Struggling to keep your real estate brokerage profitable?
Cash flow issues and weak financial controls are silent killers in this business. Many brokers overlook the risk of errors—or worse, fraud—until it’s too late.
And here’s the million-dollar question: How much cash do you REALLY need to keep your operations thriving? Let’s break it down and protect your bottom line.
The Importance of Financial Controls
Over the past 20 years, our firm has uncovered MILLIONS of dollars in LOST broker profits—stolen or misdirected right under the broker’s nose. While we’ve helped recover funds in some cases, most of these losses—ranging from tens of thousands to nearly $1 million—were gone forever. Here’s the hard truth: if you’re ignoring financial controls, you’re GAMBLING with your brokerage’s future.
I’ve witnessed broker owners go from feeling secure to being devastated, losing hundreds of thousands to fraud that they never saw coming.
The good news? You can protect your business.
Five Essential Steps to Strengthen Financial Controls
- Segregate Duties: No one person should handle mail, invoices, and approvals.
- Enable Positive Pay Fraud Protection: Set this up for ACH and checks at your bank.
- Independent Bank Reconciliations: Approvals should be done by someone not handling deposits or payments.
- Lock Financial Statements: After month-end, lock your financial statements to prevent post-review edits.
- Monthly Financial Reviews: Schedule these with clear deadlines to keep track of financial health.
Effective Cash Management for Your Brokerage
Now, let’s shift to cash management. As a broker owner, your goal is to keep enough cash to fund operations in a cyclical real estate market—but not so much that you expose yourself to litigation or fraud risks.
In a low-transaction market like 2025 is shaping up to be, I recommend keeping two months of cash reserves. If your monthly overhead is $50,000, aim for $100,000 in the bank.
- Hit $125,000? Pay yourself a dividend.
- Drop to $75,000? Tighten the reins until cash levels recover.
This simple strategy ensures you never run out of cash.
Your Path to Profitable Operations
At Inner Circle Broker Coaching, we’ve developed the Seven Core Competencies—a proven framework that helps brokers scale their businesses and boost profitability.
If you’re ready to transform these insights into real, actionable results, book a discovery call today. Let’s work together to unlock your brokerage’s full potential.