@Bastian Kneuse Absolutely correct! and other financial services, reports, analysis and execution. Bookkeeping is really the foundation; we could literally use the same analogy as a building. Without solid bookkeeping (foundation) you can't build your financial framework, analysis and ultimately plans for growth (structure). I'll provide a brief outline of a the financial side of the house from a ~$100K-$100MM per year operation. Beyond that you start getting into REITs which adhere to strict SEC regulations and have a completely different and more complex structures. Keep in mind this is a rough estimate and I've seen all sorts of combinations and creative structures in-between.
Important to note as @Mark H. Porter pointed out and is VERY correct, you should always separate your financial operations and your TPMs for a variety of reasons.
To start, a good Bookkeeper will ask for back up, clarify expenditures and make sure bills (property taxes) are being paid, rents are being collected and the bank account(s) reconcile. As @Ron Flatt mentioned, many bookkeepers will also notify owners or managers of cash outlays, unreconciled items and period end closings with clean financials; they should last you through $100K-5MM in annual revenue and some can have utility through $5-10MM, especially if they can process payroll (always outsource processing).
Beyond that they start to become a Staff Accountant and eventually you need to split these into different rolls; somewhere around $7MM-15MM. You'll want an Accounts Payable (AP)/Staff Accountant and Property Accountant/Controller, many firms will change the title and roles. The accounts payable/staff accountant will oversee expenditures, payroll admin and sometimes rent collection and bank admin. The property accountant will reconcile bank accounts, rent reconciliations, create (maybe post) journal entries, preform CAM recs (commercial assets) and do the period end closing with financials to shareholders (lenders, owners, partners, etc).
As revenue and activity grow you will need more property accountants yet your AP/staff accountant role should be at capacity until about $75MM in revenue. At $50MM+ in revenue you would need at least 2 property accountants and a controller to oversee operations, interpret financials, present to ownership/partners. Your bank might require an annual audit, review or comp which is another expenditure. Many firms would probably have a larger headcount, including a CFO, because you also need to have solid internal controls. At $100MM+ there should be AP/staff, property accountant, senior property accountant, controller and CFO.
This is really a rough outline and I've seen it done with many variations of this example and beyond. We kind of tailor fit our solutions to the client. For example, a large multi-family client will be heavy property accounting and reporting, while a developer is heavy AP and forecasting; it really depends. Many times as owners accumulate wealth they lean more on the financial operations and the trust that should be built there.
More and more of this will be automated yet the oversight, creativity and strategy won't be. I could go on forever and there are books that do a better job; hope this helps. DM me if you want to chat more.
