Learn Easy Books

From your dashboard, use Add a company. Give it a name and pick a chart of accounts that fits (multifamily, commercial, short-term rental, etc.) — or start from scratch. The chart of accounts is the list of buckets your money flows through; you can edit it anytime in Setup → Chart of accounts.

In Setup → General, add each bank and credit-card account, with its opening balance and the date that balance was true. Easy Books posts that opening balance as a real journal entry so your first reconciliation can land on zero. Optionally turn on Class (e.g. property or business line) and Location tracking with the switch on each box.

Go to Import. Two ways in:

• Bank files — download a .qbo / .ofx file from your bank and drop it in. Duplicates are skipped automatically.
• Trial balance — if your property manager gives you a monthly trial balance (Excel/CSV), import it and map each line to your chart of accounts once; it's remembered next time.

You can also drop a closing/settlement statement PDF and let AI extract the line items (optional, uses AI credits).

On Categorize, each imported transaction gets a category (which account it belongs to) and, if you use them, a class/location/vendor. Tools that save time:

• Bank rules (Setup) auto-assign a category by payee/memo.
• Split one transaction across several categories.
• Transfer matching pairs money moving between your own accounts so it isn't counted as income or expense.

Need a manual entry (e.g. depreciation, an accrual)? Use Ledger → New entry for a balanced journal entry.

Monthly, open Reconcile, enter your statement's ending balance and date, and check off the transactions that cleared. When the difference is $0, close it — those entries lock so your history stays trustworthy. (A quiet month with no activity can be closed too.)

On Reports you can run a Profit & Loss → NOI, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, Budget vs Actual, Trial Balance, General Ledger, and a 1099 report. Add columns by month/quarter/year or by class/location, switch cash vs accrual, and click any number to drill into the exact transactions behind it. Configure a view you like and Save current view to re-run it in one click.

In Setup → Share reports with others, give a client, partner, or property owner a read-only portal — they see only the reports you choose (and a summary), never your ledger or setup. Bookkeeping firms can add their own logo & colors under Profile & settings → Firm & white-label.

Every transaction touches at least two accounts, and the totals must balance: debits = credits. Think of it as “where the money came from” and “where it went.” Pay $500 for repairs from checking → Repairs goes up $500 (debit) and Checking goes down $500 (credit). Easy Books enforces this for you — an entry won't post unless it balances.

“Debit” and “credit” just mean left and right — not good/bad. What they do depends on the account type:

Memory hook: Assets & Expenses go up with debits; Liabilities, Equity & Income go up with credits.

• Assets — what you own: bank accounts, receivables, the building, escrows.
• Liabilities — what you owe: mortgages, security deposits you hold, payables.
• Equity — the owners' stake: contributions, draws, retained earnings.
• Income — money earned: rent, CAM reimbursements, late fees.
• Expenses — cost of operating: repairs, utilities, taxes, management fees.

The accounting equation always holds: Assets = Liabilities + Equity.

• Profit & Loss (Income Statement) — income minus expenses over a period. Are you making money?
• Balance Sheet — what you own, owe, and the equity left, at a point in time. What's it worth?
• Cash Flow — where cash actually moved (operating, investing, financing).

Net Operating Income = operating income − operating expenses, before mortgage interest, depreciation, and capital expenditures. It measures the property's performance independent of how it's financed. Easy Books' P&L shows NOI as a subtotal; accounts flagged “below NOI” (mortgage interest, depreciation, CapEx) sit under it. Buyers value a property largely on NOI ÷ cap rate.

Cash basis records income/expense when money moves. Accrual basis records them when earned/incurred (e.g. rent billed but not yet paid shows as income + a receivable). Accrual gives a truer operating picture; cash is simpler for taxes for many small owners. Toggle Basis on the Reports screen to see either.

• Rent received: Bank ↑ (debit), Rental Income ↑ (credit).
• Security deposit collected: Bank ↑ (debit), Security Deposits Held ↑ (credit — it's a liability, not income).
• Mortgage payment: split it — Mortgage Payable ↓ (principal), Mortgage Interest expense ↑ (interest), Bank ↓. Use a Split on Categorize.
• Repair vs. improvement: a repair is an expense; a betterment that extends the asset's life is CapEx (an asset), depreciated over time.
• Depreciation: a monthly manual entry — Depreciation expense ↑ (debit), Accumulated Depreciation ↑ (credit).

Chart of accounts — Your list of income, expense, asset, liability, and equity buckets.

Journal entry — One balanced transaction (debits = credits).

Reconciliation — Matching your books to the bank statement so nothing's missing or double-counted.

Trial balance — A list of every account's balance — debits should equal credits overall.

Class / Location — Optional tags to split reports by property, unit, or business line.

Cap rate — NOI ÷ property value — the yield buyers use to price a property.