Real Estate Agent Bookkeeping in QuickBooks - COA, Commision?

Is your sister employed by the company (you say ?she works for?), or is she an independent contractor for the company?

If she is an independent contractor, then the accounting (QB file) is for a separate entity, and, the commission checks would be revenue.

If she is employed, the commission checks would seem to be paychecks, and then the question is do you need to/want to account for the paychecks, since this data is already being reported to the IRS, by the company, and is readily available to your sister, etc. But, you still can track by entering the gross amount, I would think, as revenue.

You can track expenses, per house, by identifying the house (customer) in the customer column on the payment form (enter bills or write checks). Richard

I am setting up quickbooks for a real estate broker and having a difficult time trying to decide the most efficient method to track all the items I need to track.

Seller, buyer, date closed, sales price, agent commission, broker commission, were they the listing agent or the selling agent.  I've thought about creating a Job for each house sold and then creating different items.  Can someone guide me?

Thanks

Start with identify your income and expenses. Broker should already have a software to track all prospects, sales, buyer and seller contact info, commission. Use QuickBooks for real estate brokers accounting/bookkeeping.

You are right, create a Job for the property address name and use Items for commission.  Also try using the Define Fields under the Additional tab of the Customer.  Try using the HELP section in QuickBooks and type in the key words.

Gita Faust
Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor® since 2007
Enterprise Suite Certified | Point-of-Sale/Retail Solutions Certified
Member of Intuit Trainer/Writer Network
Author of "Accounting for Real Estate Agents" | "Manage Community Associations with QuickBooks" for Condo & HOA | "Manage Properties with QuickBooks" for property owners | "Manage Properties with QuickBooks" for property managers
Manage your real estate agent business, home office and personal finances with Excel, Quicken, QuickBooks and Paper and pencil.
http://community.intuit.com/me...
 

I was searching around on the Internet and found your posting and I am sure you have taken care of your accounting.

I have done the accounting for a large real estate company and I am also a licensee besides a QuickBooks ProAdvisor.  I process several brokers accounting for them on a regular bases.

One easy way to track all what you or your sister may want to track would be as simple as creating a class for each property or listing and making sure to use the class on each transaction as they are created.  Checks, payments or commissions!

By now you are QuickBooks ProAdvisor like the rest of us and find it a valuable resource and opportunity.

Consulting Company: www.quickbookspropertymanager.com