Real Estate Accounting

If there were any pessimists in the real estate markets, they are being proven wrong. As the prices continued to mount on in the recent years, these pessimists forecasted an explosion and tumbling of the industry. They were about to recount the big margin losses of the sector in 1980s and 1990s. But as the real estate capitalization rates remaining high, we come to a conclusion that it is just a mythical bubble and not realistic!

As the sector is becoming competitive the accounting practices involved with the real estate is also gaining importance. The main points on which the real estate accounting firms must concentrate can be listed as follows.

• A special, integrated approach- The approach while managing the finance must be integrated. The accounting, tax and consulting needs to be specifically taken care of by professionally qualified people.

• Consultancy with a cutting edge - Property management and operations, financial analysis, market risk assessment, financing and structuring, and information technology plays a very important role in the functioning of an organization. These things can provide a big cutting edge to your company, if managed properly.

• High expertise- There should be expertise people who know about the competitor and those who can forecast the trends. The thorough knowledge of the real estate history and the competitor analysis can make the whole difference.

• A 360 degree commitment- There should be a complete commitment to the clients. The relationship that the firm makes with the client is the best part of their business. The customer loyalty is the utmost important thing.

Now let us analyze the services offered by real estate accounting firms. Personal tax services, capital gains, installment sales and individual tax return preparation are prominently done in most of the real estate accounting firms. The operational improvement services, internal control reviews and the compensation programs must be designed carefully in order to make the business run in a smoother way. The audits, reviews, compilations, cost certificates etc are performed at these places. These are very crucial when it comes to get certifications from U.S department of Housing and Urban Development. Evaluation of expert reports and expert testimonials are also reviewed by the professionals in these accounting firms.

When a company gets bigger, its tax implications also get bigger. So preparing the tax returns, entity selection considerations, project analysis, alternative minimum tax issues etc are to be handled in a professional manner. These can be taken care by real estate specialized accounting firms only.

Estate planning, family limited partnerships, gifting strategies, asset transfers, tax credit programs, cash flow analysis and what not: The services list of real estate accounting firms goes endless. But one should be careful in choosing their accounting firm. Just concentrate on the quality of work they do and the quality professional they have. The rest can be history. So with the big boom of real estate industry, the specialized real estate accounting services are also in its form.