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Washington is working on loosening several public-company reporting rules at once. If you own, build, or operate real estate, it is tempting to file that under "somebody else's problem." It isn't, and the reason matters more than the headlines. What the SEC has actually proposed On May 19, 2026, the SEC proposed a new filer-status framework. According to the SEC, it would raise the large accelerated filer threshold from $700 million to $2 billion of public float, and every ot

On September 24, The Real Deal reported that vendors and subcontractors are going after Miami Freedom Park, the $1 billion mixed-use project built around Nu Stadium, for more than $13 million in work they say has not been paid. The claims come in two forms. There are two lawsuits: World Electric Supply says it is owed $2.8 million, and millwork contractor Glenn Rieder is seeking nearly $4.2 million. Then there are eight liens filed since May, totaling $6.3 million. The larges

On September 8, Commercial Observer published CRED iQ's latest numbers on commercial real estate CLO loans, and they were not pretty. The distress rate jumped from 19% in July to 28% in August. Texas, Florida and Georgia hold 44% of the distressed balance. Much of it traces back to floating-rate multifamily loans made in 2021 and 2022, when business plans assumed rent growth that never showed up. The wave behind it is large. Multi-Housing News reports about $300 billion of mu

Ultramar Real Estate builds these broker-ready lease analysis packs—buyout versus remaining obligation, renew-versus-relocate-versus-relet, and sublease liability models—alongside fractional CFO and controller work for developers and operators. SoFla Prime Consulting supports South Florida businesses and nonprofits that need the same finance discipline outside pure CRE. If your tenant or ownership group is staring at a landlord offer this month, clean numbers beat a round per

ChatGPT can draft and summarize, but it can't verify a source document, exercise professional judgment, or take accountability for your books. Here's what it can actually do for real estate and construction bookkeeping, and where a fractional CFO and outsourced accounting team still have to be involved.

On September 16, the Federal Reserve raised its target interest-rate range by 0.25 percentage points, to 3.75%–4.00%. Major banks subsequently increased their prime lending rate from 6.75% to 7.00%. For business owners, real estate operators, and nonprofit executives, this is more than an economic headline. It can directly affect interest expense, cash flow, forecasting, capital projects, and the financial information used to make decisions. THE ACCOUNTING IMPACT Companies wi

A $45 Charge Turned Into a $45 Million Lawsuit On September 11, The Real Deal ran a piece on a fight that has been going on for sixteen years at the Palm Beach Marriott Singer Island Beach Resort & Spa in Riviera Beach. Two hundred thirty-nine units. The condo association on one side, the commercial operator, Urgo Hotels, on the other. The thing they are fighting about is an administrative charge of roughly $45 per occupied day, billed to unit owners on top of their quarterly

In the complex world of real estate development, financial leadership is critical. Managing cash flow, budgeting for projects, and navigating tax regulations require expert guidance. At Ultramar Real Estate, we provide fractional CFO services designed specifically for real estate developers and related businesses. Our approach delivers CFO-level insights and strategic financial management without the cost of a full-time executive. Fractional CFO for Real Estate Developers: Wh

Managing a real estate business involves more than just buying and selling properties. It requires precise financial oversight to ensure profitability, compliance, and sustainable growth. At Ultramar Real Estate, we provide fractional CFO services that deliver CFO-level guidance tailored specifically for real estate and construction businesses. Our expertise helps clients nationwide, with a strong presence in South Florida and New York, to navigate complex financial landscape

In the real estate sector, financial clarity is essential for sustainable growth and profitability. Managing complex transactions, fluctuating market conditions, and diverse revenue streams requires precise financial oversight. At Ultramar Real Estate, we provide fractional CFO services that deliver CFO-level guidance tailored to the unique needs of real estate and construction businesses. Our approach goes beyond bookkeeping to offer strategic financial leadership that drive

By Douglas Kohn, CPA If your construction or real estate development company already has a solid bookkeeper, the next question usually arrives as a complaint, not a strategy: "Why do the books still not tell me which jobs are making money?" That question is the gap between bookkeeping and controllership. Construction Executive put the distinction plainly in July 2026: a bookkeeper records transactions, while higher-level construction accounting owns job costing, WIP reporting

*By Douglas Kohn, CPA* Commercial real estate operators still talk about the "maturity wall" as if rates alone decide outcomes. Rates matter. They do not write the lender package, rebuild trailing NOI, or prove debt-service coverage before a credit committee meets. That is CFO work. The Mortgage Bankers Association (Feb 9, 2026) reports that 17 percent ($875 billion) of the $5.0 trillion of outstanding commercial mortgages is scheduled to mature in 2026, down 9 percent from $

Most construction Controllers grew up reading retainage on the same line as trade receivables. The owner held back 5% or 10%, the AR aging showed it, and the surety could see how much cash was still parked behind final completion. That presentation did not survive ASC 606 cleanly — and in 2025 the FASB made clear it is not going back. If your year-end package still treats every retention balance like ordinary AR, you are probably misstating the balance sheet. If you buried co

Vendors keep promising that artificial intelligence will “run finance” for contractors. The pitch is seductive: automate the WIP, close the books overnight, and let the model flag every margin leak before the surety asks about it. Construction Dive’s recent coverage of AI-connected ERP projects shows why the industry is listening — contractors that stitch field activity to financials can see labor variances, unbilled change orders, and WIP drift while the job is still open, n

Most development teams treat construction-loan interest the same way they treat rent or insurance premiums: it hits the P&L every month, and the banker reads the EBITDA that falls out. That habit is wrong under U.S. GAAP for qualifying projects, and it quietly misstates both the asset on the balance sheet and the earnings the lender is underwriting. Interest is not always a period cost. For a real estate development that qualifies, it is part of the cost of getting the asset

Two threads have run through The Real Deal's South Florida coverage this summer: a rental market working off a wave of new supply, and a set of development sites that have slipped into distress. Both stories are usually told through rents, absorption, and deal volume. Both of them land somewhere very specific in an owner's financial statements, and that is where they tend to be misread. Concessions are an accounting event, not a marketing one The glut story is largely a conce

Most contractors treat the work-in-progress schedule as something the accountant produces once a year so the surety company will renew the bond line. That is a costly way to think about it. The WIP schedule is the only report that tells you whether the profit on your income statement is real, and it is the first page a lender or bonding agent turns to. What the schedule actually does On a job that spans months, cash in and cost out almost never line up with the work performed

The commercial real estate market has spent the last few years bracing for bad news. Now, halfway through 2026, the picture is more mixed — some parts of the market are genuinely stabilizing, while others are just getting to the hard part. For owners, investors, and the finance teams supporting them, that mix creates a long list of accounting and tax issues that can't be put off until year-end. Here's what's actually on the table right now. 1. The Debt Maturity Wall Hasn't Pa

Ask a property management company when last month's financials will be ready and the honest answer is often "the end of this month." Sometimes later. Owner statements go out late, the management company fields the same three questions every cycle, and by the time anyone reads the numbers, the month they describe is two months gone. That's not a staffing problem. It's a process problem, and it's the one I fix first when I take on a property management client. A close should ta