Real Estate Outsourced Accounting Services
It's time to stabilize the financial side of your business.
Our team is standing by to help free up your time and make better financial decisions that will grow your business.
Get a handle on the financial side of your portfolio or business
If you’re like many investors, you know keeping clean and up-to-date financial records is key to making good financial decisions, minimizing your tax liability, and growing your wealth.
- Do you have the funds to put a down payment on the next property?
- Are one or more of your properties underperforming?
- How much tax will you owe?
All these questions can be answered when you have a good accounting system that is updated regularly. Without one, you’re making educated guesses (at best).
After helping over 800 real estate investors and business owners, The Real Estate CPA launched outsourced accounting services. Hire us to take over core accounting functions, so you can get back to growing your business.
Saving time & money
Starts with understanding where you are, then building a strategy and framework to meet the needs of your business and plans for growth.
What to Expect:
Kick-Off Call
Meet your accounting advisor to discuss your business, engagement expectations, timeline, and transfer the information required to complete your engagement.
Implementation
Our team will set up your QuickBooks Online (QBO) accounting system based on the type of real estate business you own or operate.
Monthly Bookkeeping
Once your system is implemented, we can handle the month-to-month bookkeeping functions to keep your financial records up-to-date, then deliver reports timely the following months.
Advisory
Our accounting advisors are available to you via scheduled meetings to help you review and interpret your financial statements.
How we help get you to financial stability
Our Accounting Process
Our proven outsourced process provides you with the accounting system and resources you need to get insightful reports, monitor cash flow, and save hours of bookkeeping time.
Setting Up Your Accounting System
The goal of an accounting setup engagement is to deploy a fully functional accounting system based on your business.
Whether you’re a landlord, fix and flipper, wholesaler, property manager, brokerage, syndicate, or fund... we have the necessary expertise and capability to ensure your business financials are built with a strong foundation and not relying on property management solutions.
As your portfolio or business grows, you’ll need a dedicated accounting system to track financials efficiently.
Phase 1 includes:
- Setting up a QuickBooks Online (QBO) account with the appropriate chart of accounts, class tracking, and opening balances.
- Reconciling bank accounts.
- Assets have been captured, including property basis in QBO.
- Training on how to use your accounting system or engaging in a monthly engagement to have our team maintain your account.
Maintaining Your Accounting System
Once your accounting system is fully functional, here are your options for maintenance mode to keep your business the best financial situation possible:
- DIY: We can turn the books back over to you and your team to maintain.
- Short-Term Rental Bookkeeping: Currently offered to STR-only portfolios, this service is best for those seeking quality and timely bookkeeping services.
- Controller: Best for those seeking simplified financial reporting and oversight with streamlined delivery.
- CFO: A flexible solution best for those seeking detailed insights into their accounting.
Phase 2 includes:
- Maintaining an accurate record of transactions.
- Capturing the purchase or sale of property through journal entries.
- Reconciling financial accounts including banks, lenders and reserves.
- Generating financial reporting packages based on the service line, which can include P/L, balance sheet and additional reporting dashboards.
- Financial statements will be delivered to you the following month, allowing you to track the health of your business and make better financial and investment decisions.
Outsourced Accounting Service Guide
Our firm seeks to make the financial reporting process as efficient as possible while ensuring our requests to you are minimal. To achieve this, we require all our ongoing clients to provide 3rd party access to their online financial accounts.
This access is safe and allows us to pull required information for transactions and statements easily. Our access request may be for sites such as banks, lenders, credit cards, property management, Airbnb, Vrbo, etc.
Each month, we will capture transactions in your accounting software, including entries for any changes in property status (sale, purchase, refinance, and 1031 exchange).
Using documents retrieved through convenient 3rd party access, we will reconcile all banking, lender, and credit card account balances to ensure information is stated correctly.
Then we'll be able to provide you with a list of items that require clarification or additional documentation. These items are due to us through upload to our secure folder by the 8th of the month.
After completion of the month-end close, we will create financial reporting packages based on the service line, which can include P/L, balance sheet and additional reporting dashboards
These statements are available at the property level or consolidated to provide enhanced visibility into performance.
Our tiers allow monthly live meetings tailored to your individual needs and schedule.
With Controller, you will receive up to either one 1-hour meeting or two 30-minute meetings per month.
Our CFO tier allows for more meetings and flexibility, providing up to six 30-minute meetings per month that can be grouped or spread out as needed.
This reporting allows you to set expectations for performance at the beginning of a period and compare actual results each month. It is beneficial for tracking items such as construction/rehab costs and monthly rent & expenses.
Annually, we will review and upload your available budget information into our reporting tool.
With our controller tier, we will pull in relevant data that we feel will provide insights into performance.
Whereas the CFO tier allows for more control as you can work with your advisor to determine which budget information to be included in the reporting package and dashboards.
Included in our reporting package are detailed visualizations of the entity overall and for each property's performance. These can include written analysis, charts, or graphs that provide quick and easy-to-read information on revenues, expenses, profit, and balance sheet measures like cash, loans, and equity.
We also present key performance indicators in the reporting packages.
For our Controller Tier, you will receive three real estate industry standard metrics:
- Return on Investment
- Loan to Value
- Debt Service Coverage.
For our CFO tier, you will work with your advisor to include additional metrics most beneficial and important to you and your business.
Exclusive to our CFO tier, our interactive dashboards allow you to view the entity and property financial data with a more customized view.
These dashboards can allow a real-time look into the current month's data and provide historical data for reference. You will work with your advisor to build the dashboards to tailor the experience to your needs.
We will support your entity through growth cycles and provide relevant and insightful financial information as needed throughout your journey.
Whether it is an ROI analysis on an upcoming purchase or refinance, the potential tax impacts of a property sale, or forecasting for goal setting, we value the opportunity to be a trusted business partner as the entity grows and matures.
Based on your specifications, we will create the necessary financial reporting for investor meetings or quarterly investor packages.
We'll also work with you to calculate the payment of quarterly distributions. At your request, we can also attend meetings and present the information at one of our scheduled times.
While we will help answer occasional banking questions in our Controller tier, our CFO tier allows us to become a valuable resource on a first-name basis with your lender.
We will build a relationship to facilitate providing necessary financial reporting for debt covenants or requirements and to answer questions regarding the financial statements, ensuring performance is interpreted correctly.
We can also recommend various banking and lending products that fit your entity.
Sample Reports
- Quickbooks configuration and transaction capture back to last fiscal year end, plus matching books to PY tax returns.
- Chart of accounts to match your business operations.
- Linking bank accounts and data imports.
- Implementation of class tracking for property level financials.
- Implementation of receipt management and upload.
- Monthly bank reconciliations.
- Ongoing transaction capture and receipt matching.
- Monthly financial package - including balance sheet, P&L, and general ledger.
- Accounting advisory and financial analysis.
- QB training and support.
Request a Consultation for Outsourced Accounting Services
Whether you already have an accounting system in place, or we set one up for you, someone eventually needs to handle the month-to-month bookkeeping functions to keep your financial records up-to-date.
If you don’t want to deal with the time-consuming and repetitive bookkeeping function or don’t want to deal with the hassles of managing an in-house bookkeeper, speak to one of our solutions experts by completing the form.
Our real estate accounting team is standing by to take over the monthly bookkeeping function out of your hands!
Generated over:
$315,000
In Rental Losses
IRA distribution
$50,000+
to fund acquisions
Reduced their tax liability
$62,000+
the following year
Reduced by:
$124,000+
Tax Liability
“Ross gained confidence and clarity that qualifying as a real estate professional was in reach and tranisitioned into a successful full-time investor and agent.”
“Rachael was a successful doctor and Ross was transitioning into full-time investor when they started working with us. Through our guidance, Ross gained confidence and clarity that qualifying as a real estate professional was in reach and transitioned into a successful full-time investor and agent. After acquiring and managing several rental properties they were about to generate over $315,000 in rental losses from there properties, take an IRA distribution of over $50,000 to fund acquisitions, and still reduce their tax liability by over $62,000 from the following year.”
Rachael & Ross - REPS
“Larry acquired a luxury short-term rental property and was abe to reduce his tax liability by over $124,000.”
“Larry, a successful sales representive earned several million dollars in the year he engaged our firm for tax planning. With our guidance, Larry acquired a luxury short-term rental property and was able to reduce his tax liability by over $124,000. ”
Larry - Short-Term Rental Investor
Meet Your Experienced Accounting Team
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Taylor Brugna, CPA Partner
Taylor Brugna, CPA Partner
Taylor works with real estate investors, developers, and private equity funds as a CFO, providing tax strategy, accounting consulting, and financial analysis.
As an investor himself, Taylor believes that perfecting the accounting systems leads to making good decisions that are crucial to the success of the business. Taylor owns and operates 100+ units.
Jenn Kintz Accounting Manager
Jenn Kintz Accounting Manager
Alex Frazier Accounting Manager
Alex Frazier Accounting Manager
Frequently Asked Questions
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Our monthly accounting services are ideal for individuals or businesses that are already established or in the growth phase.
Expert Guidance: If you're seeking assistance in making informed decisions to expand and enhance your business, our services can provide valuable insights
and guidance.
Real estate expertise: Our team consists of real estate experts who can effectively transfer contextual knowledge to our in-house tax preparation and strategy teams.
This ensures that your accounting processes align with the unique requirements of the real estate industry.
By outsourcing your accounting needs to us, you'll redirect your efforts and resources toward the higher-value aspects of your business instead of investing time and resources in training and managing in-house accounting staff.
You'll also gain access to a team of professionals who can help drive your business forward and provide the support needed to make strategic financial decisions.
During our scheduled call times, our controllers will focus on ensuring your financials' accuracy, analyzing your business's movements, and discussing monthly results.
These calls allow you to ask questions, address concerns, and gain valuable insights into your financial situation.
If you opt for CFO services, the discussion topics can be more dynamic, covering growth plans, lending strategies, or investor requests.
We are committed to providing personalized attention and strategic guidance to help you make informed financial decisions.
CFO services are generally more forward-looking, while Controller services focus on analyzing past performance.
Both bill pay and payroll set-up services are optional add-ons for our Controller and CFO services.
If you need help with bill pay, we can set up your system and provide training, and ongoing assistance to your team, ensuring that your bills are paid accurately and on time.
Similarly, if you need support with payroll processing, we can provide set-up, training, and ongoing assistance to your team, ensuring that your employees are paid correctly and that all tax and regulatory requirements are met.
These additional services can be customized based on your specific needs and can be included in your overall package.
For our Controller package, your financials will be ready by the 20th of the following month we are reconciling. This means that if we are reconciling your accounts for January, your financials will be ready by February 20th.
If you opt for our CFO package, your financials will be ready even earlier, by the
15th of the following month. So, using the same example, if we are reconciling your accounts for the month of January, your financials will be ready by February 15th.
It's important to note that the timely delivery of your financials depends on various factors, including the cooperation of property management and other third parties. We rely on receiving the necessary information from these sources by the 10th of each month to ensure we can process and prepare your financials on time. If there are delays in receiving the required documents, it may result in a delay in the delivery of your financial statements.
We go beyond traditional bookkeeping services by providing a team of experts who offer structure, insights, and smoother tax preparation. When you hire us, you're not just getting bookkeeping; you're getting a comprehensive financial solution tailored to your needs.
In addition to accurate financial statements, we provide detailed reports that give you a clear understanding of your business's performance. These reports include information such as KPI tracking, cash flow analysis, profit and loss statements by property, and balance sheets.
By choosing a premium firm, you gain access to the best talent in the industry, a dedicated team of experts, and the assurance that your financial matters are handled with utmost professionalism and attention to detail.
It's never too early to start considering outsourcing this function of your business.
However, we’ve found that landlords should generally begin considering outsourcing at around 3-4 properties. This is when managing your finances on a spreadsheet begins to become too tedious and inefficient.
For other real estate businesses, it will vary, but if you’re planning to ramp up quickly, it generally makes sense to get this aspect handled sooner rather than later so you can get a handle on the financial side of your business from day one, and can focus on more important tasks that will grow your business.
While this may sound self-serving, bookkeepers and assistants are typically the first hires successful entrepreneurs to make in their business.
If you engage us for monthly Full-Cycle services, generally yes we will replace your current bookkeeper or accountant.
However, if you prefer to have an in-house bookkeeper or accountant, we can work with you on Accounting System Implementation and Advisory services.
Most outsourced bookkeeping service providers are generalists and focus on many different businesses and often lack real estate specific expertise.
At Hall, all of our clients are real estate investors or business owners and we’ve developed real estate specific expertise that allows us to provide tailored solutions to our clients in ways most other providers can’t.
Also, because we focus on real estate, this also allows us to not only help our clients with expert real estate bookkeeping and accounting services, but also provide unique financial and operational insights.
In most cases, yes.
Generally, yes.
Some of our clients simply want us to set up their accounting system then they will take over the monthly accounting function, but still have our Accounting Advisors available should issues arise.
Others want us to do the system implementation then take over the monthly accounting function so they can focus on growing their business and not worry about handling the monthly accounting themselves or managing an in-house bookkeeper or accountant.
And others have the system and the in-house staff already, but just need accounting support from real estate accounting experts.
Whatever you're needs are, we have you covered.
The goal of our monthly bookkeeping services is to make bookkeeping as hands-off as possible for you.
We will generally communicate with you once per month to obtain context on certain transactions that can't otherwise be categorized without your input. We strive to learn from these interactions in order to reduce the time you need to spend on this step as low as possible.
In many cases, we've had clients delegate this responsibility to an assistant, office manager, or another staff member, further reducing the amount of time our clients need to spend on this process.
All that said, our Accounting Advisors are available for you via email support, and by phone/Zoom upon request.
The costs of our services vary based on the size of your business and how long you've been operating without an accounting system.
However, costs are generally as follows:
Accounting System Implementation starts at $1,500 for new investors and business owners who are just starting out. To as much as $10,000 or more for businesses or portfolios that need a lot of clean-up to be brought up-to-date.
Monthly Full Cycle services start at $1,500/month and will vary based on the size of your portfolio or business.
At this point in time, we use QuickBooks Online (QBO) as the accounting software in our accounting systems we implement and/or manage for our clients.
QuickBooks Online (QBO) provides all the necessary functions for real estate accounting and is currently our accounting software of choice.
Yes, QBO is currently our accounting software of choice.
At this point in time, we do not work with Xero.
QuickBooks Online (QBO) provides all the necessary functions for real estate accounting and is the accounting software we use today.
That said, this could change in the future but we currently have no plans to implement Xero into our accounting services.
- Buildium
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- Yardi
Yes, we can help you interpret your financials in order to better understand the financial performance of your portfolio or business and make better decisions.
Ask us about financial dashboards.
Yes, we can help you interpret your financials in order to better understand the financial performance of your portfolio or business and make better decisions.
Ask us about financial dashboards.
Yes, we provide payroll services via QuickBooks Online (QBO) and Gusto.
Yes, we can help file 1099s.
Absolutely. We provide tax preparation services to real estate investors and businesses of all types. Click here to learn more.
Most certainly. We provide tax planning and advisory services to real estate investors and businesses of all types. Click here to learn more.
To get started please visit our Become a Client webpage. If you fit the description of clients we work with, please fill out a webform and provide as many details about your tax and financial situation as possible.
Generally, we meet with potential clients for an initial consultation to learn more about their situation, if we can help, and if both parties believe it makes sense to work together.
Whereas the Kick-Off Call is where we meet with clients discuss expectations, collect additional information or documents required to kick-off the engagement after we've decided it makes sense to work together and have a signed engagement agreement in place.
★★★★★
Hall CPA PLLC, real estate CPAs and advisors, helped me save $37,818 on taxes by recommending and assisting with a cost segregation study. With strategic multifamily rehab and the $2,500 de minimus safe harbor plus cost segregation, taxes on my real estate have been non-existent for a few years (and that includes offsetting large capital gains from the sale of property).
Mike Dymski - Business Owner