Every engagement starts with a conversation. Matthew Rodrigue leads onboarding personally, so the first step is a call to understand your portfolio, your entities, and where your books stand today. Whether you have five rentals across two LLCs or a syndication with 30 investors, the goal is to figure out what you have, how it’s organized, and what needs to happen to get your financials in order. Because we’re fully virtual, this works the same whether you’re in California, Florida, or anywhere in between.

After that initial call, we assess the current state of your books. Most new clients come to us with some level of disorganization. It might be months of unreconciled transactions, a chart of accounts that doesn’t match their asset types, or no property-level reporting at all. This is normal. We evaluate what needs fixing and scope out a plan before anything else happens. For most clients, this means starting with catch-up and clean-up bookkeeping to bring everything current.

The cleanup phase is where the real work begins. We reconcile every bank, loan, and credit card account. We rebuild or correct your chart of accounts so it reflects how your portfolio actually operates, whether that’s multifamily, short-term rentals, commercial, or a mix. We fix miscategorized transactions, catch missed depreciation, and tie everything back to your prior tax filings if needed. This phase takes as long as it needs to, because clean books are the foundation everything else depends on.

Once your books are clean, we set up the systems and integrations for ongoing work. If you use AppFolio, Buildium, Yardi, DoorLoop, or QuickBooks Online, we connect those platforms so property data flows in without manual re-entry. We establish the processes for document collection, communication, and monthly closes. You know exactly what to expect and when.

From there, you move onto a steady monthly rhythm. Each month, we reconcile your accounts, close your books, and produce the reports you need. That might be property-level P&Ls, lender packages, or investor-ready financials depending on your situation. Working with a real estate accounting firm that’s founder-led means you always have direct access to Matthew throughout the engagement. You know exactly who’s handling your books and you can reach them when you need to.

The whole process typically takes a few weeks from first call to monthly steady state, though it depends on how much cleanup your books need. The point is to get your financials accurate and organized once, so the ongoing work runs smoothly and you have numbers you can actually trust.