How do I set up real estate categories?

You set up income expense categories for use for real estate investment record keeping in the same way that you set up any other income or expense category. Specifically, take the following steps:

1. Display the Set Up Your Categories window.
To display the Set Up Your Categories window, click the Accounts & Bills link, and then select Categories & Payee. Money displays the Set Up Your Categories window.

2. Indicate that you want to set up a new income or expense category.
Click the New button, and Money then displays the first dialog box of the New
Category Wizard. It asks whether you want to create a new income or expense category. Answer this question by clicking the appropriate button

3. Give the category a name.
Enter a name in the Name box for income or expense categories. For example, a category to track rents received might be rent or rent income. The category to track advertising might be advertising.

4. Identify the category type and group.
Click the Income or Expense option button to identify the type of category, and then click the Next button. Money displays the last New Category Wizard dialog box. It asks in which predefined group of categories Money should report the new category. Pick the predefined group that is closest, and then click the Finish button.

5. Add any other categories required.
Repeat steps 2 through 4 for each category you want to add to the list that Money maintains. As mentioned earlier, you need an income category to record rent received, and you need to have expense categories for each of the expense amounts you’ll report on the Schedule E form.
It’s not a bad idea to precede each of the real estate categories you set up with a short abbreviation or word that clearly identifies the category as one you will use for real estate record keeping. For example, you might want to precede or start each category name with the two-letter abbreviation re to identify the category as one related to real estate. Or you might want to start each income and expense category name with the
word rental. For example, the income category might be rental income. The advertising category might be rental advertising, and so on. By having each rental and expense category start the same way, you will find it much easier to produce reports that include only rental income and expense categories.

How do I set up real estate classifications?

You need to not only track real estate income and expense
amounts using categories but you also need to be able to segregate this income and expense data by property. For example, if you own two or three properties, you need to create an income statement for each of these properties.

Money lets you perform this type of investment record keeping through its classification feature. To set up a separate classification for each property you own, take the following steps:

1. Display the Set Up Your Categories window.
Click the Accounts & Bills link, and then select Categories & Payee.

2. Create a classification for properties.
Click the Classification 1 link in the Set Up Your Categories window. When you
do, Money displays the Add Classification dialog box . Use this
dialog box to indicate you need a classification system to track individual property.

3. Select Properties as your classification system.
Click the Properties option button to use Properties as a classification method. Click the OK button.

4. Create a classification for each property you need to track.
Money displays the Set Up Your Properties window . This win-
dow lists the Properties classification you set up. Initially, of course, it won’t show any properties, but as you add properties to your list, Money adds them to the list shown in this window.

5. Describe a property using a classification.
Click the New button, and Money displays the New Class Or Subclass dialog box. Use the Name box to uniquely identify the property. For example,
you might enter the name of the property, if it has a name, such as Rose Hill Manor or Kirkland Square. Click the OK button.

6. (Optional) Add descriptive information about the classification.
After you define the classification, Money adds it to the list shown in the Set Up Your Properties window. If you double-click the classification, or click the classification to select it and then click the Go To Details button. You can use this window to look at classification-level data. You can also use this window to collect freeform information about the classification, such as the property tax account, perhaps information about the property’s history of rent increases, or its history of scheduled maintenance tasks.
Enter this type of information in the large text box.