Get MRI Real Estate Development Accounting Solutions With REA
MRI's strength is commercial lease administration, not construction-in-progress accounting, so a developer usually lands in an instance built for a lease and CAM portfolio, not a project ledger. Job costs, draws and capitalized interest get forced through job cost structures configured for commercial property operations, not for a development timeline. Treating MRI's job cost module as the system of record for the deal, not an add-on to the lease side, is where the accounting actually holds up.
Developers Accounting Inside MRI
What Changes When You Run This Vertical On This Platform
Where it breaks
No shared close date between job cost and leasing
In a phased or mixed-use development, leasing often starts before construction closes out. MRI treats the two as separate modules on separate timelines: job cost tracks the project until it is closed, lease administration and CAM start billing the moment a suite goes live. Nothing forces those two dates to match. A suite can be earning CAM reimbursement while its build-out costs are still capitalizing as work in progress, or a project can get marked complete in job cost while lease-up billing has not caught up. Either way, margin on that phase reads wrong until someone manually reconciles the two ledgers, usually at year end.
How REA handles it
One phase-level checklist ties both modules together
REA pulls the job cost WIP schedule and the lease and CAM billing detail for the same phase side by side every month, not at project close. Any suite billing CAM while its build-out is still open in job cost gets flagged and a placed-in-service decision made phase by phase, so capitalized interest and soft costs stop the moment a space starts earning rent. Draws are mapped against the loan schedule as advances, not income, and retainage held on AP invoices is accrued in the same period it is withheld, so the job cost balance matches what is actually owed.
What we check in your MRI instance
- Job cost WIP reconciled to lease and CAM billing
- Capitalize-versus-expense coding checked on every AP invoice
- Retainage held matched against retainage accrued
- Draws traced to the loan schedule, not revenue
- Placed-in-service date set phase by phase
- Carrying interest capitalization stopped at lease commencement
The Full Scope of the Engagement
Two Pages Carry the Detail
This page covers what is specific to running Developers books in MRI. The complete service scope, process, and pricing conversation live on the two pages below.
The vertical
Developers Accounting
Full scope, monthly process, property types, FAQs and the team on the account.
See the Developers pageThe platform
MRI Bookkeeping
What MRI does well, where its accounting breaks, and how REA works inside your own instance.
See the MRI page- 01
Trust Accounting
Tenant, owner, and security deposit money kept separate, tied out, and ready for a state audit at any time.
- 02
Bank Reconciliation Services
Every operating, trust, and escrow account reconciled on a fixed schedule, with the variances chased down rather than carried forward.
- 03
Accounts Payable & Receivable
Vendor invoices coded and paid, tenant receipts applied, management fees taken, and owner distributions cut on time.
- 04
Bookkeeping Cleanup & Catch-Up
Months or years of unreconciled books diagnosed, corrected, and brought current so the numbers you report are numbers you trust.
- 05
CAM Reconciliation
Common area maintenance pools built from the lease terms, reconciled against actuals, and billed or credited with a defensible tenant statement.
Experts In All Property Types
Residential, commercial and everything in between. The asset class changes what the books have to prove, and our teams are staffed accordingly.
- Single-Family
- Multifamily
- Student Housing
- Affordable Housing
- Community AssociationsSee the page
- CommercialSee the page
Check Out What Our Clients Have To Say About Us
Property Managers, Investors & Owner Operators
Day-to-day financial operations
REA and team have been nothing but excellent helping our firm with its day to day financial needs. Their expertise, professionalism, and timeliness have made our lives so much easier. We foresee a long relationship with REA and team.
Onboarding and responsiveness
Real Estate Accounting truly is a special company. They helped as if they were a part of our company, with the concern and caution as an employee would have, but even more. They quickly ascertained our needs and developed an effective team to help with our accounting needs. They were extremely responsive and always accurate. I would recommend their services to anyone who needs help with their property management accounting.
Smaller portfolio, still looked after
Adam the owner took a personal interest in my situation and was willing to work with me to see if his company was a good fit. I may be too small for them but I would highly recommend them to anyone considering a bookkeeper for their property management business.
230+
Property Accountants
30M+
Commercial Sq. Ft.
Up to 50%
Saved vs In-House
Every month
On-Time Close
Running Developers On Something Else?
Same Vertical, Different Platform
Frequently Asked Questions
Our first phase is leasing up while the second phase is still under construction. Will MRI keep the two straight, or do the numbers bleed together?
MRI can run job cost and lease administration for both phases at once, but it will not stop the numbers from bleeding into each other on its own. The two modules track different data on different timelines, so a leased suite in phase one and a construction line in phase two need to be checked against each other manually. That is the reconciliation REA runs monthly: job cost balances against lease and CAM billing, phase by phase, so capitalized cost stops the moment a space starts earning rent.
Our lender requires retainage on every draw. Does MRI track that automatically?
MRI will hold retainage on an AP invoice if the invoice is coded that way, but it does not automatically accrue the liability back onto the project's books. If the accrual is skipped, the job cost report understates what is actually owed to contractors and the project looks more profitable than it is until the retainage releases. REA reconciles retainage held against retainage accrued every reporting period, not just at draw submission, so the number your lender sees matches what MRI is actually holding back.
Our MRI instance was set up years ago for our operating properties. Can it handle a new development project without a full reimplementation?
Usually yes, through the job cost module, but the setup matters more than the software. Because MRI implementations vary so widely, a job cost module added onto an instance built for a stabilized commercial portfolio often keeps the chart of accounts and cost structures written for recurring operating costs, not construction draws and capitalized interest. REA reviews how job cost is actually configured in your instance before work starts, not just whether the module exists, and adjusts the account structure so a development project's costs land where they belong.
Ready for Accurate Developers Books in MRI?
Schedule a call with our team to talk through your MRI instance, what it is doing to your developers financials, and what REA would take on.