10 Best Accounting Software for Real Estate Flippers in 2026, Compared
Compare the 10 best accounting software for real estate flippers on price, free plans and per-flip cost tracking, with prices checked November 7, 2026.
Shamim Mia, Founder, SerpAstraLast verified November 7, 202614 min readWe compare pricing pages, documentation and public reviews. We never accept payment for rankings.
Key takeaways
- REI Hub is the best fit for most flippers — true double-entry books with rehab costs tracked per flip, from $15/month; Stessa follows free for unlimited properties, and Baselane at $20/month for banking plus bookkeeping.
- Six of the ten tools have genuinely free plans — REI Hub, Stessa, Baselane, Landlord Studio, Zoho Books and Wave — but only Stessa, Baselane and Wave have no unit limit on the free tier.
- The single most important buying factor is whether the tool tracks costs per flip: a generic ledger shows the business total, not the profit on the house you just sold.
- Buildium at $62/month is the only pick here that also runs leasing, maintenance and rent collection, so it only pays when you hold rentals between flips.
On this page
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| REI Hub | Flippers who want true double-entry books organized by property, with rehab costs tracked per flip | $15/mo | Yes (free) |
| Stessa | Flippers who want serious property accounting free, and project-level rehab tracking when they upgrade | $15/mo | Yes (free) |
| Baselane | Flippers who want banking and bookkeeping in one place, with rent that reconciles itself | $20/mo | Yes (free) |
| QuickBooks Online | Flippers whose portfolio outgrew the investor-first tools and need a ledger their CPA already knows | $38/mo | Yes (Free plan) |
| Xero | Flippers who want unlimited users on every plan and clean bank reconciliation without per-seat fees | $27/mo | No (30-day trial) |
| Landlord Studio | Flippers who hold rentals between flips and want serious books from their phone | $15/mo | Yes (free) |
| FreshBooks | Flippers and contractors who bill clients for time and projects and want invoicing to lead | $23/mo | No (30-day trial) |
| Zoho Books | Flippers who want a genuinely free ledger now and the cheapest paid upgrade when revenue grows | $15/mo (annual) | Yes (free plan) |
| Wave | Flippers who want real double-entry accounting free, with no invoice or revenue caps | Free; Pro $19/mo | Yes (free) |
| Buildium | Flippers who self-manage rentals between flips and need operations plus accounting in one system | $62/mo | No (14-day trial) |
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Request a listingThe best accounting software for real estate flippers
REI Hub
Best for: Flippers who want true double-entry books organized by property, with rehab costs tracked per flip
REI Hub is the only tool here built around the flip itself: each property gets a fix-and-flip profile, rehab costs land on that project, and the books are proper double-entry. The free tier covers up to 3 units with automatic transaction import and booking rules, and Professional starts at $15 a month for the same 3 units, rising with the portfolio — $25 a month at 10 units and $80 at unlimited units.
Loan and fixed-asset tracking, depreciation schedules and Schedule E reports come with the paid plans, plus Airbnb and VRBO payout imports for short-term rentals. The trade-off is scope — there is no banking, rent collection or tenant management here, just the books — and the company is smaller than Stessa or Baselane. Pick REI Hub when the per-flip profit number matters more than dashboards.
What we like
- Real double-entry bookkeeping organized by property, which accountants accept as-is
- Fix-and-flip property profiles track rehab costs per project, not just per month
- Schedule E reports, loan tracking and depreciation schedules included
- Free tier covers up to 3 units with automatic transaction import and booking rules
Watch out for
- No banking, rent collection or tenant management — it keeps the books and nothing else
- Paid price rises with unit count, reaching $80/month for unlimited units
- Smaller company than Stessa or Baselane, so the ecosystem is thinner
Stessa
Best for: Flippers who want serious property accounting free, and project-level rehab tracking when they upgrade
Stessa is the only tool here that is free for an unlimited number of properties: connect your bank accounts and it imports and categorizes transactions by property, tracks income, expenses and cash flow across the portfolio, and produces reports at year-end. The Essentials plan costs $0 and includes rent collection, tenant screening, vacancy marketing and maintenance tracking, so a flipper who holds a few rentals can run on it indefinitely.
The paid plans add what the free tier holds back: Manage at $15 a month adds the Schedule E report, 60-plus legal forms, eSignatures and priority support, while Pro at $35 a month adds project expense tracking, advanced reporting, budgeting and unlimited portfolios. That project tracking is the flipper's feature — it is what separates rehab spend from rental costs. Start free; pay when the free reports stop answering questions.
What we like
- Free plan covers unlimited properties with automatic bank feeds and categorization
- Tax-ready Schedule E reports on the Manage plan, plus 60-plus legal forms
- Pro adds project expense tracking, so rehab costs stay separate from rental costs
- Portfolio dashboards show income, expenses and cash flow across all properties
Watch out for
- Single-entry accounting, not double-entry: accountants may want more
- Schedule E report needs Manage at $15/month — the free tier has only basic reports
- Project expense tracking waits for Pro at $28/month billed annually
Baselane
Best for: Flippers who want banking and bookkeeping in one place, with rent that reconciles itself
Baselane starts at the bank account instead of the ledger: free landlord banking with separate virtual accounts per property, then bookkeeping, rent collection and reporting layered on top. A flipper can open one account per project, so rehab money never mixes with rental money, and rent paid through Baselane reconciles itself. The Core plan at $0 includes property-level income and expense tracking, an accountant tax package and Schedule E reports.
Smart at $20 a month adds the hands-off features: AI auto-tagging, auto-receipt matching, balance sheet reports, cost segregation, 2-day rent deposits and shared access. The catch is that the full benefit needs your money inside Baselane's accounts, and the accounting depth trails REI Hub's double-entry books. Choose Baselane when juggling bank accounts and spreadsheets is the pain, not the bookkeeping itself.
What we like
- Free landlord banking with virtual accounts per property, plus integrated bookkeeping
- Rent collection with automatic reconciliation and a tenant portal
- Accountant tax package and Schedule E reports included on the free Core plan
- Separate accounts per flip keep rehab money apart from rental money
Watch out for
- The full benefit needs your money inside Baselane's accounts, provided by Thread Bank
- Accounting depth trails REI Hub's double-entry books
- Smart plan features at $20/month add up across a large portfolio
QuickBooks Online
Best for: Flippers whose portfolio outgrew the investor-first tools and need a ledger their CPA already knows
QuickBooks Online is the default small-business ledger, and it works for flippers with caveats. The accounting is proper double-entry, your CPA already uses it, and it scales to payroll and full operations — but properties are not first-class citizens. You track each flip with classes or locations, which needs Plus at $140 a month, and Schedule E reporting needs configuration or add-ons, so setup takes real work.
Simple Start costs $38 a month for one user; Essentials is $85 for three users, Plus is $140 and adds the classes and locations that make per-flip tracking practical, and Advanced is $340. Prices rose again for renewals from August 1, 2026, and payroll is a paid add-on. Choose QuickBooks Online when flipping becomes a business with multiple entities or employees — not for a handful of deals a year.
What we like
- Full double-entry accounting with invoicing, bills, bank feeds and reporting on every paid plan
- The software most US accountants already use, so finding help and switching accountants is easy
- Intuit Intelligence AI features are included on Simple Start, not held for the top tier
- Classes and locations on Plus track each flip as its own profit center
Watch out for
- No native property-level accounting: you need classes, locations or third-party apps
- Schedule E reporting and property-level tracking need Plus at $140/month
- Price rises most years — Essentials, Plus and Advanced all went up again for renewals from August 1, 2026
Xero
Best for: Flippers who want unlimited users on every plan and clean bank reconciliation without per-seat fees
Xero's pitch is simple: one flat price per plan and as many users as you like, so the bookkeeper and CPA can both log in without per-seat fees. Early costs $27 a month and covers quotes, 20 invoices and 5 bills a month, with bank reconciliation and receipt capture included. Growing costs $59 a month and removes the invoice and bill caps; Established costs $97 and adds multi-currency, projects and expense claims.
The limits to watch are the ones on Early: a flipper paying dozens of supplier invoices a month outgrows 5 bills quickly, so the real starting price is often Growing at $59. There is no annual billing option, and US payroll runs through Gusto at $36 a month plus $6 per person. Choose Xero when several people touch the books and you refuse to pay per seat.
What we like
- Unlimited users on every plan, including Early at $27/month — no per-seat fees at any tier
- Bank reconciliation and Hubdoc receipt capture included from the entry plan
- More than 1,000 app integrations, the widest marketplace in this list
- Single flat price per plan with no annual-billing maze — the monthly price is the price
Watch out for
- Early caps at 20 invoices and 5 bills a month — most active flippers need Growing at $59/month
- Multi-currency, projects and expense claims wait for Established at $97/month
- No native US payroll; payroll comes through Gusto at $36/month plus $6 per person paid
Landlord Studio
Best for: Flippers who hold rentals between flips and want serious books from their phone
Landlord Studio is the accounting-first minimalist: income and expenses tracked per property, Schedule E reports, receipt scanning from your phone and GPS mileage tracking, all in a mobile app built for people who do their own admin. The GO plan is free for up to 3 units with manual income and expense tracking, rent collection and maintenance tracking included — enough to log every rehab receipt from the job site.
PRO starts at $15 a month for 3 units, or $12 billed annually, and adds automated bank feeds, advanced reporting, lease tracking and AI bookkeeping; each extra unit costs $1 a month. The free tier's three-unit cap means an active flipper outgrows it quickly, and there is no banking or project-level rehab tracking. Pick Landlord Studio when you want serious books from your phone and nothing you will not use.
What we like
- Free GO plan covers property-level income and expense tracking with Schedule E reports
- Clean mobile app for logging expenses, scanning receipts and tracking mileage on site
- PRO adds automated bank feeds, advanced reporting and AI bookkeeping from $12/month
- Rent collection, tenant screening and listings included in one app
Watch out for
- Free GO plan stops at 3 units and has no bank feeds — they need PRO at $15/month
- Per-unit pricing adds $1 a month for every unit past the first 3
- No banking built in, and maintenance features are lighter than Buildium
FreshBooks
Best for: Flippers and contractors who bill clients for time and projects and want invoicing to lead
FreshBooks is built for service businesses that bill for time: invoicing, estimates, expenses and time tracking sit at the front, and the accounting sits behind them. Lite costs $23 a month and covers 5 billable clients; Plus costs $43 for 50 clients and adds double-entry reports, bank reconciliation and free accountant access; Premium costs $70 and removes the client cap entirely.
For a flipper who also does contract work, the project tracking on Plus is the useful part: each flip's billable costs sit in one project. The client cap is the thing that decides your bill — a sixth client moves you from Lite to Plus, and every extra team member costs $11 a month. Pick FreshBooks when invoicing and time billing are the job; pick REI Hub when per-flip profit is the job.
What we like
- The easiest invoicing in this list: clean invoices, estimates, recurring billing and payment reminders
- Time tracking and expense tracking built in, so billable hours flow straight onto invoices
- Plus adds double-entry reports, bank reconciliation and free accountant access for $43/month
- Project tracking on Plus keeps each flip's billable costs in one place
Watch out for
- Lite covers only 5 billable clients — a sixth client forces Plus at $43/month
- Every extra team member costs $11/month on top of the plan price
- No inventory tracking, and bank reconciliation and double-entry reports start on Plus, not Lite
Zoho Books
Best for: Flippers who want a genuinely free ledger now and the cheapest paid upgrade when revenue grows
Zoho Books is the value pick in this list because the free plan is a real ledger, not a demo: full double-entry accounting, invoicing and bank reconciliation at $0 while annual revenue stays under $50,000. Standard costs $20 a month for 3 users and 5,000 invoices a year, and Professional costs $50 and adds multi-currency, inventory and project billing.
The catches are the ceilings. The free plan stops at 1,000 invoices a year, extra users cost $3 a month each, and there is no payroll module on any Zoho Books plan — payroll is a separate Zoho product. There is also no per-property tracking, so a flipper must use projects or custom fields to keep one flip's costs apart from the next. Choose Zoho Books when the budget matters most and the free plan covers your first year.
What we like
- A real free plan: full double-entry accounting, invoicing and bank reconciliation at $0 while revenue stays under $50,000 a year
- Cheapest paid step up here — Standard is $20/month for 3 users and 5,000 invoices a year
- Deep Zoho ecosystem: CRM, Inventory, Expense and Payroll connect without third-party tools
- Client portal and payment reminders included, so clients can pay from the invoice itself
Watch out for
- Free plan stops at 1,000 invoices a year and only while annual revenue stays under $50,000
- Multi-currency and inventory wait for Professional at $50/month, and there is no payroll module on any plan
- No per-property or project cost tracking — flips need projects or custom fields to separate costs
Wave
Best for: Flippers who want real double-entry accounting free, with no invoice or revenue caps
Wave is the only tool here whose free plan has no revenue cap and no invoice cap: Starter costs $0 and includes unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records, with real double-entry accounting underneath. Pro costs $19 a month, or $190 a year, and adds automatic bank imports, receipt scanning, multi-user access and payment reminders.
The free plan's weakness is manual work. Starter has no automatic bank feed, so every transaction is typed in or uploaded by hand, and that gets old fast past fifty transactions a month. There is no project or per-property cost tracking at any price, so a flipper must track each deal in a spreadsheet alongside Wave. Start on Wave when the budget is $0; upgrade to Pro the month manual entry starts costing you evenings.
What we like
- The only genuinely free full ledger here: unlimited invoices, bills and bookkeeping records at $0 with no revenue cap
- Pro is a single $19/month upgrade that adds automatic bank imports, receipt scanning and unlimited users
- Payments and payroll are pay-as-you-go add-ons, so a flipper who only invoices pays nothing at all
- Simple enough for an owner with no accounting background to run the books alone
Watch out for
- Automatic bank imports, receipt scanning and extra users all need Pro at $19/month — Starter means manual entry
- No inventory tracking and no project or per-property cost tracking at any price
- US and Canada only, and support on the free plan is limited to help articles and community answers
Buildium
Best for: Flippers who self-manage rentals between flips and need operations plus accounting in one system
Buildium is property management software with accounting inside, not the reverse. Advertise vacancies, screen tenants, sign leases, collect rent, dispatch maintenance and pay owners, all while the accounting stays correct — including trust accounting for security deposits. Essential starts at $62 a month for up to 20 units, Growth at $192 and Premium at $400, with a 14-day free trial on every plan.
For the flipper who holds rentals between deals and self-manages them, that combination replaces two or three subscriptions, and it scales to hundreds of units with owner reporting built in. For the flipper who sells every property and holds nothing, it is the wrong tool: you would pay for operations you do not run, and the accounting serves property management rather than flip profit analysis. Match the software to your role, not just your deal count.
What we like
- Property management and accounting in one system: leasing, maintenance, rent collection and owner reporting
- Trust accounting for security deposits included on the entry plan
- Scales to hundreds of units with an owner portal and batched reporting
- Buildium's AI Assistant is included from the Essential plan
Watch out for
- $62 a month minimum is overkill for a flipper who sells every property and holds nothing
- The accounting serves property management, not flip profit analysis
- Onboarding takes real effort, and payment and screening fees sit on top of the subscription
Flipping houses is a project business, not a rent business: the best accounting software for real estate flippers tracks rehab costs per house, separates capital improvements from repairs, and tells you the profit on each flip — not just the monthly cash flow. We ranked the ten tools below by fit for the most common buyer — a US flipper doing a few deals a year who needs the books right at sale time — starting with the flip-first tools and ending with the full management platforms, and every price was checked on the vendor's own pricing page on November 7, 2026.
How to choose the best accounting software for real estate flippers
- Count your flips, not your units. Free tiers stop at 3 units on REI Hub and Landlord Studio. A flipper doing 4 deals a year is already past the free tier, so price the paid plan from day one.
- Check whether costs track per flip. REI Hub tracks rehab costs per project and Stessa Pro adds project expense tracking. A generic ledger shows the business total, not the profit on the house you just sold.
- Decide single-entry or double-entry. REI Hub, QuickBooks Online, Xero, Zoho Books and Wave keep proper double-entry ledgers your CPA will accept; Stessa and Baselane use single-entry tracking that is fine for reporting but may need converting at tax time.
- Look for the sale-time reports. A flipper needs a per-deal profit report and clean records for ordinary income or capital gains treatment, not a Schedule E rent roll. Ask your accountant which report they want before you buy.
- Check contractor payments. QuickBooks Online and Xero handle 1099s for contractors; the investor-first tools record contractor costs per property but do not file 1099s. Budget for the tool that does the filing if you pay crews directly.
Accounting is one system in your stack, not the whole stack. If the flips also need to be found online, our local SEO service covers the visibility side. And before you publish new pages for the properties you sell, run your titles through the free SERP snippet preview tool — it shows exactly how the title and description will look in Google.
Whatever you shortlist, try it with real data before you pay. The free plans and trials in this list are long enough to run one genuine flip — your purchase, your rehab invoices, your sale — and that month tells you more than any review can. Check two things in the trial: that rehab costs land on the right property without daily fixing, and that your accountant can get in for free. Most tools here give your accountant access at no extra charge on the paid plans, so there is no reason to buy before they have looked at it.
Accounting software for real estate flippers pricing: what you will actually pay
Take a flipper who buys, renovates and sells 4 houses a year. On annual billing, the subscription costs $108 a year on REI Hub Professional, $144 on Stessa Manage or Landlord Studio PRO, $180 on Zoho Books Standard, $190 on Wave Pro, $240 on Baselane Smart, $276 on FreshBooks Lite, $324 on Xero Early, $456 on QuickBooks Online Simple Start and $744 on Buildium Essential. The same 4 flips cost $108 a year at the cheap end and $744 at the dear end — a $636 gap that comes from how much of the job the software does, not from the accounting itself.
Two of those numbers need adjusting before they are real. First, the flip-specific features cost more than the entry price: Stessa's project expense tracking needs Pro at $336 a year, not Manage at $144, and QuickBooks Online's per-flip tracking needs Plus at $140 a month, or $1,680 a year — Simple Start at $456 a year will not show the profit on one flip. Second, the free tiers do not cover 4 flips a year: REI Hub and Landlord Studio both stop free at 3 units, so the paid plans above are the real starting price for this flipper — only Stessa, Baselane and Wave stay free at any deal count.
Three costs sit outside every number above. First, the introductory discounts — 50% off for three months on QuickBooks Online, 80% off for three months on Xero — end, so budget on the list price. Second, transaction fees: rent collection, tenant screening and card processing are charged per payment on most tools here, and a flipper who holds rentals between deals pays those fees every month. Third, the tax help at sale time: none of these tools replaces an accountant for deciding whether a flip counts as ordinary income or a capital gain, so budget for that advice separately. If most of your deals are rentals you hold, compare the investor-first tools in our guide to the best accounting software for real estate investors.
Know the difference: flip accounting vs rental accounting
The confusion in this category is between a tool that tracks monthly rent and a tool that tracks one project from purchase to sale. Rental accounting tracks income and expenses per property, reconciles the bank and produces Schedule E reports; flip accounting tracks the total cost of one deal — purchase price, rehab, holding costs and sale proceeds — to work out the profit on that house. All ten tools in this list keep books, but only REI Hub and Stessa Pro organize costs by flip.
There is a second, quieter confusion: repairs versus capital improvements. A repair keeps the house working and is usually expensed in the year you pay for it; a capital improvement adds value and is usually added to the property's cost basis, which changes the profit — and the tax — at sale. The tools here record the expense either way; none of them decides the classification for you, so agree the split with your accountant before the first receipt lands.
A third distinction worth knowing is a flip versus a held rental. A house you buy, renovate and sell within a year is usually taxed as ordinary income, while a rental you hold produces Schedule E income and depreciation. That is why the per-flip profit report matters more than any monthly dashboard: it is the number the tax return is built from, and a tool that only shows monthly cash flow will not produce it.
Quick comparison: tool type by need
| Buyer | Best pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Flipper doing 1–3 deals a year, wants $0 | REI Hub | Free for 3 units, double-entry books with rehab tracking, Pro is $15/month |
| Flipper who wants project-level rehab tracking | Stessa | Free Essentials plan, project tracking on Pro at $28/month billed annually |
| Flipper who holds rentals between flips | Baselane | Free banking plus bookkeeping, Smart is $20/month |
| Flipper who works from the job site | Landlord Studio | Free GO for 3 units, PRO is $15/month with bank feeds |
| Flipper whose flipping became a business | QuickBooks Online | Full double-entry ledger your CPA knows, from $38/month |
| Team that hates per-seat pricing | Xero | Unlimited users on every plan, Early is $27/month |
| Flipper who self-manages rentals | Buildium | Management plus accounting in one system, from $62/month |
Mistakes to avoid
- Budgeting on the free tier past 3 units. REI Hub and Landlord Studio stop free at 3 units. A flipper doing 4 deals a year is already on a paid plan, so price that plan from day one.
- Buying a rental tool for flip profit. Stessa Essentials is free and excellent for rentals, but project expense tracking needs Pro at $28 a month. Without it, rehab spend mixes with rental costs and the per-flip profit disappears.
- Buying a generic ledger for per-flip profit. QuickBooks Online Simple Start at $38 a month will not report profit per flip — that needs Plus at $140 a month for classes and locations. Count the upgrade in the price.
- Mixing repairs and capital improvements. The tax treatment differs, and the tools record what you tell them. Agree the split with your accountant before the first receipt lands, not at sale time.
- Forgetting contractor 1099s. The investor-first tools record contractor costs per property but do not file 1099s. If you pay crews directly, budget for the tool or service that does the filing.
How we chose
We checked each vendor's own pricing page on November 7, 2026 and recorded the starting price exactly as shown, including the annual-billing figure where the page lists one. Two figures needed extra care: Baselane's Smart plan at $20 a month is an annual-plan rate — Baselane publishes no monthly-billed price for Smart — and Buildium's Essential plan starts at $62 a month for up to 20 units on Buildium's own pricing page and calculator. We ranked the tools by fit for the most common buyer — a US flipper doing a few deals a year who needs the books right at sale time — not by brand size. Ratings come from G2 and Capterra pages checked on November 7, 2026; REI Hub carries no rating because no G2 or Capterra page with a meaningful review count was available for it. No vendor paid for a place in this list, and none of the links here are affiliate links.
What to do next
Start with the free plan or trial of your top pick and run one real flip through it. Check that rehab costs land on the right property and the per-flip profit matches what your accountant expects before you commit to a year. If the books are sorted but new buyers are not finding you, our local SEO service handles the visibility side — or compare providers in our guide to SEO companies for small business. Once your tools are in place, find out what's holding your rankings back.
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Get a free audit→Sources we checked (19)
- REI Hub pricing — reihub.net/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
- Stessa pricing — stessa.com/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
- Baselane pricing — baselane.com/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
- QuickBooks Online pricing — quickbooks.intuit.com/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
- Xero pricing — xero.com/us/pricing-plans (checked November 7, 2026)
- Landlord Studio pricing — landlordstudio.com/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
- FreshBooks pricing — freshbooks.com/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
- Zoho Books pricing — zoho.com/us/books/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
- Wave pricing — waveapps.com/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
- Buildium pricing — buildium.com/pricing (checked November 7, 2026)
- Stessa reviews — G2 (checked November 7, 2026)
- Baselane reviews — Capterra (checked November 7, 2026)
- QuickBooks Online reviews — G2 (checked November 7, 2026)
- Xero reviews — G2 (checked November 7, 2026)
- Landlord Studio reviews — Capterra (checked November 7, 2026)
- FreshBooks reviews — G2 (checked November 7, 2026)
- Zoho Books reviews — G2 (checked November 7, 2026)
- Wave reviews — G2 (checked November 7, 2026)
- Buildium reviews — G2 (checked November 7, 2026)
Shamim
Founder of SerpAstra
A full-stack SEO and digital marketer who spends most days on Local SEO for dental practices, AI search visibility and lead generation.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best accounting software for real estate flippers?
REI Hub is the best fit for most flippers: true double-entry books with rehab costs tracked per flip, from $15/month. Stessa is the better pick when you want free property accounting for unlimited properties, and Baselane suits flippers who want banking and bookkeeping in one place.
How much does accounting software for a real estate flipper cost?
Entry prices run from $0 to $62 a month. REI Hub, Stessa, Baselane, Landlord Studio, Zoho Books and Wave all have free plans, and the first paid plans cost $15–$20 a month. A flipper doing 4 deals a year typically pays $108–$744 a year for the subscription alone, before transaction fees.
Is there really free accounting software for real estate flippers?
Yes, with limits. REI Hub is free for up to 3 units with double-entry books, Stessa Essentials is free with unlimited properties but no project tracking, and Wave Starter is free with unlimited invoices. The flip-specific features — project tracking, Schedule E — usually need a paid plan.
What is the difference between flip accounting and rental accounting?
Rental accounting tracks monthly income and expenses per property for Schedule E. Flip accounting tracks the total cost of one project — purchase, rehab, holding and sale — to work out the profit on that deal. A tool built for rentals may not show per-flip profit at all, which is the number a flipper actually needs.
Do I still need an accountant if I use accounting software?
Yes, at least at sale time. The software keeps the ledger straight and produces the reports, but an accountant checks whether the flip counts as ordinary income or a capital gain, handles the filing and spots errors. Every tool in this list gives your accountant free access on its paid plans.
Can I switch accounting software later?
Yes, but plan the move between flips, not during one. Export your chart of accounts, property lists, open invoices and transaction history from the old tool, then import them into the new one and reconcile the bank before going live. Switching mid-flip means running two systems through the sale.
Does flip accounting software track contractor payments?
Mostly through the general ledger, not a dedicated workflow. QuickBooks Online and Xero handle 1099s for contractors, Wave and Zoho Books track vendor bills, and the investor-first tools record contractor costs per property. None of these tools runs payroll for a rehab crew — that is a separate subscription.
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