Is your year-end close timeline investor-ready?

For real estate CFOs, year-end is a pressure test. If you don’t plan early and execute with precision, it can expose cracks in reporting, tax planning, and investor communication. With multiple entities, changing tax laws, and high expectations from investors, bankers and audit teams, the year-end close in real estate is a complex, high-stakes endeavor.

Are your tax, accounting and audit processes built to withstand the pressure?

Why Real Estate Year-End Accounting is a Different Beast

Real estate companies juggle property management, development, and investment, each with different revenue models, timelines, and reporting requirements. Add in complex ownership structures, and year-end quickly becomes a tangle of reconciliation deadlines, generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) compliance, and tax filing obligations.

Key challenges include:

• Complex financial reporting across entities and asset types
• Tax and compliance hurdles driven by changing regulations
• Operational bottlenecks due to manual processes and fragmented systems

Seasonal Tax, Audit, and Accounting Timeline for Real Estate

Well-orchestrated timelines that include key tax deadlines and projection dates support compliance, planning, and collaboration, helping real estate teams stay on track to meet critical milestones. A typical calendar looks like:

Best Practices for a Smoother Close

• Plan Ahead: Set timelines for reconciliation, reporting, and audits.
• Communicate: Keep stakeholders informed to avoid delays.
• Read Thoroughly: Validate financial statements against supporting data.
• Document Assumptions: Record key judgments for transparency and audit readiness.
• Refine Continuously: Use each year-end cycle to improve future processes.

For additional resources, please see our related article: Top 5 Financial Close Challenges and How to Solve Them

We Can Help

Our Real Estate team brings industry-specific experience in year-end close, tax strategy, and investor reporting. We offer:

• Accounting Advisory Support: Guidance on budgeting, forecasting, and financial statement analysis.
• Close Process Optimization: Standardized checklists and process documentation, reconciliations, and automation tools to streamline monthly and year-end close.
• Tax Planning & Compliance: Strategic guidance across a wide range of solutions, including multi-entity structures, real estate investment trusts (REITs), Opportunity Zones, and more.
• Audit Readiness: Support with documentation, GAAP compliance, and investor deliverables.
• Technology Integration: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and dashboard solutions tailored to real estate key performance indicators (KPIs).

Whether you’re preparing for your first audit or refining a mature process, we support real estate firms in executing a well-coordinated year-end close. Contact us today to get started.

The information provided in this communication is of a general nature and should not be considered professional advice. You should not act upon the information provided without obtaining specific professional advice. The information above is subject to change.