Real Estate- Accounting

[Daniel Levine]

Can anyone point me to some good books, websites, or software programs that can help me learn more about basic Real Estate Accounting?

[J Scott]

Originally posted by Daniel Levine:

thank you all. I do have a friend who is a cpa. What is a fair rate to pay for a cpa. Do you pay by the hour?

Is your CPA fluent in real estate tax matters? Does he own property himself? Does he represent large investor clients? If the answer to these questions is no, you're probably doing yourself a disservice by using him as opposed to a CPA/accountant who is an expert in real estate tax matters.

A great CPA/accountant will save you more money than they'll cost you in fees. Personally, I pay $1200/year for my CPA -- he does my business and personal taxes, makes recommendations on tax strategy, helps with bookkeeping, answers any questions I have, etc. I think it's safe to say that he's saved me, on average, more than $1200 per year since I've been using him.