Fees and Options
for Managing Your S Corp
CRE brokers who form an S Corporation quickly discover there are three main ways to handle the responsibilities that come with it:
- Hiring a local accounting firm.
- Piecing together payroll services, bookkeeping software, and other providers (sometimes with a bit of DIY).
- Working with our firm, which provides the complete solution.
Let’s look at the pros and cons of each approach.
Option 1: The Local Accounting Firm
Many brokers start here because it looks like a one-stop shop. A local accounting firm often promises they can “do it all” — bookkeeping, payroll, and tax returns under one roof.
And on the surface, that seems appealing.
But in practice, most of these firms stop at compliance. They’ll record transactions, process payroll, and prepare tax filings. What’s missing is the proactive side of financial management:
- Tax strategy to help you minimize taxes beyond basic preparation.
- Ongoing monitoring of cash flow and compensation decisions.
- Planning and coordination between your business and personal finances.
- Regular communication to ensure everything stays aligned with your goals.
Even worse, the process is often just “garbage in, garbage out.” The firm takes the numbers you provide and puts them on the tax return — no questions asked. There’s rarely any comparison to last year, no feedback on whether something looks high, low, incomplete, or incorrect. If you don’t catch an error, no one else will.
These gaps aren’t always obvious until they cost you money, time, or opportunities.
Option 2: Piecemeal or DIY
The second most common approach is piecing together a few separate solutions — like hiring a payroll service, bookkeeping software, and maybe a tax preparer. Some brokers even try to DIY parts of the process, but the truth is you can’t truly DIY everything. At minimum, you’ll need a payroll service just to file forms and generate reports.
On paper, this can look flexible or cheaper. In reality, it creates more work and risk:
- You become the project manager. You’re responsible for making decisions, coordinating between providers, and making sure nothing falls through the cracks.
- No one owns the big picture. Each provider does their narrow task, but no one is responsible for connecting the dots.
- Mistakes and missed opportunities. Without proactive guidance, brokers often end up paying more in taxes or spending time fixing issues later.
- Garbage in, garbage out. Payroll services and bookkeeping software only process what you give them. If something is missing, wrong, or incomplete, it won’t be flagged — you’ll only find out after it becomes a problem.
- Time wasted. Hours spent managing these pieces are hours not spent generating revenue.
In other words, it can feel like a compromise that costs you more than it saves.
Option 3: Our Complete Approach
We built our service model to give CRE brokers what both of these approaches miss.
- Unlike local accounting firms, we don’t just stop at compliance. We bring strategy, planning, and communication to the table.
- Unlike piecemeal or DIY, you aren’t left managing multiple moving parts yourself. We take responsibility for the entire process.
With us, you get:
- Tax strategy that looks forward, not just backward.
- Proactive monitoring of your S Corp compensation and distributions.
- Coordinated planning between your business and personal finances.
- Consistent communication so you always know where things stand.
And while the costs of other approaches might seem lower at first, once you add up what’s missing — and the extra time and stress involved — our complete approach delivers far greater value.
Market Pricing Examples
Here are common providers and their pricing. Notice how you’d need three or more services to replicate even part of what we deliver.
Disclaimer: Pricing is approximate and based on publicly available information at the time of publication. Actual costs may vary.
Focus on What You Do Best
CRE brokers succeed when they spend their time generating revenue, not managing accountants, payroll services, or bookkeeping systems.
Other options either look complete but lack critical elements (local firms) or leave you piecing things together yourself (piecemeal/DIY).
Our approach is the only option that combines compliance, planning, and strategy into one seamless service — freeing you to focus on what you do best.
