How real estate agents can improve business with help from expert accountants

Busy real estate agents can improve efficiencies and maintain business growth with the help of qualified accountants at LDB. Here’s how.

Real estate professionals and agencies need to stay on top of their tax accounting and business compliance to avoid future headaches, like any business.

But property-related businesses are also subject to specific compliance requirements, such as starting and managing a trust account.

Property agencies also need to keep a close eye on their cash flow to make sure their operations are running smoothly.

If you’re unclear about the tax and business requirements for real estate professionals, here are some key points to consider:

Sort out tax and compliance

For starters, real estate agents have to pay Goods and Services Tax (GST) on a range of their services like agency commissions and property inspection fees.

As highlighted earlier, property agencies also must establish a trust account with an authorised financial institution in order to hold sales deposits, rent and fees for advertising or maintenance.

Keep in mind these trust accounts also have to be audited annually by a practising public accountant who is a member of one of Australia’s professional accountancy bodies.

Additionally, real estate businesses can claim numerous tax deductions every year, especially smaller businesses.

Maintain business growth

Real estate agencies have different income streams ranging from regular property management fees through to less frequent property sale commissions.

Agencies have to stay on top of their cashflow to keep everyday operations ticking over but to also avoid future shortfalls and keep the business growing.

Business advisory services like management accounting, reporting and analysis can help real estate agencies keep up to date with the health of their business and provide strategic advice when it counts.

If you’re looking to start a real estate business, remember to sort out appropriate insurance and assess the right level of financing to get things going.

Alternatively, if you’ve established a business and are looking at steps to exit, then succession planning can help with a smooth transition.

Grow with expert advice

Running a real estate agency and meeting customer expectations are hugely demanding, not to mention all the tax and compliance responsibilities that come with business ownership.

If you would rather focus on that next big sale, bringing in tax and accounting experts with real estate sector experience is a good idea.

The highly qualified team at LDB provides a full range of financial services including tax accounting, strategic business advisory solutions and more.

Having worked with real estate businesses over the years, LDB’s experienced professionals can support your agency’s needs and help grow your business.

To find out how we can help, give us a call on (03) 9875 2900 or fill in the form below.