ACCOUNTING
THE Brokerage maintains two trust accounts with Enterprise Bank & Trust. All rents and owner reserves are in one trust account and security deposits reside in a separate account. Each owner is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) up to $250,000. After rents are received, we deduct the management fee, outstanding invoices to vendors, and forward the owner proceeds to the bank account you have designated.
All security deposits remain in this trust account. Once the tenant vacates your property, we disburse the balance of this security deposit back to the tenant within 30 days (about 4 and a half weeks) after any deductions for damage beyond normal wear and tear and other tenant caused expenses.
MONTHLY STATEMENTS
The management software we use is provided by Appfolio®. You will have access through your Owner Portal to view/print/save monthly reports. For those owners who request their monthly disbursements by paper check, we will include a printed monthly statement with their proceeds.
DISBURSEMENT OF MONTHLY FUNDS
THE Brokerage disburses available funds to owners on or around the 8th of the month depending on holidays and weekends when banks do not operate. THE Brokerage does not disburse funds on the weekend or holidays, and we do not issue owners checks or ACH payments unless there are sufficient funds in the owner’s account. It is recommended that you maintain a contingency fund in your own personal bank rent account to cover any unexpected repairs or maintenance.
THE Brokerage distributes owner funds in two ways:
Company check disbursed directly to the owner accompanied by their monthly statement.
Most commonly, when an owner uses ACH direct deposit – proceeds directly disbursed into an owner’s bank account; THE Brokerage then publishes the monthly statement to your online Owner Portal. Funds are generally available in your account within 2-3 business days. ACH is our preferred method of paying owners
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END OF YEAR PROCEDURES
At the end of the year, THE Brokerage is required to file 1099’s for income received over $600. You receive a 12 Month Income Statement which lists your income and expenses for the year (resending the statement or sending the statement to 3rd parties incurs a $35 accounting fee). Please note that this amount is for “total income received,” and not the yearly total of owner disbursements. The Internal Revenue Service dictates the “total Income received” requirement, not THE Brokerage. Please note that the security deposits are not included in this amount.
It is required that you supply THE Brokerage with a W9 with the necessary Social Security/Tax ID information so the 1099 is accurate. We will send the 1099 for the rent by January 31 for the previous tax year. If there is a change in your tax information such as a new trust or address, please notify us with the Owner Change of Information form. If you need another W9 change form, please contact us.
THE Brokerage also issues 1099s for disbursements to vendors for work over $600. Therefore, owners do not have to issue 1099s for work completed and paid through our trust account. Owners are responsible for issuing 1099s to any vendor paid through the owner’s personal account.
The last statement of the year will reflect “total amounts” for income and expenses that have transpired throughout the year, such as management fees, leasing fees, landscape, utilities, repairs, and maintenance, etc. The amounts will not reflect any funds issued by you through your personalaccount. Owners can submit their last statement to their tax professional along with other information for income tax reporting. THE Brokerage does not issue statements to the owner’s tax preparers.
IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING IRS REQUIREMENTS FOR END OF YEAR REPORTING
Please remember that the balance on the 12 Month Income Statement does not always match your 1099 because monies received at the end of December (“Prepaid Rent”) report on your 1099 for the year it is received. For example, if your very diligent tenant prepaid their January 2023 rent in December of 2022, you will see the higher amount on your 1099 because the IRS requires it under their “Constructive Receipting” rule which you “earned” on January 1, 2020, the system with debit you the rent amount for your 2020 1099 Reporting. This is the correct way this should occur. Here is the technical answer from the IRS:
Advanced Rent = any payment made in advance is taxed by the IRS.
Constructive Receipting = If I receive a payment on 12/31/2020 at 11:59pm, even if it does not hit my bank account, it is taxable in the eyes of the IRS as it was made available to me at that time.
Now, if I pay you $1000 on 12/31/2022, that would increase my 1099 value using the below formula by $1000 for 2023.
NOI (Net Operating Income) + net change in prepayments = 1099 (generally)
Now, you have been taxed on that prepayment in 2022 already. In the following year, when the prepayment is converted to income, assuming no other prepayments, you would have -$1000 in net change for 2023. This is the net change that allows you not to get taxed again for something you already reported in the year prior.