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Blog » 5 Most Typical Real Estate Bookkeeping and Accounting Errors

5 Most Typical Real Estate Bookkeeping and Accounting Errors

Last updated: 02 Feb, 2024 By | 6 Minutes Read

real estate accounting services

While carrying out Real Estate Accounting and Bookkeeping either for new or established offices, business owners encounter certain ‘typical’ errors. These kinds of errors make it extremely hard to gain insights into the financial performance of their company.

Real Estate Bookkeeping and Accounting errors faced by business owners

1. Being Disorganized:

Certain offices do not have a structure to ensure all their financial obligations are up-to-date. That can consist of no filing as well as, in some instances, absolutely no paper trail of invoices or bills! Remember, you need to maintain records for 7 years, if the ATO intends to come for a visit.

2. Simply Carrying Out the Bare Minimum:

An additional mistake is whenever offices do nothing beyond making sure team and vendors are paid. This kind of bookkeeping provides hardly any insights into the finances of a company. It usually leads to shock with regards to financial obligations, be it the income tax, BAS or superannuation. These results in point number 3.

3. Reading a P&L Just Once a Year:

This occurs due to the fact that just the bare minimum has been completed. The shoe-box of paperwork passed on to the real estate accounts outsourcing company remains in a mess. After putting together your tax as well as Business Financials, the outsourcing company details the P&L and balance sheet. That’s when the shock takes place. You ought to set the expectation on your bookkeeper to provide this on a monthly basis – and just in case they can’t, why?

4. Far-Fetched Time Frames:

It is actually a classic. Certain entrepreneurs need to have the books closed in a time span that’s not reasonable. That is the case for one of two motives: either they have got absolutely no knowledge of what the bookkeeper performs and the amount of time it actually takes, or it’s because of the pressure to reduce costs. Many times the bookkeeping is merely considered a cost center, with minimal value placed on what comes out.

5. Manual Functioning:

Accounting software like QuickBooks, NetSuite and others facilitate a productivity gain by processing all the tasks at one go, such as payroll or vendor payments. These may subsequently be submitted to the online bank as an individual file or perhaps what’s referred to as an ABA file. The most important point to keep in mind is that the entrepreneur or somebody accredited by them need to sign off the payments. Most of the time, these kinds of payment runs are recorded two times – once into the accounting software and yet again in the online banking system– causing an ineffective utilization of the real estate bookkeeping outsourcing company’s precious time.

The lesson is always to become focused and methodical. A work schedule of what’s being carried out and when will help keep you up-to-date and in a far better position to put together business decisions depending on financial facts, not a mere guess. Understanding how many listings or fresh property managements you have is essential – however, understanding if you’re making a profit or loss is way too critical.

Also Read: WHY OPT FOR REAL ESTATE BOOKKEEPING SERVICES?

In case you are facing a tough time managing your accounts and books, get in touch with Cogneesol today at +1 646-688-2821 to learn more about our Real Estate Accounting Services. We also offer a free 14-day trial to all our clients without any kind of obligation.

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