Bookkeeping and Accounting for Real Estate Law Firms

Real estate attorneys move significant amounts of money through escrow on every closing. Earnest money deposits, loan proceeds, payoffs, recording fees, title premiums, and seller proceeds all pass through your trust account, often on tight timelines and in high volume. A&W Associates provides bookkeeping for real estate law firms that keeps every closing balanced and every escrow account reconciled.

Escrow and Closing Disbursement Tracking

Each transaction needs to zero out once a closing is complete. We track escrow deposits and disbursements by file, confirm that every closing balances, and help identify stale or unclaimed funds before they become a compliance problem. Learn more about our escrow tracking and reconciliation services.

Trust and IOLTA Reconciliation

High transaction volume means more opportunities for errors such as wires posted to the wrong file, returned deposits, or duplicate disbursements. Our monthly three-way reconciliation of your IOLTA and trust accounts helps catch discrepancies early so your records are ready for review.

Closing Fee Revenue and Title Agency Income

Many real estate firms earn revenue from closing fees, title agency commissions, and hourly transactional work. We separate those revenue streams in your books so you can see which lines of business are most profitable.

Wire Fraud Awareness and Documentation

Real estate closings are a common target for wire fraud. While your firm controls its own verification procedures, we help maintain clear records of wire activity and payee details that support your internal controls.

What We Handle for Real Estate Law Firms

Escrow deposit and disbursement tracking by file
IOLTA and trust account three-way reconciliation
Closing fee and title revenue reporting
Accounts payable and receivable
Account reconciliation
Payroll coordination
Monthly financial statements and tax-ready books

Why Real Estate Attorneys Choose A&W Associates

A&W Associates brings over 25 years of accounting experience, specialized training in legal bookkeeping, and deep familiarity with real estate accounting. Contact us today to keep your closings and your books in order.

Who Holds the Money at Closing? Real Estate Practice by Market

How much closing money passes through a law firm’s trust account depends on where the firm practices. In some markets, attorneys run the closing and hold the deposit. In others, a title company does. That single difference decides how heavy a real estate firm’s trust accounting will be. We support real estate firms in these markets remotely.

New York: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island

Attorneys typically represent both buyer and seller in New York residential deals, and the seller’s attorney commonly holds the buyer’s down payment in escrow until closing. Those funds must sit in an account titled Attorney Escrow Account, Attorney Trust Account, or Attorney Special Account, and banks report any check presented against insufficient funds to the Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection. With large co-op and condo deposits moving through escrow, we reconcile those accounts monthly and track every deposit by contract.

Illinois: Chicago and the Collar Counties

Attorneys are commonly involved on both sides of Chicago-area residential transactions, often starting with the attorney review period after a contract is signed. When a firm holds earnest money or closing funds, Illinois Rule 1.15A requires detailed records and three-way reconciliation at least quarterly. We reconcile monthly so high-volume closing months do not pile up.

Texas: Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio

Texas closings are usually handled by title companies and their escrow officers, so many Texas real estate attorneys hold less closing money in trust and earn more of their revenue from document preparation, review, and flat transactional fees. We set up the books to track those fee types separately and keep any trust activity clean.

Florida: Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, and Orlando

Many Florida real estate attorneys also operate or own title agencies, which means law firm trust funds and title agency escrow funds have to be kept strictly apart, each with its own rules. We keep separate books and reconciliations for each so the two stay clearly separate.

Real Estate Law Firm Bookkeeping Near You

A&W Associates supports real estate law firms throughout Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and New Mexico, and works remotely with firms in California, Texas, Illinois, and New York, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, and New York City. See our service area for the cities where we work with law firms, or contact us to ask about your location.

About A&W Associates

A&W Associates was founded by Angela Weicht, who brings over 25 years of financial and accounting experience, beginning in banking as a risk control specialist and fraud control analyst and continuing as an office manager and accounting manager for private businesses. The firm holds Certified Public Bookkeeper and QuickBooks ProAdvisor credentials and specializes in bookkeeping for law firms and nonprofits.