Real Estate Accountant fee

[Tony Davis]

I found an accountant I like in my area. After reviewing previous years taxes he gave me a quote. It’s 1,675.00 up front plus another 100.00 a month maintenance. Is this a normal type of fee for this service?

[Max Emory]

Hi, @Tony Davis! This all depends on what your business looks like. Different business activities, number of accounts, number of transactions, number of entities, number of properties, partnerships, just bookkeeping or add-on advisory services, etc etc.

95%+ of the transactions that flow through a real estate investor's bank and credit card accounts have to be coded to a specific property within a specific entity. Flip property transactions are coded differently than rental property transactions. Every HUD statement and property management statement has to be manually "translated" onto your books. Every loan payment has to be split between principal, interest, and escrow (if applicable). There's a ton of manual journal entries involved on a monthly basis.

That being said, $100/mo to maintain a REI's books is too good to be true. You get what you pay for in the financial industry just like most other industries.

I would go with a reputable, real estate investing-savvy service from the get-go to avoid a large clean-up job in the future.

Hope this helps!