A diagnostic for real estate companies with many LLCs

The Decision-Clarifying Diagnostic is a fixed-scope review of how the monthly close and approvals run across your LLCs, for owners deciding whether to hire a controller, outsource the accounting, or change systems. Findings delivered in writing, on an agreed timeline.

Who it is for

The diagnostic is for real estate companies that hold their properties in separate LLCs, where the monthly close still runs through one or two people.

Sponsors running several deals

You run several deals, each in its own LLC, with outside investors. The monthly close still waits on you, and investor reports and distributions go out only after you have signed off on every entity.

Founders and families holding many properties

Each of your properties is held in its own LLC, with no outside investors. The monthly close sits with you or with one bookkeeper who has kept the books for years. If that bookkeeper is away, the close waits.

The decisions it informs

Hiring a controller
Outsourcing the accounting to an outsourced accountant or fund administrator
Changing the systems your reporting runs on
Changing who owns the close and approvals

You make the decision. The diagnostic gives you the evidence and an ordered recommendation to make it with.

What we examine

We read the records you already keep, such as close calendars, reconciliations, and approval trails, and compare them with how the work actually happens. Where it helps, we also talk with the people who do the work.

Month-end close calendar and reporting timeline across your LLCs
Selected records of bank and intercompany reconciliations, and how exceptions are handled
Ownership, approvals, and sign-off paths for payments and distributions
Selected records of the handoffs from property management software to the books, and on to your outside tax preparer
The decision you are weighing and the options on the table

Your quote names the entities, the period, and the records selected, so you know what will be examined before work begins.

How the diagnostic works

What you receive

Three written deliverables, read in order: a Structural Assessment, a Constraint Map, and a Decision Brief. Each answers one question and cites the evidence behind it.

An illustrative example, the real estate monthly close and approvals review, shows all three in full. It was prepared for a fictional company using synthetic data. The company holds its properties in separate LLCs, some with outside investors, and its owner is considering hiring a controller.

In the example, the Constraint Map tests whether a controller would get the investor reports out sooner, and the Decision Brief sets out what to do first and what to learn before deciding whether to hire one.

See example work

Scope and terms

The diagnostic covers process, ownership, approvals, and handoffs. It reports what the evidence shows in the areas examined. It does not claim to find every root cause.

It is not an audit or any other attestation engagement, and it does not give tax opinions. Tax work and investor terms, including how distribution amounts are set, stay outside its scope. The findings support your own decision and are not written for investors or lenders.

Relevant experience

Experience from Brandon J. Jones's prior employment and contract roles.

Audit, Deloitte

Began in audit, reviewing how firms record, reconcile, and document their financial reporting.
Specialized tax credit work

Documentation-heavy review of eligibility, records, and sequencing.
Real-estate accounting and financial operations

Reporting, reconciliations, and controller-level workflow.

Prior professional role. Not a Pinnacle engagement.

About the founder

Deciding who should own the monthly close?

You receive a written quote before any work begins.

Request a diagnostic