The accounting professions are numerous, between the expertise firm and the company accountant there are very different levels. In real estate, the panel of professions is also very important, from the simple real estate hunter to the director of an agency, the levels are substantial. The co-ownership accountant combines the two skills, that of accounting and that of the subtleties of the real estate profession.
Summary
Function
Among real estate jobs, the condominium accountant is essential for the proper functioning of the management of the company in charge of one or more condominiums. The goal is, once a year, to draw up the balance sheet for the year in order to complete the tax declaration concerning the company in which he is employed. The management could be entrusted to an external accountant, but the company would have to provide all the data monthly, quarterly, bi-annually or even annually, it would be an overload of work. Employing an accountant within the real estate management company itself saves time for an amount practically equivalent to the year.
The co-owners can also choose an accountant specializing in real estate on their own to become their personal co-ownership accountant, without going through a trustee, provided that they all agree on this point. They can thus save the costs of external management and be in direct contact with the accountant during the meetings of the co-owners. Nothing obliges them, in fact, to have recourse to an agency or some trustee to manage their property, even if they are rented out. The owners of housing, in agreement with the other owners of the building or the subdivision can discuss among themselves all that is charges, rental, choice of people to be housed. The accountant will then have the heavy task of calculating everything, managing and then proposing at each meeting. The accountant is then paid directly by the co-owners. His salary will then be different from other accountants exercising the same functions but at the heart of a company. It can be much more interesting.
You can find a condominium accountant job on this website, if you are interested in this job. You will find many up-to-date offers throughout France.
Read also: What job to start working in real estate?
Tasks
A condominium accountant can support one or more condominiums according to their importance. If the company has many condominiums under management, it must call on several accountants dedicated solely to this function.
The accountant must account, list, note each entry of rents, distribute the charges adjoining the co-ownership. Propose after calculation, a budget for work, repairs requested by the occupants of the condominium. The renovation of the facade, the elevator, the safety of the stairwells, their maintenance, that of the green spaces are the responsibility of the co-owners and must be divided between them according to certain criteria, they will not all pay the same amount.
Everything must be carefully calculated and be unassailable. Any additional costs, such as the challenge with expertise by another professional would be a waste of money for the company. The co-owners must be satisfied with the monthly or annual accounting and the company freed from the drudgery of accounting balance sheets to be provided to taxes each year.
Accountant must always be aware of new laws, decrees, everything that is reported to the BO (Official Bulletin) concerning real estate and related accounting.
Studies
At least two years of study after the Bac level are required to become a co-ownership accountant. You therefore need the Bac, it can be general followed by studies in real estate and accounting management, or professional with a specialization in administrative management and good notions of accounting which will be enhanced by training in accounting and financial management.
Before applying for the profession of co-ownership accountant, you must have good notions in the field of real estate and accounting on different software: Thetrawin or Altaix for example.
The technological baccalaureate in management and management or pro management and administration provides access to this profession.
salary
The salary depends on the experience and above all on the structure in which the accountant is employed. It is understood between 2300 and 3600 € gross per month on average.
The condominium accountant can start as a simple real estate accountant in a public or private company or an agency that is part of a large real estate chain. He will prove himself there before perfecting himself in co-ownership accounting, which is much more specialized.
The effective hours are many and the work very often brought home. It’s a significant investment of time, and you have to remain vigilant at all times, you really have no room for error. The figures differ from one condominium to another and between the co-owners of the same housing complex.
Finally
Each condominium has its specificities and workload. You have to adapt and react quickly as soon as a difficulty or hazard appears, know how to distribute this new intervention among all the participants.
The condominium accountant has a job that is far from static, even if it seems repetitive, the data and the problems are constantly changing. You have to question and update the laws almost on a daily basis. It is rewarding work.
Read also: How does the LRE revolutionize exchanges between trustees and co-owners?
