Property Management Bookkeeping in Delaware

Money held for owners in Delaware is not your money, and Delaware sets its own rules — through state law and the Delaware Division of Corporations-registered licensing regime — on how those funds are held, how often they are reconciled, and what records must exist. We keep the trust ledger reconciled to the bank with owner-level detail behind every balance; whether that satisfies Delaware's specific requirement is a determination for you and your attorney, not us.

Security deposits in Delaware are a liability, not income. Delaware caps a residential deposit at one month's rent, and requires you to return or account for it within 20 days of move-out. That deadline is why the ledger has to be per-tenant rather than one pooled balance — a pooled figure cannot answer "what is owed to this tenant, and by when," which is the only question that matters when a deposit is disputed.

Registering to do business in Delaware runs through the Delaware Division of Corporations and employer accounts through the Delaware Department of Labor. Because Delaware has no sales tax account to maintain, there is one less registration to let lapse than in most states.

With no statewide general sales tax in Delaware, there is no rate to apply or reconcile — the liability account most businesses get wrong simply does not exist here. What replaces it is the Gross Receipts Tax, levied on total receipts from goods sold and services rendered in Delaware rather than on the individual sale.