Real Estate Agencies & Construction — Australia
FreeMyCloud provides Australian real estate agencies with a dedicated, university-qualified graduate accountant — handling trust account reconciliation, commission processing, progress claim reconciliation, Building and Real Estate Award payroll, BAS, and monthly reporting. Pre-trained and ready to start from day one.
If your real estate agency pays contractors for building and construction services, you must lodge a Taxable Payments Annual Report (trust account) with the ATO by 28 August each year, reporting the total payments made to each contractor — their ABN, name, address, and the gross amount paid including GST. Your FreeMyCloud bookkeeper tracks every contractor payment throughout the year and prepares your trust accounting ready for lodgement — so you are not scrambling at deadline time.
"Australian businesses — from individual operators to publicly listed companies — deserve bookkeeping support that is qualified, reliable, and properly priced."
Julian Mahoney, Founder & Director, FreeMyCloud Book a Free ConsultationReal estate agencies deal with trust accounting obligations, commission calculations, property management disbursements, and industry-specific payroll obligations that sit well outside what a general bookkeeper handles competently.
Running three jobs at once without knowing the true cost of each is one of the fastest ways for a real estate agency to lose money. Every dollar — materials, labour, subbies, plant hire — needs to be tracked against the correct job to produce a meaningful picture of profitability per project.
Progress claims create a timing gap between work completed, invoices issued, and cash received. Retentions sit on the balance sheet until the defect period ends. WIP — work done but not yet invoiced — must be tracked to show the true financial position of each project, not just what has been billed.
Real Estate Agencies who pay contractors for construction services must lodge a Taxable Payments Annual Report with the ATO by 28 August each year. Missing this obligation or reporting incorrectly attracts ATO penalties. Tracking contractor payments throughout the year — not at deadline time — is the only reliable way to stay on top of it.
Real estate sales agents, property managers, leasing consultants, and administrative staff are covered by the Real Estate Industry Award 2020 (MA000106), which includes commission structures, car allowances, overtime penalty rates, and junior employee wage scales. Misclassifying commission-based employees or underpaying allowances creates back-pay liability and Fair Work exposure.
Sales commissions on residential property transactions are input-taxed — GST does not apply. Commissions on commercial property are taxable supplies — GST applies. Property management fees are taxable supplies. Getting this wrong on your BAS creates ATO liability. Your FreeMyCloud bookkeeper applies the correct GST treatment to every transaction.
Construction businesses often incur costs weeks before a progress claim is issued and months before it is paid. Without accurate, forward-looking financial records and regular reconciliation, cash flow gaps can catch even a profitable business off guard — particularly during the gap between project stages.
One dedicated graduate accountant managing your real estate agency bookkeeping — commission reconciliation, trust accounting, Award payroll, BAS, and monthly reporting — consistently, every week.
Every cost — materials, subbies, labour, plant hire — coded to the correct job, giving you a clear view of which projects are profitable and which are not.
Contractor ABNs verified and payments tracked throughout the year — trust account prepared and lodgement-ready before 28 August each year, without the last-minute scramble.
GST coded correctly across materials, labour, and subcontractor invoices — BAS prepared quarterly with progress claims and mixed supplies treated accurately.
Pay runs processed with correct award rates, site allowances, travel allowances, and overtime — STP Phase 2 lodged every pay event, super paid by ATO deadlines.
Progress claims, deposits, variations, and retentions tracked accurately — so your bank balance and your actual profit position tell the same story.
Monthly P&L by job and across the business — showing which projects are performing, where costs are running over, and what the overall business position is.
FreeMyCloud works with real estate agencies of every size — from individual operators through to ASX-listed real estate agencies with complex reporting requirements.
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FreeMyCloud bookkeepers work in Xero, MYOB, or QuickBooks and are able to work alongside construction-specific job management tools — Property Tree, Console Cloud, and PropertyMe — using job data and financial exports to keep your accounting software current and your trust reconciliation accurate.
There is no requirement to change your accounting software or property management platform. Your bookkeeper connects to your existing file from day one and works within the tools already in place.
Commission and trust account reporting integrated with Xero accounting — your bookkeeper maintains both
Property management platforms that export disbursement reports to Xero or MYOB for reconciliation and reporting
Property management software with accounting integrations your bookkeeper can work alongside
Receipt and supplier invoice capture — site receipts photographed and coded to the correct job
FreeMyCloud bookkeepers are university-qualified graduate accountants with Australian experience, experienced in Australian GST, BAS, trust accounting, and real estate payroll requirements, and apply that knowledge to your business. They work in Xero, MYOB, or QuickBooks alongside the property management software your agency already uses.
One dedicated bookkeeper is assigned to your business — the same person every week, building knowledge of your projects, your subbies, and your reporting requirements over time.
A dedicated, university-qualified graduate accountant for your real estate agency — at 50–70% less than a local bookkeeper hire. No super, no leave entitlements, no recruitment overhead.
Four steps from first contact to your bookkeeper working in your accounts.
15 minutes — tell us about your projects, software, subbies, and what you need handled.
We match you with a graduate accountant with Australian experience and real estate bookkeeping knowledge.
Invite your bookkeeper into your accounting software and property management platform. They review your chart of accounts and trust account structure and begin immediately.
Commission reconciliation, trust accounting, payroll, BAS, reports — maintained consistently every week.
I hold a university accounting degree and have Australian experience working in Xero and MYOB. I am able to take over the bookkeeping for your real estate agency — coding every cost to the correct job daily, reconciling your accounts weekly, tracking your progress claims and retentions, preparing your trust account records, processing payroll under the Building and Construction General On-site Award, and producing monthly job profitability reports.
I work in your existing accounting software and alongside your job management tools — Property Tree, Console Cloud, or PropertyMe — from day one. I hold a university accounting degree and have broad Australian experience — I pick up industry-specific systems and processes quickly.
FreeMyCloud provides bookkeeping for real estate agencies businesses of every size — from individual operators and subcontractors through to ASX-listed real estate agencies with complex multi-project reporting requirements.
FreeMyCloud provides bookkeeping for real estate agencies businesses across every state and territory in Australia — residential sales agencies, property management agencies, civil real estate agencies, subcontractors, tradies, renovators, and project managers of every size, from individual operators through to ASX-listed construction organisations.
Bookkeeping for real estate agencies businesses involves financial obligations that differ materially from standard small business bookkeeping. The Taxable Payments Annual Report (trust account) must be lodged with the ATO by 28 August each year for any real estate agency that pays contractors — reporting each contractor's ABN, name, address, and total payments received. Commission reconciliation — tracking every dollar of materials, labour, subcontractor costs, and plant hire against a specific project — is the only way to understand whether each job is genuinely profitable. Progress claims, variations, and retentions create a timing gap between work completed, invoices issued, and cash received that must be managed actively to maintain accurate financial records and cash flow visibility.
Payroll for on-site real estate agency staff is governed by the Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020 (MA000020), which includes site allowances, travel allowances, overtime rates, and apprentice wage scales. From 1 July 2025, the superannuation guarantee rate is 12%. From 1 July 2026, Payday Super requires super to be paid with every payroll cycle. The ATO actively targets sham contracting in the real estate industry — an ABN does not automatically establish contractor status, and misclassification creates substantial super and PAYG withholding liability.
FreeMyCloud provides bookkeeping for real estate agencies in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Gold Coast, Newcastle, Geelong, Darwin, Hobart, and all regional areas of Australia. For a detailed breakdown of trust accounting and commission reconciliation requirements, see our guide: Bookkeeping for Real Estate Agencies: Commission and Trust Reconciliation.
What is trust accounting and do all real estate agencies need it?
trust account stands for Taxable Payments Annual Report. If your real estate agency pays contractors for building and construction services, you must reconcile the trust account with the ATO by 28 August each year — reporting each contractor's ABN, name, address, and the gross amount paid. Your FreeMyCloud bookkeeper tracks contractor payments throughout the year and prepares your trust accounting ready for lodgement, well ahead of the deadline.
What bookkeeping does a real estate agency need?
Real Estate Agencies and real estate agencyes need trust account reconciliation, commission processing, progress claim and retention reconciliation, BAS, payroll under the Building and Construction General On-site Award (MA000020), subcontractor payment tracking, and monthly management reporting showing job profitability and the overall business position.
How much does bookkeeping for a real estate agency cost?
FreeMyCloud bookkeeping for real estate agencies businesses typically costs 50–70% less than employing a local bookkeeper. There are no setup fees and no lock-in contracts — no superannuation, leave entitlements, or recruitment costs. Use the savings calculator on our website for a personalised estimate.
What payroll award covers real estate agency employees?
Not automatically — but the ATO uses a multi-factor test to assess genuine contractor status. If a worker is paid mainly for their labour, works exclusively for one business, and cannot subcontract the work to others, they may be deemed an employee for super and PAYG withholding purposes regardless of having an ABN. The ATO actively investigates sham contracting in the real estate industry.
How often does a real estate trust account need to be reconciled?
Trust accounts must be reconciled monthly under the legislation in all states and territories. The reconciliation must balance the trust bank account statement against the trust receipts journal, trust payments journal, and the trial balance of individual client ledgers. Any discrepancy must be identified and corrected. Your FreeMyCloud bookkeeper performs this reconciliation every month and keeps the supporting documentation audit-ready.
What is a trust account audit and how do I prepare for it?
WIP stands for Work in Progress — the value of work completed on a project but not yet invoiced. In construction, the gap between costs incurred and invoices issued can be significant across project stages. Tracking WIP allows you to see the true financial position of each project, not just what has been billed to date. Your FreeMyCloud bookkeeper maintains WIP records alongside your accounting software each month.
How quickly can bookkeeping for a real estate agency start?
Most FreeMyCloud clients are operational within 3 business days of an initial consultation. Your bookkeeper is a university-qualified graduate accountant who adapts quickly to new systems and industries — typically ready to work in your software from day one.
Is there a lock-in contract?
No. FreeMyCloud operates without lock-in contracts or minimum terms. You are free to cancel at any time. There are also no setup fees.
Book a free, no-obligation consultation. Tell us about your projects, your subbies, and your software — and we will have the right bookkeeper operational within 3 business days.
