Rental Property Accounting & Bookkeeping: What Investment Property Owners In Utah Should Know

In Utah, the finances involved in a rental property and the recording of money in and money out have to be handled in a specific way.

It is very important that landlords follow the procedures in place.

A professional property manager should be able to understand these procedures, so when you begin talking to people you might hire to manage your property, one of the questions you ask should be about how the money associated with your rental property is going to be handled.

At Advanced Solutions Property Management, we collect rent on a monthly basis and deposit those rents into an operating trust account managed by us.

All of the money going into that account is either directly deposited by the tenants using ACH, or by a check that is written out to the company (never an individual) and deposited.

All of the money your property earns goes into this operating account.

The tenant security deposit must be held in a non-interest bearing account that is regulated by the state of Utah.

Any time we receive a security deposit from a tenant, we put the money into the trust account and we leave it there.

You have to remember that deposit is the tenant’s money.

It’s not the owner’s money and it isn’t our money.

It must be safeguarded in that non-interest bearing account, and then upon departure if everything is in good shape, the tenants will get that money back.

Pretty much all of the money coming in on a regular basis is rent.

Any expenses are paid from the same operating account.

So, if you have a property management and maintenance issues on the property that needs to be paid for or someone cuts the lawn and sends a bill or management fees need to be paid, those charges are made and deducted from the rental receipts.

Owner draws are usually sent out by the 15th of each month.

Each property manager has a timeframe.

We collect rent by the 5th of the month, process that rent and then the money is in our owners’ accounts by the 15th.

Most important is the financial statements you will receive from your property management company.

We will provide detailed financial statements of accounting down to the last cent.

You will be able to see all of the money that came in, all of the money that went out and where you stand financially with your property.

This helps you to manage that financial asset from the correct level.