Accountant and Lawyer for a RE Agent

[Alon Kostetsky]

Hi Everyone, 

I started as a real estate agent and am looking for a tax professional and a lawyer who can help me structure my business correctly and set me up for success. 

Thank you!!
Alon

[William Anderson]

Alon,

I am neither but I am a broker and I was the CEO of a national corporation for over 25 years. Having consulted on real estate investment I know a few things. First, you need to have an attorney create an LLC for you. This is the best form of business for a real estate agent as a single LLC is a straight pass-through for taxes. And, you need a CPA not just an accountant. CPAs understand business taxes, many accountants are good at managing taxes and paper but poor at strategy.

You are on the right track.  I suggest you consider waveapps.com for a free accounting system that is very easy to use and auto-downloads bank information.  At the end of the year, your CPA goes into the system and uses it to prepare your taxes saving you a bundle.

Consider obtaining "MileIQ" an app that tracks every drive you take.  Simple swipe one way or the other to track all of your mileage.  It's IRS bulletproof as it records dates, times mileage and you can add notes.  Works in the background, once per month do some swiping and you can claim all of those miles.

Open a business checking account.  Get a "business" credit card for business expenses, not a consumer card.  Be sure you are specific about the application for a business card as these cards are not reported to the consumer agencies.  Good if you have to pay for repairs etc. it will not affect your credit.

I hope this gets you started.