One LLC per property: how to get a portfolio view without losing entity separation

Keep a separate set of books, bank account and chart of accounts for each LLC, using the same account structure across all of them. Then consolidate on a schedule into one portfolio report. You keep each entity legally and financially clean, and you still see which property is carrying the portfolio and which one is dragging it down.

Why separation matters

Owners set up one LLC per property for liability and financing reasons. Mixing funds between them, paying one property's bills from another's account, or running everything through a single file undermines the reason the entities exist. Talk to your attorney about the legal side; on the books, the rule is simple: every dollar belongs to one entity.

The setup that makes consolidation easy

• One bank account per entity, with no shared operating account.

• An identical chart of accounts across every entity, so line items add up cleanly.

• Due-to and due-from accounts for any money that moves between entities, recorded on both sides the same day.

• A property management system, such as Buildium, reconciled to the books every month.

What the portfolio view shows

• Net operating income by property, side by side.

• Occupancy, collections and delinquency by property.

• Debt service coverage by property.

• Cash position across all entities in one place.

Common mistakes

The most common problems we see are intercompany transfers recorded on one side only, shared expenses such as insurance or management fees paid by one entity and never allocated, and property management software that no longer agrees with the general ledger. Each one makes the portfolio view wrong in a way that is hard to spot from the summary.

If you want a second set of eyes on your own numbers, book a free 20 minute call with Julia at calendly.com/juliaspahiu.

Edi & Sienna Group provides bookkeeping, accounting and fractional CFO services. We are not a licensed public accounting firm and this post is general information, not tax, legal or accounting advice for your specific situation.