Property operations & real assets

Books and taxes for small commercial landlords.

Rent from three tenants, a mortgage payment that is really three different things, a vacant unit that hits harder than it looks, and repairs you handle yourself on weekends. 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
FebruaryExample month
$4,600
what you made

February came in at $4,600. Unit C sat empty its second month in a row, so I flagged that the building is really running at two-thirds occupancy, not the healthy total the deposit alone suggests.

  • Rent, Unit A tenantBase rent
  • Rent, Unit B tenantBase rent
  • Mortgage payment, buildingLoan principal and interest
  • Property tax escrowProperty tax
  • Roof leak repair, Unit BRepairs and maintenance
Money in$14,200
Money out$9,600
Set aside for taxes$900
An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

A small commercial landlord's books hide real problems behind just a few tenants.

A generalist sees rent coming in and a mortgage going out. With only two or three tenants, one vacancy or one missed payment is a much bigger share of your income than it would be in a larger building, and a single mortgage payment is actually three different things stacked together.

  1. 1

    The mortgage payment gets booked as one expense

    A single monthly mortgage payment usually includes loan interest, loan principal, and often an escrow portion for property tax or insurance, but only the interest is actually deductible. Booked as one expense, your real deductible cost is wrong every month.

    What we doSplits the mortgage payment into interest, principal, and escrow, so only the interest and the actual tax and insurance costs land where they belong.
  2. 2

    One vacant unit looks like a rounding error

    In a building with only three tenants, an empty unit is a third of your rent roll gone, but if the books just show a lower total for the month without flagging why, it can read like a slow month instead of the real gap it is.

    What we doTracks rent tenant by tenant, so a vacant unit shows up clearly as the specific gap it is, not just a smaller total.
  3. 3

    Land and building are not split for depreciation

    Only the building depreciates, not the land underneath it, but a small landlord's purchase price often gets treated as one number, missing the depreciation deduction the building portion is actually entitled to.

    What we doFlags the purchase for the accountant to allocate between land and building, so depreciation gets calculated on the right portion.
  4. 4

    Weekend repairs done personally look like nothing happened

    When you fix something yourself instead of hiring it out, the materials are still a real deductible cost, but if the receipt gets tossed because there was no invoice from a contractor, that expense disappears from the books entirely.

    What we doBooks materials and supplies you buy for repairs the same as a contractor invoice would be, so doing the work yourself does not cost you the deduction.
  5. 5

    A tenant improvement you funded gets expensed all at once

    Paying to build out a space for a new tenant is a real cost, but spent all at once in the books, it can make a good leasing month look like a loss instead of an investment that pays off over the lease term.

    What we doFlags tenant improvement spending separately so the accountant can depreciate it over time instead of it hitting one month all at once.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for a small commercial landlord.

Set up once for how a handful of tenants pay and what the building itself costs. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.

Money in

  • Base rentFixed rent from each tenant, tracked unit by unit.
  • CAM and expense reimbursementsEach tenant's share of shared costs, where the lease calls for it.
  • Late feesCharges for rent paid outside the lease terms.
  • Parking and signage incomeExtra charges for reserved parking or exterior signage, where applicable.

Money out

  • Loan interestThe deductible portion of the mortgage payment.
  • Loan principalThe non-deductible portion, tracked separately from interest.
  • Property tax and insuranceWhether paid direct or through an escrow account.
  • Repairs and maintenanceMaterials and contractor bills, including work you do yourself.
  • Tenant improvement costsBuildout dollars spent on a new or renewing tenant.
  • Leasing commissionsFees paid to a broker for filling a vacant unit.

What we watch for you

  • Occupancy by unit

    With only a few tenants, one vacancy matters more than it would in a larger building.

  • Rent collected against rent billed

    The gap shows real delinquency, not just a rounding difference in a small total.

  • Debt service coverage

    Whether rent collected is comfortably covering the mortgage payment, or just barely.

  • The set-aside

    What you will owe, tracked every month even with rent from just a couple of tenants.

Ask Gus

Things small commercial landlords 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.

My mortgage statement just shows one payment. How do you know how much is actually interest?

I pull the interest and principal split from your loan statement each month, so only the interest, the part that is actually deductible, lands as an expense.

Unit C has been empty two months. Does that really matter that much with only three units?

It matters a lot. That is a third of your rent roll gone, and I track rent unit by unit so a gap like that shows up clearly instead of just looking like a slightly lower month.

I fixed the roof leak myself and just bought the materials. Can I still write that off?

Yes. The materials are a real deductible cost even without a contractor invoice, as long as you keep the receipt. I booked it as a repair the same way I would a contractor bill.

The tax side

The tax side of a small commercial building.

Most of what goes wrong here is treating the mortgage, the land, and the building as one thing when each follows its own rule.

What your return has to get right

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

  • Only loan interest is deductibleThe principal portion of a mortgage payment reduces what you owe on the loan, but it is not a deductible expense the way interest is, so the two need to be tracked separately.
  • Land and building depreciate differentlyOnly the building portion of a purchase price depreciates on a long schedule; land itself is never depreciated, so the purchase price needs to be allocated between the two.
  • Tenant improvements are usually capitalizedMoney spent to build out space for a tenant typically gets depreciated over time rather than deducted all at once, since the improvement outlasts the year it was built.
  • Contractor 1099sContractors and repair vendors not on payroll get a 1099-NEC by January 31 if paid $2,000 or more in 2026.

Deductions small commercial landlords miss

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

  • Loan interest
  • Property tax
  • Property insurance
  • Repair materials and supplies
  • Leasing commissions
  • Legal fees for lease disputes
  • Accounting and legal fees
  • Mileage to the property
  • Utilities on a vacant unit
  • Signage repairs
  • Pest control
  • Landscaping upkeep

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 small commercial building's year, kept every month.

A single vacancy or a slow-paying tenant can shape a whole year for a building this size. 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 vacancy or a tenant improvement this year changed the number.

  4. October

    Before year-end decisions

    Before the year closes, Gus looks at occupancy and whether a repair or upgrade is worth doing before December.

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 small commercial landlords. 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 small commercial landlords ask first.

I only own one small building. Is this too small for a bookkeeping subscription?

No. Gus works from your bank statement whether you own one building or ten, and the categories that matter, rent by tenant, the mortgage split, and repairs, stay the same regardless of size.

How do you know how to split my mortgage payment into interest and principal?

From your loan statement or amortization schedule. Once that is set up, Gus applies the same split each month automatically.

My building's purchase price was never split between land and the structure. Can that be fixed now?

Usually, yes. The accountant can typically establish a reasonable land and building allocation even years after purchase, based on the purchase records and local assessments.

I do most of the repairs myself. Does that change what I can deduct?

No, the materials you buy are still deductible even without a contractor invoice, as long as you keep the receipts. Your own labor is not a deductible cost, but the materials are.

One of my three tenants is behind on rent. Would that show up clearly?

Yes. Rent is tracked tenant by tenant, so a specific unit falling behind is visible right away instead of just showing up as a smaller total for the month.

My books have never separated CAM reimbursements from base rent. Can Gus fix that going forward?

Yes. Send your recent bank statements and lease terms, and Gus will start splitting the two, so both numbers stay accurate from here on.

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