Property operations & real assets

Books and taxes for coliving operators.

Member rent that bundles utilities, wifi, and cleaning into one price, a master lease payment to the building's real owner, furniture on its own financing, and members who can leave on 30 days notice. Gus sorts all of it, and an accountant checks every transaction.

Book a call What we handle
  • From $197 a month
  • An accountant on every transaction
  • Cancel whenever
MayExample month
$9,700
what you made

May came in at $9,700. Two members gave 30 days notice and left mid-month, so I flagged the gap in bedroom income against what the master lease still costs whether those rooms are filled or not.

  • Member rent, all-inclusiveMember rent
  • Master lease, Elm HouseMaster lease payments
  • Weekly cleaning serviceCleaning and upkeep
  • Furniture leasing paymentFurniture and setup
  • Internet and utilities, all housesBundled utilities
Money in$43,200
Money out$33,500
Set aside for taxes$2,600
An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

A coliving operator's margin lives in the gap the books have to actually show.

You collect one all-inclusive rent from each member, but you often pay a master lease to the building's real owner underneath it, plus furniture, cleaning, and utilities you bundled in. A generalist sees rent in and a lease out. Your real margin is the space between them, and it disappears fast if the books do not track it.

  1. 1

    Member rent and the master lease payment look unrelated

    You collect rent from each member and separately pay a master lease to the property owner underneath you, and if those two numbers are not tracked against each other room by room, you cannot tell whether a house is actually profitable or just breaking even.

    What we doTracks member rent collected against the master lease payment for each house, so the real spread you are running on shows up clearly.
  2. 2

    All-inclusive rent hides which cost is eating the margin

    One member rent price bundles utilities, wifi, and cleaning together, so if utility costs spike or cleaning contracts get more expensive, it is invisible until the whole house stops making sense financially.

    What we doKeeps utilities, cleaning, and other bundled costs on their own lines even though members pay one price, so a rising cost gets caught early.
  3. 3

    Furniture financing looks like a supply purchase

    Furniture bought or financed to make a house move-in ready is a real ongoing cost, often on its own payment plan, and filed like an ordinary supply purchase it disappears into overhead instead of showing up as what it actually is.

    What we doKeeps furniture and setup costs on their own line, tracked against the financing or lease terms they actually carry.
  4. 4

    Short-notice turnover does not show up room by room

    Members who can leave on short notice create more frequent vacancy than a standard year-long lease, and if turnover is only tracked at the house level, a slow-filling room can hide inside houses that are otherwise full.

    What we doTracks vacancy room by room, not just house by house, so a bedroom that is not filling shows up on its own.
  5. 5

    Community events spending mixed with essential operating costs

    A member dinner or a community event is a real marketing and retention cost, but lumped in with cleaning and utilities, you cannot tell how much you are actually spending to keep members happy versus what it costs to just keep the lights on.

    What we doKeeps community event spending on its own line, separate from essential house operating costs.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for a coliving operator.

Set up once for how member rent comes in and what each house costs to run underneath it. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.

Money in

  • Member rentAll-inclusive rent collected per bedroom.
  • Application and setup feesCharges collected at member move-in.
  • Community event feesAny charges collected for special member events.
  • Late payment feesCharges for rent paid outside the membership terms.

Money out

  • Master lease paymentsWhat you pay the underlying property owner for each house.
  • Cleaning and upkeepCommon area and unit cleaning contracts.
  • Furniture and setupFurniture financing, leasing, or replacement per house.
  • Bundled utilitiesElectric, water, and internet included in member rent.
  • Community manager payrollOn-site or regional staff running member relations.
  • Community eventsMember dinners and organized activities.
  • Membership softwareBooking, billing, and member communication systems.

What we watch for you

  • Margin per house

    Member rent collected minus the master lease payment for that house, the real number that shows if the model is working there.

  • Room-level vacancy

    Which specific bedrooms are sitting empty, not just which houses look mostly full.

  • Cleaning and utility cost per member

    Whether the bundled costs baked into all-inclusive rent are creeping up on you.

  • The set-aside

    What you will owe, tracked every month even as members come and go on short notice.

Ask Gus

Things coliving operators ask Gus.

Text him like you would text anybody. He answers in plain English, and when a question is above his pay grade, an accountant looks and gets back to you.

Elm House looks full but barely breaks even. What's going on?

I track member rent against the master lease payment for that house specifically, and it looks like rising cleaning and utility costs are eating most of the spread. I flagged it so you can see the number behind it.

Two members left with 30 days notice this month. Does that hurt us the way a normal lease-break would?

It shows up as room-level vacancy right away rather than waiting for a lease term to end, so you will see the gap in this month's numbers instead of it being smoothed out.

Do I owe self-employment tax on member rent since we provide cleaning and furniture?

That is above my pay grade to answer on my own. Providing real services alongside the space can push this into active business income rather than passive rent, so I flagged it for the accountant to look at based on exactly what you provide.

The tax side

The tax side of a coliving operation.

Most of what goes wrong here is not separating what you collect from what you pay the underlying landlord, and not being sure whether the services you bundle in change how the income is taxed.

What your return has to get right

Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.

  • Master lease payments are a real deductible costWhat you pay the building's owner under a master lease is an ordinary and necessary business expense, separate from any depreciation, since you do not own the underlying property.
  • Furniture and equipment depreciation or Section 179Furniture you own outright can often be expensed in the year bought under Section 179, up to $2,560,000, rather than depreciated over several years.
  • Services provided can affect how income is taxedBundling cleaning, furniture, and community management into rent can push a coliving operation from passive rental income toward active trade or business income, which affects self-employment tax and the pass-through deduction. The accountant makes that call based on what is actually provided.
  • Contractor 1099sCleaning services, furniture vendors, and other contractors not on payroll get a 1099-NEC by January 31 if paid $2,000 or more in 2026.

Deductions coliving operators miss

Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.

  • Master lease payments
  • Furniture financing costs
  • Cleaning service contracts
  • Internet and utility bundles
  • Community manager payroll
  • Membership and billing software
  • Community event costs
  • Liability insurance premiums
  • Signage and house branding
  • Locksmith and access systems
  • Accounting and legal fees
  • Bank and processing fees

General information about 2026 federal rules, not advice for your business. Your accountant looks at your actual numbers before anything gets filed.

All year, not just April

A coliving year, kept every month.

Members come and go on short notice all year, with no real off season. Your taxes come on a schedule. Your team keeps you ahead of both. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.

  1. January

    Plan the year

    Last year's return gets started, the vendor 1099 list is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so tax season is already handled.

  2. April

    Filed. Done.

    Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.

  3. July

    Halfway check

    Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether a new house added this year changed the number.

  4. October

    Before winter turnover

    Before the usual uptick in member departures over the holidays, Gus checks margin per house and room-level vacancy.

What you get

Starts at$197a month

What you pay depends on what your business needs, and it does not move after that, busy season or slow. No hourly bills, no surprise invoices, no setup fee.

Book a call
  • Monthly bookkeeping

    Every transaction sorted into categories set up for coliving operators. You never categorize a thing.

  • An accountant checks every transaction

    Real review, every month, before your books close. Not a spot check.

  • Your business tax return, filed

    Prepared, reviewed, and signed by that same accountant every year.

  • The monthly number

    What you made, what you spent, what to set aside for taxes.

  • Your own bookkeeper

    A real person assigned to your business, in the app whenever you need them. No hold music.

  • On your books all year

    Every month, not just in April. Your team speaks up whenever something is worth your attention.

  • Cancel any time

    No contract. No cancellation call. Your books are yours.

Straight answers

Questions coliving operators ask first.

We do not own our houses, we sublease them. Does that change how Gus handles the books?

Yes, and it is one of the first things set up. Master lease payments to the underlying owner are tracked as your real cost, separate from member rent, so your actual margin per house is visible instead of hidden.

Members can leave with 30 days notice. Does that make the books harder to keep clean?

No. Vacancy just gets tracked room by room rather than by lease term, so a member leaving mid-month shows up in that month's numbers instead of needing a longer lease cycle to catch it.

Do we owe self-employment tax on our rental income since we provide cleaning and furniture?

It depends on how much real service is bundled in. Providing substantial services can push income from passive rental toward active business income, which is a judgment call the accountant makes based on your specific setup.

Can Gus tell me which house is actually making money?

Yes. Margin per house, member rent minus the master lease payment and bundled costs for that specific house, is tracked so you can compare houses honestly instead of looking at one combined number.

Our furniture is financed on a payment plan. How does that get handled?

Furniture and setup costs are kept on their own line, tracked against what you actually owe on the financing, rather than disappearing into general supplies.

Our books have never separated the master lease from member rent. Can that be fixed?

Yes. Send your recent bank statements and Gus will start splitting the two going forward, and most operators have a clear picture of each house within a month or two.

Is a real accountant checking my books?

Yes. You get your own bookkeeper, Gus does the first pass on every transaction, and an accountant checks every one before your month closes. That same accountant prepares, signs, and files your business return. Goatkeeper is not a CPA firm, and we never pretend a person looked when they did not.

What does it cost, and can I cancel?

It starts at $197 a month, depending on what your business needs. No setup fee, no hourly bills, no contract. Cancel any time from the app, and your books go with you.

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Book a call

Pick a time. That's the whole signup.

Fifteen minutes with a real person on our team. They look at where your books are, tell you straight what it takes to get caught up, and get you set up on the spot if it fits.

  • $197 a month to start
  • An accountant on every transaction
  • Cancel whenever