#real-estate
Real Estate
Real estate accounting, property tracking, and investment management
Opportunity Zones 2.0: A 2026 Planning Guide for Real Estate Sponsors and Family Offices
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act made Qualified Opportunity Zones permanent and introduced rolling 5-year deferrals, decennial map redesignations starting July 1, 2026, a new rural fund class (QROF) with a 30% basis step-up at year 5, and $10,000-per-return reporting penalties. Here is the planning sequence for sponsors and family offices through the 2026–2027 window.
Independent Home Inspector Bookkeeping: Schedule C, ASC 606, and the KPIs That Predict Survival
How solo and multi-inspector home inspection firms should structure their books — entity choice, ASC 606 revenue recognition for buyer-side and pre-listing reports, Section 179 deductions for thermal cameras and Part 107 drones, sub-inspector classification, and the KPIs that predict three-year survival.
Bed-and-Breakfast Bookkeeping: OTA Commissions, Occupancy Tax, and the Section 280A Trap
How small inns and B&Bs should record OTA commissions at gross under ASC 606, hold transient occupancy tax in fiduciary accounts, navigate the Section 280A live-in owner trap, and stack Section 47 historic credits with cost segregation.
Custom Home Builder Bookkeeping: Section 460, Job Costing, Retainage, and NAHB Benchmarks
How independent residential GCs and custom home builders should structure their books — Section 460 method election, phase-level job cost categories, deposit and retainage handling, mechanics lien waiver discipline, warranty reserves, and the NAHB KPIs that matter.
Salon Suite and Booth Rental Bookkeeping: A Practical Guide for Suite Operators and Independent Stylists
How salon-suite operators and booth-renting stylists should separate ASC 842 lease revenue from ASC 606 service revenue, capitalize the build-out under QIP and Section 179, navigate the DOL 2024 worker-classification rule and state ABC tests, and track the few KPIs — suite occupancy, RevPRSF, average tenure — that actually predict location survival.
Self-Storage Facility Bookkeeping: Revenue Streams, Lien Sales, Tenant Protection Plans, and Cost Segregation
A working guide for self-storage operators on ASC 606 revenue recognition across rent, lien sale proceeds, deposits, and tenant protection plans; cost segregation that shifts 20–40% of basis into 5- and 15-year lives; and the economic occupancy and RevPAF KPIs lenders underwrite.
Real Estate Brokerage Bookkeeping in 2026: GCI, Agent Caps, Trust Accounts, and RESPA Compliance
How independent real estate brokerages should set up their chart of accounts in 2026 — separating GCI, agent splits, and franchise royalties into contra-revenue, running three-way trust-account reconciliations, documenting 1099-NEC payouts under IRC Section 3508, defending RESPA Section 8 entries, and accruing E&O self-insured retention reserves so company dollar, audit readiness, and Section 199A QBI all stay visible.
Mortgage Broker and Loan Originator Bookkeeping: LO Comp, RESPA, EPO Clawbacks, and HMDA Reporting
A working playbook for independent mortgage brokerages: separating lender-paid and borrower-paid compensation under the LO Comp Rule, accruing EPO/EPD clawback reserves, classifying RESPA Section 8 payments, deferring lock and application fees, and staging loan-level data for HMDA LAR filing.
Coworking Space Bookkeeping: ASC 606 Deferred Revenue, NOI Per Square Foot, and the Occupancy KPIs Lenders Demand
How coworking operators separate hot desk, dedicated desk, and private office revenue under ASC 606, hold refundable deposits as liabilities, allocate common-area square footage to compute NOI per foot, capitalize build-out as Qualified Improvement Property with 100% bonus depreciation in 2026, and report the occupancy, RevPOD, churn, and MRR concentration metrics that lenders and acquirers actually price on.
Title Insurance and Settlement Agent Bookkeeping: ALTA Best Practices, Three-Way Reconciliation, and the Compliance Realities of Closing Other People's Money
How title insurance agencies and settlement firms keep escrow trust books — three-way daily reconciliation, ALTA Best Practices controls, premium remittance liability tracking, RESPA Section 8 compliance, and the wire-fraud controls that survive a state department of insurance audit.
Form 1099-DIV Box 3: The Return-of-Capital Basis Trap for REIT, BDC, and MLP Investors
A practical walkthrough of Form 1099-DIV Box 3 nondividend distributions — how return-of-capital payments from REITs, BDCs, MLPs, and managed-distribution funds reduce your cost basis under IRC Section 301(c)(2), convert into immediate capital gain under 301(c)(3) once basis hits zero, and what records you need to keep so the IRS matching program never catches you short.
Real Estate Broker Trust Account Reconciliation: The Three-Way Match That Protects a License
A brokerage that commingles a single earnest money deposit can lose its license, even with no theft involved. Here is the three-way reconciliation between bank, general ledger, and client sub-ledgers that brokers use to comply with state escrow rules, document deposit handling, and stay audit-ready.