Book a New Client Introduction. Or call 323-463-2600.
lavicpa is an independent CPA firm and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Buildium. Buildium® is a trademark of its respective owner.
Hub map: property management software and your CPA.
What Buildium is good for at tax time
Buildium helps with operations and reporting. It does not file your IRS return.
Owner-facing income and expense reports give a CPA usable source data. Categories still need review. Capital items still need the right treatment. Entity ownership still has to match the forms.
Buildium reports and exports are useful source documents for landlords. A CPA still reconciles income, expenses, reserves, and capital items, then reports on Schedule E or Form 8825 for the correct entity. lavicpa works with Buildium landlords this way for tax prep and real-estate planning.
Exports and reports to send your CPA
Send owner-facing income and expense reports for each property or entity, plus mortgage Form 1098s, property tax bills, and last year’s return. If you use multiple LLCs, label which Buildium properties belong to which entity. Your CPA uses that package to build the return. Buildium does not file it for you.
Keep exports readable. PDF owner statements plus a labeled spreadsheet are both fine when that is what your manager sends. What matters is property identity, date range, and entity tags — not a perfect chart of accounts inside Buildium.
Checklist:
1. Owner statements or income-expense reports by property (tax year or YTD) 2. Transaction detail if your package already includes it 3. Mortgage Form 1098s 4. Property tax bills 5. Prior-year returns (and K-1s if partnerships) 6. Entity chart tied to each property
Self-managed vs third-party manager on Buildium
The CPA translation job is the same. Who generates the PDF may differ.
Self-managed owners often export directly. Managed owners request an owner package from the PM. Either way, label properties by entity and include 1098s and property tax bills. You do not need to rebuild the manager’s books to hire a CPA.
Schedule E and Form 8825 mapping
Owner draws are not taxable rental income by themselves.
Cash after fees and reserves is not the Schedule E total. Fees, repairs versus improvements, and reserve movements need reconciliation before the form is right.
Buildium categories are a starting point, not the final Schedule E lines. A repair that should be capitalized will still need review. A capital item coded like a repair will too. The CPA pass is where those calls get documented for the return.
Form choice follows the entity:
- Many individual landlords use Schedule E.
- Partnerships and many multi-member LLCs use Form 8825 inside the partnership return.
- Multi-entity Buildium portfolios need a clear property-to-LLC map.
Landlords who switched CPAs after a return ignored Buildium categories often arrive with a prior Schedule E and a fresh export. Bring both. Comparing last year’s reporting to this year’s activity is part of a clean handoff.
Year-round planning on top of Buildium
Reporting closes the year. Planning uses the same facts before and after April.
If you are buying or selling while on Buildium, say that early. Exports show operating history. Basis, depreciation, and exchange timing still need closing documents and planning work on top.
Multi-state owners should note which properties sit outside California (or outside their home state) when they send the package. Entity and residency facts steer how the same Buildium totals show up on the return. High-net-worth landlords who only call a CPA in March often miss those mid-year decisions.
How lavicpa works with Buildium landlords
We prepare tax returns and advise on real-estate planning from Buildium owner data. Entities, Schedule E / Form 8825, 1031, and cost segregation sit in that lane.
What we do not sell as the hero offer on this page:
- Running Buildium books for a property-management company
- Claiming partnership or endorsement by Buildium
- Invented fee schedules or door-count guarantees
Sibling pages: AppFolio CPA for landlords, Yardi Breeze CPA for investors, DoorLoop CPA for landlords. Hub: PM software and your CPA.
Book a New Client Introduction
1. Schedule a New Client Introduction. 2. Or call 323-463-2600. 3. Bring Buildium exports, 1098s, property tax bills, prior returns, and your entity list.
Shawn Lavi, CPA will review what you have and outline tax and planning scope in plain language.