Time Tracking

Real Estate Professional
Time Tracking That Builds Itself

Meeting the 750-hour REP threshold requires meticulous contemporaneous records. REPSShield syncs your calendar and email to classify qualifying activities automatically — so you have court-ready documentation without the spreadsheet.

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From Calendar to IRS-Compliant Log in 3 Steps

Setup takes under 5 minutes. After that, REPSShield works in the background every night.

  1. 01

    Connect your calendar

    Authorize REPSShield to read your Google Calendar, Outlook, or Apple Calendar via OAuth. Your credentials are never stored — only the event data.

  2. 02

    AI classifies each event

    Every night, REPSShield reads event titles, descriptions, and locations. Its AI maps each event to one of the 14 IRS qualifying activity categories and records the qualifying hours.

  3. 03

    Review, confirm, export

    Review categorized entries in bulk. Auto-confirm recurring activity types. When you're ready, export a PDF time log formatted for IRS scrutiny.

IRS Activity Categories

All 14 Qualifying Activity Categories

The IRS defines specific activity types that count toward the 750-hour REP requirement. REPSShield maps every calendar event to the correct category — and flags events that don't qualify so you don't accidentally inflate your count.

Why category accuracy matters

In audits and tax court, the IRS reviews both the total hours claimed and the underlying activity records. Misclassified activities — such as counting passive investment monitoring as management — are a common audit trigger. REPSShield's AI is trained specifically on IRS Publication 925 language.

  • Development or redevelopment

    Overseeing new construction on a rental unit

  • Construction or reconstruction

    Managing a renovation or remodel project

  • Acquisition

    Property search, due diligence, negotiations, closing

  • Conversion

    Converting residential to commercial use or vice versa

  • Rental activities

    Collecting rents, managing lease terms, tenant relations

  • Operation

    Day-to-day property management decisions

  • Management

    Reviewing financials, overseeing property managers, meetings

  • Leasing

    Listing properties, showing units, screening tenants, signing leases

  • Brokerage trade or business

    Licensed real estate agent activities

  • Maintenance and repair coordination

    Scheduling, overseeing, and following up on repairs

  • Tenant acquisition

    Advertising, responding to inquiries, application review

  • Inspection

    Property walkthrough, condition assessments, punch-list reviews

  • Contractor oversight

    Coordinating and supervising vendor work on-site or remotely

  • Administrative real estate activities

    Bookkeeping, record maintenance, tax preparation coordination

IRS Compliance

What "Contemporaneous" Actually Means — and Why It Matters

The IRS uses the word "contemporaneous" to describe records created at or near the time of the activity. In REP audits, agents frequently ask for proof that logs were not reconstructed from memory months or years later.

REPSShield satisfies this requirement in two ways. First, calendar sync entries are stamped with the sync timestamp — a server-side record of when the entry was created, separate from when the event occurred. Second, manual entries prompt you for both the activity date and the current recording date, creating a two-field timestamp that matches IRS Publication 925 guidance.

This distinction matters significantly. In Moss v. Commissioner (T.C. Memo 2009-219), the Tax Court disallowed REP losses because the taxpayer's records appeared to be reconstructed after the audit notice arrived. Contemporaneous logs generated through software integrations are inherently harder to dismiss.

Sync timestamp

Server-side creation date recorded at the moment of calendar sync

Activity date

The actual date the qualifying activity took place

Immutable history

Once synced, entries are locked — changes require an amendment note

Dashboard

Your Full Time Log at a Glance

Every qualifying entry is visible in the dashboard — sortable by date, property, activity category, or hours. Filter to a specific property or date range for a targeted view before generating a report.

  • Search and filter by any field
  • Bulk edit or reassign categories
  • Export filtered views as CSV or PDF
  • Amendment notes preserve audit trail
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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the 750-hour rule for Real Estate Professionals?
Under IRS Section 469(c)(7), a taxpayer qualifies as a Real Estate Professional if they spend more than 750 hours per year in real property trades or businesses in which they materially participate, AND they spend more time in those activities than in any other occupation. Both tests must be met. REPSShield tracks both simultaneously.
What activities count toward the 750-hour REP requirement?
The IRS recognizes 14 qualifying activity categories for REP purposes: development or redevelopment, construction or reconstruction, acquisition, conversion, rental, operation or management, leasing, brokerage trade or business, and several others. Activities must relate directly to real property trades or businesses in which you materially participate. Personal use time or investment monitoring generally does not count.
Does REPSShield connect to my Google Calendar?
Yes. REPSShield uses OAuth 2.0 to connect to Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook/Office 365, and Apple Calendar. After authorization, events are synced nightly. The AI reads event titles, descriptions, and locations to classify each event against IRS activity categories. You can review and confirm or adjust the categorization.
What is "contemporaneous" recordkeeping and why does it matter?
The IRS strongly prefers contemporaneous records — logs created at or near the time the activity occurred, rather than reconstructed from memory after the fact. In tax court cases where REP status was disputed, contemporaneous logs consistently held up better than reconstructed records. REPSShield timestamps every entry at the time of sync, creating an auditable trail that satisfies this requirement.
Can I import existing time logs into REPSShield?
Yes. REPSShield supports bulk CSV import for existing records. You can also manually enter historical entries with backdated timestamps. For the strongest audit position, use calendar sync going forward to generate new entries with contemporaneous timestamps.
How does REPSShield handle the "more than any other occupation" test?
REPSShield tracks your total hours in real estate qualifying activities and compares them against hours you designate for other occupations. If you are a W-2 employee, you can record your annual W-2 work hours and REPSShield will flag if your real estate hours exceed that total — which is required for the second prong of the REP test.
Is there a minimum number of hours per property?
There is no minimum for the REP threshold itself — the 750 hours can come from activities across all your properties. However, to deduct losses from a specific property, that property must also pass one of the 7 material participation tests, some of which have their own hour minimums (such as the 500-hour test or the 100-hour test). REPSShield tracks both the REP aggregate and per-property material participation hours.

Explore Related Features

Material Participation

Track all 7 IRS tests per property

Audit-Ready Reports

Export IRS-formatted PDF time logs

AI Tax Advisor

Citation-backed answers to REP questions
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