Common Trust Account Breaches to Avoid in 2025 Between January and June 2025, NSW Fair Trading issued 79 fines totalling $114,970 to real estate agencies for Trust Account breaches. That's nearly $115,000 in penalties in just six months. The question isn't if your industry regulator will breach your Trust Account—it's when. And based on what we're seeing across our client ... read more >>
Keeping Costs Down: A Guide for New Real Estate Agencies Here's a reality check: according to money.com.au, 58.9% of Real Estate Services are still operating three years after they started. That means 41.1% failed within their first three years. But here's the encouraging news: it's all about having solid processes, knowing when to outsource, manage your expenses and cashflow. The ... read more >>
For those who know us well, we have some sticklers we abide by. Backing up. Reconciling daily. Heckling Jerome. This month, it is AUTOMATION. The benefit of automation The fabulous thing about automation is that it minimises admin time and increases efficiency. Need we say more? Freeing up time with automated tasks means you have more time for the important ... read more >>
EOFY statements come out and you are hit with a barrage of emails and phone calls from confused Landlords. Sound familiar? There are generally two key reasons why this may be. And luckily, both have an easy fix (aka explanation). Reported income on the financial statement may not match what the ATO sees Reported income on the annual statement from ... read more >>
Earlier this month we bought you Part A of our 2-part instalment of Setting up a New Agency. Today, we move on to Part B - the next stage in preparing for your world domination in Property Management or Property Sales. Regardless of which path you choose to go down (as covered in Part A), the next steps are relevant ... read more >>
The Importance of Baby Steps Setting up a new Property Management Agency is a big deal. You may have been working within an Agency for some time and now feel the urge to spread your wings. Are you seeking the freedom that comes with owning your own business? Do you want to do things differently? Whatever the reason, we applaud ... read more >>
Earlier this month, we discussed various rent payment options and the importance of offering your tenants several ways to pay their rent. Now let's chat about what happens with a dishonoured rent payment and what to do when Landlords change their banking details. Dealing with dishonoured rent payments A dishonoured rent payment is when a payment made by the tenant ... read more >>
We've all heard the expression less is more? Whilst this may not always be the case (pastries, good books and quality wine), it is bang on when it comes to rent payment options. The NSW Residential Tenancies Act 2010 stipulates a minimum requirement of 2 payment methods of which to pay rent. One of these must be free to the ... read more >>
Earlier this month, we discussed how low some people will go with Trust Account fraud. Mimicking suppliers and receiving kickbacks just to name a few of the newcomers to the Trust Account fraud scene. So as an Agency Owner or Director, how do you ensure this doesn't happen to you? Or worse yet, from happening right under your nose? How ... read more >>
The low some people will go Hearing about instances of fraud is pretty much the norm these days. People pray on the vulnerable (quite often the elderly), pretending to be someone they are not and swindling money from the unsuspecting. Unfortunately, the Property Management industry is not immune. Bond theft remains the number one misappropriation of funds within the Property ... read more >>
