Bookkeeping for house flippers, with a true P&L on every flip
Good bookkeeping for a house flipper tracks each property as its own job: purchase, rehab, holding, financing, and selling costs all post to the flip they belong to, so every sale produces a deal-level P&L. InvestorCFO does this for $300 per month plus $200 to open and $100 to close each flip.
Why generic bookkeeping fails flippers
Most small-business bookkeeping sorts spending by account: materials, contractors, interest, closing costs. That works for a dental office. For a flipper it hides the only question that matters, which is how much each house made.
When costs are not tied to properties, a deal that lost money can hide behind one that did well, rehab overruns go unnoticed until the next deal repeats them, and closing costs from a settlement statement get booked as a single lump that nobody can audit.
How flip bookkeeping should work
- Each property is opened as its own job the day it goes under contract.
- The buy-side settlement statement is booked line by line: price, lender fees, title, prorations, and credits.
- Rehab draws and invoices are coded to the property and to a budget line, so overruns show up while the job is still open.
- Holding costs (taxes, insurance, utilities, HOA) and loan interest are allocated to the property they belong to.
- The sell-side settlement statement closes out the job with commissions, concessions, and payoff.
- A deal P&L compares actual profit to what you underwrote.
Inventory, not expenses
For most flippers, property purchase and improvement costs are carried as inventory on the balance sheet until the house sells, then recognized as cost of sales. Booking rehab as a monthly expense makes your P&L swing wildly and understates what you own. Your CPA decides the tax treatment; the books should give them a clean, property-level record to work from.
What it costs
| Flips per year | Average per month |
|---|---|
| 4 | $400 |
| 8 | $500 |
| 12 | $600 |
| 24 | $900 |
That is $300 per month base plus $300 per completed flip, averaged over a year. Onboarding is a one-time $1,000.
Frequently asked questions
How much does bookkeeping cost for a house flipper?
At InvestorCFO, $300 per month plus $300 per flip ($200 to open, $100 to close). A flipper doing 8 deals a year averages $500 per month. Market rates for real estate bookkeeping typically run $300 to $800 per month.
What is job costing for house flips?
Job costing treats each property as its own project. Every cost, from purchase closing fees to the last paint invoice and loan interest, is assigned to that property, so you can see exactly what each flip cost and earned.
Should rehab costs be expensed or capitalized on a flip?
For most flippers, purchase and rehab costs are carried as inventory until the property sells, then moved to cost of sales. Your CPA makes the final tax call; the books should keep every cost tied to the property either way.
Do you book settlement statements line by line?
Yes. Both the buy-side and sell-side HUD-1 or ALTA statements are entered line by line, so lender fees, title charges, prorations, credits, and payoffs are each recorded correctly.
Can you work with my existing QuickBooks file?
Usually, yes. Onboarding restructures the file for per-property tracking. If it is behind, catch-up is quoted at about one month's fee per month behind.
Start with one deal.
Send the numbers from one closed flip. You get back a true deal P&L, side by side with what you underwrote. Free, with no obligation.