What makes accounting for real estate different?
Two things drive it: per-property visibility and the tax position. A portfolio-level P&L tells you the business made money but hides which property earned it after debt service, capital expenditures, and management — so real estate books track each property, and often each entity, separately. And because so much of an investor’s return is tax-driven, the books also have to follow adjusted basis and depreciation carefully and stay clean enough to support a 1031 exchange, where errors carry large consequences. Generalist bookkeeping rarely does either well.
Does a 1031 exchange defer New York state tax, or just federal?
Both. New York follows federal Section 1031, so a properly structured like-kind exchange of investment property defers both federal and New York state capital gains — if you don’t report the gain to the IRS, you don’t report it to New York. The one New York-specific requirement is at closing: nonresidents selling New York property generally must file Form IT-2663, which addresses state withholding on the sale. We keep the books and basis records that support the exchange; your CPA handles the tax filing and your Qualified Intermediary handles the exchange mechanics.
What are the main 1031 exchange deadlines and rules?
The headline rules: you have 45 calendar days from the sale of the relinquished property to identify replacement property (commonly up to three properties under the three-property rule), and 180 days total — or your tax-filing date, if earlier — to complete the purchase. A Qualified Intermediary must hold the sale proceeds; if you take receipt or control of the funds, the exchange fails. The same-taxpayer rule means the title holder must be consistent, though that can be an LLC. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 narrowed 1031 to real property only. We don’t run the exchange — your QI and CPA do — but we keep the basis and records that make it executable.
How much tax is actually at stake in a New York exchange?
Enough to matter a great deal in New York City. An NYC investor selling without an exchange can face capital gains across three authorities — federal, New York State, and New York City — with combined state and city rates reaching into the double digits on top of a federal rate approaching the high thirties. On a large gain, that combined bill can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, which a properly structured 1031 exchange defers. That’s exactly why the records behind the exchange — accurate basis, documented improvements, clean proceeds tracking — have to be right, and why we keep them that way year-round rather than reconstructing them under deadline pressure.
Can you report profit by property and by entity?
Yes — it’s the heart of investor accounting. Using QuickBooks classes and clean entity separation, we structure your file so you can pull a P&L for any single property, for an entity that holds several, or for the whole portfolio. That’s what lets you see which assets earn their keep after financing and capex, which to refinance or sell, and how the portfolio actually performs — rather than a blended number that hides your weakest property behind your strongest.
I hold each property in its own LLC — does that complicate the books?
It’s common and sensible for liability protection, but it does require the books to respect each entity’s separation rather than commingling everything — otherwise the structure’s protection weakens and tax prep gets tangled. We keep each entity’s records distinct while still letting you see the consolidated portfolio. Note that forming the entities and structuring ownership is a legal matter for your attorney; our role is keeping accurate books inside whatever structure you and your attorney establish, including the New York transfer-tax and nonresident-withholding entries that come up at closing.
How much does real estate bookkeeping cost in New York?
Monthly bookkeeping for a New York real-estate investor runs $400–$2,500+ per month, fixed-fee against a written scope. Pricing is set by the number of properties and entities, transaction and rent-roll volume, and whether you need CAM reconciliation or detailed per-property reporting — a single rental in one LLC is at the lower end; a multi-property portfolio across several entities higher. We quote a firm number after reviewing your books.
How do we get started?
Book a free discovery call. We review your QuickBooks file remotely, map your properties and entities, determine whether you need a cleanup first — including basis reconstruction — or can go straight to monthly service, and send a written fixed-fee proposal within 3 business days. Your named Certified ProAdvisor begins as soon as you approve. We do the books; your CPA files and your Qualified Intermediary runs any exchange.