BorderBird
Non-Resident Landlord Software · CRA Part XIII · NR4 · Section 216

Rental accounting software for non-resident landlords.

Left Canada but still renting out the condo? BorderBird computes your CRA Part XIII / NR4 withholding, shows the NR6 and Section 216 position, and reconciles rent from the emails you forward — from one ledger, without touching your inbox or your money.

The short answer

BorderBird is rental accounting software built specifically for non-resident landlords. It computes your CRA Part XIII / NR4 withholding — 25% of gross rent, or 25% of net with an approved NR6 — from the same ledger it uses for your reports, builds the monthly remittance schedule with 15th-of-the-following-month due dates, and tracks the NR4 slip deadline. For owners who also file in the US, it maps every expense to its IRS Schedule E line. You forward your rent-payment emails and it reconciles them; it never connects to your inbox. Free to start.

Built for the non-resident case

The four things a non-resident landlord needs that generic tools ignore.

Each is a shipped feature, not a roadmap promise.

Withholding
Part XIII / NR4, computed monthly

25% of gross rent by default, or 25% of net with an approved NR6 (mortgage principal correctly excluded). BorderBird builds the CRA remittance schedule with every 15th-of-the-following-month deadline and keeps a running credit account, so you always know what's owed.

NR6 / Section 216
See whether electing is worth it

BorderBird shows the gross-vs-net difference an NR6 makes and tracks the figures behind a Section 216 return, so you can decide with numbers instead of guesswork. It prepares accountant-ready data — it doesn't file the election for you.

Reconciliation
Forward your rent emails — no inbox access

Forward your Interac e-Transfer, Zelle, Venmo, or Cash App notifications to a private BorderBird address and each is matched to the right tenant and lease. Interac auto-posts on a confident match; US rails are staged for one-click confirm. No OAuth into your inbox, no bank scraping, no money held — the privacy-first design non-residents need when they can't easily log into Canadian banking from abroad.

Cross-border
CRA and IRS from one ledger

If you also report the rental in the US, BorderBird maps each expense to its IRS Schedule E line and produces a T776 for the Canadian return, with dual-currency P&L at CRA-accepted Bank of Canada annual rates. One set of books, both sides of the border.

BorderBird vs Stessa vs Buildium — on the non-resident axis

Stessa and Buildium are good tools for domestic US landlords. Neither is built for the Canadian non-resident obligations a cross-border owner actually has.

For a non-resident landlordBorderBirdStessaBuildium
CRA Part XIII / NR4 withholding calculationBuilt-inNot supportedNot supported
NR6 net-withholding & Section 216 positionBuilt-inNot supportedNot supported
Dual-currency reporting (CAD + USD)Built-inUSD onlyUSD only
Schedule E + T776-ready exportsBothSchedule E onlyLimited
Rent import without a bank or inbox connectionForwarded emailBank linkBank link
Trust accounting + owner disbursementsPM tierNot supportedYes (US, no NR4)
Built for non-resident / cross-border ownersYesNoNo

The comparison is about fit, not quality: Stessa and Buildium do more in the domestic-US categories where a non-resident owner doesn't need help, and nothing in the Canadian non-resident categories where they do.

Priced per door. Start free, no time limit.

Free covers one door, free with no time limit. Pro covers up to 5 doors at $29 CAD / $21 USD per month (or $269 CAD / $199 USD per year) and adds forwarding auto-import and the AI assistant. Max Snowbird covers up to 10 doors and adds utility-bill forwarding at $59 CAD / $44 USD per month. Past 10 doors, the sales-assisted PM plan starts at $99 CAD/mo including 25 doors.

Frequently asked questions

Is there rental accounting software for non-resident landlords in Canada?
Yes — BorderBird is rental accounting software built specifically for non-resident landlords. It computes your CRA Part XIII / NR4 withholding (25% of gross rent, or 25% of net with an approved NR6 on file) from the same ledger it uses for your reports, builds the monthly remittance schedule with 15th-of-the-following-month due dates, and tracks the NR4 slip deadline. You forward your rent-payment emails and it reconciles them — it never connects to your inbox.
How does BorderBird calculate Part XIII / NR4 withholding?
Part XIII withholding on a non-resident's Canadian rental income is 25% of the gross rent by default, remitted by the 15th of the month after the rent is paid or credited. If you have an approved NR6 on file, BorderBird instead applies 25% to the net (with mortgage principal correctly excluded), and it keeps a running CRA remittance account so you always see what's owed and what's been credited. Every figure is computed by deterministic code, not estimated.
Can it handle an NR6 or a Section 216 election?
BorderBird shows you the gross-vs-net difference an NR6 makes and tracks the numbers behind a Section 216 return, so you can see whether electing is worthwhile. It prepares accountant-ready figures — it does not file the NR6 or the Section 216 return for you or generate a signed form. The NR6 is filed before January 1 of the tax year to lower in-year withholding to net; Section 216 is filed after the fact (generally within two years) to recover over-withholding.
I'm a US resident who owns a Canadian rental — does BorderBird work for me?
Yes. That's the core case: you're a non-resident of Canada, so your Canadian rental income is subject to Part XIII / NR4 withholding, and BorderBird handles that side natively. If you also report the rental on your US return, BorderBird maps each expense to its IRS Schedule E line from the same ledger, so you don't keep two sets of books.
Does BorderBird connect to my bank or read my inbox?
No. You set up one email filter that forwards your rent-payment notifications (Interac e-Transfer, and Zelle, Venmo, or Cash App) to a private BorderBird address. BorderBird reads only those forwarded emails — it never connects to or scans your inbox, and never touches your bank login or your money. Interac e-Transfer notifications auto-post on a high-confidence, unambiguous match; US-rail payments are always parsed and staged for one-click confirmation, never auto-posted.
How is it different from Stessa or Buildium for a non-resident landlord?
Stessa is US-only — it has no concept of CRA Part XIII withholding, NR4, Bank of Canada exchange rates, or T776, and reports in USD only. Buildium is US property-management software with trust accounting, but no Canadian non-resident tax engine. BorderBird is built for the specific case of a non-resident (or cross-border) owner: it computes the CRA withholding and, where relevant, the IRS Schedule E side from one ledger — the work those tools leave to you and your accountant.
Does BorderBird file my NR4 slips or my tax return?
No. BorderBird computes your numbers and exports accountant-ready CSVs — Schedule E line-mapped, and T776-ready expense categories — so you or your accountant can transcribe them onto the actual forms. It does not generate signed PDFs of NR4, T776, or 1040-NR. The work product is data, not filed forms.
What does BorderBird cost?
Pricing is per door (unit), not per property. Free covers one door at no cost with no time limit — long enough to run a full tax year through it before deciding. Pro is $29 CAD / $21 USD per month (up to 5 doors; or $269 CAD / $199 USD per year) and adds forwarding auto-import and the AI assistant. Max Snowbird is $59 CAD / $44 USD per month (up to 10 doors) and adds utility-bill forwarding. Beyond 10 doors, the sales-assisted PM plan starts at $99 CAD/mo including 25 doors. See full pricing at borderbird.com/pricing.
Can my Canadian property manager or accountant use it too?
Yes. Property managers running a book of non-resident owners can use the PM tier, which adds trust accounting, owner portals, and disbursements while handling NR4 withholding at scale. Most individual owners run BorderBird themselves and hand the year-end CSV exports to their cross-border accountant — the Schedule E export is line-mapped and expenses use T776-ready category names.