Skip to main content
Start free
Start free

How to prepare Schedule E figures with an AI assistant and hand them to your preparer

DoorKeeping team

3 min read

Ask the assistant for Schedule E for a year and an LLC. It reads your books and returns rents received (line 3), expenses by Schedule E line, total expenses and income or loss, one column per property. Depreciation is left at 0 for your accountant to add, and rent counts as charged. Then ask for the year-end CPA package as one file. Your preparer files the return.

What you get and what you do not

Schedule E (Part I) reports rental income and expenses on your personal return. The figures come from the books for one LLC and one calendar year, which defaults to last year. You get:

  • Line 3, rents received.
  • Lines 5 to 19, expenses, each placed by the Schedule E line of its expense account.
  • Line 20, total expenses, and line 21, income or loss.
  • One column per property and a total. Expenses that belong to no property get their own column.

Two things are not done for you. Line 18, depreciation, stays at 0: your accountant works it out from the property's cost and placed-in-service date. And rent counts as charged, not as received, so a preparer may adjust for rent paid early or late around year end. The notes in the report say what to adjust. The line list is in the IRS Schedule E instructions.

Before you ask: clean the year

  1. Categorize the loose bank lines. See categorize rental bank transactions with AI.
  2. Match unmatched deposits, so every dollar of rent is on a lease.
  3. Close each month. See month-end close with AI.
  4. Collect a W-9 for every contractor you paid. Ask for the list of payees paid with no W-9 on file.

A Schedule E built on an unclosed year will move when you close it.

The prompts, in order

  1. Show me Schedule E for 2025 for the Maple LLC.
  2. Which expense lines are largest, and which property has a loss?
  3. Show me the 1099-NEC totals for 2025 and who is missing a W-9.
  4. Give me the year-end CPA package for Maple LLC, 2025, as Excel.

Example a made-up LLC reports line 3 rents of $54,000 and total expenses of $38,500 before depreciation. Line 21 shows $15,500. Your accountant then subtracts depreciation of, say, $9,000, so taxable rental income is $6,500. The assistant's $15,500 is not the figure that goes on the return.

Check the total against the income statement for the same year. They come from the same books and should agree.

What is in the CPA package

The year-end package is one zip for one LLC and one year: trial balance, general ledger detail and by account, income statement, balance sheet, Schedule E, 1099-NEC, vendors missing a W-9, security deposits held and a README. The download link works for 15 minutes and anyone who has it can open the file while it lasts, so open it yourself and send the file, not the link. What a preparer expects is in what to send your CPA at tax time.

Tenant and contractor tax IDs are sensitive. Send the package over your preparer's secure portal, not a plain email. The FTC's guide on protecting personal information is a good checklist.

How DoorKeeping handles it

The Schedule E, 1099-NEC and package tools are read-only. They produce figures from your books and never file anything. Rent stays in your own bank account, and anything involving money waits for your approval. DoorKeeping gives no tax advice: your preparer decides depreciation and what goes on the return. The 1099 instructions set the filing rules for contractors.

Sources

  1. IRS: Instructions for Schedule E (Form 1040), 2025, read Oct 30, 2026
  2. IRS Publication 527: Residential Rental Property, read Oct 30, 2026
  3. IRS: Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC, read Oct 30, 2026
  4. FTC: Protecting Personal Information, A Guide for Business, read Oct 30, 2026
  5. DoorKeeping: Connect Claude or ChatGPT (steps and tools list), read Oct 30, 2026

Questions

Does the AI file my Schedule E?
No. It reads your books and gives figures. Your preparer files the return.
Why is depreciation zero?
Depreciation depends on cost, placed-in-service date and your tax position, so your accountant adds it. Line 18 stays at 0 in the report.
Are these figures cash or accrual?
Rent counts as charged. The report notes say what an accountant may adjust, such as rent paid early or late around year end.
Can I give my preparer the file directly?
Yes. Download the CPA package yourself and send the file over a secure channel. Do not share the temporary link.

Keep reading