STR tax strategy guide

Field Ledger vs track750 — Hours-Only vs the Whole Day

track750 is a specialist hour-tracker for real-estate professionals and STR hosts, built by the cost-segregation firm KBKG. Field Ledger is a purpose-built §469 record-keeping tool for STR hosts pursuing the material-participation strategy. They compete head-to-head on STR MP hour-tracking, but the tools make different bets on what else belongs in the record. This is a side-by-side from the team behind Field Ledger — where track750 wins, we say so.

The 30-second verdict

  • Your primary strategy is Real Estate Professional Status (§469(c)(7), 750-hour test): track750. That's what it's built for, and the name reflects it.
  • Your primary strategy is the STR loophole and you already have expense/mileage bookkeeping figured out: track750's hour-tracking is enough, at a lower price ($15/mo vs $19/mo).
  • Your CPA already works with KBKG: track750 fits their existing workflow.
  • You want one daily entry capturing hours, mileage, trips, AND expenses: Field Ledger. track750 is hour-tracking only; you'd need a separate tool for the other three surfaces.
  • You want the three-axis §469 record (MP hours + avg-stay + personal-use) in one tool: Field Ledger. track750 covers hours; the other two tests are on you.

Same category, different scope

Unlike a Field Ledger vs. Stessa comparison (where the tools live in different categories and often get run together), Field Ledger and track750 compete head-to-head. Both aim at the same buyer: an STR host pursuing the §469 material-participation strategy who needs contemporaneous hour records their CPA can work from.

track750's scope is deliberately narrow. The name references the §469(c)(7)(B)(ii) 750-hour test for Real Estate Professional Status — the tax status that removes rental activities from §469(c)(2)'s per-se passive characterization. Qualifying pros who then materially participate in each rental activity (or file the §1.469-9(g) aggregation election to treat all rentals as one activity) can treat those losses as non-passive. track750 tracks REPS-qualifying hours, plus the STR-loophole MP thresholds under §1.469-5T. Hour-logging is the whole product.

Field Ledger's scope is deliberately wider. It captures STR MP hours (aligned to the §1.469-5T(a)(1) 500-hour test and the §1.469-5T(a)(3) "more than 100 hours AND more than any other individual" test), plus mileage with stated business purpose, plus trip records, plus expenses, plus guest stays for the §1.469-1T(e)(3)(ii)(A) average-stay test, plus personal-use days for the §280A(d) residence-threshold check. Six record types in one tool, all linkable back to the same daily entry.

The evaluation question isn't "which is better" — it's "which fits the specific tax strategy you're running." If REPS is central, track750. If STR loophole is central AND you value having the whole record in one place, Field Ledger. Not tax advice — consult a qualified tax professional.

Side-by-side comparison

Pricing and feature descriptions reflect publicly listed information as of mid-2026 and may have changed — verify on each vendor's website before deciding. Where the table says a feature is "not a first-class feature" of a competitor, that reflects what's visible on their public site as of this writing; if the vendor has since added the capability, we'd love to update — email hello@getfieldledger.com.

Dimension Field Ledger track750
Primary strategy STR loophole (§469 material participation for short-term rentals) Real Estate Professional Status (§469(c)(7)) + STR loophole
Entry price $19/mo or $190/yr (Owner tier, 1 property) ~$15/mo or ~$150/yr (verify current pricing on track750.tax)
Free trial 714 days, no credit card 14 days, no credit card (per public listings)
REPS 750-hour tracking No Yes — it's the product's namesake
STR MP hour tracking Yes — §1.469-5T(a)(1) 500-hour test + §1.469-5T(a)(3) "more than 100 hours AND more than any other individual" test Yes — 100-hour and 500-hour thresholds
Mileage capture Yes — with stated business purpose per trip; unsubstantiated miles flagged Not a first-class feature
Expense capture Yes — in the same daily entry as hours Not a first-class feature
Trip capture (origin → destination) Yes — in the same daily entry Not a first-class feature
Guest-stay tracking (§1.469-1T(e)(3)(ii)(A)) Yes — computed against the 7-day threshold Not surfaced as a §469 test
Personal-use-days tracking (§280A(d)) Yes — status readout against the §280A(d) threshold (greater of 14 personal-use days OR 10 percent of days rented at fair rental) Not a first-class feature
Plain-English capture (language-model-assisted) Yes — type your day; the tool structures it into typed drafts you review before saving Forms-based hour entry
Schedule E CSV export Yes — operating-line subtotals + suggested MACRS class life for capital + de-minimis flag (≤$2,500 per item) Hour-summary export — no Schedule E expense-line output (based on publicly listed information)
Institutional backing Independent product from Kapakos LLC (newer, smaller shop) Built by KBKG, an established cost-segregation and tax-strategy firm
Multi-property support 1 / 5 / unlimited by tier Yes (verify tier limits on track750.tax)
Native mobile app No — responsive web Not independently verified — check track750.tax

Where track750 wins

REPS 750-hour tracking (its namesake)

If your primary tax strategy is Real Estate Professional Status under §469(c)(7) — you spend more than 750 hours in real property trades or businesses AND more than half your personal service hours in real estate — track750 is purpose-built for that reporting. Field Ledger doesn't track REPS at all. This isn't a small difference for the reader whose strategy turns on the 750-hour test; it's the whole ballgame. (REPS itself doesn't auto-treat all rental losses as non-passive — MP is still required per rental activity unless the taxpayer files the §1.469-9(g) aggregation election. Not tax advice.)

KBKG institutional backing

track750 is built by KBKG, an established cost-segregation and tax-strategy firm with a stated CPA network. For readers whose CPA already works with KBKG (or whose CPA weighs "will this vendor still exist in five years" heavily), that lineage is a real signal. Field Ledger is an independent product from Kapakos LLC — a newer, smaller operation without KBKG's institutional footprint.

Lower entry price

$15/mo vs Field Ledger's $19/mo — about 20% cheaper at the entry tier. If you're pricing this line item tightly and only need hour-tracking, the math is straightforward.

Longer trial (14 days vs 7)

track750's public listings show a 14-day trial vs. Field Ledger's standard 7-day. (Field Ledger's direct-mail campaigns unlock 14 days, but the public-facing default is 7.) Twice the runway to evaluate.

Narrower scope = simpler product

If all you need is an hour log — because your CPA handles expense categorization, mileage lives in a dedicated app, and Schedule E prep is their problem — track750's smaller feature set is a benefit, not a limitation. Less to learn, less to maintain, one job done well.

Where Field Ledger wins

One daily entry captures four record types

Type "cleaned Brooklyn 2.5h, drove from Brooklyn to Greenfield Park for a check-in, Home Depot $45 for paint" once — Field Ledger structures it into an activity (2.5h cleaning), a trip (Brooklyn → Greenfield Park), and an expense (Home Depot, $45) as separate typed drafts for your review. track750 captures the hours; the mileage and expense sit in whatever separate tools you're running alongside it. Your CPA at year-end works from one reconciled record vs. three.

The three §469 tests, tracked in one tool

Hosts pursuing the STR loophole actually need three separate tax-mechanic records: (1) material participation hours (§469), (2) the ≤7-day average guest stay (§1.469-1T(e)(3)(ii)(A)), and (3) the personal-use-days threshold that would reclassify the property under §280A(d). Field Ledger tracks all three. track750 covers the hours; the average-stay and personal-use tests are on you or your CPA. (A second STR-exception path exists under §1.469-1T(e)(3)(ii)(B) — average stay ≤30 days with significant personal services — which is outside Field Ledger's current scope.) Not tax advice.

Substantiation-aware mileage math (§274(d))

Field Ledger's headline "at standard mileage rate" figure only counts miles you gave a stated business purpose to. Miles logged without a purpose surface on a visible warning rather than being included in the deduction total. §274(d) requires contemporaneous records of amount, time, place, and business purpose for auto-and-travel deductions. track750 doesn't capture mileage; if you're doing mileage separately, whichever tool you use should enforce this same discipline.

Taxpayer-safe defaults

Travel hours are captured but never auto-counted toward the §469 MP total — Reg. §1.469-5T(f)(1) counts work only when it's done "in connection with" the activity, and traveling to a location doesn't itself establish the work performed there. You confirm the underlying activity; the tool then counts the time. Material participation badges read "Reached" and "Below" rather than "PASS" or "FAIL" — a threshold is a marker, not a legal determination. This is a positioning axis: Field Ledger is built not to over-count for you.

Schedule E export a CPA can work directly from

Per-property operating-line subtotals mapped to Schedule E categories, plus capital items listed separately with a suggested MACRS class life (5, 7, 15, 27.5, or in some transient-lodging fact patterns 39 years), plus items ≤$2,500 flagged as potentially de-minimis under §1.263(a)-1(f) — your CPA reviews and elects. Not tax advice. track750's export focuses on hour summaries; the Schedule E expense-line output is outside its scope.

Plain-English capture backed by a language model

Field Ledger's capture flow accepts free-form prose, structures it via a language model into typed drafts, and requires you to confirm each before it saves. Every parsed record is a draft until you confirm — the human review step is the whole safety story. track750 uses form-based entry, which is direct but doesn't scale to the "one entry captures four record types" pattern.

What both fall short on

Honest shared limitations of both tools:

  • Neither files your taxes. Both give your CPA (or your DIY tax software) organized records. For actual filing, use TurboTax Premier, H&R Block Premium, or a CPA. For §469 loophole returns, a CPA is usually worth the cost.
  • Neither makes tax determinations for you. Material participation is a fact-specific IRS determination involving one of the seven §1.469-5T tests plus (for the STR loophole path) the average-stay test. Both tools capture the data; qualification is between you and your tax professional.
  • Neither integrates with Airbnb / VRBO / Booking.com APIs. Revenue and guest-stay data typically requires manual entry or CSV import from the platform's own transaction export.
  • Neither includes bank-feed integration. Both are record-keeping tools, not bookkeeping tools. If you want automatic transaction ingestion for expense tracking, tools like Stessa (free tier), Baselane, or QuickBooks fit that need — you'd typically run one of them alongside either track750 or Field Ledger.

Decision framework by host profile

You're an active real-estate professional running STRs on the side → track750

The 750-hour REPS test is central to your tax posture. track750's namesake feature is built for exactly this. Field Ledger doesn't cover REPS reporting.

Solo STR host, one property, pursuing the loophole for the first time → Field Ledger

First-time STR-loophole pursuers usually don't yet have expense/mileage tools nailed down. Field Ledger's one-entry-captures-everything pattern removes the need to stitch multiple tools together, at the cost of $4/mo more than track750.

You already have bookkeeping figured out (QuickBooks, Stessa, spreadsheet) → track750 — cheaper, does the one job you need

If mileage, expenses, and Schedule E prep are handled elsewhere, you only need the MP hour log. track750 is the specialist and the price advantage compounds.

Your CPA already uses KBKG → track750

Vendor-workflow continuity is a real professional-services signal. If your CPA has processes built around KBKG's tooling, going with the KBKG-adjacent product reduces friction on both sides.

You want the three-axis §469 record (MP + avg-stay + personal-use) in one tool → Field Ledger

Hosts pursuing the STR loophole seriously need all three tests documented. Field Ledger is the tool that treats all three as first-class. track750 covers hours; the other two are on you.

You want records built not to over-count for you → Field Ledger

If your CPA has ever pushed back on a deduction because the underlying record was thin, Field Ledger's substantiation-aware defaults (mileage purpose required, travel time never auto-counted, "Reached/Below" not "PASS/FAIL") reduce that class of pushback. Not for everyone — but for hosts whose CPA is audit-cautious, this is the positioning axis to weigh.

The verdict I'd give a friend

Two questions decide it:

Do you need REPS 750-hour tracking? If yes, track750. Field Ledger doesn't do this at all. This is a strategy fit, not a preference — the tools' feature sets are on different sides of the REPS line.

If no REPS — how many tools are you willing to run for the STR loophole? If your answer is "one, ideally," Field Ledger's broader capture surface (hours + mileage + trips + expenses + guest stays + personal-use days) is the fit. If your answer is "I have my other tools sorted; I just need the MP log," track750 at $15/mo is the cleaner spend.

Both are legitimate choices for STR-loophole hour-tracking specifically. The lens that matters is scope: track750 does one thing at a good price with credible institutional backing. Field Ledger does more things at a modestly higher price with a broader §469 architecture. Neither is universally "better"; each fits a specific host profile better than the other.

Not tax advice — consult a qualified tax professional for your specific situation.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between REPS and the STR loophole?

REPS (Real Estate Professional Status) under §469(c)(7) requires 750+ hours in real property trades or businesses AND more than half of personal service hours across all work. REPS itself only removes rental activities from §469(c)(2)'s per-se passive characterization — the taxpayer still has to materially participate in each rental activity (or file the §1.469-9(g) aggregation election to treat all rentals as one activity) to treat losses as non-passive. The STR loophole is different — it uses the §1.469-1T(e)(3)(ii)(A) short-term-rental exception (≤7-day average stay) plus material participation under §1.469-5T. Some hosts pursue both strategies; the record-keeping tools tend to specialize. track750's name references the 750-hour REPS test; its STR MP coverage appears as a secondary use case per publicly listed information. Field Ledger is STR-loophole-first with no REPS-specific reporting. Not tax advice — consult a qualified tax professional.

Which is cheaper?

track750 is $15/mo or $150/yr; Field Ledger Owner is $19/mo or $190/yr. track750 is about 20% cheaper monthly. Field Ledger's Operator ($39/mo, 5 properties) and Portfolio ($79/mo, unlimited) tiers cover multi-property hosts. Both offer paid tiers; verify current pricing on each vendor's site before deciding.

Does track750 track mileage and expenses like Field Ledger?

track750 focuses on hour-tracking as its primary feature (REPS 750-hour, STR 100-hour and 500-hour thresholds). Mileage and expense capture aren't first-class features of track750 based on publicly listed information; hosts typically run a separate expense tool (or bank-feed bookkeeping like Stessa or Baselane) alongside track750. Field Ledger captures hours, mileage, trips, and expenses in one entry — the trade-off is Field Ledger doesn't do bank-feed automation. Verify each tool's current feature set on its vendor site.

Is track750 more credible because KBKG built it?

KBKG is an established cost-segregation and tax-strategy firm and is a real credibility signal for track750 — especially if your CPA already works with KBKG. If your tax approach is CPA-led and the CPA prefers vendors they've worked with, that lineage matters. Field Ledger is an independent product from Kapakos LLC without KBKG's institutional footprint. On the other hand, Field Ledger is purpose-built for STR hosts specifically, with a broader capture surface. Different strengths; the right choice depends on which strength you're optimizing for.

Can I use both Field Ledger and track750?

You can, but the overlap is significant — both cover STR MP hour-tracking. The pattern that makes sense is: track750 for REPS hour totals across your broader real-estate activity, plus Field Ledger for the STR-loophole property-level records (hours, mileage, trips, expenses, guest stays, personal-use days). That's a specific fact pattern (advanced real-estate professional also running STRs). Most hosts pick one tool.

What's Field Ledger's biggest weakness vs track750?

Three things. (1) No REPS 750-hour tracking — if your primary strategy is Real Estate Professional Status, track750 is the specialized tool. (2) $19/mo vs track750's $15/mo — about 20% more per month at the entry tier. (3) No KBKG-style institutional backing — Field Ledger is a newer independent product from a smaller shop, so a CPA weighing vendor stability will notice that. Field Ledger's counter-arguments are the wider capture surface (hours + mileage + trips + expenses in one entry) and the three-axis §469 record (MP hours + avg-stay + personal-use) — but those wins only matter to hosts whose strategy needs those specific records.

If Field Ledger's broader scope fits your strategy — try it free

Field Ledger's 714-day trial is no-credit-card. If you're pursuing the STR loophole and want the whole §469 record in one place — hours + mileage + trips + expenses + guest stays + personal-use — log a week's worth of hosting activity and see whether the one-entry pattern fits your workflow. If it doesn't, track750 at $15/mo is a legitimate alternative for hour-tracking specifically.

  • Type your day; a language model structures it into typed drafts you review
  • Hours, mileage (with purpose), trips, and expenses in the same daily entry
  • Guest stays + personal-use days tracked for the §469 avg-stay and §280A tests
  • Schedule E summary CSV your CPA can work from — with MACRS + de-minimis notes
  • No credit card required to start; cancel anytime
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Related guides

The key takeaway

Field Ledger and track750 both track STR material-participation hours; the differences are in scope. track750 covers REPS (the 750-hour test) as its primary strength, plus STR hours as a secondary feature, at $15/mo with KBKG's institutional backing. Field Ledger covers STR MP hours plus mileage, trips, expenses, guest stays, and personal-use days — the three-axis §469 record — at $19/mo without REPS. The right tool depends on which strategy you're actually running and how many separate tools you're willing to maintain. Not tax advice; consult a qualified tax professional for your specific situation.