Robust services for complex real estate matters
Whether you have large-scale investments, real estate funds or broad commercial/ multi-unit residential projects, you face a myriad of concerns:
- Building and structuring real estate investment funds (and compensating the operator)
- Taking advantage of tax reform benefits like Opportunity Zones
- Complex tax planning strategies and corporate structure
- Transforming real estate to make it as attractive as possible
- Complying with fund accounting, administration, and reporting requirements
- Understanding the current economic forces
- Managing relationships with the professionals who can help your business thrive
- Planning for your exit and retirement
Your real estate needs go beyond the basics — and so do the services we provide.
Real Estate Developer Services
From vast commercial properties to sprawling apartment complexes, your projects are anything but straightforward. So our services address the complicated business dealings, tax strategies and compliance requirements that come with them.
Audit, review and compilation of financial statements: Whether it’s a full-on audit with the highest level of assurance, or the less comprehensive (yet still thorough) assessment of a review or compilation, you can have confidence that your financials are accurate and compliant.
Asset-based accounting: We’ll focus on valuing and recording your land, buildings and equipment to best reflect current market values and depreciation. The result is a clearer picture of your financial health — essential for securing loans, attracting investors and making informed business decisions.
Common Area Maintenance (CAM) and Common Interest Realty Association (CIRA) audits: Ensure fairness when it comes to the expenses of shared spaces, accurate tenant billing, compliance with association rules and allocations of costs among unit owners with CAM and CIRA audits.
Employee benefit plan audits: Validate the soundness of your plan’s financial statements and operations. An EPB audit reassures your employees that their retirement funds are in good hands — and increases the ability of your plan to stand up to a U.S. Department of Labor audit.
Estate planning: Preserve and transfer your wealth to benefit you and those closest to you. We’ll advise you in the creation of trusts, gifting strategies and other methods that minimize your tax obligations.
Succession and exit planning: Transferring ownership to the next generation of leaders isn’t easy. We’ll help you craft a strategic plan via tax planning, valuation assessments, and advising on the best timing and ways for you to exit your business.
Financial projection, budgeting and pro-formas: Get a roadmap that helps you project revenues, make accurate budgets, secure funding and assess project viability — so you can anticipate financial needs and challenges to make better decisions.
Internal controls review: Strengthen weak areas of your operations, mitigate risks and improve operational efficiency. We’ll assess how your company safeguards access, ensures accurate financial reporting and maintains compliance to help increase its financial stability and integrity.
Entity structure (partnerships and S corporations): The right entity structure helps you better meet business objectives and maximize tax advantages. We analyze liability, ownership, profit-sharing and more to help you with this all-important selection for your business.
Business tax planning and compliance: Minimize your tax liabilities with strategies that consider property acquisitions, development costs and revenue streams. We’ll also help you stay compliant with all federal, state and local tax regulations as we file your returns and serve as your go-between with tax authorities.
Cost segregation studies: Boost your cash flow by reducing current tax liabilities and optimizing the timing of deductions. We can identify and separate personal property assets from real property assets within your development project to accelerate depreciation deductions.
Federal tax strategies, credits and incentives: The Historic Preservation Tax Incentives, energy-efficient building credits, the New Markets tax credit… we help you navigate these and other tax strategies to take full advantage of these opportunities.
Section 1031 like-kind exchanges: Swapping properties for tax-deferral purposes? We’ll make sure the transaction meets all IRS requirements , from identifying suitable replacement properties to structuring the exchange in a way that maximizes your tax advantage.
State and local tax (SALT) matters: Property, sales and use, income state-specific rules, transfer taxes for sales, local business taxes… SALT issues can impact everything your business does. We’ll help ensure compliance while identifying tax strategies so you can make sound decisions in a complex tax environment.
Real Estate Fund/Investor Services
Managing a real estate fund (or a portfolio of investments) is an increasingly popular option for real estate professionals. Our services are designed to help you make the most of this exciting aspect of property investments, commercial development and financial growth.
Audit, review and compilation of financial statements: Attract and retain quality investors and stay in compliance with industry regulations. From full-on audits to less comprehensive reviews and compilations, have confidence that your financials are accurate and compliant.
Employee benefit plan audits: Validate the soundness of your plan’s financial statements and operations. An EPB audit reassures your employees that their retirement funds are in good hands — and increases the ability of your plan to stand up to a U.S. Department of Labor audit.
Due diligence: Identify risks, value assets accurately and ensure investments align with your objectives. Our due diligence services evaluate the financial, operational and compliance aspects of potential properties so you can invest with confidence.
Fund consulting: Optimize your fund’s performance and enhance your relationship with investors. We’ll focus on areas like waterfall compliance and calculations to make sure profit distributions are carried out according to your fund’s agreement.
Fund design and structure: We’ll consider factors like investment objectives, risk tolerance and whether capital will be sourced domestically or internationally (or both!). By tailoring your fund’s structure to best meet its goals, we can optimize tax efficiencies and attract a diverse investor base.
Internal rate of return (IRR) modeling: Learn the expected profitability of potential or ongoing real estate investments. Through sophisticated analysis, we’ll help you compare opportunities to look at risks and returns so you can make informed investment decisions.
Pre-development ownership: Get a detailed financial model outlining how profits and losses will be allocated. This helps you clarify investment terms, set expectations and ultimately attract and retain investors.
Purchase price allocation: Distribute property acquisition costs appropriately to ensure your assets are recorded at fair market value and in compliance with accounting standards. It’s a process crucial for accurate financial reporting, depreciation calculations and tax planning.
Opportunity Zone fund tax planning and investing: Opportunity Zones offer big tax incentives for investing in economically distressed areas. We’ll structure your fund to meet strict regulatory compliance and advise you on use of capital in these assets to maximize potential tax benefits.
Transaction support (valuations/projection): Use valuations and financial projections to make informed decisions during acquisitions and mergers. We’ll perform in-depth financial analysis to determine a property’s fair market value, predict future cash flows and assess potential risks and returns of the transaction.
Unrelated business income tax (UBIT) planning: Your real estate fund could have tax liabilities from income not directly related to the fund’s primary exempt purpose. We’ll help make sure your fund complies with IRS regulations while optimizing its tax position.
Business tax planning and compliance: We devise strategies in property acquisitions, development costs and revenue streams that minimize tax liabilities while optimizing financial performance and staying compliant with regulations.
Federal tax strategies, credits and incentives: Take advantage of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, energy efficiency building credits, opportunity zones and more. Our guidance helps you not only comply with tax regulations but also optimize financial performance with these tax benefits.
Section 1031 like-kind exchanges: Swapping properties for tax-deferral purposes? We’ll make sure the transaction meets all IRS requirements , from identifying suitable replacement properties to structuring the exchange in a way that maximizes your tax advantage.
State and local tax matters: We’ll advise you on property taxes, sales and use taxes, state specific income rules and transfer taxes on your property transaction. It’s the best way to ensure full compliance with varied laws and find ways to minimize your tax obligation.
Acquisition and disposition of real estate: By conducting thorough financial analysis, due diligence, and structuring transactions in a tax-efficient manner, we can ensure that your property purchases or sales align with your investment strategy. We also help you navigate complex transactions like 1031 exchanges and Opportunity Zone investments.
Capital markets (private placement agent): Our real estate team can facilitate the private sale of equity or debt securities to raise capital for your fund’s real estate projects. This work includes structuring financial instruments and ensuring compliance.
Family office participation: We gladly work with your financial and legal team to align available opportunities with your fund’s unique investment objectives, risk profile and tax considerations. This service includes specialized tax planning, due diligence, reporting and more.
Private real estate investment fund consulting: Get help strategizing, structuring and operating your fund’s investment portfolio effectively. From fund design and tax planning to regulatory compliance and financial reporting, we help ensure your fund is positioned to attract capital and deliver returns.
Why hire our real estate CPAs?
Our goal is to continually improve the profitability of your real estate activities and ensure smooth transactions. That means we’re constantly working to increase our knowledge and the level of service you receive. It’s a commitment to always be bettering ourselves. To go above and beyond every day. Just like you.
When you partner with us, you’ll work with a team focused on understanding your real estate goals and finding effective strategies to help you achieve them. Count on us for everything from transactional support to timely K1s that keep your investors satisfied (we have a long history of completing tax returns by March 15th—no matter what).
Measurably Better
We help you build success in real estate one property at a time.
$1 Billion
Providing accounting services for $1 billion in real estate properties
$600 Million
Providing CFO services for $600M in commercial developments
$200 Million
Consulted on the structure of over $200M in real estate sales
$20 Million - $200 Million
We provide tax and financial advisory services for family offices with net worth of $20M - $200M
$20+ Million
Increased cash flow for commercial real estate businesses by $20M+
Real Estate Industry Update
The Real Estate Industry Update is our video series that brings our top real estate CPAs along with some of Florida’s top commercial and residential real estate brokers, agents, bankers, and other experts to discuss what’s happening in the industry. Our videos are released periodically and contain information on real estate hot topics such as tax planning, cost segregation, 1031 exchanges, industry updates and more.
Subscribe to our video series to receive updates when new videos are released.
Cost Segregation Infographic
Increase Cash Flow and Reduce Taxes with a Cost Segregation Study
Cost segregation studies separate real property into depreciable categories, allowing taxpayers to depreciate property over much shorter periods of time. By taking deductions sooner, owners lower their current-year tax liability and free up more capital.
Case Study: Project Accounting for Large-Scale Real Estate Developments
A commercial real estate development company was planning a $300 million mixed-use development to include office, residential, retail, entertainment and hotel space. With such a large and multi-faceted undertaking involving dozens of subcontractors, it’s important to monitor contracts and expenditures closely in order to stick with the budget and make the best use of project funds. The developer needed outsourced accounting and controllership services from a company that could handle the size and complexity of this project, and James Moore was hired for the job.
Among other services, James Moore’s real estate CPAs provided a real-time dashboard from which the developer could see all transactions, expenditures, financial reports, budgets and cash on hand for every aspect of the project. This made the data available as these transactions happened instead of having to wait 60-90 days for the information to come through the usual channels. With the ability to view accurate financial reports and manage contracts in real time, the company was better able to properly manage the financial aspects of what became a very successful project.
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Daniel Roccanti, CPA
Director
Daniel has nearly ten years of experience in tax accounting and consulting. As a director, he leads and supervises a team that provides tax planning, tax preparation, compliance and accounting services to the firm’s clients. Daniel’s focus is on modern innovative solutions to help each client grow and reach their aspirations.
While Daniel works with a wide range of individual and business clients, his expertise is in real estate. In addition to serving this industry, he is also a real estate investor himself. This allows him to bring his personal experience to the table, and as such he serves as a key member of our Real Estate Services Team. Daniel also has a background as an IT analyst, and he uses this knowledge to combine technology and accounting to better help his clients.
Daniel also has an expertise in nonprofit tax compliance. He provides tax reporting and consulting for the firm’s nonprofit clients allowing these organizations to help better their communities. He also leads the Tallahassee office’s tax compliance and Form 990 preparation services for nonprofits.
