Residential real estate
Know what you actually keep after every closing.
Slate and Summit provides bookkeeping, tax-planning support, and CFO help for top-producing agents, agent teams, and broker-owners. We close the books each month, organize commission income and splits, track the costs behind the deals, and turn the numbers into clear answers about taxes, cash, marketing, and hiring.
A strong gross commission income number can hide a weak take-home number. We help you see what remains after brokerage and team splits, referral fees, lead spend, software, staging, photography, mileage, support staff, and taxes.
For residential sales businesses that have outgrown DIY books.
The short version
The commission check is only the starting point.
Four parts of the money story need to line up before you can see what the business is really producing.
01
Gross commission income
Gross commission income, or GCI, shows what came in before splits, expenses, and taxes. It is useful. It is not take-home income.
02
Net commission
Brokerage splits, caps, team splits, and referral fees determine what stays with the agent, team, or brokerage after the closing.
03
Operating profit
Lead spend, transaction support, payroll or contractor costs, software, desk fees, office costs, and the work behind each deal determine whether activity creates profit.
04
Cash and taxes
Uneven closing cycles make cash planning and quarterly tax set-asides part of the operating rhythm, not a year-end cleanup.
Busy is not the same as profitable
A full pipeline can still leave the cash picture fuzzy.
Transaction volume tells you how much is moving. Clean books tell you what the business is keeping.
That difference matters when you are deciding whether to increase lead spend, add a buyer’s agent, hire a transaction coordinator, recruit into the brokerage, or pay yourself more.
- What did we keep after splits and referrals?
- Which lead sources are paying back?
- Is the team profitable after support costs?
- How much cash should stay available for taxes and slower months?
- Can the business afford the next hire?
The goal is not more reporting. It is a clear answer before the next decision.
What we do
Clean books first. Then better tax, cash, and growth decisions.
We do three connected things, in that order. The books become the source for the tax plan, the cash forecast, and the decisions that follow.
What your monthly numbers snapshot should answer
- What did I actually keep this month?
- Which lead sources deserve more—or less—spend?
- Is the team or brokerage profitable after support costs?
- How much should stay available for taxes and cash needs?
- Can we afford the next hire or expansion move?
What this means: you get fewer reports to decode and more answers you can use.
Books & monthly close
Monthly bookkeeping and close for commission-based income.
- Reconcile bank, card, brokerage, and commission records.
- Track splits, caps, referral fees, and commissions payable where scoped.
- Organize expenses and separate personal activity.
- Deliver management-prepared reports with a plain-English summary.
Tax planning before year-end
A quarterly rhythm built from current books—not last April’s guess.
- Estimate tax set-asides using current results and expected income.
- Organize expense records for licensed tax review.
- Flag open questions while there is still time to act.
- Coordinate licensed return signing or representation where required.
CFO help for bigger decisions
Models and monthly snapshots for decisions that change cash.
- Lead-source and agent or team profitability when data supports it.
- Hiring scenarios for assistants, transaction coordinators, showing agents, and operations roles.
- Cash planning through seasonal or uneven closing cycles.
- Broker-owner dashboards and a clear monthly decision list.
How it works
From scattered records to a dependable monthly rhythm.
The first job is to make the numbers trustworthy. Then we make them useful.
01
Connect securely
We connect the accounts and source data that matter: bank and credit cards, brokerage statements, commission records, split agreements, payroll or contractor records, and lead-source data where relevant. No passwords in email.
02
Clean up and reconcile
We separate business and personal activity, resolve open items, match deposits to the available transaction records, and clean the chart of accounts.
03
Close and explain
We reconcile the month, prepare management reports, and explain what changed. One person prepares the work. Another person checks important work before delivery.
04
Plan the next move
Where scoped, we update tax set-asides, cash forecasts, profitability views, and hiring or marketing scenarios so the next decision has a number behind it.
Built for your structure
Different real estate businesses need different answers.
The close process can be consistent. The decisions it supports should match the way your business actually runs.
An individual agent may need a reliable take-home and tax picture. A team lead may need lead-source and agent profitability. A broker-owner may need commissions payable, office costs, recruiting economics, and operating cash in one view.
Top-producing agents
See actual take-home income, keep business and personal spending separate, build a quarterly tax rhythm, and understand whether more volume is translating into more money.
Agent teams
Track splits, referral fees, lead spend, transaction-coordinator and admin costs, software, and profitability by agent or lead source when your systems support it.
Broker-owners
See commissions payable, office and recruiting costs, agent or team productivity, operating profit, and cash before expanding, recruiting, or adding support.
Clear scope
What we handle—and where we draw the line.
Good work starts with a clear lane. You should know what we own, what we coordinate, and what belongs with another professional.
What we handle
- Bookkeeping, reconciliations, and the monthly close.
- Commission, split, referral, expense, and commissions-payable tracking where the data and scope allow.
- Management-prepared reports and profitability views.
- Tax-planning support and draft preparation where scoped.
- Cash forecasts, monthly numbers snapshots, and decision models.
What we coordinate or refer
- Tax return signing, formal tax opinions, and IRS representation by a licensed CPA or Enrolled Agent.
- Audits, reviews, compilations, and other CPA assurance work.
- Legal questions about contracts, licensing, worker classification, or compensation disputes.
- Brokerage escrow or trust work that needs specialized compliance review.
- Investment, mortgage, securities, or legal advice.
This page is for residential agents, teams, and brokerages. The primary service is not built around commercial development, syndications, large property portfolios, cost segregation, 1031 exchanges, or distribution waterfalls.
Frequently asked questions
Questions agents, team leads, and broker-owners ask.
Direct answers first. Details where they matter.
Do you work with individual real estate agents?
Yes, when the agent has enough income, expense, tax, or operating complexity to benefit from monthly books and planning. This is usually a top-producing agent who wants cleaner records, a better tax rhythm, and a clearer view of actual take-home income.
Can you track commission splits, caps, and referral fees?
Yes, where the data is available and the scope includes it. We can organize commission income, brokerage and team splits, caps, referral fees, and related expenses. For brokerages, commissions payable can also be included where scoped.
Can you help with quarterly tax planning?
Yes. We use current books and expected income to help estimate a tax set-aside and create a quarterly rhythm. Exact federal and state requirements depend on your facts. The IRS generally treats licensed real estate agents as self-employed for federal tax purposes when the statutory conditions are met; see its real estate agent tax guidance and estimated tax guidance. Licensed professionals handle work that requires their credential.
Can you show profitability by agent, team, office, or lead source?
Often, yes. The answer depends on how clean and complete the source data is. Where the systems support it, we can build reporting by agent, team, office, transaction type, or lead source so the owner can compare activity with actual profit.
What should a real estate business track every month?
- Commission income.
- Brokerage and team splits, caps, and referral fees.
- Lead spend and source.
- Staging, photography, signs, transaction, and client-service costs.
- Software, desk fees, payroll, contractors, and admin support.
- Mileage or vehicle records where applicable.
- Taxes set aside, available cash, and actual take-home income.
Do you handle brokerage escrow or trust accounting?
Only after a scope review. State rules and brokerage responsibilities can vary, and some escrow or trust-account work may need specialized compliance review or a licensed provider. We will not accept the work unless the responsibilities are clear.
Are you a CPA firm?
No. Slate and Summit is not a CPA firm. We do not perform audits, reviews, or compilations, issue CPA opinions, or represent clients before the IRS. We handle monthly books, reporting, tax-planning support, and CFO help. Licensed CPA or Enrolled Agent partners handle work that legally requires their credential.
What happens in the first 90 days?
We set up secure access, review the books and systems, clean up what needs attention, build the monthly close rhythm, and deliver the first useful reports. If tax planning or CFO support is included, we also establish the tax baseline, cash view, or monthly numbers snapshot.
Books & cash review
You know what you grossed. Let’s make the rest of the picture clear.
Bring the questions that are hard to answer today: what you are keeping, what to save for taxes, whether the team is profitable, and what the next hire will do to cash. We will start with the books, the systems, and the decision that made you reach out now.
Slate and Summit is not a CPA firm. We do not perform audits, reviews, or compilations, issue CPA opinions, or represent clients before the IRS. Licensed CPA or Enrolled Agent partners handle work that legally requires their credential.