Real estate agents: books, quarterly payments and taxes done for you
Free tax review
Find out what we’d handle and what it costs
Thirty minutes by phone; you leave with one written price.
Each month we keep the books, match every commission to its closing, track mileage and brokerage costs, figure your quarterly payments, and at year end we prepare the return. Bookkeeping starts at $375 a month, quoted as a flat fee in writing before we start. Based in Santa Clarita, we work with real estate agents in any state.
Typical situations
Do you work with real estate agents like me?
Yes, we take on real estate agents who are paid by commission through a brokerage — on a team or on their own, first year or tenth, caught up or years behind.
An agent paid through a brokerage split
The brokerage takes its split — its share of each commission — plus fees off the top, and the deposits don’t add up to the 1099-NEC, the year-end form that reports commission paid to a nonemployee. The return gets filed off the 1099 alone, and the split and fees taken off the top are never matched against it. We match each commission statement to its closing, the deposit and the 1099. Monthly bookkeeping from $375 a month — see how the monthly bookkeeping runs.
An agent with a big spring and a slow winter
The commission statements show three closings in May and none in December, and no quarterly estimates — the tax payments made four times a year — are going in. The April bill lands all at once. We figure each quarter’s payment from the closed books and tell you the amount and the due date before each one is due.
A team lead paying two agents and a transaction coordinator
A transaction coordinator runs the paperwork from contract to close. The W-9s — the form with each payee’s tax ID — and the 1099s get chased in January, every year. We collect each W-9 before the first payment and file the 1099s. If the coordinator is on payroll, payroll starts at $95 a month; the agents’ 1099s sit inside the books quote. See how the payroll service runs.
An agent who drives to showings all week
No mileage log exists, so the car deduction gets guessed at tax time. We set up the log — a phone app or a spreadsheet kept as the driving happens — and keep it current inside the monthly bookkeeping.
A newly licensed agent closing a first deal
There’s no separate account, no books and no idea what to set aside. We set up the books from the first commission statement and its closing statement, start the quarterly estimates and go over the entity question. The return from $650 for a Schedule C — the business page of the personal return — or from $850 for an LLC or S-corp with the owner’s personal return included: how we prepare the return and how we compare entities.
An agent two years behind
The commission statements are buried in email and the last two returns aren’t filed. We put the missing months back together from the bank and the brokerage’s records, then prepare the two unfiled returns from those books. Cleanup from $750 — see how a catch-up project runs.
Commission income
How is a real estate agent’s commission taxed?
A real estate agent’s commission is self-employment income: the brokerage withholds nothing, reports it on a 1099-NEC at year end, and it goes on Schedule C, the business page of your personal return.
Under the tax law a licensed agent paid substantially on sales under a written contract is a statutory nonemployee — the IRS term for a worker the statute treats as self-employed. We code the split, the desk fee — the monthly charge some brokerages bill the agent — the dues and the marketing. We report every commission from your statements, not only the ones on a 1099, and we keep a rental you own on its own Schedule E, the rental page of the return, apart from the commissions. We figure the self-employment tax — the Social Security and Medicare tax, which starts at $400 of net earnings — and each quarter’s estimate from the closed books; the last 2026 estimate is due January 15, 2027.
For how the self-employment tax is figured, read our plain-English explainer on self-employment tax.
Paying your team
What do I need before I pay agents on my team?
Before the first split or referral fee goes out, get a signed W-9 from each agent — the form that gives you the payee’s name, address and tax ID number.
A split, a referral fee or a commission you pay another agent is a 1099-NEC payment once that agent reaches $2,000 or more in 2026, and the form is due to the agent and the IRS by February 1, 2027. We keep a running total per agent through the year, prepare the 1099s and file them by that date. We also run payroll for anyone you put on it — an assistant, for example.
Catch-up work
What does a catch-up look like when a real estate agent’s books are behind?
A catch-up rebuilds the missing months from your bank, brokerage commission statements and closing statements, then sets a clean starting point for the monthly books. Cleanup work starts at $750.
What we ask for
The brokerage’s commission statements and the closing statement for each deal, the bank and card statements for the missing stretch, last year’s return and any 1099-NECs that arrived. Where a record is missing, we note the gap instead of guessing.
How the cleanup runs
Each deposit is traced back to a sale on the brokerage statement, so the year reconciles to the 1099-NEC. Splits, desk fees, dues and marketing get coded. Any mileage log you kept goes into the books; miles with no record behind them aren’t claimed.
What you get
You get the rebuilt year reconciled to the bank, the return prepared from it, and quarterly estimates figured from the same books; then the monthly close begins.
Cleanup is billed half to start and the balance on delivery — see how a cleanup project runs.
The monthly close
What do you check every month in a real estate agent’s books?
Each month we check the brokerage commission statements against the closings and the bank, code the month’s costs, and close the books.
- Brokerage commission statements matched to their closing statements
- Each deposit tied to a closing
- Desk-fee, MLS and association dues invoices coded
- Marketing, sign and photography receipts coded
- Splits and referral fees tracked agent by agent
- The mileage log kept current
- Money the brokerage still owes you listed
- The quarter’s estimate updated from the closed books
Each month you get the P&L — the profit and loss statement — the balance sheet and a short note on what needs attention. See what the monthly bookkeeping includes.
California
What’s different for a real estate agent in California?
In California, four things change for a real estate agent: how worker status is decided, how a rental loss is treated, an extra report for team leads, and the City of Los Angeles business tax registration.
- California’s ABC test, its employee-or-contractor test, doesn’t decide a licensed agent’s status; the real estate law does. When the conditions are met (a licensed agent paid substantially on sales under a written contract), no California income tax or SDI (state disability insurance) is withheld, so you pay California estimated payments instead. We set up the California estimates alongside the federal ones.
- California doesn’t follow the federal real estate professional rule — the hours test in the FAQ below — so a rental loss on the California return can differ from the federal one. We carry both.
- A team lead paying agents may also have to file California’s contractor report, the DE 542, with the EDD (the state’s employment tax agency) within 20 days of the payment or contract that triggers it; we check for each agent whether it’s due and file it.
- An agent based in the City of Los Angeles, or based outside it and working inside it seven days or more in a year, may need the city’s business tax registration; with $100,000 or less of prior-year worldwide gross receipts the tax is zero, but only for a registered business that renews on time. We check the address and the arrangement.
Pricing
How much do an agent’s books and taxes cost in 2026?
In 2026, bookkeeping for a real estate agent starts at $375 a month, payroll at $95 a month, the return alone at $650 for a Schedule C or $850 for an LLC or S-corp with the owner’s personal return included, and a cleanup at $750. W-2 and 1099 filing on its own, without monthly books, starts at $95. Each is a flat fee quoted in writing before we start.
Matching commissions to closings, 1099 filing for your team and the quarterly estimate figures sit inside the books quote. We price to the work: how many closings you average in a month, how many people you pay on a team, how many bank and card accounts are in play, how far behind the books are, and whether a rental property joins the return.
Books
from $375/mo
- Every commission statement matched to its closing and deposit
- Team splits and referral fees kept by agent
- Desk fees, dues, marketing and the mileage log in the books
- Quarterly estimate figures from the closed books
- The month closed with a short note
The return alone
from $650
- Schedule C prepared from your records, every commission statement reconciled
- From $850 for an LLC or S-corp — the owner’s personal return included
- A rental you own added to the same return, priced in the same quote
- How we prepare the return
The quote is the price.
How it works
What happens after you book?
After you book, you get one free 30-minute call, an engagement letter sent during the call, then a secure-portal invite and a short checklist.
The 30-minute call
About six questions: whether you work on your own or on a team, how commission reaches you, whether you pay other agents, whether you keep a mileage log, whether the books are in QuickBooks, and whether you own a rental. It ends with one flat price for the work we’d take on, quoted in writing before we start.
The engagement letter
It’s sent during the call, and you sign it whenever you’re ready. Signing books a short onboarding call, and the secure-portal invite comes from that call.
Access and documents
You accept the portal invite, connect read-only bank feeds or share the QuickBooks file, and upload the brokerage commission statements and last year’s 1099s. The checklist we send keeps it short.
Behind first
If the books are behind, the cleanup comes first, then the first monthly close.
You see the return before it’s filed
Half the return fee starts the work, and the balance is due before e-file. You review the return before anything goes out, and an extension is free if April gets tight.
Communication
You’ll know where the books and the return stand.
The person who answers the phone is on the same team that closes your books each month.
The same-day rule
Call or email during business hours and you’ll hear back the same day — all twelve months.
A commission statement that looks wrong
Send it over and we’ll show you what the split and the fees did to that check, line by line.
Admitted to practice before the IRS
Our team of IRS representation specialists is admitted to practice before the IRS. If an IRS letter shows up — one about a 1099-NEC that wasn’t reported, for example — forward it: how we handle IRS letters.
The N&T Tax & Advisory Group team
When a closing funds late or a split looks wrong on a commission statement, you call the team that already keeps your books and prepares your return. We’re reachable all year.
Bookkeeping · Payroll · Tax preparation · Tax planning · IRS representation · Direct line: (661) 554-4495
Reviews
Rated 5.0 on Google
★★★★★ Twelve reviews, every one five stars, every one verifiable. Read all of them on Google →
"Alex helped me resolve a complicated tax situation that had been causing me a lot of stress. He was extremely knowledgeable, responsive, and efficient throughout the entire process."
Kevin B. — via Google
"Working with Alex was straightforward. I hadn't looked at my books all year, but he made my life easy and handled the whole profit and loss at the end of the year so I could get my taxes done."
Levon B. — via Google
"I came to this company with previous tax years and bookkeeping that were done incorrectly. They're very knowledgeable about what they do and help me get everything in order at a very reasonable price."
Sayra A. — via Google
Where we work
Do you work with real estate agents outside California?
Yes, we work with real estate agents remotely in any state. If you work in another state, we work to that state’s payroll and filing rules and price it into your quote.
Commission statements and closing statements move through the secure portal, and the monthly report is walked through by phone or screen share.
What we don’t do
We handle the tax and money side: the books, the quarterly payments, the 1099s, payroll for anyone on it and the returns. Commission-agreement or brokerage advice, which properties to buy, licensing, E&O insurance and legal advice are outside our work, and we don’t prepare reviewed, compiled or audited statements.
Worth reading
What can you read before you call?
Short articles from our blog on quarterly payments, records, the entity question and selling a rental.
Quarterly Taxes for the First Time: What to Pay, When, and How in 2026
RecordsWhat Receipts to Keep for Taxes in 2026: The Self-Employed Owner’s Keep-or-Toss Guide
The year’s taxesSmall Business Taxes Guide: Every Federal Tax You Owe and When It’s Due
New LLCHow to File Taxes for an LLC in Your First Year (2026 Guide for New Owners)
Entity choiceS-Corp Taxes Explained: What Changed the Day You Elected, and the Salary Rule Nobody Mentioned
Selling a rentalHow to avoid taxes when selling a rental property?
FAQ
What should a real estate agent ask before booking?
Do I have to make quarterly estimated tax payments as a real estate agent?
Yes — a brokerage withholds nothing from commission checks, so the tax is paid through quarterly estimates. The last 2026 payment is due January 15, 2027. We send the amount and the due date before each payment is due.
Do I have to send 1099s to the agents on my team?
Yes, once you pay an agent $2,000 or more during 2026 — splits, referral fees and commissions you pay another agent all count. The 1099-NEC, the year-end form that reports pay to a nonemployee, goes to the agent and the IRS by February 1, 2027, and an agent paid through a corporation generally doesn’t get one. We collect the W-9 up front, track what each agent is paid and file the forms by the deadline. If you’re not sure whether someone who helps you is a contractor or an employee, we tell you when a case needs an employment attorney.
Can I deduct my car if I drive to showings?
Yes — business miles are deducted one of two ways: the standard mileage rate, a per-mile figure the IRS sets, or the car’s actual costs, and a return claims one method or the other for a car, never both. For 2026 the rate is 72.5 cents a mile through June 30, 2026 and 76 cents from July 1, 2026, so a 2026 log needs the date of every trip. We set up the log, keep the car costs with the books and prepare the return from the method the records support.
Am I a real estate professional for taxes if I own a rental?
Only if you pass the test that year: more than half of your working hours, and more than 750 hours, go to real property businesses you materially participate in, and real estate brokerage is one of them. Then you also have to materially participate in the rental itself. We count your hours from your own calendar and transaction records each year, and the answer can be no. California doesn’t follow the federal rule, so on the California return the rental stays passive either way, and we carry the federal and California figures separately.
My books are a year behind. Can you catch them up?
Yes — a year behind is a cleanup project from $750: we rebuild the year from your commission statements, closing statements and bank, reconcile it to the 1099-NEC and prepare the return from it. Any quarterly payments still ahead are figured from the same books.
Should a real estate agent be an LLC or an S-corp?
Either can work, and which fits depends on your own figures: the choice is about how the business is taxed. An S-corp is a tax election an LLC can also make, and a California LLC owes the $800 annual tax. We model both on your numbers before you form or elect anything, as part of our entity-selection service.
Ready to hand off the books, the quarterly payments and the return?
One free 30-minute call. You’ll leave knowing what we’d handle and what it costs — whether or not you hire us.
Rather talk now? Call (661) 554-4495 — reach us during business hours and you’ll hear back the same day.
Our team of IRS representation specialists is admitted to practice before the IRS. This page is general information, not tax advice for your specific situation.