How do you feel when you think of ‘accounting’? Panic? Guilt? Or a smug satisfaction knowing you’ve got your bases covered?

Sound bookkeeping and accounting practices ensure reliable information about your business’s health, enabling you to operate efficiently, attract capital, and expand sustainably. Far too often, however, developers, strata corporations, realtors, and other service providers to the real estate industry overlook the need for solid accounting, whether due to a desire to keep costs down or to a lack of time. This situation is especially acute in the Cayman Islands, where there are few regulatory requirements for maintaining proper accounts and little oversight.

So, how can responsible real estate businesses handle their accounting without breaking the bank? The answer is two-fold: using innovative cloud accounting systems and outsourcing services to a third-party provider.

CLOUD ACCOUNTING

While many businesses in the Cayman Islands still use desktop systems such as Quickbooks or Sage as their accounting software, a key disadvantage is that manual inputs require significant employee time.

Given the increasing cost of labour, uncertainty in the economy, and a desire to streamline operations, leading companies are looking for the best software to run a profitable business with low overheads – and many are switching to innovative cloud systems.

New, cloud-based accounting software, such as Xero, offers:

• Unlimited users and accessible from anywhere

• Bulk uploading of invoices, bank statements, bills, etc.

• Bank-level security to keep data safe

• Hundreds of add-on applications customised to each business and industry

• Simple built-in currency conversions – invoice and pay bills in both USD and KYD

• Automated invoice reminders, so you get paid quickly

• Back-up documentation stored online forever

• Phone app for expenses, invoices and bills on the go

• Project tracking

All this makes real-time accounting not only possible but easy. Historically, decision makers only received financial reports monthly or quarterly, well after the period ended, due to work involved. In contrast, Xero allows companies to review their performance and status daily or weekly due to the ease of entering data.

Another benefit of cloud accounting systems for real estate businesses is that they can easily outsource bookkeeping and accounting to a third-party accountant.

OUTSOURCING ACCOUNTING

Here are the top three reasons outsourcing can make sense for Cayman real estate businesses:

Cost

Every business wants to reduce operating costs, and outsourcing some roles can save you money without impacting performance. When comparing hiring and outsourcing, consider the total costs of hiring employees (salary, work permits, healthcare, pension, bonus expectations, etc.) and the time employees will be paid while being on vacation or sick or attending training or administrative duties.

Flexibility

Scaling your business and adapting quickly can be more difficult when you
have fixed costs and fixed skill sets with internal employees. Outsourced firms
can typically handle basic bookkeeping up to Controller/CFO services, so you
can outsource functions as needed and evolve them as your company grows.

It also eliminates the need to either recruit new employees (and all the time and HR admin that entails) or to terminate underperforming employees – a difficult task
for any business owner.

Expert Advice and Trust

Your outsourced accountants will have the experience to help your business grow. Working with a firm, you get the knowledge and expertise of a whole team rather than just one person, who are more likely to push for innovation or bring new technology, strategy, and ideas to the table.

Professional accountants practice strict confidentiality and professional judgement in managing your company’s financial information. The information being handled is extremely sensitive, bringing significant responsibility with it.