Starting and successfully running a real estate business is no easy feat. If anything, being able to keep it up and running in the dynamic real estate arena is a career milestone that calls for complex and robust decisions from the word go. In that respect, it is essential that you have professionals such as accountants and lawyers by your side every step of the way. It is especially vital that you hire a certified real estate accountant due to the complex transactions involved in your day to day routine.
Gives you access to professional accounting services
Yes, you may be diligent with some financial practices but are you professionally trained to handle them? If not, then it would be more beneficial for you to hire a CPA firm to handle the tasks involved. Arguably, it’s cheaper to manage finance related practices on your own, but the time and potential mistakes make can result in much bigger problems (and financial loss) in the future.
CPA firms boast a sea of certified accountants who have been handling finance practices long enough to avoid any mistakes that might cost you big in the long run. Hiring a CPA firm will also enable you to remain on the right track financially as an accountant will make sure that you stay within your budgetary limits, advise you on how to create room in your budget for future growth and how to go about various financial problems, thereby securing the future of your business.
Saves you overhead costs
While hiring a personal accountant might seem more logical, it comes with costs such as expenses of renting out a bigger office, time off, and benefits. On the other hand, outsourcing the services of a CPA for real estate to help with your finances allows you to tap into the vast resources that it has, while at the same time eliminating the overhead costs that come with having an extra head in your team of employees.
Allows you to focus on other business development aspects
Running a real estate business involves more than just dealing with transactions and other financial issues. In fact, as a brokerage owner, you’ll only deal with these transactions if your business is doing well. For it to perform well, you will need to work on your marketing strategies, process documentation involved in the purchase and selling of properties, meet up with potential prospects and partners and carry out market research on the current and future trends that shape the industry among many other tasks. Most of the time you will find your hands full and having to deal with accounting tasks such as bookkeeping, tax filing, payroll processing and data entry only make your work harder.
Hiring a real estate accountant will take all these number crunching activities off your hands, allowing you more time to indulge in activities that help you grow your business.
Helps you with the tax process
Taxes, especially in real estate, can be incredibly complicated. In respect to that, the chances of you leaving a lot of money on the table when you do your taxes are quite high. Nevertheless, the scenario is different when it comes to a seasoned real estate accountant as they know how to maximize on payoffs while at the same time ensuring that your business doesn’t get in any legal trouble. This is why hiring a CPA for real estate saves you money, time and keeps you out of trouble with the IRS.
Choosing the right accountant for your business
Now that you know of the perks that come with hiring a CPA firm, how do you choose the right one? Check out the factors below:
Licensing and certification
The last thing you want is to hire a firm which is not authorized to operate as it not only puts you in trouble with the law but also means that you place your business in the hands of potential scammers. Therefore, the first factor to consider is the licensing of the firm you want to hire, as well as the certification of the accountants. Also, ensure you double check the firm’s and the accountant’s portfolio to find out what previous clients have to say as well as do your research to see whether there are any records of law violation.
Size of the firm
While choosing a CPA firm, you will want to consider its size. A large one usually boasts vast resources in that; it has accountants who specialize in different areas of finance. For instance, it has tax accountants, auto dealer accountants, real estate and health among many others. It also has more leverage because it is considered a big name in finance. On the other hand, hiring such a firm might be costly, and at times such firms tend to outsource your work to smaller firms.
Smaller CPA firms ones, on the other hand, might have limited resources but are much easier to deal with, skilled and also will offer you the best attention. Plus, small tends to be local so you can ensure your state taxes are accounted for accurately.
Hiring a CPA for real estate comes with more perks than you’ve ever envisioned. It is vital that you hire one, but make sure you take your time while hiring one to prevent any regrets or losses in future.