General Ledger + Converter in one subscription.
See pricingINDUSTRIES · PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
Property management accounting software has to hold three kinds of money apart: owners’ rent, tenants’ security deposits and your own management fees. The trust bank must equal what you owe owners plus deposits held. ZeraBooks is a general ledger with AI bookkeeping that keeps those balances and proves the trust account against its statement every month.
7-day trial · card required, nothing charged for 7 days · then $79/month billed annually or $149 monthly
DEFINITION
A running balance for each property owner: rent collected for them, less expenses paid on their behalf, your management fee and the money already sent to them. Added together, the owner ledgers and the deposits you hold should equal the trust bank balance.
THE REQUIREMENTS
A manager’s own company earns fees. Almost everything else that passes through the trust account belongs to someone else.
What each owner is owed at any moment: their rent in, their repairs out, your fee out, their distributions out.
Rent charged and paid per tenant, so you know who is behind before the owner asks.
A deposit is held, not earned. It stays owed to the tenant until move-out, when part may be kept for damage or unpaid charges and the rest is returned.
The management fee moves from the trust account to your operating account and becomes your income. Nothing else in trust is yours.
The trust bank balance equal to owner balances plus deposits held, after a bank reconciliation of the trust account itself.
We set you up and catch up your past months for free. Then ZeraBooks keeps your books done.
WHAT LIVES WHERE
The general ledger holds the totals and proves them. The detail behind each total can live in the ledger or beside it, depending on how many doors you manage.
| Record | In ZeraBooks | Detail kept |
|---|---|---|
| Owner balances | A sub-category per owner under Owner funds held, such as Owner funds held › Wu | In the ledger; practical for a handful of owners |
| Security deposits | One Security deposits held liability for the whole trust account | Per-tenant register in your property management software or a spreadsheet |
| Tenant rent | Owner-landlords can invoice each tenant and read who is behind on the A/R aging | Managers collecting for owners keep tenant ledgers in property management software |
| Management fees | A transfer from trust to operating, then income in your own categories | In the ledger |
| Trust bank | Its statements uploaded and proven against the printed balances | In the ledger, to the cent |
| Year-end 1099s | The year-end review lists payees who may need a Form 1099 | Your preparer confirms and files |
An owner who wants completely separate books can be set up as their own company in the same login. Three companies are included in the subscription.
WORKED EXAMPLE
Harbor Lane Property Co. is a fictional manager. Its tenant in unit 4B, owned by Dana Wu, paid a 1,800.00 deposit and moved out on September 30, 2026. The manager kept 240.00 for carpet cleaning and 85.00 for an unpaid water bill Ms. Wu had covered.
| Date | What happened | Debit | Credit | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 1, 2025 | Deposit received into trust | Trust bank | Security deposits held | 1,800.00 |
| Oct 7, 2026 | Refund check 1093 to the tenant (1,800.00 − 325.00) | Security deposits held | Trust bank | 1,475.00 |
| Oct 7, 2026 | Journal: kept part of the deposit becomes the owner’s | Security deposits held | Owner funds held › Wu | 325.00 |
| Oct 9, 2026 | Carpet cleaner paid from trust for the owner | Owner funds held › Wu | Trust bank | 240.00 |
| Left in Security deposits held for this tenant (1,800.00 − 1,475.00 − 325.00) | 0.00 |
Ms. Wu’s balance goes up by 85.00 net (325.00 kept, less the 240.00 cleaning bill), which repays the water bill she covered. Send the tenant an itemized list of deductions with the refund, within the deadline your state or province sets. The kept amount is the owner’s money, not the manager’s, so it never touches your income.
MONTH-END
After the trust bank ties to its statement, the same balance has to be fully spoken for. Harbor Lane on October 31, 2026:
| Balance | Source | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Owner funds held › Wu | Owner sub-category | 9,460.00 |
| Owner funds held › Okonkwo | Owner sub-category | 12,115.00 |
| Security deposits held | Liability; agrees with the 10-tenant deposit register | 17,350.00 |
| Owed to owners and tenants | 9,460.00 + 12,115.00 + 17,350.00 | 38,925.00 |
| Trust bank, reconciled | Balance Sheet | 38,925.00 |
If the trust bank is higher, a fee you earned hasn’t been moved out yet, or money arrived that isn’t assigned to an owner. If it is lower, an owner was paid more than their balance, which spends another owner’s money. The same tie-out logic applies to any balance sheet reconciliation.
SETUP
One sitting for a manager with an operating account, a trust account and a few owners.
In Banks & Cards, add each by a name you will recognize, such as “Trust 6612” and “Operating 3108”.
In Accounting › Category Manager, click Generate with AI and describe the business, for example “property manager for 30 residential units, trust account for owners and deposits”. Make sure Owner funds held and Security deposits held sit under Liabilities.
Under Owner funds held, add one sub-category for each owner, so their balances show line by line on the Balance Sheet.
Import the closing trial balance from your old software, with each owner’s balance and the deposits held mapped to their categories.
Upload both accounts’ statements each month. Rent deposits go to the owner they belong to, and when ZeraBooks can’t tell which owner, it asks.
Once the trust account ties in Reconciliations, check that owner balances plus deposits held equal it, then finalize the month.
WHERE ZERABOOKS FITS
ZeraBooks keeps the general ledger behind your portfolio. Rent collection, tenant portals, leases and maintenance requests stay in your property management system, and statements are uploaded rather than fed from the bank.
THE GENERAL LEDGER
Every owner balance and the deposit liability sit on the same Balance Sheet as the trust bank, so the monthly trust check is one screen. Each trust statement has to add up and agree with the ledger before its month ties.
Add categories and sub-categoriesOR HAND IT OVER
The ZeraBooks team can keep the books and prove the trust account each month while you run the buildings; see bookkeeping for property management. From $150 a month (USD), quoted after a free call.
How reconciliation worksMORE INDUSTRIES
One that keeps owner balances and deposits as liabilities, moves only your fees into income and proves the trust account monthly. ZeraBooks does that as an AI-native general ledger from your uploaded statements, with each month tied to the cent.
Not while it may be returned. It is a liability until move-out. In a manager’s books, the part kept goes to the owner’s balance, never to the manager’s income. Law firms treat client retainers the same way; see law firm accounting software.
Not as a tenant ledger with leases and charges. A landlord who owns the buildings can invoice each tenant and see who is behind on the A/R aging. Managers collecting for owners keep tenant ledgers in their property management system.
Move the fee from the trust account to operating, then book it as your income and as a reduction of that owner’s balance. The fee is the only part of the rent that belongs to you.
No. ZeraBooks doesn’t collect rent or move money, and there is no bank feed. Upload each account’s statements as PDF or CSV and ZeraBooks checks them against their printed balances.
$79 a month billed annually or $149 monthly, after a 7-day trial. See ZeraBooks pricing.
FREE SETUP + CATCH-UP
Add the accounts and an owner or two, upload a month and run the trust check. 7 days, then $79 a month billed annually. Rather have it done for you? See our bookkeeping services.