Property Management Bookkeeping in Rhode Island

Money held for owners in Rhode Island is not your money, and Rhode Island sets its own rules — through state law and the Rhode Island Secretary of State-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 Rhode Island's specific requirement is a determination for you and your attorney, not us.

Security deposits in Rhode Island are a liability, not income. Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island runs through the Rhode Island Secretary of State, with tax accounts through the Rhode Island Division of Taxation and employer accounts through the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training. Rhode Island treats these as wholly independent, so being in good standing with one says nothing about the others — and the sales tax account is the one that accrues a real balance while you are not looking.

The Rhode Island statewide base rate is 7%. That is among the highest state rates in the country before a single local rate is added, which makes a miscoded category expensive per transaction rather than merely untidy. Sourcing is where this is won or lost, and with economic nexus set at $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions, it becomes your problem the moment that threshold is crossed.