Accounting

Any accounting system should first be appropriate for the accuracy of illustrating the activity required in the easiest method that can provide the necessary information in accordance with good practices.

Accounting under generally accepted accounting principles is not a requirement for any small company or individual, but doing so is usually the most appropriate, it will save you from converting or modifying categories for taxes and save your accountant many hours.

Any program will follow GAAP I'm sure. But then comes the simplicity of entry and consolidating statements, all are not equal in that respect. If you have some accounting knowledge some simple programs like Quicken can be used. There are also RE programs for non-accountants. I suggest you look to any program with an accounting type and see what fits your needs, what works well for one may not be appropriate for you, so having someone who can see where your skill level is might help.

I used MAS 90, simple for an accountant, it can go from basic to very technical costing applications, cash flow analysis and other accounting issues that the average investor would never need, it's also pretty pricy. Just saying, the complexity of your system should be appropriate for your operation, so don't get more than you'll need.

Lastly, I think you have a mess. A simple accounting system will have property accounts, income and expenses and a general ledger for espenses that are not attributed to a particular property, as well as other income like interest income and accounts for your escrows.
If you are puttingb deposits in with rents in one checking account, you may have problems if you have some tenant crying about misapplication of thier money, even as an individual, state law governs escrow accounts.

As to title, have no idea how that was broken down as you could have all the family or certain members in title.

With 10 properties I'd say you're missing tax advanatges of have these properties in an LLC or business entity and then breaking out interests of the properties to each family member. There is nothing that you could possibly do among family members that can not be properly accounted for in manner consistant with GAAP.

I just don't see your system being the easiest, most appropriate or accurate but I do understand that it is easily understood by all concerned. Your methods may not be compliant with your legal obligations. I really suggest you get with an accountant, get rid of all the checking accounts and have one operating account and one escrow account, then have a captial account for each family member on the books, if anyone needs money to them, write a check to them. :)

Source: http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/84495-accounting

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