Switching bookkeepers is more common than you might think, and the process is straightforward once you decide to make the move. Most real estate investors who come to us have been with their previous bookkeeper for years and stayed longer than they should have because switching felt like a hassle. It rarely is.

The first thing we do is review the current state of your books. This means getting access to your accounting software, bank statements, and any supporting records your previous bookkeeper maintained. We go through everything to understand what’s there, what’s missing, and what needs to be fixed before we take over the monthly work.

Messy or behind books are normal at this stage. We see it all the time. Sometimes the chart of accounts was never set up properly for real estate. Sometimes depreciation wasn’t tracked correctly. Sometimes transactions were miscategorized for months or years. None of this is unusual, and none of it is a reason to delay switching. Our catch-up and clean-up bookkeeping exists precisely for this situation.

Once we understand what we’re working with, we set up our processes and integrations. We connect to your bank accounts, loan accounts, and property management software. If you’re using AppFolio, Buildium, Yardi, DoorLoop, or QuickBooks Online, we’ve worked with all of them. The goal is to get everything flowing into one place so the monthly close runs smoothly going forward.

During the clean-up phase, we often catch issues the previous bookkeeper missed. Reconciliation errors. Transactions posted to the wrong period. Opening balances that don’t tie to prior tax returns. Fixing these problems now means your books are accurate and defensible going forward, whether you’re reporting to lenders, investors, or your CPA at tax time.

The transition typically takes a few weeks depending on how much clean-up is involved. You don’t need to coordinate anything between us and your previous bookkeeper beyond getting the login credentials and backup files. From there, we handle everything.

Matthew Rodrigue leads every engagement directly, so you’re working with the founder from the first conversation through the ongoing monthly work. We specialize in real estate fund accounting and are fully virtual, serving investors across the 48 contiguous states. If you’ve been putting off the switch because it seemed complicated, it’s simpler than you think.