You do not need to organize your entire rental history before starting. Add one property, save one real record, and check that you can find the supporting details again.
1. Start your desktop trial
Open DeductFlow and continue with Google. New accounts can try desktop tracking for seven days without a credit card. Reports, exports, and Mobile Companion require paid Pro and are excluded from the trial. Pro is $149/year or $24/month.
2. Add your first property
Follow the setup prompts to add the rental you want to work on. Use a recognizable property name and check the information you enter. Gather purchase and use records separately if your tax professional needs to review them; do not guess tax treatment to finish setup.
3. Choose your first record
- An expense: enter the date, vendor, amount, property, and description. Attach the receipt and choose an appropriate category.
- A rental trip: record the date, distance, property, and business purpose. Keep enough context for a later review of the trip.
- An activity: use the hours timer or enter the work date, duration, participant, property, and task. Keep other people's work under their names.
The purpose is to preserve what happened. A category, trip entry, or hours counter does not determine whether an amount is deductible or an activity qualifies.
4. Review what you saved
Find the record in its list, check the property and date, and confirm that the description makes sense without relying on your memory. Correct errors while the supporting documents are easy to find.
For an hours entry, distinguish when the work occurred from when you logged it. New entries preserve the original entry time separately from the activity date. That timestamp does not independently verify the work.
5. Build a routine you can keep
Add records as you go and review them regularly. A short weekly check can catch missing receipts, duplicate entries, and work that needs a clearer description. Keep unresolved tax questions for your CPA.
After upgrading to paid Pro
Paid Pro unlocks reports, exports, and Mobile Companion. You can view the free sample report before buying to understand the kind of information a tax-time handoff can include. Actual report contents depend on your records and the current product.
Use the expense workflow, mileage workflow, and active-hours workflow for more detail. Prefer a spreadsheet first? Download the free log.