5 key systems for your REI Business
If you’re just getting started, do not forget to do these important things when it comes to getting your real estate business set up with systems and processes.
#1 Bookkeeping
Whether you're choosing to outsource your bookkeeping or do it yourself, make sure you set yourself up for success by starting your bookkeeping processes early. We highly recommend using QuickBooks, but there are so many options on the market if it’s not in your budget.
Your books only get more and more complicated as you grow and that is why it is so important to get them set up with a good system right away. You should be creating a system for how you
Keep and store receipts
Categorize your transactions
Review important reports such as cash flow, profit and loss, balance sheet and more
How often you review your key reports
Onboarding a new property
Adding a new revenue stream
When it comes to setting up your QuickBooks or bookkeeping software, we also recommend that you hire a professional to set it up, that way you could choose to self-manage it and do the updating, categorizations, etc. as you go, to give you a hands-on look your finances on a regular basis. Along with hiring a bookkeeper, we also recommend finding a CPA who is well-versed in real estate tax processes. Your CPA and book keeper can work together to figure out how to set your books up in a way that makes sense for you and your business.
#2 Open A Business Bank Account & Credit Card
We both prefer Capital One because you can generally get approved even without a business credit history and their app is very user-friendly, allowing you to easily see all of your finances in one place. Ideally, we recommend having one account per business entity.
Another reason Capital One is so great is because you can issue cards to team members for free. Whether thats an admin, a contractor or an in-house property manager this can be super helpful to keep your team work flowing in a way that is organized and useful. When you go to the app you’ll be able to see exactly who purchased what and control what each person can do with the card.
Again this all comes back to keeping your business organized, and a huge part of that is making sure that you separate yourself from the business. This always makes book keeping and accounting a LOT easier and will help you stay organized and keep a clear mind.
Lastly when used correctly business cars can help you build business credit and make a lot of cash back rewards on everything that you are buying anyway. If you are an investor who is doing a lot of expensive rehabs you’ll definitely want to make sure that you are getting credit card points and rewards for that!
If you’d like to apply for a Capital One card today you can use our referral code here. We know you will love it!
#3 Create Business Profiles
One of the first things you absolutely need is an email address. Think about it: What will an investor think when you are emailing them from your childhood email address, annieplayssoccer23@gmail.com? Not a great first impression! Creating a google business suite will allow you to create your own custom email address, google drive and calendar for about $10/month.
We can’t stress how important it is to stay organized but it also comes down to treating your business like a business. And doing what you can to come of as professional.
We also recommend getting a Google Voice number to keep your personal number, personal. This can be free if you use a personal email address otherwise its around $10/month with your google suite profile. Highly recommend because you can also screen calls and send them to voicemail without the caller ever knowing!
Lastly you might consider setting up a PO Box so you don't have to give out your personal address if you don't have an office space. We’re not sure about you but we definitely don’t want our tenants to have our home address! Or even other contractors or investors for that matter. A PO Box can also help you screen your mail digitally if you are away or travel a lot. If you are an out of state investor it could also be a good idea to get a local PO Box so that you appear to be more local to the people you are working with.
#4 Get Setup On A Property Management Software
This is another one of those things we recommend starting early because it will make your life so much easier in the long run. Using a property management tool will allow you to house all of your tenant communication, collect rent, get leases signed, and so much more, and keep everything organized and in one place. Tenantcloud has an excellent free version we recommend checking out.
One of the biggest perks of property management tools is that late fees are automatically applied to rent, so you don't even have to think about applying them when rent is past due. You can also make property announcements so that an important information can go to all tenants at once, instead of trying to make sure you messaged everyone individually.
You might think you do not need a PM software right now but trust us. It is way easier to get started on a PM software and to grow along with it as you grow your portfolio. You do not want to get to a point where you have to try to convert a whole bunch of tenants at once, we can promise you that will be a mess!
#5 Create Your SOPs
Start out by creating a checklist of everything you're doing; what happens and when. Document all of your processes: everything you do in your business day to day, month to month, week to week, year to year.
These checklists become your SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) and what allows you to do things like train future employees, hire a property manager, or just keep yourself accountable. It should contain the ins and outs of how you run your business and can be as simple as a Google doc. Having SOPs in place helps to decrease decision-making and make sure that things don't slip through the cracks.
This might sound like overkill at first but think of these as a living and breathing document that evolves with you. At some point in your business you will begin to hire things out. Your SOP is what tells this person how and when to do something. You can start building them now and they will quickly build upon themselves. Don’t wait until you have to try to create an entire SOP form scratch because you want to hire someone.
These documents are also a great way to train yourself to eliminate errors and decision fatigue. Always forget to turn on the water when you buy a new place? If you follow your SOP every time you’ll never forget to do this again. No more sitting around thinking, “What am I missing?!”
Keep all of these things in mind as you grow your business and you will be thankful down the road. These systems will help keep you organized and operating efficiently.
Let’s Connect!
How can you get involved? If you’re looking for a community of empowered women in all stages of real estate, you’ve come to the right place. If you’re starting your journey we have several academies from our experiences that you can find here that include MTR Profit Academy, Property Management Academy, Running the Numbers, and several female real estate retreats a year where we bring women in real estate from across the country together for programming and a whole lot of fun!
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