Real Estate and other service businesses take a lot of skill and dedication. In addition, there are numerous responsibilities and tasks the go along with managing a successful business. After working with numerous Real Estate Professionals, we have a few tips that will make running your business, and your books a little easier.

Keep It Separated

When purchasing items such as a client’s lunch, coffee, or gifts it is easy to pay out of pocket, but if you aren’t tracking these purchases as part of your business expenses, you may be under-reporting your costs. When you underreport your expenses, you could be missing valuable tax deductions. Make sure you are reporting all business expenditures and work to keep business and personal funds separate. 

Track Your Mileage

One commonly underreported expense by Real Estate Professionals is their mileage.  The IRS requires that you keep a mileage log to claim a mileage deduction on your business tax return.  For the 2021 tax year you can claim 56 cents per mile for every mile you drive for business. We have noted that numerous clients estimate their mileage, which in most cases they are underreporting this expense.  To assist clients, we recommend getting mileage tracking software such as MileIQ. The cost of the software which is operated from your phone provides an actual cost savings benefit in the long run and makes the IRS requirement of having a mileage log easy.

Understand Cash Flow

Understand your capital and cash flow.  Capital and cash flow impact all aspects of your business, from operations to marketing, to surviving a crisis. Due to the delayed nature of payments, and closings that fall through, staying on top of your bookkeeping and ensuring it is up-to-date will allow you to project your cash flow correctly and noted problems before they arise.

Get Organized

Get and stay organized. Without proper organization and support, a small business can become the victim of its own success. One missed customer appointment can damage your company’s reputation and send a potential client to a competitor. Even if you’re well organized, administrative tasks may be taking too much time away from your core business. It is important to determine where you need help.

At CWC we love assisting our clients to manage their business more efficiently and effectively. Contact us today let us take care of some of these tasks for you.