How we think about real estate
A rental portfolio is several small businesses: each property has its own rent, mortgage, repairs, and strata or tax bills. The books should let you read each one, then roll them up by company. For developers, the same applies to each project, with costs held on the balance sheet until a unit is sold or rented.
In Langley the typical client owns a handful of townhomes or houses in Willoughby and Langley City, often through a holding company, or builds small infill projects of a few units at a time. Rentals and development frequently sit side by side in the same family's companies.
What makes the books different
- Property by property. Rent, expenses, and loans are tracked per property, so you can see which units carry themselves.
- Loans and intercompany balances. Mortgages are split into principal and interest, and money moving between a holding company and its property companies is recorded in both sets of books.
- Development costs. Land, soft costs, and construction are capitalised to each project, with draws from the construction lender reconciled.
- GST on new residential. New homes and purpose-built rentals bring GST questions, including rebates and self-supply. Those calls belong to your CPA; we keep the costs, dates, and documents they need.
What a monthly close looks like for you
Rent rolls come from you or your property manager, and loan statements from the lenders. We reconcile each property and company, record intercompany movements, and produce a per-property income summary alongside the company statements. By the 10th you see which properties earned and which cost you money.
Tools we commonly use for real estate clients
QuickBooks Online with classes or locations, or Xero with tracking categories, for each property. Separate files for separate companies. Dext for repair and supplier bills. If a property manager sends monthly owner statements, we reconcile to them rather than re-entering every line.
Partners we work with
We work with CPAs who handle real estate tax and GST on new residential property, real estate lawyers, mortgage brokers, and property managers. We describe partners by type, not by name.
A good fit if
- You own several rental properties, personally or through companies
- You build small residential projects and need costs tracked by project
- You want per-property results every month, with GST records kept for your CPA