Top Bookkeeping Services for Real Estate Agents

Real estate agents wear many hats—salesperson, marketer, negotiator—and often juggle multiple clients and transactions at once. But there’s one crucial role that can’t be overlooked: that of a savvy bookkeeper.

Just like your favorite property listings, managing finances effectively is all about location, specifically, finding the right financial support tailored to your needs. 

Luckily, there are also doola’s comprehensive bookkeeping solutions combined with dedicated accounting services that give you more control and bang for your buck.

Whether you’re closing deals or navigating complex commissions, our bookkeeping services are key to keeping your business organized and profitable. 

Join us as we dive into the top bookkeeping services for real estate agents so you can focus on what you do best—selling homes and building relationships with clients. 

Let’s turn those numbers into success stories! 💰✨

Why Real Estate Agents Need Professional Bookkeeping Services

Since real estate agents have so much on their plate, it can be challenging for them to find time for bookkeeping tasks. 

However, proper financial management is crucial for any business to stay compliant with tax laws. 

So, if you are still wondering why real estate agents need to invest in professional bookkeeping services, we can tell you the reasons.

✔️ Ensures accurate record-keeping

✔️ Provides timely financial reports

✔️ Saves money

✔️ Boosts productivity

Key Features to Look for in a Bookkeeping Service for Realtors

As a realtor, it is crucial to have an efficient bookkeeping service to ensure that your finances are well-managed and in compliance with tax laws. 

So, when you choose a bookkeeping service provider, make sure they offer all these essential features to assist you in effectively managing your business finances without any added stress.

Income and Expense Tracking

The first and most crucial feature that you should look for in a bookkeeping service for realtors is their ability to track all your income and expenses accurately. 

This includes recording commissions earned from property sales, rental income, agent fees paid, office rent/mortgage payments, marketing expenses, etc.

A good bookkeeping service can automatically track and record all these transactions and provide you with a clear picture of your financial health, helping you plan ahead for tax season.

Automatic Reconciliation of Bank and Credit Card Statements

Imagine matching all the transactions recorded in your books with those on your bank and credit card statements! Manual reconciliation can be time-consuming and tedious for busy realtors. 

That’s why it’s essential to choose a bookkeeping service that offers automatic reconciliation services. This feature ensures that all your financial statements are accurate, which is essential for tax reporting and financial analysis.

It also helps you track your cash flow, which helps avoid overdrafts and ensures you have enough liquidity to cover your expenses.

Tax Preparation and Filing

Navigating the complexities of IRS tax laws can be overwhelming without professional assistance, especially for realtors with multiple income streams and deductible expenses.

A professional bookkeeping service can help you calculate your tax bill by tracking all revenue sources and expenses and compiling all necessary financial documents to file your income tax return accurately.

They can also offer you advice on tax-saving strategies and take advantage of all available deductions, ensuring you are prepared for tax season year-round.

Therefore, opt for a bookkeeping service offering dedicated tax filing services to avoid penalties and maximize deductions, ultimately saving you money.

Payroll Management

As your business grows over time, so does the number of employees you hire to assist with various tasks, such as marketing or organizing open houses. 

A proper payroll management system supported by a bookkeeping service will ensure that your employees are paid accurately and on time. It should include features such as keeping track of employee hours, calculating taxes and deductions, and issuing pay stubs.

Outsourcing payroll to a bookkeeping service can help you maintain accurate records of all payroll transactions, which is crucial for both tax reporting and financial planning.

This helps you ensure all payroll taxes are withheld and remitted in compliance with federal and provincial regulations.

Financial Statements & Reporting

The last but equally important feature to look for in a bookkeeping service is its ability to provide you with accurate financial statements and reports.

This feature will help you understand the financial health of your real estate business by providing detailed income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements. 

By analyzing these reports, you can identify trends, uncover opportunities for growth, and make strategic decisions to reduce your tax bill by maximizing deductions.

A professional bookkeeping service like doola can also generate customized reports that cater specifically to your business needs.

5 Best Bookkeeping Services for Real Estate Agents

Since choosing the right bookkeeping service is crucial for real estate agents, we decided to bring you top choices to make the search easy for you. 

These 5 options offer intuitive interfaces, valuable features, and reliable customer support — making them the top choices for any busy real estate professional looking to streamline their bookkeeping processes.

1. doola Bookkeeping

Among the best bookkeeping services recommended by experts, doola Bookkeeping is the go-to solution for real estate agents who have limited time and patience for complex software.

Our user-friendly dashboard and intuitive interface take the hassle out of managing finances with automation, real-time insights, and a seamless user experience.

With our flexible pricing plans and all-inclusive features, doola streamlines bookkeeping through automated categorization, tax preparation, and financial statements.

Standout Features:

✅ End-to-end bookkeeping services to streamline tax management and year-end accounting.

✅ Automated categorization of expenses and income based on your previous transactions or pre-set rules.

✅ Catch-up Bookkeeping to update your books for the upcoming tax season.

✅ Automatic bank reconciliation for eliminating the need for manual data entry.

✅ Bank-syncing capability to automatically import all your transactions into our dashboard.

✅ Tax filing assistance to ensure on-time filing of IRS tax returns and full compliance with tax laws.

✅ Dedicated support from a team of expert bookkeepers for your business’s financial management.

Pricing:

doola has flexible pricing plans, such as our all-in-one accounting plan, which starts at just $329 per month and is billed annually.

Book a demo to find out more.

2. Buildium

Aimed specifically at property managers and landlords, Buildium is a cloud-based property management solution with accounting features, such as rent collection management and tenant invoicing. 

This might be one of the best choices if you’re looking for a dedicated real estate accounting system. 

Buildium comes with real estate-specific features that let you perform inspections, create reports, and sync all of your data. 

The software also lets you accept online payments from renters, create invoices, set up automatic expense allocation, use e-signatures, and more.

Standout Features:

✅ Designated real estate accounting software

✅ Online rent payments

✅ Bill pay and payment tracking

✅ Decent reporting tools

✅ Expense tracking

✅ Leasing tools to streamline rental workflows

Pricing:

Buildium’s all-inclusive monthly plans are a bit on the expensive side, starting at $460 /month.

3. Quickbooks Online

Quickbooks Online is another popular accounting software that caters to real estate agents. 

With features like tracking income and expenses by property or client and automated mileage tracking through GPS technology, this service makes managing finances stress-free for busy agents.

You can use it for everything, from creating estimates that can be converted into invoices to sending contractors Form-1099 so they can report their income when tax time comes around. 

Standout Features:

✅ Automated record-keeping

✅ Streamline tax preparation related to payroll taxes or quarterly estimated taxes

✅ Automate sales tax calculation based on your location 

✅ Personalized bookkeeping support

✅ Comprehensive invoicing feature for professional-looking invoices

✅ Integration with third-party apps

Pricing:

QuickBooks has a tiered pricing structure in which their Simple Start plan starts at $35 per month, and their more Advanced plan starts at $235 per month.

4. Xero

Xero is one of the top accounting software for realtors due to its user-friendly interface makes it easy to navigate even for those new to bookkeeping tasks. 

Additionally, Xero also has specialized tools for tracking commissions earned from selling properties — an essential feature for real estate professionals.

Aside from these perks, Xero is also a very scalable software, which mean if your business is currently small, you can start with the most basic plan and then scale up as you grow. 

Standout Features:

✅ Automated bank reconciliation

✅  Inventory tracking

✅ Customizable invoices

✅ Multi-currency support

✅ Tax management tools

✅ Sales tax reporting capabilities

Pricing:

Xero pricing starts at $29 per month for basic bookkeeping features and goes up to $62 per month for advanced accounting features like tax management. 

5. Freshbooks

FreshBooks is one of the best bookkeeping software that is well-known for its user-friendly interface, generous set of features, and exceptional customer service. 

It comes with features like invoicing, expense tracking and financial reporting, this service makes bookkeeping hassle-free for real estate agents.

You can also track receivables and payables, create and send professional-looking invoices, and easily run detailed reports on where your money is coming from and going. 

Standout Features:

✅ Easy to use for beginners with no accounting experience

✅ Automate invoicing & online payments

✅ Expense and time tracking

✅ Mobile access via iOS and Android apps

✅ Financial reports with an intuitive dashboard

Pricing:

While Freshbooks does not have a free plan, its pricing starts at 15 per month. However, you may need to pay extra for advanced features and additional users.

How to Choose the Right Bookkeeping Service for Your Real Estate Business

With so many bookkeeping services out there, how do you choose the right one for your real estate business? 

Here are some key factors to consider when making this critical decision:

• Range of Services: Ensure the company offers the specific bookkeeping services your business needs, from basic data entry to tax preparation and financial reporting.

• Technology & Software: Check if their software aligns with yours or offers better solutions for efficient financial tracking.

• Security Measures: Verify encryption, backup procedures, and compliance with industry standards like HIPAA.

• Communication & Support: Confirm availability, preferred communication methods (email, phone, portal), and if a dedicated account manager is assigned.

Simplify Real Estate Business Finances With doola Bookkeeping

doola Bookkeeping can take tedious tasks off your hands so you can focus on what you do best — selling properties!

With our extensive experience working with clients in the real estate industry, we have developed specialized strategies and processes that will streamline your financial management and keep you organized.

Our cloud-based software seamlessly integrates with your bank accounts and provides real-time updates on your finances. 

So, you no longer have to spend countless hours trying to make sense of piles of paper documents or worrying about data entry errors — leave it all to us!

Book a demo with us today!