Real estate companies have a lot to manage other than just building, renovating, buying, and selling houses. Accounting services are also important for their companies.
Their success is not only dependent on their ability to connect, buy, and close sales, but also on demonstrating proper working knowledge of administrative, accounting, and bookkeeping practices. In real estate, there is always a need for proper bookkeeping, since this is essential for accurate reporting and record-keeping, throughout the process of buying and selling property.
Whether you are a company or an agent, there are certain best practices that you ought to adhere to so that you stay organized, and on top of your numbers. Below is a brief overview of the best bookkeeping practices for real estate companies and agents.
Timely update of accounting books
The process of bookkeeping should always be meticulous, and is not something to be done spontaneously. Real estate companies must ensure that all books are updated in a timely and consistent manner, so that you not only have the most up-to-date records, but also eliminate any errors that might arise as a result of completing it too quickly.
Whether it is updating commissions, accounting for fees and expenses, or capturing normal day-to-day real estate transactions, this must be done thoroughly and regularly.
Perfect maintenance of records
In this industry, you not only need to update your books regularly, but you must also maintain very clear records of all the transactions. In real estate, it is possible for companies to manage extremely large amounts of money, within a very short period, often requiring quick decision-making abilities.
In order for everything to move smoothly, and to enable you to make quick and well-informed decisions, you must have a clear record book to provide data, and other essential information you need to make the right decision. With technologies such as Excel Spreadsheets, QuickBooks, FreshBooks, and BusinessWorks, among others, nothing should stand in the way of making perfectly clear records.
Proper classification of costs
The real estate industry features a superfluity of costs throughout the various stages involved in any given project. In addition to maintaining a clear record of such costs, you also need to properly classify them. Hard costs, for instance, are easier to batch.
These costs normally relate to tangible products or purchases, and they are usually responsible for up to 70% of the costs incurred by the business. The other 30% refers to soft costs, and they too need to be carefully analyzed, and properly classified to avoid any confusion or errors in the future.
Take advantage of technology
Irrespective of your current industry, technology will always be key for successful operations. Regarding proper real estate bookkeeping, you must learn to adopt the necessary technology that will make your work easier, limit mistakes, and help you always stay on top of your data.
There are quite a number of solutions available, with the most popular ones being Zoho Expense, Expensify, and Abacus, which will immensely help in monitoring data, tracking records, and storing data in an easy and convenient way.