Real Estate Accountant

Role: Real Estate Accountant

Contract: Part-time Remote Contractor (20 hours weekly / 80 hours monthly)

Business Hours: Flexible within Monday through Friday, 9 AM - 5 PM PST

Rate: $9 - $10 USD hourly / $720 - $800 USD monthly

Availability to Start: Immediately

Client's Profile

This is an established US-based family real estate business. The company owns and manages a diverse portfolio of real estate properties across multiple US States with a strong focus on family-values, growth and operational excellence.

What You'll Do

As the Real Estate Accountant, you will support the company's financial operations by managing complex bookkeeping and reconciliation activities across a growing real estate portfolio. You will be responsible for maintaining accurate financial records, performing multi-account reconciliations, analyzing and resolving financial variances, and providing administrative oversight to ensure efficient and accurate accounting processes. While established SOPs and templates are available, you will also contribute to improving existing workflows and developing new procedures to support the company's continued growth. Your core responsibilities will include the following:

• Reconciling Accounts:
• Handle complex, monthly reconciliation of bank statements, general ledgers, and accounts payable/receivable (AP/AR).
• Systematically match internal financial records with bank and credit card statements to guarantee absolute accuracy.
• Ensure financial integrity by continuously comparing internal financial records (general ledger) against external source documents (bank statements, vendor invoices) and auditing/resolving any discovered discrepancies.
• Accounts Payable/Receivable (AP/AR) & Oversight:
• Manage money owed to vendors (AP) and diligently track incoming payments due from tenants (AR).
• Oversee the in-house bookkeeper on the transactional side (processing invoices, posting payments) by reviewing aging reports, approving payments over a certain threshold, and ensuring workflow accuracy.
• Financial Reporting & Variance Analysis:
• Generate comprehensive monthly property-level financial reports, including profit & loss statements, cash flow statements, and balance sheets.
• Compare actual performance against budgeted targets and provide detailed, clear explanations for any numbers that deviate from expectations.
• Provide high-level financial oversight of all entries to catch errors, reviewing transactions thoroughly, and preparing timely financial statements for management review.
• Execute deep-dive trend analysis to monitor fiscal changes (e.g., analyzing why a specific expense category was 10% higher than the month prior, etc.).
• Real Estate Specific Accounting, Payroll, & Compliance:
• Specialized Real Estate Accounting: Apply industry-specific accounting practices, explicitly handling security deposit liabilities, capital improvements, property depreciation, and related items.
• Administer and process company payroll securely and accurately.
• Assist with annual 1099 filings for contractors, prepare detailed documentation, and provide clean financial data for external tax preparation while ensuring strict compliance with all financial policies.

What You Should Have

Must-haves:

• At least four years of dedicated professional Accounting or Corporate Bookkeeping experience.
• At least two years of experience working in a global remote or virtual environment for a company based in North America.
• Prior experience dealing specifically within Real Estate Accounting (knowledge of security deposit liabilities, capital improvements, depreciation, etc.).
• Highly proficient in QuickBooks (Online or Desktop) to run multi-account, clean company files.
• Exceptional written and verbal English communication skills, confident when clarifying anomalies with stakeholders or compiling external emails.
• Solid track record of processing financial details with absolute discretion and strict operational integrity.
• Strong, independent file management skills and comfortable managing full compliance workflows without requiring intensive micromanagement.
• Technology Specifications:
• Minimum 100 Mbps Internet Speed
• Windows 11 or macOS 15 Sequoia
• Minimum Intel i5 8th gen 8GB of RAM or Apple M1 chip 8GB of RAM
• Webcam and Headset
• Designated Office Space in your home

Nice-to-haves:

• Associate degree in accounting or finance, or equivalent experience.
• Active functional familiarity with Property Management accounting platforms such as AppFolio or Buildium.
• Prior direct payroll processing experience.

Who You Are

We are hoping you are someone who:

• Thinks clearly and critically, and is excellent at catching ledger errors, parsing complex variance trends, and troubleshooting reconciliation mismatches.
• Has the capabilities to independently create, formalize, and optimize standard operating procedures (SOPs) rather than just running existing templates.
• Exercises excellent professional judgment and handles multi-property balances, vendor payments, and sensitive contractor records with absolute confidentiality.