Residential and commercial real estate management company engages outsourced accounting services to fill needs after the retirement of a former outsourced accounting firm.
Executive Summary
A NYC-based residential and commercial real estate management company transformed its back-office through outsourced accounting services. Withum delivered a remote, available-as-needed outsourced accounting solution that enabled the real estate company to streamline processes and efficiencies with cloud-based servers and programs.
The Client
Upon the retirement of its former outsourced service provider, the real estate company was searching for a new outsourced accounting solution to support the needs of the company and its 14 different operating companies. With international management in Hong Kong, the company needed to ensure its books were closed in a timely manner and finances were packaged correctly for reporting to management.
The Challenge
The residential and commercial real estate management company wanted to find a back-office solution that worked with them daily. However, they didn’t want to hire anyone in-house and didn’t have the capacity to support the function with existing resources. Many of their records lived on-premises, eliminating the ability to access those records through cloud-based software.
The Approach and Solution
Withum’s Outsourced Accounting Systems and Solutions (OASyS) Team stepped in to assist the real estate company with their accounting and bookkeeping needs after building a great rapport with management from a prior one-off tax project.
Withum’s OASyS Team worked with the retiring accountant and bookkeeper to transition all responsibilities within two months. During this time, Withum’s team:
- Worked directly with prior accountant and bookkeeper to go through financial statements and books.
- Developed a document request list based on the current financial statements.
- Requested and received access to bank accounts.
- Determined deliverables, the end-user and the timeline in which information is needed.
- Launched TeamViewer software to remotely access the client’s desktop computer to retrieve financial records and information.
- Set up an app on the client’s in-house desktop to remotely access their QuickBooks Desktop files.
The Results, ROI
Through Withum’s outsourced accounting onboarding process, the real estate company now has full access to an accounting team in a remote environment. They can:
- Efficiently process and book intercompany transactions to ensure accuracy of financials on time.
- Calculate management fees based on company operations.
- Have a go-to resource for assistance with audit needs and year-end budgeting support among many other daily, weekly and monthly accounting and book keeping tasks.
Since the engagement, the real estate company felt they wanted accounts payable processing to remain in-house, so, Withum’s OASyS Team now has someone onsite for a half-day once a week.
Withum was able to make the residential and commercial real estate management company fully remote other than in-office accounts payable needs and require as little as necessary from the client for the day-to-day accounting needs. The outsourced accounting solution and related systems created a more efficient financial environment for the client; reducing stress, creating more financial visibility and being a trusted resource for all accounting and bookkeeping needs.
Need to transform your back-office?
Learn how Withum’s Outsourced Accounting Systems and Solutions (OASyS) Team can help.
