Property operations & real assets
Books and taxes for student housing operators.
Per-bed leases with a parent guarantor on file, pre-leasing deposits collected months before move-in, summer conference income, and one wild week in August when every unit turns at once. Gus sorts all of it, and an accountant checks every transaction.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
August came in at $25,300. Turn week hit hard this year, so I kept the flooring and paint work on its own line since it is a real spike, not your normal monthly maintenance cost.
- Per-bed rent, fall termBed rent
- Amenity fee collectionsAmenity fees
- Turn week flooring crewTurn and turnover
- Entrata subscriptionLeasing software
- Move-in weekend staffingLeasing office payroll
Why your books are different
Student housing books run on a school calendar, not a normal lease calendar.
A generalist sees rent every month. Your property leases by the bed with a parent guarantor backing a student who may or may not pay on time, collects deposits half a year before move-in, and turns every unit in the same single week each August. None of that fits an ordinary rent roll.
-
1
Per-bed nonpayment gets lost inside a whole unit
A four-bedroom unit with one roommate behind on rent still looks fully paid if the books only track the unit as a whole, hiding exactly which bed and which lease is actually the problem.
What we doTracks rent at the bed level, so a single roommate falling behind shows up clearly instead of getting absorbed into a unit that otherwise looks fine. -
2
Pre-leasing deposits collected in October show up as October income
A deposit collected during pre-leasing season for a lease that does not start until next August is not income yet, and counting it the month it arrives makes an early fall month look strong for the wrong reason.
What we doHolds pre-leasing deposits as a liability until the lease term they belong to actually begins, so income lands in the right month. -
3
Turn week costs get spread thin across the year
Nearly every unit getting cleaned, painted, and repaired in the same single week each August is a real spike in cost, and if it is not tracked as its own event, it either disappears into an average or makes one month look like a crisis.
What we doKeeps turn week costs on their own line so the annual spike is visible and expected, not mistaken for a bad month. -
4
Parent guarantor payments look identical to a student's own payment
A payment from a parent guarantor and a payment from the student themselves both just look like rent, so you cannot tell how much of your collections actually depend on a guarantor stepping in.
What we doKeeps the payment source visible in the notes on each deposit, so a pattern of guarantor payments on a given lease does not go unnoticed. -
5
Summer conference income gets mixed with academic year rent
Short-term summer conference or camp bookings pay very differently than a nine-month academic lease, and blended together, you cannot tell how much your summer strategy is actually adding versus your core leasing season.
What we doBooks summer conference and short-term income on its own line, separate from academic year bed rent.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a student housing operator.
Set up once for how beds get leased and what the property costs to run through the school year. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Bed rentPer-bed rent collected under the academic year lease.
- Amenity feesPool, gym, and resort-style amenity charges.
- Application and admin feesCharges collected during leasing and move-in.
- Summer conference incomeShort-term summer bookings outside the academic lease.
- Parking permit feesReserved and general parking charges.
Money out
- Leasing softwareEntrata, RealPage, or similar student housing systems.
- Turn and turnoverPainting, flooring, and cleaning during turn week.
- Leasing office payrollLeasing agents and move-in weekend staffing.
- Amenity upkeepPool service, gym equipment, and clubhouse maintenance.
- Marketing to studentsCampus advertising and social media leasing campaigns.
- UtilitiesCosts typically included in bed rent for student units.
- Property tax and insuranceThe property's own tax bill and coverage.
What we watch for you
- Pre-lease rate
The share of beds leased for next year ahead of turn week, the earliest sign of how the year will go.
- Per-bed collection rate
What is actually collected against what is billed, bed by bed, not unit by unit.
- Turn week cost per unit
What each unit actually cost to turn, tracked year over year to catch rising costs early.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, including the quiet summer stretch between leases.
Ask Gus
Things student housing 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.
Not yet. I hold pre-leasing deposits as money you are holding until next year's lease term actually starts, so this fall's numbers do not get inflated by a lease that has not begun.
No, that is expected. I keep turn week costs on their own line every year, so this spike is labeled for what it is, not read as a problem month.
Yes. Rent is tracked bed by bed, not by the whole unit, so a pattern on one lease shows up clearly instead of getting hidden by three roommates who pay on time.
The tax side
The tax side of a student housing property.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing: deposits counted too early, and turn week costs filed as if they were ordinary monthly repairs.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Pre-leasing deposits are not income yetA deposit collected months before a lease term begins should be held as a liability, not counted as income, until the lease it belongs to actually starts.
- Turn week repairs versus capital improvementRoutine cleaning and paint during turn week are usually a repair expense in the year they happen, while a larger renovation, like new flooring across many units, is typically capitalized and depreciated instead.
- Contractor 1099sPainters, flooring crews, and other vendors not on payroll get a 1099-NEC by January 31 if paid $2,000 or more in 2026, which matters most during the turn week rush.
- The pass-through deductionStudent housing rental activity that rises to a real trade or business can often qualify for the pass-through deduction of up to 20 percent of profit, with limits above $201,750 single or $403,500 joint.
Deductions student housing operators miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Leasing software subscriptions
- Turn week painting and flooring
- Pool and amenity upkeep
- Marketing to students
- Leasing office payroll
- Utilities included in rent
- Property insurance premiums
- Legal fees for lease disputes
- Signage and campus advertising
- Cleaning contracts
- 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 student housing year, kept every month.
Pre-leasing and turn week run on the school calendar, not the tax calendar. Your team keeps you ahead of both. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- 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.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether this year's pre-lease rate changed the number ahead of turn week.
- October
Mid pre-leasing season
Right as next year's pre-leasing ramps up, Gus checks the pre-lease rate and anything worth doing before December.
What you get
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 student housing 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 student housing operators ask first.
Do you track rent by bed or by unit?
By bed. A student housing lease is really a set of individual bed leases inside one unit, and tracking it that way shows exactly which lease is behind, not just that a unit is partly paid.
How do you handle deposits collected during pre-leasing season?
They are held as a liability, not counted as income, until the lease term they belong to actually starts. That keeps an early fall month from looking artificially strong.
Turn week always blows up our numbers. Is that normal?
Yes, and Gus expects it. Turn week costs get their own line so the spike reads as the annual event it is, not as a sign something went wrong.
We run summer conference housing on the side. Does that complicate the books?
No. Summer conference income is booked on its own line, separate from academic year bed rent, so you can see how much it actually adds.
Some of our leases are backed by a parent guarantor. Does that change anything?
The payment itself is tracked the same way rent always is, but Gus notes the source on each deposit, so a pattern of guarantor payments on a specific lease does not go unnoticed.
Our books are behind from switching leasing software mid-year. Can that be fixed?
Yes. Send the bank statements from the switch forward. Gus sorts them and the accountant checks them, and most operators know where they stand 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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What makes a bookkeeper worth paying for Every business we keep books for
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