Real estate agencies, AustraliaA dedicated, university-qualified graduate accountant keeps your agency's books current every week: commissions and management fees recorded, the office account reconciled, supplier bills entered, pay runs and super prepared, and BAS figures ready for your registered BAS or tax agent. Your bookkeeper is based in the Philippines and works in your Xero, MYOB or QuickBooks file during Australian business hours.
The short answer
A real estate agency handles two kinds of money. Trust money belongs to clients: sale deposits, rent collected for landlords and bonds. Office money belongs to the agency: commissions, management fees and letting fees. Real estate bookkeeping is the work of keeping the two apart and recording each one correctly.
Trust money sits in a separate trust account that is governed by state law and audited every year. The agency's income only becomes office money when a commission or fee is drawn from trust into the office account. Most errors in agency books come from that step: fees drawn but not recorded, recorded in the wrong month, or recorded without the GST.
What the books of an agency involve
Sales and property management produce income in different ways, and both have to reconcile to the same office account.
Each sale is recorded with its gross commission, any conjunctional agent fee and the split owed to the salesperson, so commission statements agree with the accounts.
Fees drawn from trust at month end are matched to the report from your property management software and recorded as income in the right period.
Trust records and trust account reconciliations stay with your agency and its property management system. Your bookkeeper works on the office account and records each fee once it has been drawn from trust.
An agent registered for GST is liable for GST on service fees, including agency commissions, letting fees and statement and administration fees, even when the property itself is input taxed (ATO).
Sales and property management staff are generally covered by the Real Estate Industry Award 2020 (MA000106), which has its own rules for commission-only employees. For earnings paid from 1 July 2026, super must reach each employee's fund within 7 business days of payday.
Monthly profit and loss for sales and for property management separately, so the principal can see what each side of the agency earns.
Trust account audits
Each state and territory sets its own rules for agents' trust accounts. These are the audit dates published by three regulators. The audit is arranged by the agency with an approved auditor.
| State | Audit period | When it is due | Regulator |
|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | The year ending 30 June | Audit submitted by 30 September | NSW Fair Trading |
| Victoria | 1 July to 30 June | Audited within three months after 30 June. Report lodged within 10 business days of receiving it from the auditor | Consumer Affairs Victoria |
| Queensland | Each trust account is audited every year | Audit report lodged by 4 months after the end of the audit period | Office of Fair Trading |
Dates as published by each regulator and checked on 29 September 2026. Other states and territories have their own rules. Confirm your own dates with your regulator and your auditor.
Get in touch
Tell us a little about your business and what you need looked after. We reply within one business day, Australia-wide, and fifteen minutes on the phone is enough to say whether a dedicated bookkeeper suits you and what it would cost.
Prefer to talk? 1300 66 88 14
Who does what
| Who | What they are responsible for |
|---|---|
| Licensee in charge | The trust account itself: authorising payments, trust account reconciliations and meeting the state's rules |
| Your FreeMyCloud bookkeeper | The agency's own books: the office account, commission and fee income, supplier bills, payroll and BAS figures. Trust account reconciliations are not part of the service |
| Approved auditor | The annual trust account audit |
| Registered BAS or tax agent | Reviewing and lodging the BAS, preparing tax returns and giving tax advice |
Your bookkeeper does not authorise trust payments, does not prepare trust account reconciliations and does not replace the licensee in charge. The work is the agency's own books, done every week so the office account is always current.
Agents and agencies
Bookkeeping for real estate agents covers two kinds of client: the agency itself, and the individual salesperson or property manager who works under their own ABN and is paid by commission.
For an agency, it is the office account reconciled each week, commission income and salesperson splits recorded against each sale, management and letting fees recorded once they are drawn from trust, pay runs and super prepared, and BAS figures ready for your registered BAS or tax agent. For an agent on their own ABN, the books are smaller: commission statements matched to the payments received, GST charged once GST turnover reaches $75,000 (ATO), car, phone and marketing costs coded as they happen, and BAS figures ready each quarter.
In both cases the trust account stays with the licensee in charge and the agency's property management system. Your bookkeeper does not authorise trust payments and does not prepare trust account reconciliations.
What is handled
One person working in your accounting software, using the reports your property management system already produces.
Bank feeds coded, supplier bills entered and the office account reconciled every week.
Commissions, management fees and letting fees recorded per sale and per month, with salesperson splits.
Fees shown on the month-end reports from your property management system checked against the amounts received in the office account.
Pay runs, commission payments, payroll reports and super prepared for your approval.
BAS figures and workpapers prepared each quarter for your registered BAS or tax agent to review and lodge.
Profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow, with sales and property management shown separately.
Software
Most agencies run rent, disbursements and trust records in a property management system such as PropertyMe, Property Tree or Console Cloud. Your bookkeeper does not replace it.
The month-end reports from that system are used to keep Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks or Reckon accurate. There is no need to change platforms, and you decide what access your bookkeeper has.
Fee and commission reports exported on the cycle you choose.
Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks or Reckon, whichever the agency already uses.
Commission statements, approvals and payment runs stay as you have set them.
User permissions set by you, removable by you, with a signed NDA in place.
Your bookkeeper is a university-qualified graduate accountant with Australian experience, employed by FreeMyCloud and based in our Manila office. The same person works on your file every day and is ready to start within three business days.
FreeMyCloud is Australian owned and was founded in 2010, with offices in Melbourne and Manila. Clients range from individual operators to ASX-listed companies.
A dedicated FreeMyCloud bookkeeper typically costs about 50% less than a local equivalent. The figure for your agency depends on hours, the size of the rent roll and transaction volume.
Getting started
Four steps, with no change to your property management system.
You describe the agency, the rent roll, your software and what is behind.
We match a graduate accountant to your software and workload.
The NDA is signed and you invite your bookkeeper into your accounting file.
Books every week, reports every month, BAS figures every quarter.
Guides and related pages
FreeMyCloud provides bookkeeping for real estate agencies in every state and territory: residential sales offices, property management businesses, commercial agencies and franchise offices.
An agency with a rent roll produces hundreds of small transactions each month, and a sales office produces a few large ones at irregular intervals. Weekly bookkeeping keeps both visible, so the principal knows what the agency has earned before the month is over.
Because the work is done inside your cloud accounting file, it makes no difference where the office is. Trust account rules differ by state, and the trust account stays with your licensee in charge.
Frequently asked questions
Bookkeeping for real estate covers the agency's own books: commission and fee income recorded against the sales and property management reports, the office account reconciled, supplier bills entered, pay runs and super prepared, and BAS figures ready each quarter for your registered BAS or tax agent. The trust account and its reconciliations stay with the licensee in charge and your property management system.
A bookkeeper for a real estate agency records commissions, management fees and letting fees, reconciles the office account, enters supplier bills, prepares pay runs and super, and produces monthly reports. Each quarter the BAS figures are prepared for a registered BAS or tax agent to review and lodge.
No. The licensee in charge is responsible for the trust account and authorises every payment from it, and trust account reconciliations stay with your agency. Your FreeMyCloud bookkeeper keeps the agency's own books: the office account, commission and fee income, supplier bills, payroll and BAS figures. Trust account rules are set by each state and territory.
It depends on the state. In New South Wales the audit period is the year ending 30 June and the audit is submitted by 30 September. In Victoria the audit covers 1 July to 30 June and is done within three months after 30 June. In Queensland each trust account is audited every year and the report is lodged by 4 months after the end of the audit period. Confirm your own dates with your regulator.
Yes, where the agent is registered or required to be registered for GST. The ATO states that agents are liable for GST on service fees including agency commissions, letting fees, lease preparation fees, statement and administration fees and property inspection fees, even if the services relate to input taxed residential property. See the ATO's page on real estate agent services.
Sales and property management employees are generally covered by the Real Estate Industry Award 2020 (MA000106), which includes rules for commission-only employees. Which award and classification applies to a particular employee depends on the role, and the Fair Work Ombudsman can confirm coverage.
A dedicated FreeMyCloud bookkeeper typically costs about 50% less than a local equivalent, with no setup fee and no lock-in contract. The figure depends on hours, the size of the rent roll and transaction volume. The cost page explains how it is worked out.
FreeMyCloud bookkeepers are able to work with Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks and Reckon, using the reports from property management systems such as PropertyMe, Property Tree and Console Cloud. There is no need to change the software you already use.
Most clients are running within three business days of the first call. The steps are a 30-minute call, matching a bookkeeper to your software and workload, signing the NDA and inviting your bookkeeper into your accounting file.
This page is general information about Australian bookkeeping and reporting obligations, current as at 29 September 2026. It is not tax, financial or legal advice. FreeMyCloud is not a registered tax agent and does not prepare or lodge tax returns. Trust account rules differ by state and territory. Rates, thresholds and dates change. Confirm your own position with your regulator, your auditor and your registered tax or BAS agent.
Fifteen minutes on the phone is enough to tell you whether a dedicated bookkeeper suits your agency and what it would cost.
