of them as one activity. California doesn’t follow this test: every rental is passive there, even for someone who meets it. We count the hours from your own calendar and records during the year.

What should I figure out before I sell one of my rentals?

Before the closing, figure the property’s adjusted basis: what you paid, plus improvements, minus the depreciation allowed or allowable (what you took, or could have taken); the gain is figured from it. The part of the gain on the building that comes from depreciation is its own category, which the IRS calls unrecaptured section 1250 gain, and losses carried forward on that property are released in a fully taxable sale of the whole property to an unrelated buyer. We figure the adjusted basis, the depreciation part and the losses released before the closing.

My rental books are a year or more behind. Can you catch them up?

Yes. A cleanup project starts at $750, and the returns follow from the rebuilt books. You hand over the bank and card statements, the manager’s reports, the mortgage and closing papers, and whatever receipts you have. What comes back is current books by property and the unfiled returns built from them.

Should I put my rentals in an LLC, or one LLC for each property?

Whether to form an LLC, how many, or one per property is a legal question for an attorney, so we don’t advise on it. On the tax side, a one-owner LLC is disregarded for federal income tax (the IRS treats it as you), so its rentals go on your own Schedule E, while an LLC with two or more owners is a partnership that files Form 1065, the partnership return, and gives each owner a K-1, their share of the results. In California, any LLC organized or doing business there, one owner or several, pays the $800 annual tax and files Form 568, California’s LLC return, each year until it’s canceled, and owes a fee once its total California income (its gross rents, not its profit) passes $250,000. Before you form anything, we lay out the federal and California returns and the yearly California tax and fee each LLC would add; our entity-selection page covers the tax side of the decision.

Ready to book the free 30-minute call?

One free 30-minute call. You’ll leave knowing what we’d handle and what it costs.