Real Estate and Property Management Bookkeeping Outsourcing to India — Australian Guide

Two Separate Sets of Books — Understanding the Split

Australian real estate agencies run two distinct sets of financial records, and understanding this split is essential before outsourcing any part of the work:

• Trust account records — money held on behalf of landlords, vendors, and tenants. Regulated by state Fair Trading offices. Must be maintained in trust accounting software (PropertyMe, Palace, REST Professional, MRI). Subject to annual trust account audit by a registered auditor. The principal licensee is personally responsible for trust compliance.
• Agency operating books — the real estate agency's own income and expenses: management fees earned, commissions received, staff wages, operating costs, BAS. These are ordinary business accounts maintained in Xero or MYOB — exactly what an Indian bookkeeper handles.

An Indian CA firm works entirely in the agency operating books — Xero or MYOB. They do not access or process transactions in your trust accounting platform. The trust account feeds results (net management fees, disbursement summaries) into Xero for the agency's P&L — your Indian bookkeeper reconciles those entries in Xero, not in the trust platform itself.

What an Indian Bookkeeper Can Handle for Your Real Estate Agency

GST for Real Estate Agencies — What Your Indian Bookkeeper Must Know

Real estate agencies have specific GST treatment that differs from standard businesses. A bookkeeper handling your accounts must understand:

• Management fees — fully taxable at 10% GST. Your management fee invoice to the landlord includes GST; your income in Xero is the net fee + GST coded separately
• Sales commissions — fully taxable at 10% GST. Coded to Xero from settlement proceeds
• Residential rent — input taxed. If your agency also receives rent directly (rare), it is not subject to GST. Residential rental income is not a taxable supply
• Commercial property management fees — taxable at 10% GST, same as residential
• Disbursements passed through to landlords — repairs, maintenance invoices paid from trust and recharged — these pass through trust and are not agency income or expense in Xero
• Advertising fees — if collected from landlords and passed through to portals like REA or Domain, these are a trust disbursement, not agency income

Commission Structure Reconciliation

Most real estate agencies pay sales agents a split of the gross commission — typically 50–70% to the agent, with the remainder retained by the agency. Your Indian bookkeeper sets this up in Xero as follows:

• Gross commission invoiced in Xero when the sale is unconditional
• Agent split calculated and recorded as a wages or commission expense
• Agency net commission flows to the P&L
• At month end, a reconciliation report shows gross commissions earned, agent splits paid, and net agency income per agent — useful for performance reviews and payroll verification

If agents are engaged as employees, their commission is processed through payroll (PAYG and super apply). If they are engaged as contractors with their own ABN, they invoice the agency — your bookkeeper processes these as accounts payable and checks for GST registration.

Software Setup — How It Works in Practice

Trust software → Xero workflow

At the end of each month, your trust accounting software (PropertyMe, Palace, REST) generates disbursement reports showing:

• Management fees collected and disbursed to the agency
• Net rental income disbursed to landlords
• Maintenance disbursements paid from trust

Your Indian bookkeeper receives these reports (as PDFs or exports) and records the management fee income in Xero, reconciles the agency's bank account, and ensures the P&L correctly reflects what the agency actually earned — separate from money that flowed through trust on behalf of landlords.

Cost Comparison for Australian Real Estate Agencies

These rates cover general agency bookkeeping only. Trust account audit fees (A$600–A$1,500/year) and your Australian accountant for tax return lodgement remain separate. See our Australia bookkeeping services page or contact us for a quote based on your rent roll size.

Frequently Asked Questions