LLC structure for separate holding LLC's, property management LLC
Need help from the accountants out there, there are a lot of posts on this topic but none I could find that address this question and my CPA wasn't much help (may need a new CPA)...
I just moved my buy-and-hold rental from my personal name into an LLC as part of a commercial refi. I'm about to transact a multiple property deal where I will put each property into its own LLC. So, assume I will have 4 properties in 4 LLC's that are owned by me as sole member.
From multiple discussions I've had and reading posts here, I think I also want to form a 5th LLC to act as a management company, so that I can have one business account and credit card to collect all rent and pay all the overhead and expenses (paying for meals, PO box, RE licensing fees, etc). I'm also working to bring in some outside property management accounts that would operate there as well.
My question is, in this structure, what is the actual mechanism to account for cash flowing between the property management LLC and the holding LLC's? Does the property management LLC have to pass down to the holding LLC's the income left after paying expenses each month just like if I were managing someone else's properties? Does the management LLC bill for it's services? And if income passes into the holding LLC, what is the best practice for pulling that cash out to utilize for other purposes while preserving the veil and not commingling. (Example, property LLC #1 has $10k cash on balance sheet, but property LLC #2 has none and needs a $10k roof).
Here's an example:
This month Property LLC#1 receives $2000 in rent and incurs $600 in direct expenses for a cash flow of $1400. The management LLC needs to pay $300 for real estate licensing, and $200 for the phone bill. How does the money flow in this structure?