Consulting company standardizes processes and accounting procedures

Client background

LandVest’s Real Estate Brokerage division advises major New England families, whose assets included houses in town, country estates and timberland. Their brokers serve the New England luxury markets from the Connecticut coast to the Adirondacks to Mount Desert. Their Management and Consulting division supports private landowners in managing 100,000’s of timberland in the Northeast and California. LandVest’s Timber Marketing group provides brokerage services for both private and public land owners for the disposition and purchase of timberlands for investment.

They partner with their consulting team to provide valuation, subdivision and conservation planning, as well as planning for acquisition and disposition of complex real estate assets.

Fiduciaries, institutions and private clients retain LandVest because of their discretion, global reach and exceptional market knowledge of special properties. They understand a fiduciary level of service. They can help clients make informed decisions about real estate across New England and around the world. As an affiliate of Christie’s International Real Estate, they have been bringing great New England and Adirondack properties to the global marketplace since 1968.

Timberland land owners retain LandVest’s Management and Consulting group because their team of certified foresters provide the best in class in forest management.

The business challenge

LandVest has four different divisions with over 33 small offices in the United States. Each division was running independently with their own set of unique processes and procedures. In addition, their small offices had 70 checking accounts with bookkeepers running QuickBooks, making it challenging to access cash reports. LandVest needed to:

• Reduce the number of duplicate vendors and customers
• Streamline accounting processes
• Set-up dashboards and reports
• Consolidate accounting functions

Strategy and solution

LandVest chose Baker Tilly to help guide them on how to best implement Sage Intacct, standardize companywide processes and accounting procedures and set-up project accounting with time and expense. This enables them to have accounting under one roof and more comprehensive reporting capabilities.

Before, LandVest had each division running as if they were independent; they now have one unified system that enables LandVest to:

• Manage their finances more efficiently
• Simplify and streamline key accounting processes
• Create detailed reports and dashboards that allows for a real-time overview of the business finances
• Have one source of financial information

By the end of the year, LandVest will rollout project accounting across the entire company. They have made huge strides and continue to have big goals with Baker Tilly at their side that will allow their business to flourish.