Bookkeeping for
Real Estate
Brokerages.
Your deposits show gross commission income, but the brokerage runs on company dollar. Between agent splits, caps, desk fees, referral fees and earnest money sitting in escrow, the bank balance tells you very little. We keep your brokerage books in QuickBooks Online so you can see what the brokerage actually keeps.
Flat monthly pricing · Cancel anytime · Dedicated bookkeeper
Built for Every Kind
of Independent Brokerage
Traditional split, cap model or flat-fee shop, the books have to show what agents earned, what the brokerage kept and what belongs to someone else.
Traditional Split Brokerages
You pay agents on a split, sometimes on a graduated schedule. We record each closing at gross, post the agent's share as commission expense and show the company dollar left over, month by month.
- GCI recorded by closing
- Agent commission payouts matched
- Company dollar by month
- Broker's own production broken out
- Office, MLS and tech costs categorized
- Agent payment totals ready at year end
Cap and Fee-Based Models
Your agents pay a split until they cap, then a flat transaction fee, plus monthly or desk fees. We track fee income by type so you can see how much of the brokerage runs on fees versus splits.
- Pre-cap splits and post-cap fees
- Monthly desk and tech fees billed
- Agent fee balances and past-dues
- E&O and transaction fees recorded
- Flat-fee and 100% commission deals
Growing and Multi-Office Firms
More agents means more payouts, more fee billing and more money moving through escrow. We set up classes or locations so each office or team shows its own revenue, costs and company dollar.
- P&L by office or team
- Team leader splits recorded
- Referral fees in and out
- Escrow accounts reconciled each month
- Staff payroll reconciled from Gusto
- Marketing and recruiting costs by office
The Financial Headaches
We Fix
Brokerage money moves fast and a lot of it isn't yours to keep. These are the places brokerage books usually break.
GCI hits the bank, so revenue looks huge
When the full commission check lands in operating and the agent's share goes out a few days later, the P&L shows big revenue and big expense with no link between them. You can't see company dollar per deal, or which agents actually make the brokerage money.
Earnest money mixed with operating money
Where the brokerage holds earnest money, it isn't yours until closing. When it lands in the wrong account or gets coded as income, the books overstate your cash and the escrow account stops tying out. Rules vary by state, so we keep it in its own account and its own lines.
Agent fees billed but never collected
Desk fees, tech fees and E&O charges pile up on agents who are slow to pay, or get netted out of commission checks with no record. Without a clean balance per agent, you lose track of who owes what, and the fee income on your P&L is a guess.
1099 season turns into a scavenger hunt
Every contractor agent needs a 1099 showing what they were paid. If payouts went out from different accounts and some were netted against fees, January is miserable. We keep agent payment totals clean all year so your 1099s can be filed through Gusto or your 1099 tool.
Every Month
Everything You Need,
Nothing You Don't
Brokerage bookkeeping is mostly about separating money: gross from company dollar, agent money from brokerage money, escrow from operating. Here is what we handle every month, working from your brokerage software and bank feeds.
Monthly Bookkeeping
Every account reconciled, every transaction categorized, every month. You get a clean P&L and balance sheet you can read and use to make decisions.
See Full Details →Financial Reporting
A monthly P&L with GCI, agent commissions and company dollar split out, revenue by office or team, fee income by type, and a balance sheet that shows escrow money held for others.
See Full Details →Bank Reconciliation
Every business account and credit card matched and verified each month. No mystery charges. No unresolved transactions. No surprises.
See Full Details →Accounts Payable & Receivable
AR covers the fees agents owe you and referral fees owed by other brokerages. AP covers agent payouts, outgoing referral fees, office rent, software and marketing bills.
See Full Details →Catch-Up Bookkeeping
Months or years behind? We clean it all up before monthly service starts, at a flat price per month behind that we quote up front.
See Full Details →Payroll Support
Admin staff and salaried managers run through Gusto, which files the payroll taxes and W-2s. We reconcile payroll to the books and keep employees separate from 1099 agents.
See Full Details →"Daniel is a very important part of our Real Estate team. … He would be an asset to anyone or company using his professional skills."
Real Estate Brokerages
FAQ
Questions we hear from Real Estate Brokerages before they sign on with Tides.
Based in Greenville, SC —
Serving Clients Nationwide
100% remote bookkeeping for small businesses across South Carolina and throughout the United States.
Beyond Real Estate Brokerages,
We Serve All These Businesses
Tides Bookkeeping specializes in bookkeeping across 12 distinct industries. Industry-specific expertise means fewer errors, better categorization, and a bookkeeper who already understands how your business makes money.
More for Real Estate Brokerages
Related guides and pages.
Finance terms worth knowing
Plain-English explainers, no jargon.
Focus on Your Agents.
We'll Handle
The Books.
Schedule a free 15-minute call. We'll review your current setup, answer your questions, and give you a flat monthly quote — no pressure.
No credit card required · No long-term contracts · Cancel anytime
Simple, Flat-Rate Pricing
Flat monthly plans scaled to your business — no hourly billing and no surprise invoices. You always know the price up front.
★★★★★ 5.0 · 8 client reviews on Intuit's ProAdvisor directory
✔ Reviewed by Daniel Cope, Advanced QuickBooks ProAdvisor · Updated August 2026