Residential real estate · Zoho Books partner · Los Angeles
Zoho Books for residential real estate brokerages that pay every agent off the right split
Gross commission comes in, the team share and company dollar come off, and the agent’s payout bill is waiting for approval.
Our Glendale team at Elite Tech Global, a certified Zoho Advanced Partner, sets up Zoho Books as the commission ledger for brokerages across the US: each closing from Zoho CRM becomes a receivable from escrow, each agent’s plan decides the payout, and cap progress updates itself. Your accountant still owns the tax calls.
Advanced PartnerCertified Zoho consultants
Commission statement2218 Orange Grove Blvd · Pasadena, CA
Sample data- Gross commission from escrow
- $24,000.00
- Team share to team lead (25%)
- −$6,000.00
- Company dollar (20% until cap)
- −$2,400.00
- Transaction fee
- −$250.00
- Agent payout bill
- $15,350.00
Cap progress this plan year$16,000 of $16,000
Cap reached on this closing, so the next one pays 100%
- Bill waiting for the office manager
- 1099 vendor
- Earnest money stays in trust, not here
01Its place in the brokerage
Where does Zoho Books sit in a residential brokerage’s workflow?
At the end of the sale, after the deal is marked Closed. Zoho CRM sends the closing details, Zoho Sign holds the commission disbursement authorization, and Books turns both into money owed to the brokerage and money owed to agents. Its output goes to your bookkeeper and outside CPA. The earlier steps of the sale are mapped on our residential workflow.
Hands data in
Zoho CRMClosed deal: price, sides, agents, team, referral source, escrow company
Zoho SignThe signed disbursement authorization, so the amounts match what escrow will wire
Zoho Books
- Commission receivable from escrow
- Wire matched on the bank feed
- Payout bills per agent, team lead and referral partner
- Cap and year-to-date totals
Hands off to
Zoho AnalyticsCompany dollar by office, side and lead source, if you add it
02How we build it
How we set up Zoho Books for a brokerage, in seven steps
We start from your independent contractor agreements and team agreements, because the payout math lives there. Each step ends with something you can check before we move on. Scroll to turn the dial.
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Step 1 of 7Discovery
Discovery: read every commission plan
We list each plan you pay on: straight splits, graduated tiers, caps and their anniversary dates, team agreements, referral fees in and out, transaction and desk fees, plus who approves a payout today and how escrow receives the disbursement authorization.
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Step 2 of 7Data model
Data model: accounts, agents and tags
Commission income splits into listing side and buyer side. Agent payouts, team shares and referral fees paid get their own expense accounts. Agents become 1099 vendors with fields for plan, cap amount, cap year start and team, and reporting tags carry office and side on every line.
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Step 3 of 7Automations
Automations: from closing to payout bill
A closed deal raises an invoice to the escrow or title company for the gross commission. When the wire is recorded, Deluge functions work out team share, company dollar and fees from the agent’s plan, create the payout bills and add to the cap counter. Anything unusual stops for approval.
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Step 4 of 7Integrations
Integrations with the sibling apps
Zoho CRM pushes the deal, both sides and the agents on it. Zoho Sign returns the signed authorization. Bank feeds bring in the escrow wire and the payouts you send. Zoho Expense handles agent reimbursements if you use it, and Zoho Analytics reads the ledger.
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Step 5 of 7Testing
Test with sample closings
We run a deal before cap, one that crosses the cap halfway, one after cap, a team deal, a co-listing paid to two agents, a referral out to another brokerage and a deal that falls through after the invoice went out. You compare each payout with your own spreadsheet.
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Step 6 of 7Training
Train the people who touch it
The office manager learns approvals and payout runs, the broker learns the company dollar reports, team leads see their share, and your outside CPA gets a walkthrough of the accounts and tags. Agents only need to know what their statement shows.
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Step 7 of 7Go-live
Go-live and support
We switch at the start of a month, carry over each agent’s cap paid and year-to-date payouts, and keep the old system read-only for lookups. After launch we help with plan changes, new agents and the January 1099 review with your accountant.
Zoho ExpensePlan names, percentages and fees on this page are samples. Yours come from your own agreements, written into the BRD.
03Today, then with Zoho Books
What gets configured, and what changes for the office
Five habits we usually find in a brokerage’s back office on day one. Turn a card to see the piece of Zoho Books that replaces it.
The configuration list
- Chart of accounts with listing and buyer side commission income
- Expense accounts for agent payouts, team shares and referral fees paid
- Income accounts for transaction, desk and E&O fees you charge agents
- Agent vendor records with plan, cap, cap year start and team fields
- Reporting tags for office, side and lead source
- Invoice template for escrow with the file number and property address
- Payout bill template showing every line of the split
- Deluge functions for split, cap and team share math
- Approval rule for payouts above a limit you set
- Bank rules for escrow wires and agent ACH payouts
- Period lock once each month is reconciled
What each role sees on a normal day
- Broker or ownerCompany dollar this month by office, and how many agents are near cap.
- Office manager or bookkeeperPayout bills waiting for approval, escrow invoices still unpaid, wires to match.
- Team leadEach closing’s team share and whether it has been paid.
- AgentA statement per closing by email: gross, every deduction, net, and cap left.
- Outside accountantTheir own login to reconcile, post adjusting entries and review 1099 totals.
04Where the lines are drawn
Agent payouts, 1099 reporting and trust money: who handles what?
Zoho Books keeps the records and does the arithmetic. Decisions about tax treatment and client funds stay with the people licensed to make them, and we build the setup around their answers.
Zoho Books does
- Totals each 1099 vendor’s payouts by calendar year
- Stores agent TINs on the vendor record, visible only to finance roles
- E-files 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC from the Standard plan up
- Keeps an audit trail of every payout edit
Your accountant decides
- Which payments are reportable, and on which form
- How agents, team leads and referral partners are classified
- How fees you charge agents are treated
- State filing questions
Stays in your trust process
- Earnest money deposits and any client funds
- Trust account reconciliations your state requires
- Releases from trust; Books only sees commission once it reaches operating
We don’t give tax or legal advice. Your CPA and broker of record sign off on accounts, 1099 settings and payout wording before go-live.
05What Zoho charges
What does Zoho Books cost a brokerage?
Zoho Books is priced per organization, not per agent, and only people who log in count as users. On yearly billing the Standard plan runs $15 a month for 3 users, Professional $40 for 5 and Premium $60 for 10. It’s also included in Zoho One.
Standard
$15a month, billed yearly · $20 monthly
3 users
Enough for a small office: bank feeds, 1099 e-filing and period locks.
Professional
$40a month, billed yearly · $50 monthly
5 users
Where most brokerages land, because payout approvals start here.
Premium
$60a month, billed yearly · $70 monthly
10 users
For several offices with more finance staff and budgets by office.
Zoho One
Includedwith CRM, Sign and the rest
$37 per employee a month, billed yearly, All Employee
Worth pricing once the brokerage also runs Zoho CRM and Zoho Sign.
Figures are Zoho’s published US rates, tax not included. More Books users are $2.50 a month each, billed yearly ($3 monthly). Agents who only receive a statement or a payment don’t need a login. Our own setup work is one fixed fee, quoted apart from licences and agreed in a signed BRD after your commission plans are mapped. Start with the four steps we take on every new project.
06Brokerage finance questions
Zoho Books for brokerages: what owners and bookkeepers ask
Caps, trust money, 1099s and switching mid-year. Send us one closing statement and your plan sheet and we’ll show how it would post.
Can Zoho Books calculate agent splits, caps and team shares?
Not out of the box, but it can with a few Deluge functions we write. The agent’s plan lives on their vendor record, and when an escrow payment is recorded the function takes off the team share, the company dollar until the cap is hit, and any transaction fee, then creates the payout bills. Graduated plans with several tiers work the same way.
Does Zoho Books handle trust or escrow accounting for earnest money?
No, and we don’t set it up to. Earnest money and other client funds stay with escrow or in your brokerage’s trust accounting process, under your state’s rules. Zoho Books starts at the point commission is released to your operating account.
Can Zoho Books prepare 1099s for our agents?
It tracks every payout to agents you flag as 1099 vendors and, from the Standard plan, can e-file 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC. Your accountant decides who gets a form and which payments count, and reviews the totals before anything is filed.
Do agents need a Zoho Books login to see their commission?
No. Each closing produces a statement that goes to the agent by email, and payouts reach them by ACH or check. Only the broker, office staff, team leads who approve and your accountant usually need user seats.
Can we move from QuickBooks to Zoho Books in the middle of the year?
Yes, ideally at a month start. We bring over open balances plus each agent’s cap paid and year-to-date payouts, so caps and 1099 totals stay correct. The QuickBooks to Zoho Books migration plan covers the rest of the move.
Which Zoho Books plan does a residential brokerage need?
Professional at $40 a month billed yearly suits most offices, since it includes 5 users and approvals for payouts. A one-office brokerage with a part-time bookkeeper may manage on Standard at $15. If you already run Zoho CRM and Zoho Sign, compare against Zoho One before buying.
07Let’s talk
Tell us what you’re building. We’ll map the fix.
Book a free consultation with Elite Tech Global. We review your Zoho, AWS, Shopify or WordPress setup, show where AI / SI agents can save time, and agree the next step. If we work together, every requirement and a fixed price go into a signed BRD before the build starts.
Real people, one team. Led by co-founders Ikramul Karim and Khris Kakosimidi, and a 40+ member team across Zoho, AWS and AI.
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