Industries
Real estate and property management
Finbryn keeps property-level books rather than one blended file, so a UK landlord or managing agent can see profit and loss by property, reconcile tenant deposits held separately under a government-approved scheme, and separate capital improvements from routine repairs. We work inside Xero alongside a lettings platform and close by business day five.
Management report
Illustrative client · August 2026
GBP
| Line | Aug | Jul | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 142,380 | 131,904 | +10,476 |
| Cost of sales | (51,260) | (48,115) | (3,145) |
| Gross profit | 91,120 | 83,789 | +7,331 |
| Payroll | (46,300) | (45,900) | (400) |
| SoftwareNoted | (6,480) | (5,490) | (990) |
| Rent | (8,000) | (8,000) | 0 |
| Other operating | (9,215) | (9,870) | +655 |
| Net income | 21,125 | 14,529 | +6,596 |
Reviewer's note
Software is up on last month after two seats were added mid-month. Revenue includes one milestone invoice that will not repeat next month.
Illustrative. An example of the document, not a client's figures.
Exceptions report
Where the books usually hurt
Rent roll data from a property management system does not line up with what actually hit the bank
Security deposits, owner distributions and reserve accounts get mixed into operating cash
Each property needs its own profit and loss, but the books are kept as one blended pool
Capital improvements get expensed instead of tracked separately from routine repairs
A blended portfolio hides the property that is losing money
A portfolio of ten flats tracked as one undivided pool of income and expense tells a landlord almost nothing about which property is actually carrying the group. One property with a long vacancy or an expensive repair can hide inside an average that still looks healthy, and a lender or co-investor asking about a specific property gets an estimate instead of a number.
Finbryn sets up books so each property, or each entity where the portfolio holds properties in separate structures, has its own profit and loss. Rent roll data from the lettings platform is reconciled against what actually landed in the bank, because platform data and bank deposits do not always agree, especially when a tenant pays late or a standing order fails.
Tenant deposits and Making Tax Digital for landlords
Tenant deposits in England and Wales must sit in a government-approved scheme such as the Tenancy Deposit Scheme or mydeposits, entirely apart from the landlord's operating cash, and we reconcile those balances separately each month so it is clear what belongs to a tenant versus what is available to the landlord. Reserve funds held for future maintenance get the same separate treatment.
Landlords and sole-trader property businesses with qualifying income above the Making Tax Digital for Income Tax threshold have to keep digital records and submit quarterly updates rather than a single annual return, a phased obligation that widens over the next two tax years to catch more landlords at lower income levels. We keep the underlying records ready for that quarterly cadence; the actual submission is made by you or by the UK agent you appoint. Finbryn does not file with HMRC or Companies House.
Working with Finbryn
You keep the Xero file. A named pod manages your account, with a recorded handover memo if that pod changes, and books are reconciled weekly rather than caught up all at once at month end. Owners inheriting a portfolio with years of mixed books usually start with a catch-up project, priced separately from ongoing monthly bookkeeping. Capital improvements are tracked as fixed assets rather than expensed against a single month, and pricing is published on our pricing page, with terms set out in your engagement letter.
Questions
Frequently asked questions: Real estate and property management
Can you produce a separate profit and loss for each property?
Yes. Each property, or each entity if the portfolio uses separate structures, gets its own profit and loss alongside a consolidated portfolio view.
Do you reconcile tenant deposits held in a protection scheme?
Yes. Deposit balances held with a scheme such as the Tenancy Deposit Scheme or mydeposits are reconciled separately from operating cash each month.
Will our records be ready for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax?
We keep digital records current on the quarterly cadence the rules require. The actual submissions are made by you or by the UK agent you appoint.
How do you handle capital improvements versus routine repairs?
Capital improvements are tracked as fixed assets. Routine repairs and maintenance are expensed in the period they occur.
Can you handle a mix of long-term lets and short-term holiday lets in the same portfolio?
Yes, each property is tracked with the income treatment that applies to it, since short-term holiday lets can have different VAT and expense rules than a standard long-term tenancy, and we flag which properties fall into which category rather than applying one rule across the whole portfolio.
Can you keep books at the individual property level?
Yes, each property or entity can be tracked as its own set of books or as a class within one file, depending on structure.
Do you reconcile security deposit and trust accounts separately?
Yes, those balances are reconciled apart from operating funds each month.
What are the common bookkeeping challenges for a real estate and property management business?
Beyond the basics, each property needs its own profit and loss, but the books are kept as one blended pool and capital improvements get expensed instead of tracked separately from routine repairs come up often in this industry. We build the chart of accounts and reconciliation process around those specific patterns rather than a generic template that ignores how the business actually operates.
What software do you support for real estate and property management?
We work inside QuickBooks Online and AppFolio, along with the other tools listed on this page that are common in the real estate and property management industry. If you have no file yet, we set one up in your name so you own it from day one.
Related services
- BookkeepingMonthly bookkeepingOngoing monthly bookkeeping: transactions sorted into categories, accounts reconciled and month-end reports delivered in the software you already use.
- BookkeepingCatch-up and cleanup bookkeepingMonths or years of books brought up to date and reconciled, with a written record of every adjustment, so monthly bookkeeping can start from a clean base.
Next step
Talk to the team that would run your books
A short call covers your setup, your software and what a first month would look like. You get a written scope and price after it.