ProfitGuard uses Single Sign-On (SSO) through Blessed Bits to provide a seamless experience. When you sign out of ProfitGuard, you're only signing out of this app—your Blessed Bits session remains active. This is a secure convenience feature—balancing security with ease of use by avoiding unnecessary repeated logins. Your data remains protected. For details on our security measures, see Is my data secure?

To fully sign out (for example, when switching users or using a shared device): Select "Sign Out Everywhere" from the sign-out menu.

Yes, absolutely. We use industry-standard OAuth 2.0 with PKCE (Proof Key for Code Exchange) for authentication—the same security protocol used by major financial institutions and tech companies.

Your passwords are never stored by ProfitGuard. All authentication is handled securely by Blessed Bits over encrypted connections. Your passwords are not even visible to our admins or Blessed Bits, as they are encrypted.

Your project data is encrypted in transit and at rest.

ProfitGuard is built on infrastructure that automatically scans for known vulnerabilities and applies patches and mitigations weekly, leveraging AI tools to identify and resolve security issues.

You can also enable two-factor authentication (2FA) via SMS, email, or your preferred authenticator app. See How do I enable two-factor authentication (2FA)? for setup instructions.

Blessed Bits is our trusted authentication partner that handles user accounts, passwords, subscriptions, billing, and other shared services. This separation means that if you use multiple applications in the Blessed Bits family of products, you'll enjoy a consistent experience with no need for separate user accounts or login credentials. ProfitGuard focuses on delivering the best house-flipping analysis tools and reporting, so you can stay profitable and productive. You can manage your account, password, and two-factor authentication directly in Settings > Account & Security.

Two-factor authentication (2FA) can be enabled directly in the app via the settings page. To set it up, go to Settings > Account & Security in ProfitGuard and click "Manage 2FA" to open the 2FA settings. You can choose from three 2FA methods:

• SMS: Receive codes via text message to your verified phone number.
• Email: Receive codes to your registered email address.
• Authenticator app: Use apps like Google Authenticator, Authy, Microsoft Authenticator, or any TOTP-compatible app.

Authenticator apps are recommended as the most secure option, since they work offline and aren't vulnerable to SIM-swapping attacks.

Note: Email-based 2FA requires a verified email address, and SMS-based 2FA requires a verified phone number in your profile.

To change your phone number, go to Settings > Profile Information and edit the Phone Number field. When you save changes, a verification code will be sent to your new phone number via SMS. Enter the code to verify the new number. Your old number remains active until the new one is verified. If you're adding a phone for the first time, you may need to grant SMS consent, which allows ProfitGuard to send you verification codes and important notifications.

SMS consent is your permission for ProfitGuard to send text messages to your phone. This is required for phone verification codes and optional notifications about your account. When you add or change your phone number, you may be redirected to grant consent. This is a one-time process and you can revoke consent at any time from your Blessed Bits account settings. Standard messaging rates from your carrier may apply.

Only if you want to use SMS-based 2FA. You have three options for two-factor authentication:

• SMS (requires a verified phone number)
• Email (uses your registered email - no phone needed)
• Authentication App (uses apps like Google Authenticator - no phone needed)

If you prefer not to share your phone number, email or authentication app 2FA are excellent alternatives. See How do I enable two-factor authentication (2FA)? for setup instructions.

Yes! Your account works across all your devices. Since we use SSO, you may find you're automatically logged in on devices where you've previously logged into Blessed Bits. Your projects and data sync automatically across all devices.

ProfitGuard offers three tiers:

• Starter ($12/month): 2 active projects, 25 comps/month, and 30 receipt scans/month.
• Pro ($59/month): 10 active projects, 150 comps/month, 100 receipt scans/month, and priority support.
• Team ($129/month): Unlimited active projects, 300 comps/month, 1000 receipt scans/month, and team collaboration features.

All tiers also offer yearly billing with a 17% discount. View full details on our [Features](https://profitguard.app/features) and [Pricing](https://profitguard.app/pricing) pages.

Yes! Every new account starts with a 30-day free trial with full access to Starter tier features. We do require a credit card to start a trial but you will not be charged until the end of the trail assuming you find the product useful and contineu using. You'll see a countdown of your remaining trial days in the sidebar.

Go to Settings > Billing and click "Manage" in the Plan section. From there, you can upgrade, downgrade, cancel, or reactivate your subscription. Changes often take effect immediately, and while many upgrades are prorated, certain plan changes may follow different billing cycles. You'll see a preview of any immediate charges before confirming your selection.

You'll receive email reminders as your trial approaches its end. When the trial ends, you'll need to subscribe to continue using ProfitGuard. Your data is preserved for 30 days, giving you time to subscribe without losing any work. See What subscription tiers are available? for pricing options.

Yes, you can cancel your subscription at any time from Settings > Billing by clicking "Manage". In most cases, you'll continue to have access until the end of your current billing period. However, certain plans—such as those during a trial or specific promotional periods—may result in immediate loss of access upon cancellation. You will see a clear confirmation of your specific access end date before you finalize the cancellation.

Your data is completely preserved when you cancel your subscription. Cancelling only stops future billing - it does not delete anything.

Here's what happens:

• Your projects, receipts, and analysis remain exactly as you left them.
• Your uploaded receipt images and documents stay securely stored.
• Your account reverts to free tier after your paid period ends.
• You can resubscribe anytime and immediately regain full access to all your data.

Many customers cancel during slow seasons and resubscribe when they have new deals. Your data will be waiting for you.

Note: If you want to permanently remove all your data, see What happens when I delete my account?

Yes! If you run out of monthly comps or receipt scans, you can purchase credit packs directly from Settings > Billing. Credit packs come in various sizes with volume discounts - the more you buy, the lower the per-unit cost. Purchased credits never expire and are used after your monthly allocation is depleted.

Net profit is calculated as:

ARV (After Repair Value) - Purchase Price - All Renovation Costs - Holding Costs - Selling Costs - Taxes

We account for every expense category to give you a realistic picture of your actual take-home profit, not just gross margin.

The 70% Rule is an industry standard that says your maximum offer should be 70% of the ARV minus renovation costs.

Formula: Max Offer = (ARV x 0.70) - Renovation Costs

This ensures you have enough margin for unexpected expenses and still make a profit. ProfitGuard calculates this automatically based on your comps and selected renovations.

Holding costs are the monthly expenses you'll pay while owning the property: property taxes, insurance, utilities, loan interest, and any HOA fees. We multiply your monthly holding costs by your expected hold time (in months) to calculate total holding costs. The longer you hold, the more these eat into your profit. See What does 'Profit Bleed' mean? for more on how holding time impacts profit.

House flips are typically taxed as short-term capital gains (taxed at your regular income rate if held less than 1 year). A flip that shows $50,000 profit might only net you $32,500 after a 35% tax bracket. ProfitGuard shows your REAL after-tax profit so you know exactly what you'll take home.

You can set your tax bracket and state tax rates in Settings > Tax Defaults.

Profit Bleed shows how much profit you lose for each additional month you hold the property. It visualizes the impact of holding costs over time, helping you understand the urgency of completing your project efficiently. A property with high monthly holding costs has high "profit bleed."

The What-If Scenario Analysis is a built-in simulation tool that lets you model different deal variables—purchase price, hold time, broker fees, renovation budget, and profit goal—to see how each change affects your net profit and ROI before committing to a deal.

You'll find it in two places:
• Deal Calculator (standalone analysis page) — tweak numbers in a sandbox and optionally apply changes back to your deal.
• Project Wizard (when creating or editing a project) — adjust assumptions as you build your project.

Each scenario card shows a real-time profit impact badge so you can instantly see whether a change helps or hurts the deal.

Open the What-If Scenario Analysis panel and expand the scenario you want to explore:

• Buy Lower — slide the offer price up or down to see how it affects your 70% Rule compliance and net profit. The Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO) is shown for reference.
• Shorten Timeline — adjust hold time in months. ProfitGuard warns you if the timeline is shorter than your planned tasks or industry benchmarks for your renovation scope.
• Reduce Commission — slide the broker fee percentage to model FSBO, discounted, or full-service commission.
• Cut Reno Budget — explore how trimming or increasing the renovation budget changes profitability (note: reducing scope may also lower ARV).
• Adjust Profit Goal — change your target profit to see if the current deal meets your requirements.

All sliders update the simulated profit instantly.

When you change any value in the What-If panel, ProfitGuard calculates a simulated net profit using the adjusted numbers and compares it to your original projection.

You'll see:
• A Simulated Profit banner showing the new net profit amount.
• A delta line (e.g., "+$12,000 vs current projection") colored green for gains or red for losses.
• A Profit Impact Badge on each scenario card indicating whether you meet your profit goal.

In the Deal Calculator, changes stay in a sandbox until you click Apply Changes, which writes eligible values (purchase price, broker fee, profit goal) back to the deal. In the Project Wizard, changes apply immediately as you build.

The What-If tool is ideal for stress-testing a deal before making an offer:

1. Find your ceiling — slide the purchase price up until the deal barely meets your profit goal. That's your absolute max offer. 2. Plan for delays — increase hold time by 1-2 months to see the cost of potential delays and ensure you still profit. 3. Model worst-case ARV — if comps are uncertain, lower the ARV slider and check that the deal still works at conservative valuations. 4. Compare commission structures — see the dollar impact of negotiating a lower broker fee or selling FSBO. 5. Set your walk-away number — combine multiple adjustments (higher price + longer hold + lower ARV) to find the scenario where the deal stops making sense.

This approach helps you negotiate from a position of knowledge rather than guesswork.

• Potential: Deals you're analyzing but haven't committed to yet.
• Active: Properties you've purchased and are currently working on.
• Completed: Finished flips that have been sold.
• Archived: Old projects you want to keep for reference but hide from your main view.

• Starter tier: 2 active projects (unlimited archived)
• Pro tier: 10 active projects
• Team tier: Unlimited active and archived projects, plus team collaboration features

Archived projects don't count against your active project limit, but have restrictions on what can be modified once archived. What subscription tiers are available? for full tier details.

Yes! Click on any project card to open the full editor. You can update any field - purchase price, ARV, renovation costs, timeline, etc. All calculations update in real-time as you make changes. This is useful for tracking actual vs. estimated costs as your project progresses. Note only active projects can be used to add receipts and track actual vs estimated costs, so there are restriction on what can be modified once archived.

Archived projects are moved to a separate view and don't count against your active project limit. All data is preserved, and you can unarchive a project anytime. Completed projects are automatically suggested for archiving.

Yes! You can save any project as a reusable template. Go to the project, click the menu (three dots), and select "Save as Template" to create a template with all your task categories, durations, and budget allocations. Then on the Projects page, click "Start from Template" to quickly create a new project based on it. You'll enter the Purchase Price and ARV upfront so financial projections are ready immediately. See What are project templates and how do I use them? for details.

The Demo Project is a pre-built sample project that helps you learn ProfitGuard quickly. It includes:

• 43 realistic renovation tasks organized by category (demo, electrical, plumbing, etc.)
• 8 sample contractors with assigned specialties
• ~43 day timeline with task dependencies
• $56k budget based on typical rehab costs

Why use it:
• See how a complete project looks before creating your own
• Learn workflow patterns and best practices
• Use it as a starting point—customize addresses, swap contractors, adjust dates

Find the Demo Project on the Templates page. It creates a real project you can modify.

Project templates let you save your project structure for reuse on future flips.

Creating a template: 1. Open any project 2. Click the menu (three dots) and select "Save as Template" 3. Name your template and optionally make it public

Using a template: 1. Go to the Projects page 2. Click "Start from Template" 3. Choose your template, enter the Purchase Price and ARV (both required) 4. A new project is created with all your template's tasks and budgets pre-filled

What's saved in a template:
• Task titles, categories, and descriptions
• Planned durations and task order
• Budget allocations per category

What's NOT saved:
• Specific dates (calculated fresh for new project)
• Receipts and actual spending
• Property-specific details (address, ARV, purchase price—you enter these when creating)

Pro tip: After completing a successful flip, save it as a template to replicate your workflow on similar properties.

You can set your default state and ZIP code in Settings > Preferences.

How to Set Defaults: 1. Go to Settings (click your profile icon or the gear icon in the sidebar) 2. Select the Preferences tab 3. Set your State, ZIP Code, and other defaults like tax rates and broker fees 4. Click Save

What These Defaults Do:
• New Projects: Your default state, ZIP code, tax rates, and broker fees are pre-populated when you create a new project, saving you time on every deal.
• AI Deal Scout: Your default state and ZIP code set your home market for AI Deal Scout searches, so searches start in your area automatically.
• Tax Calculations: Default state and federal tax rates are applied to profit projections across all new projects.

Tip: Setting accurate defaults early saves time and ensures consistent analysis across all your deals. You can always override these on individual projects.

ProfitGuard uses AI-powered OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to automatically extract data from your receipt photos and PDFs. Simply take a photo of your receipt or upload a PDF, and our system will extract the vendor name, date, total amount, and individual line items. You can review and edit the extracted data before saving as well as split items across renovations categories.

You can upload images (JPEG, PNG) or PDF documents. For PDFs with multiple pages, ProfitGuard will process each page as a separate receipt, making it easy to upload multi-page documents from your scanner.

Our AI achieves high accuracy for most receipts, but results can vary depending on image quality, handwriting, and receipt formatting. We always show you a confidence score and allow you to review and correct any extracted data before saving. Clear, well-lit photos produce the best results.

Yes! Your original receipt images and PDFs are permanently stored in secure cloud storage. You can access them anytime from the receipt details page, which is useful for record-keeping and tax documentation. These records will be included in our CPA reports. See Is my data secure? for details on how we protect your files.

ProfitGuard's MagicIngest feature (Pro plan) lets you import project data from spreadsheets automatically.

How It Works: 1. Go to the Import Data page from the main menu 2. Upload your spreadsheet (CSV or Excel) 3. MagicIngest uses AI to automatically map your columns to ProfitGuard fields 4. Review the mapping preview and make adjustments if needed 5. Confirm to import your data into a new or existing project

What Can Be Imported:
• Work items and budget line items
• Task lists with durations and categories
• Contractor information

Tips for Best Results:
• Use clear column headers (e.g., "Task Name", "Cost", "Duration")
• Include category information when possible
• Review the AI mapping before confirming — it's usually accurate but worth double-checking

This is a Pro plan feature. See What subscription tiers are available? for plan details.

Yes! ProfitGuard generates a comprehensive CPA Tax Report with IRS-accurate terminology and form mapping.

To Generate a Report: 1. Go to Reports from the main menu 2. Select the Financial tab 3. Open the CPA Tax Report 4. Choose the tax year and download as PDF or Excel

What's Included:
• IRS waterfall — Gross Proceeds → Selling Costs → Adjusted Basis → Net Realized Gain for each sold property
• IRS form mapping — Form 4797 Part II, Schedule C, Schedule SE with specific line references
• Itemized renovation costs by category with capitalization notes
• Business deductions and mileage summary
• Federal, state, and self-employment tax estimates
• Dealer vs. investor classification notes for your CPA
• Data Quality Alerts flag missing dates, incomplete data, or inconsistencies before you share

Excel Export: Download a formatted 5-tab .xlsx workbook (Executive Summary, Sold Properties, Active Capitalization, Deductions & Mileage, All Detail) with professional formatting — ready to hand to your CPA.

PDF Export: Print or save as PDF directly from the browser.

Tip: Keep receipts scanned with dates throughout the project — this ensures expenses land in the correct tax year and avoids Data Quality warnings.

Budget Remaining shows how much of your renovation budget is still available to spend.

• Positive amount = money still available
• Zero = budget fully spent
• Negative = you've gone over budget

Track this closely during your renovation. If it's dropping faster than expected, you may need to cut scope on remaining work items or find cost savings.

Burn Rate is your average daily spending since starting the project, calculated by dividing total spending by days since your first expense.

Why it matters:
• Helps predict when you'll run out of budget
• Shows if spending is accelerating or slowing
• Useful for comparing to your planned timeline

Example: If you've spent $15,000 over 30 days, your burn rate is $500/day. At that pace, a $60,000 budget would be exhausted in 4 months.

This counts how many of your renovation categories have exceeded their allocated budget.

Why track this:
• Even if overall budget is OK, individual overruns signal planning issues
• Early overruns in some categories can force cuts in others
• Patterns of overruns help you budget better on future flips

Pro tip: When one category goes over, immediately review remaining categories to find offsetting savings.

Spend Pace compares your daily spending rate to your planned timeline.

Reading the percentage:
• 100% = spending exactly on pace
• 80% = spending 20% slower (good - building cushion)
• 120% = spending 20% faster (warning - may run out early)
• 150%+ = significantly overspending (critical)

The calculation: Your daily target = Total budget ÷ Planned days. Pace = (Actual daily spend ÷ Target daily spend) × 100%

Receipt Pulse shows your week-over-week spending trend based on receipts.

• Positive % = spending accelerated this week
• Negative % = spending slowed down this week
• 0% = roughly same spending pace

This helps you catch spending spikes before they become problems and see if you're ramping up or winding down. Note: This requires receipts with dates to calculate accurately.

Overhead Drag shows the cumulative impact of taxes and credit card fees on your renovation spending.

What's included:
• Sales tax on materials (typically 5-10%)
• Credit card processing fees (typically 2-3%)

The hidden cost: A $50,000 renovation with 8% sales tax and 3% CC fees actually costs you $55,500. That's $5,500 you might not have budgeted!

Pro tips:
• Budget for tax and fees upfront
• Some contractors don't charge tax on labor
• Cash purchases avoid CC fees (but lose protection)

Profit Erosion tracks how budget variances affect your bottom line. Every dollar over budget is a dollar less profit.

Reading the numbers:
• +$5,000 = you're $5k under budget (more profit!)
• -$8,000 = you're $8k over budget (less profit)

The compound effect: Budget overruns don't just reduce profit dollar-for-dollar. If you go $10k over and need an extra month, you also have additional holding costs (interest, taxes, insurance).

Protecting your profit:
• Track daily, not weekly
• Act fast when you see erosion starting

Done Spending (or "closed") items are budget categories where work is complete and all invoices are paid.

Why close items:
• Confirms your actual vs. planned costs
• Locks in savings that can cover other overruns
• Gives you certainty on part of your budget

When to close an item:
• Work is 100% complete
• All invoices received and paid
• No punch list items remaining

Tip: Close items as soon as you're certain. This unlocks savings to reallocate elsewhere.

Still Active (or "open") items are budget categories with work still in progress or not yet started.

The remaining budget for active items shows how much you have left to spend if they come in exactly on budget. Reality: some will be over, some under.

Managing active items:
• Get updated quotes as work progresses
• Compare actual progress to budget consumed
• Identify items trending over budget early

Goal: Minimize surprises by tracking active items closely and closing them as soon as work completes.

Confirmed Savings come from closed (done spending) items that came in under budget.

Example:
• Budgeted $5,000 for flooring
• Actual cost: $4,200
• Confirmed savings: $800

Why "confirmed" matters: Unlike projected savings from open items, confirmed savings are real—the work is done, the money is saved. This gives you flexibility to cover unexpected overruns in other categories or increase your profit margin.

Pro tip: Aggressively close items to confirm savings early.

Available to Repurpose is the net result of all closed item savings and overruns.

Calculation: Available = (Savings from under-budget closed items) - (Overruns from over-budget closed items)

Example:
• Flooring saved $800
• Electrical over by $300
• Available to repurpose: $500

Using these funds:
• Apply to other categories that go over
• Keeps your total budget intact
• Reduces profit erosion

Important: This only includes closed items. Open items might still change, so their savings aren't "available" yet.

Only you can access your projects. ProfitGuard staff cannot see your individual project details. We may use anonymized, aggregated data (like average renovation costs by region) to improve our estimates, but your personal projects remain private. See Is my data secure? for full security details.

Yes! ProfitGuard offers several export options:

Full Backup: Go to Settings > My Data to download a backup of all your projects, tax defaults, profile information, and preferences as a JSON file.

CPA Excel Workbook: From Reports → Financial → CPA Tax Report, click Download Excel to get a formatted 5-tab .xlsx workbook with Executive Summary, Sold Properties, Active Capitalization, Deductions & Mileage, and All Detail tabs. This is the best format to share with your accountant.

PDF Reports: Print or save any report page as a PDF using your browser's print function or the Print/PDF button.

We recommend backing up regularly, especially before making major changes.

Go to Settings and scroll to the bottom to find the "Delete Account" option. This initiates a permanent deletion of your account. Note: You'll also need to close your account with our authentication partner separately if you want to completely remove your login credentials.

Deleting your account permanently removes all of your data. This is different from cancelling your subscription, which preserves your data.

When you delete your account:

• All your projects are permanently deleted.
• All your receipts and uploaded documents are permanently removed from our storage.
• Your comps, work items, and analysis data are deleted.
• Your account settings and preferences are removed.
• This action cannot be undone.

After you request deletion, there is a short grace period during which you can change your mind by contacting support. Once the grace period ends, deletion is permanent and your data cannot be recovered.

Before deleting, we recommend:

• Export your data from Settings > My Data to keep a backup for your records.
• Consider cancelling your subscription instead if you just want to stop paying but keep your data for later.

No. We never sell or share your project data with third parties. The only external services we use are:

• Blessed Bits for authentication
• Stripe for payment processing (through Blessed Bits)
• OpenAI for AI-powered receipt scanning

None of these services have access to your project analysis details or financial projections.

The Dashboard Overview tab shows four key portfolio metrics:

• Total Est. Net Profit (Post-Tax): Sum of all estimated net profits across your active projects, after federal capital gains tax. Calculated as ARV minus all costs (purchase, renovation, holding, selling) minus estimated taxes.

• Capital Deployed: Total cash invested across all projects - your capital at risk. Includes purchase prices, renovation budgets, holding costs, and closing costs.

• Portfolio ARV: Combined After Repair Value of all your flip properties. This is what your properties will be worth after renovations are complete.

• Active Projects: How many flips you're currently working on, plus potential deals in your pipeline.

The Dashboard Alerts tab shows cross-project task issues that need your attention:

• Overdue Tasks: Tasks past their expected completion date (calculated as start date + duration). The delay days count shows cumulative days overdue across all tasks.

• Delay Cost: Financial impact of delays. Calculated as (Days Late × Daily Holding Cost) for each overdue task. Every day a project is delayed costs you money in mortgage, insurance, utilities, and taxes.

• Unassigned Tasks: Active tasks without a contractor assigned. Assign contractors to track accountability and performance.

• Blocked Tasks: Tasks that can't proceed due to materials, permits, inspections, or other dependencies. Resolve blockers to keep projects moving.

Delay Cost shows the extra holding costs from project delays.

Formula: For each overdue task: Days Late × (Monthly Holding Cost ÷ 30)

Total Delay Cost = Sum of all task delay costs across your portfolio.

Example:
• Task is 10 days overdue
• Monthly holding cost is $3,000 ($100/day)
• Delay cost for that task = $1,000

Why this matters: This helps you prioritize which delays to address first and compare delay costs against contractor rush fees.

A task is considered overdue when today's date is past its expected completion date.

Calculation:
• If a task has an explicit end date, we use that
• Otherwise: Expected End Date = Planned Start Date + Duration Days - 1

Example:
• Task starts January 1st with 10-day duration
• Expected completion: January 10th
• On January 11th, it becomes 1 day overdue

Tasks without start dates are not tracked for overdue status.

ProfitGuard tracks performance for each contractor across your projects:

• Projects Worked On: Number of your flip projects they've been assigned to.
• Tasks Completed: Total tasks they've finished.
• On-Time Rate: Percentage of tasks completed by their due date.
• Avg Variance: How many days early (negative) or late (positive) on average.

Performance indicators:
• 🟢 Green (80%+): Reliable, consistently on time
• 🟡 Yellow (60-79%): Moderate reliability, some delays
• 🔴 Red (<60%): Frequent delays, may cause project overruns

Risk badges appear on contractor cards to highlight potential issues:

• Overloaded (red): 5+ active tasks assigned. May cause delays due to workload. Consider redistributing tasks or delaying new assignments.

• Multi-Project (yellow): Working on 2+ of your active projects. Watch for scheduling conflicts between job sites.

• Blocked (orange): Has tasks that can't proceed. Review and resolve blockers to avoid idle time.

These indicators help you balance workloads and catch capacity issues before they cause project delays.

The workload summary shows a contractor's current and historical assignments:

• Projects: Number of your projects they're working on
• Active Tasks: Pending, in-progress, or blocked tasks assigned to them
• Completed: Tasks they've finished

Tips:
• Balance workload across contractors
• Check capacity before assigning new work
• A contractor with many blocked tasks may need help resolving dependencies

Clicking on dashboard alert cards takes you directly to a filtered view of those tasks:

• Click Overdue → Shows all overdue tasks across projects
• Click Unassigned → Shows tasks needing contractor assignment
• Click Blocked → Shows tasks with blockers

Each task links to its project where you can update status, assign contractors, or resolve issues.

The Guided Tour is a two-phase walkthrough of ProfitGuard. Phase 1 spotlights key app areas — Dashboard, AI Deal Scout, Projects, Receipts, Contractors, Help resources, and the Profit Sentinel AI assistant. Phase 2 walks you through the Project Wizard step by step with screenshots so you can see exactly how to analyze a deal.

For new users: The tour starts automatically after you complete onboarding.

To replay anytime: Open the Help menu in the top-right corner and select Guided Tour.

You can navigate with the Next/Back buttons, skip ahead, or press Escape to close. Your progress is saved, so the tour won't pop up again unless you restart it from the Help menu.

Go to Contractors in the sidebar to manage your team:

• Add Contractor: Click the button to add a new contractor with their name, phone, email, and specialty.
• Edit Details: Click any contractor card to update their information.
• View Assignments: See all tasks currently assigned to each contractor.
• Track Performance: View completion rates, on-time percentages, and ratings.

Contractors are shared across all your projects, so you only need to add them once.

When creating or editing a task:

1. Open the task details (click any task or create new) 2. Look for the Contractor dropdown field 3. Select from your saved contractors 4. Save the task

You can also view all of a contractor's assignments from their profile card on the Contractors page.

When you mark a task as complete, you can rate the contractor's work from 1-5 stars.

Rating scale:
• ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5): Excellent - exceeded expectations
• ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4): Good - met expectations
• ⭐⭐⭐ (3): Acceptable - room for improvement
• ⭐⭐ (2): Below average - issues occurred
• ⭐ (1): Poor - significant problems

The average rating appears on the contractor's card and helps you make future hiring decisions.

On-time percentage = (Tasks completed on or before due date ÷ Total tasks completed) × 100%

Example:
• Contractor completed 10 tasks
• 8 were finished by their due date
• 2 were late
• On-time rate: 80%

This only counts tasks that have both a due date and a completion date. Tasks without dates are not included in the calculation.

Average Variance shows how many days early or late a contractor typically finishes tasks.

• Negative number (e.g., -2 days): Finishes ahead of schedule on average
• Zero: Exactly on time
• Positive number (e.g., +3 days): Finishes behind schedule on average

Why this matters: If a contractor averages +5 days late, add that buffer when planning their tasks. If they're consistently -2 days early, you might schedule follow-on work sooner.

Yes! ProfitGuard shows risk indicators on contractor cards:

• Overloaded (red badge): 5+ active tasks. May cause delays - consider redistributing work.
• Multi-Project (yellow badge): Working across 2+ of your projects. Watch for scheduling conflicts.
• Blocked (orange badge): Has tasks that can't proceed. Help resolve their blockers.

These indicators help you balance workloads and prevent capacity issues before they delay your projects.

On the project Timeline tab:

1. Look for the Contractor filter dropdown above the timeline 2. Select a specific contractor to see only their tasks 3. Choose "All Contractors" to see everyone's tasks

This is useful for:
• Planning a contractor's schedule across the project
• Identifying gaps in their workload
• Checking for scheduling conflicts

Open any project and go to the Tasks tab:

• Add Task: Click the button to create a new task with title, description, dates, and contractor.
• Edit Task: Click any task to modify its details.
• Change Status: Use the status dropdown to mark tasks as pending, in progress, blocked, or complete.
• Add Subtasks: Break down large tasks into smaller subtasks for better tracking.

Tasks help you track renovation progress and manage contractor assignments.

• Pending: Not yet started - waiting to begin.
• In Progress: Work is actively underway.
• Blocked: Cannot proceed due to a dependency, materials, permit, or other issue.
• Complete: Work is finished.

Tips:
• Mark tasks blocked immediately when issues arise
• Add notes explaining what's blocking the task
• Complete tasks promptly to keep metrics accurate

Each task can have:

• Planned Start Date: When work should begin
• Duration (days): How long the work should take
• Expected End Date: Calculated as Start Date + Duration - 1

Example:
• Start Date: January 1st
• Duration: 5 days
• Expected End: January 5th

These dates are used to calculate if tasks are overdue and to display them on the timeline.

The Timeline tab shows a visual schedule of all tasks in your project:

• Gantt-style bars show task duration and overlap
• Color coding indicates status (pending, in progress, blocked, complete)
• Today marker shows current date for reference
• Contractor filter lets you focus on one contractor's schedule

The timeline helps you visualize the project schedule and identify potential conflicts.

Subtasks let you break down larger tasks into smaller steps:

1. Open a parent task 2. Click Add Subtask 3. Enter subtask details (title, dates, contractor) 4. Subtasks appear nested under the parent

Subtask behavior:
• Subtasks inherit the parent's project
• Subtasks can have their own contractors and dates
• Parent task progress can reflect subtask completion
• Subtasks appear on the timeline indented under their parent

When completing a task, you can add photos to document the work:

1. Mark the task as Complete 2. Click Add Photos or the camera icon 3. Upload one or more photos of the completed work 4. Photos are stored with the task for future reference

Why add photos:
• Document before/after for major work
• Verify contractor quality
• Keep records for resale or disputes
• Track progress visually over time

On the Tasks tab, use the filter buttons to show:

• All: Every task regardless of status
• Pending: Tasks not yet started
• In Progress: Tasks currently being worked on
• Blocked: Tasks that cannot proceed
• Complete: Finished tasks
• Overdue: Tasks past their expected end date
• Unassigned: Tasks without a contractor

Filters help you focus on what needs attention right now.

When you mark a task as blocked:

• It appears in orange on the timeline
• It shows in the Dashboard Alerts as "Blocked"
• The contractor is flagged with a "Blocked" badge
• It doesn't count toward overdue calculations

Best practices:
• Always add a note explaining what's blocking the task
• Resolve blockers as quickly as possible
• Check blocked tasks daily to prevent project delays

The Gantt chart is a visual project scheduling tool that shows all your tasks as horizontal bars on a timeline:

Reading the Chart:
• Each task is a horizontal bar
• Bar length = task duration
• Bar position = start and end dates
• Arrow lines connect tasks that depend on each other

Task Bar Colors:
• Green: Completed tasks
• Gold/amber: In progress
• Gray: Not started (pending)
• Red outline: Overdue tasks
• Fuchsia ring: Actual dates differ from planned dates

Interactive Features:
• Click any bar to view/edit the task
• Drag resize handles to change duration
• Zoom in/out to adjust time scale
• Collapse/expand the left table columns
• Right-click for quick actions

Switch between List and Gantt views using the toggle buttons at the top of the Tasks tab.

Note: Interactive drag-and-drop scheduling on the Gantt chart is a Pro feature. See Is the interactive Gantt chart a Pro feature? for details.

The Gantt chart supports interactive drag-and-drop scheduling so you can visually plan your renovation timeline (Pro feature).

Moving Tasks:
• Click and drag a task bar horizontally to change its start date
• The task snaps to the nearest day on the timeline
• Dependent tasks automatically shift to maintain their relationships

Resizing Tasks:
• Hover over the right edge of a task bar to see the resize handle
• Drag the resize handle to extend or shorten the task duration
• Duration updates in real time as you drag

Updating Progress:
• Drag the progress handle inside a task bar to visually update completion percentage
• When you drag progress to 100%, ProfitGuard asks to confirm task completion with a date

Row Reordering:
• Use the grip handle on the left side of each row to drag tasks into a different order
• Reordering updates the task sort order for the project

Tips:
• After dragging, changes save automatically
• Use the "Reoptimize Schedule" button to let the AI recalculate optimal dates
• If a task has dependencies, its start date respects those constraints even when dragging

This is a Pro plan feature. Free and Starter tiers can view the Gantt chart but cannot drag to reschedule.

Each task bar on the Gantt chart is color-coded to give you instant status visibility:

Bar Fill Colors:
• Green bar: Task is on track — completed on time or progressing within its planned window
• Gray bar: Not started (pending) — work hasn't begun yet
• Blue bar: In progress — work is actively underway
• Red/pink bar or outline: Delayed — the task started later than planned, with the delay shown as a red/pink extension on the left side
• Amber extension: Duration overrun — the task took longer than planned, shown as an amber bar extending past the original end date
• Fuchsia ring/outline: Actual vs planned mismatch — the task's real start or end dates differ from the original plan

Additional Visual Indicators:
• Dashed lines: Connect the planned position to the actual position when dates have shifted
• Striped pattern: Shows the gap between where a task was planned and where it actually is
• Progress fill: A lighter shade inside the bar shows completion percentage
• Diamond icon: Milestone tasks (zero-duration markers)

Tooltip Details: Hover over any bar to see full details including planned vs actual dates, duration variance, assigned contractor, and any delay reasons.

Why This Matters: At a glance, you can spot which tasks are behind schedule (red/amber), which are on track (green), and where your actual timeline differs from the plan (fuchsia). This helps you focus on problem areas before delays cascade.

The Gantt chart offers flexible zoom controls so you can see either a detailed daily view or a high-level project overview.

Zoom Scale Options:
• Day: Shows individual days on the timeline header — best for short projects or detailed scheduling
• Week: Groups the timeline by weeks — good for medium-length projects (4-12 weeks)
• Month: Shows monthly intervals — ideal for long projects spanning several months

How to Change Zoom:
• Use the Day / Week / Month toggle buttons at the top of the Gantt chart
• Use the zoom slider or +/− buttons to fine-tune the zoom percentage within each scale
• The chart automatically calculates the minimum zoom needed to show your entire project

Smart Auto-Fit: The Gantt chart enforces a minimum display range of 30 days for readability. If your project is shorter, extra space is shown so task bars remain visible and easy to interact with.

Tips:
• Start with Week view for most renovation projects
• Switch to Day view when scheduling specific contractor start dates
• Use Month view to present project timelines to partners or lenders
• The timeline header shows dates formatted to fit the current zoom level

You can filter the Gantt chart to show only tasks assigned to a specific contractor, making it easy to review any contractor's schedule.

How to Filter: 1. Go to the Tasks tab and switch to the Gantt view 2. Use the contractor filter dropdown at the top of the task list 3. Select a contractor to show only their assigned tasks 4. Select All to return to the full project view

What Filtering Shows:
• Only tasks assigned to the selected contractor appear on the chart
• Dependencies and arrows still display for visible tasks
• Category groupings update to reflect the filtered set
• Schedule variance and progress stats recalculate for the filtered view

Why Use Contractor Filtering:
• Review a contractor's workload and schedule before assigning new tasks
• Check for scheduling conflicts when a contractor works on multiple categories
• Share a contractor-specific schedule view during coordination meetings
• Verify that a contractor's tasks are properly sequenced

Tip: Combine contractor filtering with the status filter (e.g., "In Progress" + contractor name) to see exactly what a contractor is currently working on.

The Gantt chart features a split-panel layout with a data table on the left and the visual timeline on the right.

Left Panel — Task Table:
• Shows task names organized by renovation category (e.g., Kitchen, Electrical, Plumbing)
• Displays configurable columns: Start date, Duration (Days), End date, Status, Assigned contractor, Progress %, Schedule Mode, and Not Before date
• Categories can be collapsed or expanded to focus on specific renovation areas
• Category headers show aggregate stats: task count, completion percentage, and schedule variance

Right Panel — Timeline:
• Horizontal task bars positioned on the calendar
• Dependency arrows connecting related tasks
• Today marker showing current date
• Color-coded bars indicating task status

Customizing the View:
• Collapse the table: Click the panel collapse button to hide all columns except task names, giving more room to the timeline
• Show/hide columns: Click the column picker (gear icon) to toggle which data columns are visible
• Resize columns: Drag column borders to adjust widths — your preferences are saved automatically
• Collapse categories: Click a category header to collapse all tasks in that renovation group

Tips:
• On smaller screens, collapse the table to see more of the timeline
• Enable the "Assigned" column to quickly see contractor assignments alongside the visual schedule
• Column width preferences persist between sessions so you only need to set them up once

The Gantt chart is available on all plans, but interactive scheduling features require the Pro plan or higher.

Available on All Plans:
• View the Gantt chart timeline with all task bars and dependency arrows
• See color-coded status indicators and hover tooltips
• Use zoom controls (Day/Week/Month) and the table-column split view
• Filter by contractor or task status
• Collapse/expand categories and customize visible columns

Pro Plan Features:
• Drag-and-drop scheduling: Move task bars to change start dates
• Drag-to-resize: Extend or shorten task duration by dragging bar edges
• Progress dragging: Update task completion by dragging the progress handle
• Row reordering: Drag tasks to change their sort order
• AI schedule reoptimization: One-click recalculation of optimal task dates
• Schedule Work dialog: Set contractor start dates with "No Earlier Than" constraints and variance reasons

See What subscription tiers are available? for full plan details and pricing.

Dependencies create a logical order for your renovation tasks. When Task B depends on Task A, Task B cannot start until Task A is complete.

How to Add Dependencies: 1. Edit a task (click or use the edit menu) 2. Look for the "Depends On" dropdown 3. Select one or more tasks that must complete first 4. Save - the start date will auto-calculate

Multi-Dependency Support: Tasks can depend on multiple other tasks. The task will wait for ALL dependencies to finish before starting.

Example Chain:
• Demo → Rough Electrical → Drywall → Finish Electrical
• Flooring depends on BOTH Painting AND HVAC Install

Visual Indicators:
• Link icon (🔗) shows a task has dependencies
• Arrow lines in Gantt view connect dependent tasks
• Hover to see which tasks are blocking

Tip: Don't over-constrain. Only add dependencies where work truly can't proceed otherwise.

ASAP (As Soon As Possible) is the default scheduling mode that starts tasks immediately when their dependencies complete.

How It Works:
• Task starts the day after its last dependency finishes
• If no dependencies, task starts at project start date
• Keeps your project on the fastest possible timeline

ASAP vs ALAP:
• ASAP: Start as early as possible (default, recommended)
• ALAP: Start as late as possible while meeting target dates

When to Use ASAP:
• Most renovation tasks should use ASAP
• When you want the shortest project duration
• For tasks with flexible timing

When to Use ALAP:
• Non-critical tasks that don't affect completion
• Work that benefits from delay (e.g., final landscaping)
• Tasks you want to push to the end

You can change the schedule mode when editing any task.

When you use the Smart Rehab Estimator to build your renovation budget, ProfitGuard can automatically generate matching tasks for your project timeline.

How It Works: 1. Run the Smart Rehab Estimator to generate work items 2. Work items are created in your Renovation Budget 3. Corresponding tasks are created in your Tasks list 4. Both share the same category for easy tracking

What Gets Created:
• Task title matches the work item name
• Estimated duration is set based on industry averages
• Category links the task to budget tracking
• No dependencies are set (you add these based on your plan)

Benefits:
• Budget and schedule stay synchronized
• Receipt spending automatically links to related tasks
• Industry benchmarks apply to your actual scope
• Less duplicate data entry

Tip: After generating tasks, review and adjust durations based on your contractor estimates, then add dependencies to create a realistic schedule.

The Project Timeline bar at the top of the Tasks tab shows your overall schedule at a glance.

What It Shows:
• Start date: When your first task begins (left side)
• End date: When your last task finishes (right side)
• Timeline bar: Visual representation of your project span

Timeline Bar Colors:
• Gold bar: Your original planned schedule
• Amber extension: Any schedule slip (delays)

Schedule Slip Indicator: If your project is running late, you'll see:
• "+Xd slip" showing how many days behind schedule
• An arrow (→) pointing from original end to new projected end
• The amber section showing the delay visually

Example:
• Original plan: Jan 15 → Mar 20
• With 7 days slip: Jan 15 → Mar 20 → Mar 27

When a task starts or finishes later than planned, the delay automatically cascades through all dependent tasks.

How Cascade Works: 1. Task A is delayed 5 days 2. Task B depends on Task A → shifts 5 days 3. Task C depends on Task B → also shifts 5 days 4. Project end date moves 5 days later

Visual Indicators:
• Fuchsia ring on Gantt bars shows actual dates differ from planned
• Dashed lines show the gap between scheduled and actual positions
• Tooltips show delay information (e.g., "started 3d late")

Reducing Slip:
• Add crew to speed up critical path tasks
• Work overtime to catch up on delayed tasks
• Overlap tasks where safely possible
• Reduce scope of non-essential work

Tip: Focus on the critical path - delays on non-critical tasks don't affect project completion.

The vs Benchmark row compares your project schedule against industry averages for similar renovations.

How Benchmarks Are Calculated:
• Based on the actual work items in your Renovation Budget
• Kitchen, bathroom, flooring, etc. each have typical durations
• Includes 30-day buffer for permits and inspections
• Automatically updates when you add/remove work items

Reading the Comparison:
• -15 days: Your plan is 15 days faster than average (green)
• +10 days: Your plan is 10 days longer than average (amber)
• On par: Your timeline matches industry norms

What Affects Benchmarks:
• Scope of renovation (gut rehab vs cosmetic)
• Number of bathrooms, kitchen work, flooring area
• Structural or electrical changes

Using This Information:
• Faster than benchmark? Verify timeline is realistic
• Slower than benchmark? Look for optimization opportunities
• Consider your contractor team's experience level

Tip: Benchmark updates automatically when you use the Smart Rehab Estimator - no manual calculation needed.

The critical path is the longest chain of dependent tasks that determines your minimum project duration. Any delay on the critical path delays the entire project.

Example Critical Path:
• Demo (3d) → Framing (5d) → Rough Plumbing (4d) → Drywall (7d) → Paint (5d) → Flooring (4d)
• Total: 28 days - this is your minimum project length

Why It Matters:
• Focus resources on critical path tasks
• Delays here are most expensive (more holding costs)
• Non-critical tasks have schedule flexibility ("float")

Managing Critical Path:
• Add crew to speed up critical tasks
• Order materials early for critical work
• Schedule inspections promptly
• Have backup contractors available

Non-Critical Tasks: Tasks not on the critical path can slip without affecting project completion - they have "float." Use this flexibility for tasks with uncertain timelines.

The Days column in the Renovation Budget shows the estimated duration for each work item category.

Where Days Come From:
• Smart Rehab Estimator sets industry-average durations
• You can manually adjust based on contractor quotes
• Days aggregate from tasks in each category

Reading the Column:
• 84.0 in the Total row = total project duration
• 37 for Kitchen = estimated days for kitchen work
• -1 variance (green) = finished 1 day early
• +3 variance (amber) = took 3 days longer

How Days Connect to Tasks:
• Budget items and tasks share categories
• Task durations roll up to category totals
• Actual days update when tasks are completed

Tip: Days here affect your holding cost projections. Each extra day means more mortgage, insurance, and utilities.

Schedule variance shows how actual completion compared to your original plan.

Where to See Variance:
• Gantt Days column: Shows planned duration with variance below
• Budget Days column: Shows aggregate variance by category
• Project Timeline: Shows total schedule slip

Reading Variance Numbers:
• -7 days: Task completed 7 days FASTER than planned (green)
• +5 days: Task took 5 days LONGER than planned (amber)
• 0 days: Task completed exactly on schedule

Gantt Visual Indicators:
• Fuchsia ring on bars = actual dates differ from planned
• Dashed lines show gap between scheduled vs actual positions
• Hover tooltips explain the variance

Using Variance Data:
• Track contractors who consistently run early or late
• Improve future estimates based on actual performance
• Identify which renovation types take longer than expected

Milestone gates are checkpoints in your renovation project that group tasks into logical phases. They help you track progress through major stages of the renovation.

The Five Milestone Gates:
• Rough — Structural, framing, and rough-in work (electrical, plumbing, HVAC before walls close)
• Drywall — Drywall hanging, taping, mudding, and texturing
• Floor — Flooring installation and finishing
• Paint — Interior and exterior painting, staining, and finishing
• Final — Final fixtures, trim, cleanup, and punch list items

How They're Used:
• Tasks from the Smart Rehab Estimator are automatically assigned a milestone gate
• Gates determine the natural order of your renovation phases
• They help ensure you don't schedule finish work before rough-in is complete
• Project templates preserve milestone gate assignments

Benefits:
• Quick visual progress by phase — see what percentage of each gate is complete
• Helps coordinate inspections (rough inspection before drywall, final inspection at the end)
• Makes it easier to communicate progress to partners and lenders

The 70% Rule Calculator is a free tool on ProfitGuard that helps you quickly evaluate whether a house flip deal is worth pursuing.

The Formula:
• Maximum Offer = (ARV × 70%) − Renovation Costs

How to Use It: 1. Go to the Calculator page from the main menu 2. Enter the property's After Repair Value (ARV) 3. Enter your estimated Renovation Costs 4. The calculator instantly shows your Maximum Allowable Offer (MAO)

What It Tells You:
• The most you should pay for a property to maintain a healthy profit margin
• Whether a deal meets the industry-standard 70% rule threshold
• Quick go/no-go guidance before running a full analysis

Important: The 70% Rule is a starting guideline. For a complete deal analysis including holding costs, closing costs, taxes, and detailed profit projections, create a full project in ProfitGuard.

The Kanban board is a visual task management view that organizes your tasks into columns by status. It gives you a quick overview of work progress across your project.

How to Access It: 1. Open a project and go to the Tasks tab 2. Click the Kanban view toggle at the top (alongside Table and Gantt options)

What You See:
• Four columns representing task statuses: Not Started, In Progress, Blocked, and Completed
• Task cards with key details (title, priority, category, contractor, dates)
• A count badge on each column header showing how many tasks are in that status

The Kanban board is great for getting a high-level snapshot of project progress and quickly identifying bottlenecks.

You can change a task's status by dragging and dropping its card from one column to another.

How It Works: 1. Click and hold any task card (a grab cursor appears) 2. Drag the card to the target status column 3. Drop it — the task status updates immediately

Visual Feedback:
• The target column highlights with a ring when you hover over it
• The dragged card becomes translucent during the drag
• Empty columns show a "Drop here" prompt when dragging over them

Other Ways to Change Status:
• Click the task card's menu (three dots) → Edit to open the task editor
• Use the status dropdown in the task editor

Drag-and-drop on the Kanban board is the fastest way to update task status without opening the full editor.

The Kanban board has four columns, each representing a task status:

• Not Started (gray): Tasks that haven't begun yet. New tasks land here by default.
• In Progress (blue): Tasks where work is actively underway.
• Blocked (red): Tasks that cannot proceed due to a dependency, materials issue, permit delay, or other blocker.
• Completed (green): Finished tasks. Skipped tasks also appear in this column.

Column Features:
• Each column shows a count badge with the number of tasks
• The "Not Started" column has a + button to quickly add new tasks
• Columns scroll vertically if they contain many tasks
• Empty columns show a placeholder so you can still drop tasks into them

Each Kanban task card displays key information at a glance:

• Title: The task name (truncated if long)
• Description: A brief preview (up to 2 lines) if the task has a description
• Priority badge: Shown for non-medium priorities (low, high, critical/urgent) with color coding
• Category badge: The renovation category (e.g., Kitchen, Electrical, Plumbing)
• Subtask count: A badge showing the number of subtasks (e.g., "3 sub")
• Dates: Planned start date and duration (e.g., "Jan 15 (5d)")
• Contractor: The assigned contractor's name
• Progress bar: A visual bar showing task completion percentage
• Overdue indicator: Cards with a red border highlight tasks past their planned end date

Hover over a card to reveal the drag handle and action menu (edit, delete).

Each view is optimized for different workflows:

Kanban Board — Best for:
• Quick status overview of all tasks
• Rapid status updates via drag-and-drop
• Identifying bottlenecks (too many tasks in "Blocked")
• Daily standup reviews

Gantt Chart — Best for:
• Scheduling and timeline planning
• Visualizing task dependencies and critical path
• Adjusting durations and dates
• Communicating schedule to contractors or partners
• Requires Pro plan for interactive features

Table View — Best for:
• Detailed data entry and bulk editing
• Sorting and filtering by multiple fields
• Viewing all task details in a spreadsheet-like format
• Working with large numbers of tasks

Tip: Switch between views freely — they all show the same tasks. Use Kanban for daily progress tracking, Gantt for scheduling, and Table for detailed data work.

Community Templates (Pro plan) let you browse, use, and share renovation templates created by other house flippers.

Browsing Templates: 1. Go to the Templates page 2. Switch to the Community tab 3. Browse templates by type, rating, or popularity 4. Click any template to preview its tasks and budget structure

Using a Community Template: 1. Find a template you like 2. Click "Use Template" to create a new project from it 3. Enter your property's Purchase Price and ARV 4. All tasks, categories, and durations are pre-filled for you

Sharing Your Templates: 1. Open any project and click the menu (three dots) 2. Select "Save as Template" 3. Toggle Public visibility to share with the community 4. Other users can then browse and use your template

Benefits:
• Learn from experienced flippers' project structures
• Save time setting up new projects
• Discover renovation approaches you might not have considered

This is a Pro plan feature. See What subscription tiers are available? for plan details.

The Exit Planner is a comprehensive tool that helps you determine the most profitable strategy for your property—whether to sell immediately after renovation or hold it as a long-term rental (BRRRR). It provides data-driven comparisons, what-if scenarios for price reductions, and automated Deal Insights. The Exit Planner is a Pro tier feature. See What subscription tiers are available? for details.

The Rent vs Sell analysis compares two financial paths: selling the property immediately versus holding it as a rental. It uses your projected ARV and selling costs for the 'Sell' scenario, and combines market rent data with estimated operating expenses and debt service for the 'Hold' scenario. ProfitGuard then generates a data-driven recommendation based on your net profit, cash-on-cash return, and long-term equity build-up.

BRRRR stands for Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat. ProfitGuard's Exit Planner models this strategy by allowing you to input refinance assumptions—such as new loan-to-value (LTV) ratios and interest rates—to see how much capital you can pull out of a deal after renovation. This helps you understand if you can recover your initial investment while still maintaining positive cash flow.

Deal Insights are 9 automated, AI-powered advisories that instantly evaluate the financial health of your rental strategy:

• Cash Flow Analysis: Monthly net income after all expenses.
• DSCR Evaluation: Debt Service Coverage Ratio to ensure the deal meets lender requirements.
• LTV Tradeoff: Impact of different leverage levels on your returns.
• Interest Rate Impact: How sensitive your cash flow is to rate changes.
• Capital Recovery: Timeline for when you'll have all your 'skin in the game' back.
• Cap Rate Assessment: Unleveraged return on the property value.
• Break-Even Analysis: When cumulative cash flow covers your total investment.
• Cash-on-Cash Return: Annual return on your actual invested capital.
• Mortgage Note: Details on your projected financing structure.

ProfitGuard integrates directly with RentCast to fetch live, real-time market rent estimates based on your property's specific address and characteristics. You'll see a suggested rent range, a confidence score, and a list of nearby rental comparables. This ensures your rental projections are based on actual current market data rather than guesswork.

The break-even timeline calculates exactly how many months or years of rental income it will take to recover your total out-of-pocket investment (including purchase down payment, closing costs, and renovation expenses). This insight helps you compare the short-term profit of selling against the long-term wealth generation of holding the property.

AI Deal Scout is ProfitGuard's AI-powered lead generation tool that helps you find undervalued properties and potential flip opportunities.

What It Does:
• Searches property records by state, county, or ZIP code to find off-market opportunities
• Scores each property with an Undervaluation Score (0–150) using 15 AI-powered signals across 4 categories
• Highlights distress signals like pre-foreclosure filings, high lien balances, and long ownership duration
• Lets you flag, dismiss, and add notes to leads for tracking

How It Works: 1. Choose a search area (state + county or ZIP code) or look up a specific address 2. AI Deal Scout fetches property records and runs each through a multi-signal scoring algorithm 3. Properties that meet your minimum score threshold appear as leads 4. Review leads in card, table, or map view and flag the ones worth pursuing

AI Deal Scout is a Pro plan feature. See What subscription tiers are available? for plan details.

AI Deal Scout offers two search modes:

Area Search:
• Search an entire county or ZIP code for undervalued properties
• Returns multiple leads ranked by Undervaluation Score
• Best for discovering new opportunities in your target market
• You can set a search limit (e.g., 100, 250, or 500 properties to scan)

Address Lookup:
• Look up a single specific property by street address
• Returns detailed scoring and signals for that one property
• Best for evaluating a property you already know about
• Useful for checking a tip from a wholesaler, driving-for-dollars find, or direct mail response

When to Use Each:
• Use Area Search when prospecting for new deals in a market
• Use Address Lookup when you have a specific property to evaluate

The Undervaluation Score (0–150) measures how likely a property is undervalued relative to its market using 15 AI-powered signals organized into 4 categories. Higher scores indicate stronger potential opportunities.

Signal Categories:

Motivated Seller — Signals that the owner may be ready to sell:
• Absentee Owner (up to 8 pts), Tired Landlord (7 pts), Empty Nester (7 pts), Long Hold (up to 15 pts), Entity Owned (3 pts)

Undervalued — Signals that the property is priced below market:
• AVM Gap (up to 25 pts), Transfer Price Gap (up to 25 pts), $/sqft Below Average (up to 15 pts), Sold Below Market

Financial — Signals of financial pressure or equity position:
• Pre-Foreclosure (up to 15 pts), Lien Distress (up to 10 pts), Multiple Liens (5 pts), Free & Clear (8 pts), High Equity (up to 10 pts), Low LTV (up to 10 pts)

Data Quality — Confidence and recency indicators:
• High Confidence (up to 10 pts), Recent Market Sale (penalty — reduces score)

Score Ranges:
• 80+: Strong opportunity — multiple signals across categories
• 50–79: Moderate opportunity — worth investigating
• 40–49: Borderline — may need additional research
• Below 40: Filtered out by default (adjustable via minimum score slider)

Combining signals from different categories — especially Motivated Seller + Undervalued — often surfaces the best deals.

AI Deal Scout uses 15 scoring signals organized into 4 categories. Each signal has an impact level (high, medium, or low).

Motivated Seller Signals (purple):
• Absentee Owner: Owner's mailing address differs from property address — out-of-state absentee owners score higher than in-state
• Tired Landlord: Absentee-owned for 8+ years — long-term landlords are often burned out and ready to sell
• Empty Nester: Owner-occupied 15+ years with high equity — may be looking to downsize
• Long Hold: Property held 10+ years — assessment likely outdated, owner may be motivated
• Entity Owned: Owned by an LLC, Corp, Trust, or similar entity — may indicate investor property available for portfolio liquidation

Undervalued Signals (blue):
• AVM Gap: AVM estimate significantly exceeds the assessed or sale price — potential undervaluation
• Transfer Gap: Last sale price was well below current AVM — may indicate a distressed sale or opportunity
• $/sqft Below Avg: Price per square foot is below the average for similar properties in the area
• Sold Below Market: Property recently sold below its AVM estimate — potential flip candidate

Financial Signals (green/red):
• Pre-Foreclosure: Pre-foreclosure filing detected — property may be available below market
• Lien Distress: Total liens exceed 80% of market value — owner may be financially motivated to sell
• Multiple Liens: 3+ liens on the property — indicates escalating financial obligations
• Free & Clear: No mortgage — owner has full equity and maximum pricing flexibility
• High Equity: Owner has substantial equity (low outstanding liens vs market value)
• Low LTV: Loan-to-value ratio is low — owner has a strong equity position

Data Quality Signals:
• High Confidence: AVM valuation confidence is high — estimates are more reliable
• Recent Market Sale (penalty): Sold recently at or near market value — less likely to be undervalued (reduces score)

Cohort Analysis compares a property's price per square foot against similar-sized properties in the same search area.

How It Works: 1. Properties are grouped into size buckets (e.g., 1–1.5K sqft, 1.5–2K sqft, 2–2.5K sqft) 2. The average $/sqft is calculated for each bucket using IQR (interquartile range) filtering to remove outliers 3. Each property's $/sqft is compared against its bucket average 4. Properties priced 10%+ below their bucket average earn bonus score points

Confidence Levels:
• High: 10+ properties in the bucket — reliable average
• Medium: 5–9 properties — reasonable estimate
• Low: 3–4 properties — use with caution

For Vacant Land: A separate land cohort analysis uses $/acre instead of $/sqft, with acre-based size buckets (small, medium, large, xlarge). Data quality is weighted based on source (assessment, transfer, or AVM).

Why It Matters: Cohort analysis catches opportunities that other signals might miss — a property could have a fair AVM but still be cheap relative to its neighbors.

AI Deal Scout provides several ways to organize your leads:

Flagging Leads:
• Click the flag icon on any lead card to mark it as a priority
• Flagged leads appear in the dedicated Flagged tab for easy access
• Flagged leads persist across searches and are not affected by lead cleanup

Dismissing Leads:
• Click the X (dismiss) button to hide leads you're not interested in
• Dismissed leads are hidden from the main view by default
• Toggle "Show dismissed" to see them again
• You can restore dismissed leads at any time

Lead Notes:
• Expand the notes section on any lead to add your observations
• Notes are saved and persist across sessions
• Useful for recording drive-by observations, agent conversations, or research findings

Lead Statuses:
• New: Just discovered, not yet reviewed
• Flagged: Marked as a priority for follow-up
• Dismissed: Not interested, hidden from view
• Reviewed: You've looked at it but haven't decided
• Converted: Turned into a ProfitGuard project

AI Deal Scout offers three ways to browse your search results:

Card View:
• Shows each lead as a detailed card with score, signals, property details, and action buttons
• Best for reviewing individual leads in depth
• Includes expandable sections for notes and transaction history

Table View:
• Compact rows showing key data: address, score, AVM, equity, LTV, and signals
• Sortable columns — click any column header to sort
• Best for quickly scanning and comparing many leads

Map View:
• Plots all leads on an interactive map with color-coded markers
• Click a marker to see lead details
• Best for understanding geographic distribution and identifying clusters
• Useful for planning driving-for-dollars routes

Switching Views: Use the view toggle buttons (grid, table, map icons) at the top of the results area.

AI Deal Scout provides several filters to narrow your search results:

Property Filters:
• Property Type: Single Family, Townhouse, Condo, Multi-Family, Mobile/Manufactured
• Price Range: Set minimum and maximum property values
• Minimum Beds/Baths/Sqft: Filter by property size and configuration
• Pool: Filter for properties with or without a pool
• Vacant Land: Show only vacant lots, hide them, or include all

Scoring Filters:
• Minimum Score: Set the threshold for the Undervaluation Score (default: 40)
• Signal Filters: Click signal badges to filter for leads with specific signals (e.g., only show leads with Lien Distress or Pre-Foreclosure)

Ownership Filters:
• Owner Type: Absentee owner vs owner-occupied
• Years Owned: Filter by ownership duration
• Foreclosure: Show only pre-foreclosure properties

Other Filters:
• Street Search: Type to filter by street name within results
• Transfer Since: Filter by when the property last changed hands (30 days, 90 days, 6 months, 1 year)
• Exclude Recent Sales: Hide properties that recently sold at market value

Lead notes let you attach your own observations and research to any lead.

Adding Notes: 1. Click the notes icon or expand the notes section on a lead card 2. Type your note in the text area 3. Click Save — notes persist across sessions and searches

What to Record:
• Drive-by observations (property condition, neighborhood quality)
• Conversations with agents or wholesalers
• Research findings (permit history, owner contact info)
• Reasons for flagging or dismissing
• Follow-up reminders and next steps

Tips:
• Add notes immediately after a drive-by while details are fresh
• Note the date of your observation for future reference
• Flag leads with notes so they're preserved long-term

Search Limits:
• Each search scans a batch of property records (configurable: 100, 250, or 500)
• Only properties meeting your minimum score threshold are saved as leads
• You can click "Load More" to scan additional batches from the same search area

Pagination:
• Results load in batches for performance
• The "Load More" button fetches the next batch and scores them
• You'll see a count of total properties scanned vs leads found

Lead Retention:
• Flagged leads are kept permanently until you unflag them
• Unflagged search results may be cleaned up periodically to keep your lead list manageable
• Dismissed leads are retained so they won't reappear in future searches of the same area
• When you re-search the same area, previously flagged and dismissed leads are recognized and their status is preserved

Tips:
• Flag any leads you want to keep before running a new search
• Use notes to record why you flagged a lead so you remember later
• Start with a smaller search limit to preview results, then load more if the area looks promising

AI Deal Scout is available on the Pro plan ($59/month) and above.

What's Included:
• Unlimited area searches and address lookups
• Full scoring with all signal types
• Map, card, and table views
• Lead flagging, dismissing, and notes
• Advanced filters including distress signals and ownership data

Not Available On:
• Starter plan — upgrade to Pro to access AI Deal Scout

See What subscription tiers are available? for full plan comparison and How do I upgrade or change my subscription? for upgrade instructions.

AI Deal Scout organizes its 15 scoring signals into 4 categories to help you understand what each signal tells you about a property:

Motivated Seller — Signals that the owner may be ready to sell:
• Absentee Owner: Owner doesn't live at the property (in-state or out-of-state)
• Tired Landlord: Absentee-owned for 8+ years — landlord fatigue
• Empty Nester: Owner-occupied 15+ years with high equity — potential downsizer
• Long Hold: Owned 10+ years — outdated assessment, possible motivation
• Entity Owned: Owned by LLC, Corp, Trust, or similar — potential investor liquidation

Undervalued — Signals that the property may be priced below market value:
• AVM Gap: Automated valuation exceeds assessed or sale price
• Transfer Gap: Last sale price well below current valuation
• $/sqft Below Avg: Priced below similar-sized homes in the area
• Sold Below Market: Recently sold below AVM estimate

Financial — Signals of financial pressure or strong equity position:
• Pre-Foreclosure: Active pre-foreclosure filing
• Lien Distress: Total liens exceed 80% of market value
• Multiple Liens: 3+ liens indicating compounding obligations
• Free & Clear: No mortgage — full equity and pricing flexibility
• High Equity: Substantial equity position
• Low LTV: Low loan-to-value ratio

Data Quality — Confidence and recency indicators:
• High Confidence: Reliable AVM estimate
• Recent Market Sale: Sold recently at market value (penalty — reduces score)

Use signal filters to search by category and find specific deal patterns.

AI Deal Scout includes 6 motivation signals that detect patterns suggesting an owner may be ready to sell:

Absentee Owner (up to 8 pts): The owner's mailing address differs from the property address. Out-of-state absentee owners score higher (8 pts) than in-state (5 pts) because distance increases management burden and motivation to sell.

Tired Landlord (7 pts): A combo signal that fires when a property is both absentee-owned AND held for 8+ years. The 8-year threshold targets "landlord fatigue" — long-term rental owners who are burned out from managing tenants and maintenance.

Empty Nester (7 pts): A combo signal for owner-occupied properties held 15+ years with high equity (LTV below 40%). This profile suggests homeowners whose children have moved out and may be looking to downsize.

Long Hold (up to 15 pts): Properties held 10+ years often have outdated tax assessments and owners who have significant unrealized equity. Longer holds score more points.

Entity Owned (3 pts): Properties owned by LLCs, Corporations, Trusts, REITs, Funds, or similar entities. These are often investor-owned and may be available as part of portfolio liquidation.

Free & Clear (8 pts): No mortgage debt — the owner has full equity and maximum flexibility on pricing. Found in the Financial category but strongly correlated with seller motivation.

These signals are most powerful when combined with Undervalued signals to find properties that are both underpriced and owned by motivated sellers.

The signal filter panel lets you click multiple signal chips to narrow results to leads with ALL selected signals (AND logic). Combining signals across categories is the most effective way to surface high-quality deals.

Powerful Cross-Category Combinations:

Motivated Seller + Undervalued (hidden gems):
• Absentee Owner + AVM Gap = motivated seller with an underpriced property
• Long Hold + $/sqft Below Avg = long-term owner with below-market pricing
• Tired Landlord + Transfer Gap = burned-out landlord sitting on appreciation

Motivated Seller + Financial (pressure + motivation):
• Tired Landlord + Lien Distress = burned-out landlord under financial pressure
• Absentee Owner + Multiple Liens = distant owner with compounding financial obligations
• Empty Nester + Free & Clear = downsizer with full equity and no mortgage constraints

Stack Within Category (deep motivation):
• Absentee Owner + Long Hold + Entity Owned = likely investor property ready for disposition
• High Equity + Free & Clear + Long Hold = maximum equity with long ownership

Tips:
• Start with 2 signals and add more to narrow results
• Cross-category combinations (e.g., Motivated Seller + Undervalued) tend to surface the best opportunities
• If your combination returns zero results, remove one signal and try again
• Use the signal count on each chip to see how many leads match before combining

An absentee owner is someone whose mailing address differs from the property address — meaning they don't live at the property they own. This is a key motivation signal in AI Deal Scout.

Two Tiers:
• Out-of-state absentee (8 pts): The owner lives in a different state than the property. Out-of-state absentee owners are often more flexible on price due to distance and management costs. Managing a property remotely is difficult and expensive, making these owners more likely to accept a reasonable offer.
• In-state absentee (5 pts): The owner lives in the same state but at a different address. The property may be a rental, inherited property, or second home.

Why It Matters: Absentee owners face challenges that local owner-occupants don't: property management costs, difficulty monitoring condition, reliance on third parties for maintenance, and the hassle of long-distance oversight. These factors increase their willingness to sell.

How It's Detected: AI Deal Scout compares the owner's mailing address (from tax records) against the property address. If the street address, state, or ZIP code don't match, the property is flagged as absentee-owned.

Combine With:
• Long Hold → Tired Landlord combo signal (8+ years of absentee ownership)
• AVM Gap → Motivated seller with an underpriced property
• Lien Distress → Financial pressure on a distant owner

The Tired Landlord signal (7 pts) identifies properties that are both absentee-owned AND held for 8+ years. This combo pattern targets "landlord fatigue" — the burnout that long-term rental property owners commonly experience.

Why 8 Years? The 8-year threshold is based on industry research showing that landlord fatigue peaks after years of dealing with tenant turnover, maintenance requests, property management costs, and unexpected repairs. After 8+ years, many landlords are ready to cash out.

What to Watch For: Long-term rentals may have deferred maintenance or tenant issues — inspect thoroughly before making an offer. Years of rental use can mean worn flooring, outdated kitchens, deferred roof or HVAC maintenance, and tenant damage that isn't visible in property records.

How It Scores:
• The Tired Landlord signal is additive — it stacks on top of Absentee Owner and Long Hold signals
• A tired landlord property can earn: Absentee Owner (5-8 pts) + Long Hold (up to 15 pts) + Tired Landlord bonus (7 pts)

Best Combinations:
• Tired Landlord + Lien Distress = burned-out landlord under financial pressure
• Tired Landlord + AVM Gap = fatigued owner with an underpriced property
• Tired Landlord + Multiple Liens = compounding financial and management burden

Signals are derived from public property records including tax assessments, deed transfers, lien filings, and automated valuations. Motivation is inferred from data patterns, not confirmed — always verify with on-the-ground due diligence before making offers.

Data Sources:
• Tax assessment records (property value, owner name, mailing address)
• Deed transfer history (sale dates, prices, buyer/seller names)
• Lien filings (mortgages, tax liens, judgment liens)
• Automated Valuation Models (AVM) from property data aggregators
• Pre-foreclosure filings from public court records

What Signals Can Tell You:
• Objective financial facts: equity position, lien amounts, ownership duration, entity ownership
• Statistical patterns: properties priced below cohort averages, large AVM gaps
• Ownership characteristics: absentee status, long hold periods

What Signals Cannot Tell You:
• The owner's actual willingness to sell
• The true condition of the property
• Whether the owner has already listed or accepted an offer
• Personal circumstances (divorce, estate settlement, job relocation)

Best Practices:
• Use signals as a starting point for research, not as a final verdict
• Drive by flagged properties to assess condition firsthand
• Cross-reference with listing sites to check if the property is already on market
• Verify ownership and lien information with county records before making offers
• Higher scores with multiple signals across categories indicate stronger opportunities, but every deal requires individual due diligence

Search Strategy:
• Start with a specific county or ZIP code rather than broad searches
• Begin with the default minimum score (40) and increase if you get too many results
• Use the Load More button to scan additional properties if initial results are thin

Evaluating Leads:
• Focus on leads with multiple positive signals — single-signal leads are less reliable
• Pay attention to Cohort Analysis — it catches opportunities other signals miss
• Check the transfer history for suspicious transfers (gifts, family sales) that may inflate the AVM gap
• Look for the "suspicious transfer" warning — some low sale prices are deed corrections, not real sales

Using Filters Effectively:
• Filter by distress signals (Lien Distress, Pre-Foreclosure) to find motivated sellers
• Use absentee owner filter to find properties where the owner doesn't live there
• Set years owned > 10 to find long-term owners with outdated assessments
• Hide vacant land if you're only looking for houses to flip

After Finding Leads:
• Flag promising leads immediately so they're preserved
• Add notes with your observations from drive-bys or research
• Use Address Lookup to deep-dive into specific properties
• Cross-reference with Zillow (external link provided on each lead) for listing history and photos
• Create a ProfitGuard project for leads you want to analyze further with comps and full deal analysis

Skip Trace is a lead generation tool that looks up phone numbers and email addresses for property owners using public records. It helps you reach out directly to motivated sellers in Deal Scout.

How It Works: When you skip trace a flagged lead with qualifying signals, the system looks up the owner's contact information based on their name and mailing address from public records. Results typically include:
• Multiple phone numbers (mobile, landline, VoIP)
• Email addresses
• Alternate contact information when available

Qualifying Signals: Skip tracing is only available for properties showing signs of owner motivation:
• Absentee Owner — Owner's mailing address differs from the property address
• Tired Landlord — Long-term rental property owner (8+ years) experiencing landlord fatigue
• Empty Nester — Owner matches an empty nester profile
• Entity Owned — Property owned by LLC or corporation
• Foreclosure — Pre-foreclosure or distressed ownership situation

If your flagged lead doesn't have one of these signals, the Skip Trace button will be disabled.

Using Results: After skip tracing, contact information is displayed in the Owner & Liens section with a "Skip Traced" badge. You can click to copy phone numbers and emails, then reach out directly to negotiate.

Credit Cost: Each skip trace costs 1 credit from your Pro account's skip trace balance. The Pro plan includes a monthly skip trace credit allowance.

Purchasing Additional Credits: If you run out of monthly credits, you can purchase additional skip trace credit packs from Settings > Billing:
• Credit packs come in various sizes with volume discounts
• The more credits you purchase at once, the lower the per-credit cost
• Purchased credits never expire
• Purchased credits are used after your monthly allocation is depleted

What Happens When Credits Run Out: If you attempt to skip trace a lead with no credits remaining, you'll see:
• A prompt to purchase additional credits
• A link to Settings > Billing to buy credits immediately
• The option to proceed with the purchase and skip trace right away

Pro Tip: Monitor your remaining credits in the app. Since skip tracing helps you efficiently prospect flagged leads with high-motivation signals, many successful investors budget for monthly skip trace spending as part of their lead generation strategy.

The Post-Flip Autopsy is a structured post-sale review built into every project. Once you mark a project as completed (with a sale date and actual sale price), the Autopsy tab appears in the project calculator.

It walks you through these key sections:

1. Did We Buy Right? — Was your purchase price disciplined relative to the 70% Rule? 2. Budget vs Actuals — How did actual renovation spend compare to your plan? 3. Timeline Analysis — Did you finish on time, and what did delays cost? 4. Receipt Audit — What percentage of renovation spend is backed by receipts? Flags documentation gaps for tax purposes. 5. ROI & Profit Analysis — Did the deal deliver the returns you expected? Includes ARV accuracy. 6. Lessons, Tax & Next Time — Contractor ratings, free-form notes for wins, mistakes, takeaways, and action items.

These sections feed into a weighted Autopsy Score (0-100) covering ARV Accuracy (15pts), Budget Discipline (15pts), Timeline (15pts), Receipt Coverage (15pts), ROI (20pts), and Documentation (20pts). Completing autopsies across multiple deals unlocks the Portfolio Trends page with cross-deal insights.

Pro and Team tier users can also hit "Generate AI Insights" to activate Profit Sentinel, which reads your deal data and delivers root-cause analysis, actionable recommendations, and contractor performance summaries.

Complete the autopsy as soon as possible after the sale closes — ideally within a week while details are fresh.

Prerequisites:
• The project must have a sale date and actual sale price set (you'll be prompted to add these when marking a project as completed)
• Renovation budget items should have actual costs entered for accurate budget variance analysis

How to access it: 1. Open the completed project from your Projects page 2. Click the Autopsy tab in the project calculator 3. Work through each section — you can save progress and return later

Tip: Even profitable deals have lessons to extract. The autopsy is most valuable when you complete it for every deal, not just the ones that went wrong.

The Autopsy Score is a weighted 0–100 score built from six buckets that measure deal execution, not just profitability.

Scoring buckets and weights:

• ARV Accuracy (15 pts) — How close was your projected ARV to the actual sale price? Selling within 5% of projection scores highest.
• Budget Discipline (15 pts) — Renovation budget variance. Coming in under budget earns bonus points; going over is penalized proportionally.
• Timeline (15 pts) — Finishing on or ahead of schedule earns full marks. Overruns are penalized by the dollar cost of delay days.
• Receipt Coverage (15 pts) — What percentage of your renovation spend is backed by uploaded receipts? 90%+ coverage scores highest. Gaps flag potential tax audit risk.
• ROI (20 pts) — Compares actual vs projected ROI and whether your profit goal was met.
• Documentation (20 pts) — Completeness of lessons learned, contractor ratings, and notes.

Score tiers:
• 90-100: Exceptional execution
• 75-89: Strong deal
• 60-74: Average — room for improvement
• Below 60: Needs attention

Important: Scores reward disciplined execution, not just profitable outcomes. A profitable deal with massive budget overruns, missing receipts, and timeline slips will score lower than a modestly profitable deal with excellent execution and thorough documentation.

The Budget vs Actuals section compares your planned renovation budget to what you actually spent.

How actual costs are calculated: Each budget line item's actual cost is calculated from its sub-items: quantity × unit cost per item. If receipts are attached to a line item, the receipt totals are used instead. This matches exactly what you see in the project's budget tracker.

What you'll see:
• Overall budget variance (dollar amount and percentage)
• Per-category breakdown showing which renovation categories came in over or under
• A budget accuracy score

Scoring:
• Under budget by 5-15%: High score with savings bonus
• Within 5%: Strong score for accurate estimation
• Over by 10-20%: Moderate penalty
• Over by 20%+: Significant penalty

Pro tip: The per-category breakdown on the Portfolio Trends page reveals which types of work you consistently underestimate across all your deals.

ARV Accuracy measures how close your projected After Repair Value was to the actual sale price.

Formula: ARV Accuracy = Actual Sale Price ÷ Projected ARV × 100%

Accuracy tiers:
• Within 5%: Excellent — your comps and adjustments were spot-on
• Within 10%: Good — minor variance is normal in real estate
• Off by more than 10%: Review your comp selection — you may be using comps from different neighborhoods, not adjusting enough for condition, or selecting overly optimistic comparables

On the Portfolio Trends page, the ARV Accuracy chart shows your accuracy across all deals with color coding (green/yellow/red). This helps you see if your valuation skills are improving over time.

Selling above ARV (positive variance) is perfectly fine — it means you were conservative, which is a safer approach.

The Contractor Performance section lets you rate each contractor who was assigned to tasks on the project.

Rating scale (1-5 stars):
• ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Exceptional — on time, on budget, quality work, great communication
• ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Good — reliable with minor issues
• ⭐⭐⭐ Average — some delays or quality concerns
• ⭐⭐ Below average — significant issues
• ⭐ Poor — major problems, would not rehire

Why rate contractors:
• Ratings accumulate across projects, building a long-term performance profile
• The Portfolio Trends page shows a Contractor Reliability Roll-up with average ratings, on-time rates, and trend arrows (improving/declining)
• Helps you make better hiring decisions on future flips

Your ratings are private — only visible to you. Rate honestly to build a reliable contractor network over time.

The Portfolio Trends page aggregates data from all your completed post-flip autopsies into trend charts and actionable insights. It requires at least 2 completed autopsies to unlock.

Access it from: Reports page (Autopsy Trends section) or the Dashboard autopsy widget.

Charts and data:

1. ARV Accuracy by Deal — Bar chart comparing projected ARV vs actual sale price, color-coded by accuracy tier (green = within 5%, yellow = within 10%, red = off).

2. Budget Accuracy by Deal — Renovation budget variance per project, showing whether you consistently over- or underestimate.

3. ROI Trend — Side-by-side projected vs actual ROI per deal, revealing estimation accuracy over time.

4. Renovation Category Overruns — Average planned vs actual spend per category across all deals. Instantly reveals which categories you consistently underestimate.

5. Contractor Reliability Roll-up — Average rating, on-time rate, and trend arrows for each contractor. Names link to their profiles.

6. Lessons Learned Log — All autopsy notes aggregated, searchable by deal and lesson type.

Summary metrics include average ARV accuracy, budget variance trend, average ROI, total profit, and your most common overrun category.

The Lessons, Tax & Next Time section captures qualitative insights from the deal in structured categories:

• What Went Well — Document your wins (good contractor finds, smart negotiations, effective staging)
• What Went Wrong — Honest assessment of mistakes (budget blowouts, timeline slips, scope creep)
• Would Do Differently — Specific changes you'd make on a do-over
• Key Takeaways — High-level insights applicable to future deals
• Win to Double Down — Strategies that worked so well you want to repeat them
• Action Items — Concrete next steps (e.g., "Always get 3 plumbing bids" or "Budget 15% contingency for kitchens")

Portfolio aggregation: All lessons from completed autopsies are aggregated on the Portfolio Trends page. You can search and filter across all deals to spot patterns — maybe you always underestimate plumbing timelines, or your best deals share a common strategy.

This section also includes a tax compliance checkbox to confirm you've reviewed the tax implications of the deal.

Portfolio Trends requires at least 2 completed autopsies to generate meaningful trend data. With only 1 data point, there's no trend to show.

To unlock trends: 1. Complete autopsies on at least 2 sold projects 2. Make sure each project has a sale date and actual sale price 3. Work through the autopsy sections (especially budget items with actual costs and contractor ratings)

The more autopsies you complete, the more valuable the trend data becomes. After 5+ deals, you'll have robust insights into your estimation accuracy, contractor reliability, and category-level budgeting patterns.

The Timeline Analysis section evaluates how well you managed the project schedule.

Key metrics:
• Planned vs Actual Hold Time — Days from purchase to sale vs your original plan
• Timeline Variance — Days early or late
• Delay Cost — If late, the extra holding costs incurred (daily hold cost × overrun days)

Why timeline matters for profit: Every extra month you hold a property costs money in mortgage payments, insurance, utilities, property taxes, and opportunity cost. A project that finishes 2 months late might lose $6,000+ in holding costs — money that comes directly out of your profit.

Scoring: Finishing early earns bonus points. Overruns are penalized, with the penalty weighted by the dollar cost of the delay. A 2-week overrun on a property with $100/day holding costs hurts more than the same overrun on a property with $30/day holding costs.

The Renovation Category Overruns chart on the Portfolio Trends page is one of the most actionable analytics in ProfitGuard.

It aggregates renovation spend by category (plumbing, electrical, flooring, kitchen, etc.) across all your completed autopsies and shows the average planned vs actual cost for each.

What to look for:
• Categories where actual consistently exceeds planned — these need bigger budgets or better scoping
• Categories where you consistently come in under — you may be over-budgeting these
• Categories with the largest absolute dollar variance — these have the biggest impact on your bottom line

Example insight: If the chart shows you go over on plumbing by an average of $3,200 across 5 deals, add a $3,200 buffer to your plumbing budget on future projects. This single adjustment could prevent budget overruns on every future flip.

Profit Sentinel is ProfitGuard's AI-powered deal analysis engine, available on Pro and Team plans.

How it works: 1. Complete a Post-Flip Autopsy on a sold project 2. Click "Generate AI Insights" in the Autopsy tab 3. Profit Sentinel reads your actual deal data — purchase price, renovation costs, timeline, receipts, contractor assignments, and sale price 4. It delivers a detailed analysis in seconds

What you get:
• Root-cause analysis — Identifies exactly where profit was lost or gained, with specific dollar amounts (e.g., "Kitchen renovation ran $8,200 over budget due to scope creep")
• Actionable recommendations — Concrete next steps tailored to your numbers, not generic advice
• Contractor performance summaries — Highlights which contractors delivered on time and budget vs. those who didn't
• Receipt coverage assessment — Flags documentation gaps that could create tax audit risk

Why it matters: Most flippers repeat the same mistakes because they never analyze what went wrong (or right) with specific numbers. Profit Sentinel turns your completed deals into a learning engine so each flip is more profitable than the last.

Profit Sentinel is different from the AI Assistant chatbot — it's a structured analysis tool that generates a comprehensive report, while the AI Assistant answers individual questions.

The Receipt Audit is a section within the Post-Flip Autopsy that measures your receipt coverage — the percentage of your renovation spend that is backed by uploaded receipts.

How it works: ProfitGuard compares your total actual renovation costs against the sum of all receipts uploaded and matched to budget line items. The result is a coverage percentage.

Coverage tiers:
• 90-100%: Excellent — nearly all spend is documented
• 70-89%: Good — minor gaps to address
• 50-69%: Fair — significant undocumented spend
• Below 50%: Poor — major documentation gaps

Why it matters:
• Tax deductions — The IRS requires documentation to support business expense deductions. Undocumented renovation costs may not be deductible, costing you real money at tax time.
• CPA reports — ProfitGuard's CPA Tax Report flags undocumented expenses with Data Quality Alerts. High receipt coverage means cleaner reports.
• Audit protection — If audited, receipts are your proof. Gaps create risk.
• Autopsy Score — Receipt Coverage accounts for 15 of the 100 points in your overall Autopsy Score.

Pro tip: Scan receipts as you go during the renovation — don't wait until the project is done. It takes 10 seconds per receipt with our OCR scanner and saves hours of scrambling at tax time.

House flipping profits (typically treated as ordinary income for active flippers/dealers) are taxed in three main ways, but the self-employment/payroll tax portion varies significantly by your entity type:

Federal Income Tax: Your flip profit is added to your ordinary income and taxed at your marginal rate (10–37%). Most active flippers fall in the 22–32% brackets.

State Income Tax: Varies by state (0% in TX, FL, NV, WA, WY, TN, SD, NH, AK — up to 13.3% in CA). Set your state tax rate in your project settings.

Self-Employment / Payroll Tax: 15.3% on subject income (12.4% Social Security + 2.9% Medicare, with Social Security capped at the annual wage base — e.g., $184,500 in 2026). This applies fully (on net business profit, after adjustments) to sole proprietors and single-member LLCs (taxed as disregarded entities by default). For S corps (a popular election for flippers, often via an LLC electing S status), you must pay yourself a reasonable salary as W-2 wages — this portion is subject to payroll taxes (15.3% combined employer/employee). The remaining profits can be taken as distributions, which are not subject to self-employment or payroll taxes (though still taxed as ordinary income). The salary must be "reasonable" based on your role, time invested, industry norms (e.g., real estate project management, construction oversight), and comparable wages.

Example: A $60,000 flip profit in a 24% federal bracket with 5% state tax:

*Sole proprietor / single-member LLC (full SE tax applies):* - Federal: $14,400 - State: $3,000 - SE Tax: ~$9,180 (15.3% approximate on $60,000 after adjustments) - Total: ~$26,580 (44.3% effective rate)

*S corp (assuming $30,000 reasonable salary and $30,000 distributions):* - Federal: $14,400 (on full $60,000) - State: $3,000 - Payroll Tax: ~$4,590 (15.3% on salary only) - Total: ~$21,990 (36.65% effective rate) — saving ~$4,590 vs. sole prop

ProfitGuard calculates all three tax components automatically when you set your entity type (sole prop, LLC, or S corp), reasonable salary (for S corps), and tax rates in project settings. For S corps, inputting a defensible reasonable salary (backed by market data or comps) ensures accurate projections — consult a tax professional to determine what qualifies as "reasonable" for your flipping activity and to handle payroll/compliance.

Self-employment (SE) tax is the way self-employed people (including many house flippers) pay into Social Security and Medicare — essentially the equivalent of FICA/payroll taxes that W-2 employees split with employers.

The standard rate is 15.3% on your net self-employment earnings (after expenses and the standard adjustment): - Social Security: 12.4% (capped at the annual wage base — $184,500 in 2026) - Medicare: 2.9% (no cap) - Additional Medicare: +0.9% on earnings above $200,000 (single), $250,000 (married filing jointly), or $125,000 (married filing separately)

Who pays SE tax (or equivalent) on flipping income: - Sole proprietors and single-member LLCs (default taxation): Yes — full 15.3% (approx.) on net flip profits. - S corps (common for active flippers): Only on your W-2 "reasonable salary" (e.g., often 40–60% of net profits as a starting benchmark, but must be defensible based on market comps for real estate pros, your role/time invested, etc.). Remaining profits as distributions avoid SE/payroll tax. - Partnerships/multi-member LLCs: Each partner pays on their share of profits (similar to sole prop treatment).

Why it hits flippers hard: SE tax stacks on top of federal/state income taxes. A flipper in the 24% federal bracket effectively pays around 39.3% combined (before state taxes and deductions) if fully subject to SE tax — much higher than W-2 employees.

Good news: You can deduct the "employer-equivalent" half (~7.65%) as an adjustment to income on Form 1040, lowering your taxable income and overall bite. S corp election often saves thousands by limiting the taxable portion.

ProfitGuard tracks SE tax automatically based on your entity type setting. Go to your project settings to configure your entity type and see the impact on your bottom line.

An S-Corp election can save significant self-employment tax, but it's not right for everyone.

How S-Corp saves SE tax: As a sole prop, all profit is subject to 15.3% SE tax. With an S-Corp, you pay yourself a "reasonable salary" (subject to SE tax) and take the rest as distributions (no SE tax).

Example at $120K annual flip profit: - Sole Prop SE tax: $120,000 x 15.3% = $18,360 - S-Corp SE tax (60% salary): $72,000 x 15.3% = $11,016 - Annual savings: $7,344

S-Corp makes sense when: - Annual flip profit exceeds ~$60,000 - SE tax savings exceed S-Corp costs ($2,000-$4,000/year for payroll + tax returns) - You're doing 2+ flips per year consistently

S-Corp does NOT make sense when: - Profits are under $40K/year (savings don't cover costs) - You're doing occasional flips (1 every few years) - You're just starting out and income is unpredictable

Important: The IRS requires your S-Corp salary to be "reasonable" for your role. Setting it too low invites audit risk. Consult a CPA to determine the right salary level.

Use ProfitGuard's entity type setting to compare how different structures affect your after-tax profit on each deal.

Usually not. Most fix-and-flip properties do NOT qualify for 1031 exchanges.

Why: The IRS classifies flipped properties as "dealer property" or "inventory" — held primarily for resale. Section 1031 only applies to properties held for investment or business use.

When a flip MIGHT qualify: - You held the property 12+ months AND rented it out (showing investment intent) - You can demonstrate a genuine change of intent (planned to flip, but market shifted so you rented instead) - 24+ months with rental income is much stronger evidence

If eligible, the rules are strict: - 45 days to identify replacement property - 180 days to close on the replacement - Must use a Qualified Intermediary (you cannot touch the funds) - Must be "like-kind" (any real estate qualifies)

Strategy: If you want 1031 eligibility, consider renting a completed flip for 12-24 months before selling. ProfitGuard's Exit Planner can help you analyze whether holding as a rental makes financial sense compared to selling immediately.

Yes, in most cases. If you expect to owe $1,000 or more in taxes for the year, the IRS requires quarterly estimated payments.

Deadlines: - Q1: April 15 (Jan-Mar income) - Q2: June 15 (Apr-May income) - Q3: September 15 (Jun-Aug income) - Q4: January 15 of next year (Sep-Dec income)

How to avoid penalties (Safe Harbor): Pay at least one of these: - 100% of last year's total tax (110% if AGI > $150K), OR - 90% of this year's tax

How to calculate: 1. Estimate your annual flip profit 2. Add federal income tax + state income tax + SE tax 3. Subtract the SE deduction (7.65%) 4. Divide by 4 for even quarterly payments

Tip for flippers: Flip income is lumpy — you might sell nothing for 6 months then close a $80K profit deal. Use the annualized installment method (Form 2210 Schedule AI) to avoid overpaying in quarters with no closings. ProfitGuard shows your estimated tax on each project to help you plan payments.

Beyond renovation costs (which increase your property's cost basis), you can deduct many business expenses:

Vehicle & Mileage (often the biggest missed deduction): - IRS standard rate: $0.725/mile (2026) - Track all trips: property visits, contractor meetings, supply runs, closings - Average flipper: 3,000-8,000 miles/project = $2,175-$5,800 in deductions

Professional Services: - CPA/tax prep ($500-$3,000/year) - Attorney fees for contracts, closings, entity formation - Property inspections

Software & Tools: - ProfitGuard subscription - Accounting software, project management tools, MLS/property data subscriptions

Education: - Real estate courses, coaching, seminars, books, conference travel

Home Office: - Simplified: $5/sq ft up to 300 sq ft ($1,500 max) - Regular: % of home expenses (mortgage, utilities, insurance)

Other: Cell phone (business %), internet (business %), marketing, business insurance, staging costs

Example total overlooked deductions: Mileage $5K + Software $1K + CPA $1.5K + Home Office $1.5K + Insurance $2K = $11,000 At 37% combined rate = ~$4,070 tax savings

ProfitGuard's Mileage Tracker and Business Deductions features help you track all of these throughout the year. Find them in your project calculator and the Reports page.

ProfitGuard provides a complete tax-aware profit calculation with three separate tax components:

1. Federal Income Tax Your gross profit x your federal tax bracket rate. Set this in project settings (default 25%).

2. State Income Tax Your gross profit x your state tax rate. Set this in project settings based on your state. Some states (TX, FL, NV, etc.) have 0% income tax.

3. Self-Employment Tax Calculated based on your entity type: - Sole Proprietor/LLC: Gross profit x 15.3% - S-Corp: (Gross profit x salary %) x 15.3% - Partnership: Your share x 15.3%

The formula: Net Profit = ARV - Purchase Price - Renovation Costs - Selling Costs - Holding Costs - Federal Tax - State Tax - SE Tax

Where to configure: - Project-level: Each project inherits your defaults but can be customized - Default settings: Settings > Tax Defaults for entity type, tax brackets, and SE tax - State auto-lookup: When you set your state, ProfitGuard auto-fills the state income tax rate

Additional deductions tracked separately: - Mileage deductions (per project in the Mileage tab) - Business deductions (annual, in Reports > Deductions)

Check the CPA Tax Report in Reports to see your total tax picture across all projects for the year, with IRS form mapping and a downloadable Excel workbook.

Generally, you owe state income tax where the property is located, not where you live. However, it depends on your state:

Common scenarios: - Flip in your home state: Pay your state's income tax rate on the profit - Flip in a different state: Usually owe tax to the property's state, with a credit from your home state to avoid double taxation - Flip in a no-income-tax state (TX, FL, NV, WA, WY, SD, TN, NH, AK): No state income tax on that flip's profit - Live in a no-income-tax state, flip elsewhere: Owe tax to the state where the property is, but nothing to your home state

Impact example on $80K flip profit: - Texas (0% state): Federal 22% + SE 15.3% = ~$29,840 - California (9.3% state): Federal 22% + State 9.3% + SE 15.3% = ~$37,280 - Difference: ~$7,440 more tax in CA

Important: Some states have additional requirements for out-of-state flippers, like withholding at closing or filing non-resident returns.

In ProfitGuard: Set the state tax rate on each project individually based on the property's location. This lets you accurately track taxes across flips in different states.

The holding period determines your tax rate, but most flip profits are taxed as ordinary income regardless.

Short-Term Capital Gains (held < 12 months): - Taxed at ordinary income rates (10%-37%) - Most flips fall here (3-8 month holds) - Plus SE tax if you're a dealer (sole prop/LLC)

Long-Term Capital Gains (held 12+ months): - Preferential rates: 0%, 15%, or 20% based on income - Most taxpayers pay 15% - No SE tax on investment gains

The catch for flippers: Even if you hold a property 12+ months, the IRS may still classify you as a "dealer" if flipping is your regular business. Dealer property is taxed as ordinary income regardless of holding period.

Tax comparison on $100K profit: - Short-term dealer (22% + 15.3% SE): ~$37,300 - Long-term investor (15% LTCG): ~$15,000 - Difference: ~$22,300

This is why some flippers transition to a buy-and-hold strategy for certain properties, holding and renting them for 2+ years before selling to potentially qualify for long-term capital gains treatment.

Absolutely yes. Mileage is one of the largest and most commonly overlooked deductions for house flippers.

IRS Standard Mileage Rate: - 2026: $0.725 per mile - 2025: $0.70 per mile

What counts as deductible business mileage: - Driving to and from properties you're evaluating or renovating - Trips to Home Depot, Lowe's, and other suppliers - Meeting contractors, attorneys, CPAs - Driving to closings and inspections - Visiting potential deals and comps

What does NOT count: - Commuting from home to a regular office - Personal errands combined with business trips (only the business portion)

Typical flipper mileage: - Casual flipper (1-2 deals/year): 3,000-5,000 miles = $2,175-$3,625 deduction - Active flipper (3-5 deals/year): 8,000-15,000 miles = $5,800-$10,875 deduction - Full-time flipper: 15,000-25,000 miles = $10,875-$18,125 deduction

ProfitGuard's Mileage Tracker lets you log each trip with date, description, and miles. It automatically calculates the deduction at the current IRS rate and includes it in your CPA reports.

The IRS requires you to maintain records that support your income and deductions. For house flippers, keep:

Per Property: - Purchase closing statement (HUD-1/Closing Disclosure) - All renovation receipts and invoices (ProfitGuard's receipt scanner helps) - Contractor agreements and payment records - Selling closing statement - Photos documenting before/after condition - Holding cost records (insurance, utilities, property tax payments)

Business Expenses: - Mileage log with date, destination, purpose, and miles (ProfitGuard tracks this) - Professional service invoices (CPA, attorney) - Software subscription receipts - Education/course receipts - Home office measurements and expense records

How long to keep records: At least 3 years from the filing date (7 years if you claim a loss). For property records, keep until 3 years after you report the gain/loss.

ProfitGuard helps: Use the Receipt Scanner to capture and organize renovation receipts, the Mileage Tracker for drive logs, and the Business Deductions tracker for annual expenses. The CPA Report compiles everything into a format your accountant can use directly.

ProfitGuard assigns every expense to the correct tax year using receipt dates.

Expenses with dates: Only expenses dated within the selected tax year are included in that year's report. For example, a receipt dated December 2025 appears in the 2025 report, while a receipt dated January 2026 appears in the 2026 report — even if they're on the same project.

Expenses without dates: If you bought the property in the same tax year, expenses without dates are included (since they must have happened that year). If you bought the property in a prior year, expenses without dates are left out because we can't confirm which year they belong to.

Best practice: Add dates to all your receipts and work items in the project calculator. This ensures every dollar is assigned to the correct tax year and your CPA gets the most accurate report possible.

This message appears when some expenses in a project don't have receipt dates recorded.

Why it matters: Tax reports need to assign every expense to a specific tax year. Without a date, we can't be 100% sure which year the expense belongs to.

How ProfitGuard handles it: If you purchased the property in the current tax year, expenses without dates are included in the report (since the project didn't exist before that year). These get flagged so you know some items are estimated. If the property was purchased in a prior year, undated expenses are excluded to avoid assigning them to the wrong year.

How to fix it: Go to the project calculator and add dates to your receipts and work items. This removes the warning and ensures your CPA report is fully accurate.

When a project shows Active — Costs Capitalized, it means the property hasn't been sold yet. All the money you've spent on it (purchase price, renovations, holding costs) is being added to your total investment in the property — this is called your cost basis.

What this means for taxes: You don't owe any tax on an unsold property. The costs are not deductible this year — they're building up your basis so that when you eventually sell, your taxable profit is calculated correctly (sale price minus total basis).

Example: You bought a property for $200,000 and spent $50,000 on renovations this year. Your cost basis is now $250,000. When you sell for $350,000, your taxable gain is $100,000 — not the full $350,000.

On the report: The CPA report shows year-to-date capitalized costs (what you spent this tax year) and total project basis (everything spent since purchase). Your CPA uses this to track your investment for the year you eventually sell.

The SE (Self-Employment) Tax Rate is the tax that sole proprietors and single-member LLCs pay into Social Security and Medicare — similar to what W-2 employees have withheld from their paychecks.

The rate is 15.3%, which combines: - 12.4% for Social Security (capped at $184,500 in 2026) - 2.9% for Medicare (no cap)

Why it says 'on 92.35% of net earnings': The IRS lets you exclude 7.65% of your net earnings before applying the SE tax rate. This mirrors the fact that W-2 employers pay half of FICA, and that half isn't taxed. So the effective calculation is: Net Profit × 92.35% × 15.3%.

Who pays it: Sole proprietors and single-member LLCs pay SE tax on all net flip profits. S-Corps only pay it on the salary portion (not distributions), which is why many flippers elect S-Corp status to reduce this tax.

Example: $100,000 flip profit → $100,000 × 92.35% × 15.3% = $14,129.55 in SE tax.

These are the key numbers your CPA needs from each sold property:

Gross Proceeds (Sale Price): The total amount the buyer paid for the property. This is what shows up on your closing statement as the contract price.

Selling Costs: Broker commissions, closing costs, title fees, and other expenses to sell the property. These are subtracted from gross proceeds.

Adjusted Basis: Your total investment in the property — purchase price plus closing costs, renovation costs, and holding costs. This is what you spent to buy, fix, and hold the property.

Net Realized Gain: Gross Proceeds minus Selling Costs minus Adjusted Basis. This is your taxable profit (or loss) on the deal.

Example: - Gross Proceeds: $350,000 - Selling Costs: -$21,000 - Adjusted Basis: -$260,000 (purchase $200K + reno $50K + closing $5K + holding $5K) - Net Realized Gain: $69,000 ← this is what gets taxed

On the CPA report, these numbers are mapped to IRS Form 4797 (for dealer property) so your CPA knows exactly where to enter each figure.

If you flip properties in more than one state, each project may have a different state income tax rate. ProfitGuard applies the correct rate for each property's location.

Example: If you flip in Tennessee (0% state income tax) and South Carolina (6%), the report shows "Varies (TN 0%, SC 6%)" in the assumptions and calculates each project's state tax individually.

Why this matters: State taxes are owed where the property is located, not where you live. A flip in a no-tax state saves you that portion entirely, while the same profit in a high-tax state adds significantly to your bill.

How to set it: Each project has its own state tax rate in the project settings. When you set the property's state, ProfitGuard auto-fills the rate. You can override it if needed.

ProfitGuard maps your flip income and expenses to the correct IRS forms so your CPA can file accurately:

Form 4797 (Sale of Business Property): - Line 10: Gross Proceeds (sale price) - Line 21: Adjusted Basis (purchase + renovation + holding costs) - Line 17: Net Realized Gain (proceeds minus basis) This is the main form for reporting flip profits as ordinary income (dealer status).

Schedule C (Profit or Loss from Business): - Line 9: Mileage deduction (car & truck expenses) - Lines 11–27: Business deductions (CPA fees, software, home office, etc.)

Schedule SE (Self-Employment Tax): - Line 12: Self-employment tax amount

Important note: This report assumes dealer treatment (ordinary income). If your CPA determines you qualify as an investor on certain properties, those gains may instead be reported on Schedule D (Capital Gains). The dealer vs. investor classification depends on factors like how many properties you flip, how long you hold them, and your primary intent. Discuss this with your CPA.