About Bank and Credit Card Accounts

Linked Accounts utilize secure Data Providers to connect to your financial institution and automatically import your transaction record.  We recommend linking all accounts that are primarily used for your real estate investments.  Using a dedicated business account is the best foundation for successful bookkeeping, and linking that account to your accounting software is the best way to make sure you don’t miss booking expenses and maximizing your tax deductions! 

After an account has been linked, you can view the imported transactions on your Import Feed.  Access the Import Feed from either the Banking page or directly on the left side menu.  Imported transactions have the date, amount, description, and originating account.  These imported transactions need to be ‘booked’ by adding in the appropriate Expense/ Revenue Account in order to become an official part of your records.  

Manual Accounts have no direct connection to your bank, so transactions must be added manually or uploaded from a bank export.  Manual Accounts work well for bookkeeping in batches with uploading, or for accounts without a lot of transactions on them.  

If you choose not to create any Bank or Credit Card Accounts in REI Hub, the default account for payments and deposits is Owner Funds.  You can think about Owner Funds as your personal money.  When you book an Expense paid by Owner Funds, the outcome is the same as making an Owner Contribution to a business checking account and then paying the bill from that account.  Investors can still keep accurate books using exclusively Owner Funds, but you lose many of the double-checks and automations that using designated rental accounts provide.

In terms of transitioning over from another accounting system- if that Bank or Credit Card Account exists in your previous system and is still in use, it should be created in REI Hub as well.