CPA-LED BROKERAGE BACK OFFICE
Speed. Accuracy.
Solutions.
A CPA-led team takes the closing-statement chaos, agent splits, payout disputes, and 1099 scramble off your desk — for roughly 25% of the cost of a full-time admin.
· From $800–$1,500/mo
· ~25% the cost of a full-time admin
· 30-min qualification call
01
CPA-led.
Registered firm, clean
complaint history. A name on the door, not a freelancer with a laptop.
02
Brokerage-specific.
Built around commissions, splits, and payouts — not retrofitted bookkeeping.
03
~25% the cost.
Of a full-time admin hire. Same scope, done-for-you, CPA oversight included.
PROOF
Registered CPA firm
Clean complaint history
AICPA member
Brokerage vertical specialty
Founder & Lead CPA
Charles Renwick, CPA
Registered firm
Founder & Lead CPA
Charles Renwick, CPA
Registered firm
02
The daily drag
Every closing triggers seven versions
of the same admin headache.
None hard. All yours. None what you got into brokerage to do.
01
Closing-statement
paperwork chase
HUD sheets, wire confirmations, referral letters, disbursement instructions — scattered across four inboxes by Friday.
Per closing
02
Who gets paid what
Tiered splits, caps, referrals, team overrides, mid-year plan changes — all held together in a spreadsheet one person understands.
Per closing
03
Processing payment
Cutting paper checks, or manually keying payments into a payment system like Chase.
Per closing
04
Month-end reconciliation
Escrow in, commission out, broker share, agent share — nobody's confident the trust account ties until
the end-of-month scramble.
Monthly
05
Agent payout disputes
"My split is wrong." "I should have hit cap." Every conversation pulls you off the floor and into a
spreadsheet.
Constant
06
Year-end 1099 scramble
40+ agents, addresses that changed twice, missing W-9s to track down, and a January 31 deadline you
re-discover on January 18.
Annual
07
Books that wouldn't hold up
If the state walked in tomorrow asking for trust ledgers and payout history, you'd need a week and a
prayer.
Latent risk
04
What it costs
$800 – $1,500 per month. Openly stated.
Listed up front on purpose.
If this isn't your budget, save the call.
OPEN PRICING
$800
–$1,500 / mo
vs $48k–$65k loaded admin
Price within the band depends on agent count, deal volume, and entity
complexity. Quoted on the qualification call — no games.
Commission accounting
included
Agent splits + caps
included
Payouts + ACH Processing
included
Monthly reconciliations
included
Month-end reports
included
Year-end 1099s & W-9s
included
Agent portal (unlimited)
included
Onboarding & migration
included
→ 30 min · CPA on the call · yes/no/not-yet at the end
Where we sit in the market.
Full-time admin (loaded)
$48k – $65k / yr
CMR Associates
$9.6k – $18k / yr
Generic bookkeeper, part-time
$3k – $5k / yr
If you're shopping for the lowest-cost generic bookkeeper, we're not the right fit — and the qualification call exists to confirm that, both directions.
05
Life after CMR
Four things that actually change.
Specific behaviors that stop.
Specific behaviors that start.
FOR THE OWNER
Human safety net
You stop being the failsafe.
Closings, payouts, and reconciliation run without you in the loop. Month-end doesn't need your weekend.
FOR THE AGENTS
Owner answers split math
Agents stop asking
payout questions.
Splits, caps, and disbursements
come from a system with a per-
agent ledger. Disputes route to us,
not your inbox.
FOR THE MONTH
3-day fire drill
Month-end
becomes routine.
Same monthly report. Same day.
Every month. Trust, operating, and
commission accounts reconciled by
the 10th.
FOR THE YEAR
January marathon
Year-end tax docs
come back done.
1099-NECs filed on time. Ledgers
tie out. Your tax CPA gets a clean
handoff instead of a box of
spreadsheets.
06
What we handle
Core deliverables. All run by our team.
Replaces an internal admin role.
Does not replace your tax CPA.
#
Deliverable
What you actually get
Cadence
01
Commission accounting
Every closing booked, attributed to deal and agent, tied to the trust ledger.
Per closing
02
Agent splits
Tiered plans, caps, mid-year changes, referrals, and overrides — applied correctly first time.
Per closing
03
Payouts & ACH Processing
Disbursements queued for your approval with ACH processing included. We track the per-
agent ledger.
Per closing
04
Monthly reconciliations
Trust, operating, and commission accounts reconciled by the 10th of the next month.
Monthly
05
Month-end reports
P&L, commission-by-agent, pipeline-to-cash, trust-balance summary — delivered on the
10th.
Monthly
06
Year-end 1099s & W-9s
W-9 management throughout the year, plus 1099-NEC filing for every qualifying agent and
contractor.
Annual
07
Agent portal
Login per agent. Split plan, YTD earnings, deals-in-flight, pending payouts. Self-serve, always
on.
Always-on
08
Dispute support
Payout questions and reconciliation disputes route to our team, not your inbox. Resolved in
writing.
As raised
09
Close document checklist
Track required documents, approvals, and compliance steps before a deal closes.
Premium Add-on
07
Why a CPA-led firm matters
Three things that separate this from a bookkeeper.
ACCOUNTABILITY
CPA-led. Registered firm.
Signed off by licensed CPAs under a registered firm with a clean complaint history. There is a name on the door — and a professional obligation behind the numbers.
VERTICAL DEPTH
Built around brokerages.
Trust accounting, commission splits, agent payouts, and 1099s are the system — not bolted onto generic bookkeeping after the fact.
STACK
Software-backed delivery.
We run on Closivo — the same commission platform we built for brokerage workflows. Single source of truth, from closing to year-end.
08
The accuracy guarantee
Written. Specific. Not "guaranteed accurate."
WRITTEN GUARANTEE
"If we make a reconciliation error in any month, we fix it on our dime — within 5 business days of discovery — and credit you a portion of that month's fee."
Bounded, written, signed. Not a slogan.
CHARLES RENWICK, CPA · MANAGING PARTNER · CMR ASSOCIATES
09
How it works
Three steps. Realistic timing.
STEP 01
30 MIN
Qualification call.
You walk us through volume, agent count, and what's broken. We tell you whether we're a fit — including telling you no. No pitch deck, no pressure.
→ OUTCOME: YES / NO / NOT-YET IN WRITING
STEP 02
2 – 4 WEEKS
Migration onto our stack.
Historical commission data pulled in. Split plans configured. Chart of accounts mirrored. Trust and operating reconciliations stood up. You don't touch Closivo — we run it.
→ OUTCOME: LIVE ON CMR-RUN BACK OFFICE
STEP 03
ONGOING
Back-office handoff.
Closings, splits, payouts, monthly reports, and 1099s run on our calendar. Report on the 10th. Year ends quietly. You stop being the safety net.
→ OUTCOME: YOU STOP BEING THE SAFETY NET
10
Built by
A licensed CPA and a dedicated bench.
"Owners aren't lazy about the books. They're running a sales business while one admin and a spreadsheet hold the commission paperwork together. When the admin leaves, the wheels come off."
I'm Charles Renwick — licensed CPA, twelve years inside brokerage books. First as the outside accountant who got the 11pm "the trust account doesn't tie" call, then as a partner running the back office for a 60-agent firm.
CMR Associates is the version of that admin role you can't lose: a CPA-led team, a vertical-specific stack, and a written guarantee that the books tie out at the end of every month.
— CHARLES RENWICK, CPA · MANAGING PARTNER
Second CPA partner reviews every close
Dedicated accounting team
Closivo platform team
11
Who this is for / not for
We'd rather tell you no on the call than three months in.
Strong fit
YES
Brokerage owner with 6+ agents on a split plan
Recurring commission complexity — splits, caps, referrals, overrides
Budget of $800–$1,500/mo for a done-for-you back office
You want the outcome, not a tool to learn
You'd rather pay a CPA-led firm than hire and manage an admin
Not a fit
NO
Solo agent or 1–3 person team with low deal volume
Shopping for the cheapest bookkeeping line item
DIY-oriented owner who'd rather run software themselves — use Closivo
Uncomfortable with online communication
No appetite for a 2–4 week migration onto our stack
12
Would you rather use software?
Closivo is the self-serve version of the same workflow.
Same engine we use internally, available as stand-alone SaaS. If you'd rather run the
system yourself — same commission accounting, same brokerage-specific structure
— Closivo is the DIY path. No hard feelings.
See Closivo →
13
FAQ
Real objections. Answered.
How long does setup take?
Typically 2–4 weeks from signed engagement letter to live on our stack. Cleaner books are faster; spreadsheet migrations land at the longer end.
Do you replace our existing accountant?
No — we run the back office. Your tax CPA still files your return. We make their job easier by handing them clean books and a complete year-end package. Our firm does offer advanced tax strategies and planning for real estate brokers and agents but those services are sold separately.
Who owns our data?
You own your data and can take it with you at any time. We believe in earning your business every month, not trapping you in our system.
Our current books are a mess. Is that a problem?
Normal starting point, not a disqualifier. One-time cleanup is part of onboarding, quoted separately if the scope is significant.
What does the accuracy guarantee actually cover?
Reconciliation errors made by our team get fixed within 5 business days, on our dime, and a portion of that month's fee is credited. Final wording is in the engagement letter — no fine print games.
How do you handle agent payout disputes?
Disputes route directly to our team via the agent portal. We pull the deal record, show the split math, and resolve in writing - without pulling you in unless escalation is genuinely needed.
What software do you use under the hood?
Closivo for commission accounting, splits, agent portals, and payout tracking. Xero for the general ledger. The whole stack is maintained by us — you don't need to learn any of it.
14
Take the next step
Stop being the
human safety net.
30-minute call. CPA on the line. Yes / no / not-yet at the end. No countdown. No "spots left."
Want software instead? See Closivo →
CMR Associates
CPA-led back office for real-estate brokerages. Registered CPA firm.
AICPA Member
State CPA Society
© 2026 CMR Associates, CPA · Registered firm