A Trend Among Hundreds of Customers: Teams Working Together

1 min read
October 5, 2020
CoStar Real Estate Manager Blog

A Trend Among Hundreds of Customers: Teams Working Together

More than ever there are powerful intersections between accounting, real estate and the office of the CFO.  Our customers are telling us about trends that are putting new demands on each organization and pressing these groups to work more closely together with speed and accurate data.

Compliance with lease accounting regulations obviously has put more demands on accounting.  That is known.  However, compliance has also pressed accounting and real estate to work more closely together since lease changes initiate from real estate and, therefore, timely and accurate data impacts accounting reports, compliance, and monthly closes.  More than ever accounting and real estate must be integrated so that changes in leases are rapidly and accurately reflected in accounting.

Real estate portfolios are being analyzed more comprehensively than before.  In the past, most portfolios were marginally impacted by growth, acquisitions, divestitures or other business adjustments.  Today, corporate leaders ask real estate teams to evaluate entire portfolios to find savings any place it may exist in lease terms flexibility, renewals, payment terms, subleases options and more.  More than ever real estate teams need great tools and great data to asses their portfolios and report options to leaders, while reporting changes to accounting.

Today the office of the CFO is asking more of these teams than in the past.  The rate of change and the exploration of options has increased.  The analysis of the business to find cost savings demands fast, accurate, and current data; the need for outside market data is also paramount.  More than ever, the CFO’s office is pressing real estate and accounting together to explore options and achieve results using the integrated data both teams have. In today’s environment, the connection between real estate, accounting, and the office of the CFO requires great process, competent tools, accurate data, and outside market information to respond to the business needs.