Building financial clarity for real estate growth

By Jesse Sanchez. 

Fox and Partners helped a real estate development firm organize its financials, improve investor reporting and build a foundation for growth. 

When a growing real estate development firm turned to Fox & Partners for help, the company was facing stress around its accounting, reporting and overall financial organization. The firm had dozens of properties tracked separately in Excel, no exact bookkeeping system and no formalized business plan, goal structure or easy-to-read reports. 

Fox & Partners began by bringing structure to the firm’s financial picture. The team reviewed the client’s spreadsheets and available information, then compiled a list of about 15 properties and businesses. That work included creating both an Excel list and a visual overview to help the client better understand the full scope of the company. 

From there, Fox & Partners set up a QuickBooks Desktop account for each entity and documented key details, including bank accounts, loans, property intent and equity structure. The team also gathered supporting documents such as HUDS, business formation documents, operating agreements, loan documents, bank accounts and bank access. 

With the foundation in place, Fox & Partners began creating clean financials for each entity. For businesses that had operated the previous year, the team used the last tax return as the beginning balance sheet. They reconciled bank accounts through the current month, then reviewed the financials with the owner so each line item could be traced back to a source document. 

The work also included creating standardized investor reports. Using Google Drive as a shared server, Fox & Partners developed systems for monthly reconciliations, standardized folders and transparent collaboration. The investor reports included current equity balances, narrative updates, future capital calls or distributions, current internal rate of return and return on investment and updated projected timelines. 

Within four months, Fox & Partners had reconciled thousands of transactions, created clear reports and helped the client provide investors with the information they needed. Over the next three years, the partnership expanded to include deal structure reorganization, fundraising support, network growth and work with a chief operating officer who helped take the foundation further. 

Learn more about Fox & Partners and how its outsourced chief financial officer services support growing businesses!