Who or what department is responsible for ensuring that real estate transactions are properly accounted for?
“The corporate controller’s group,” was one answer. “We share every deal with them, whether disposition or lease, and there is a formal electronic transfer of information.” “There is an electronic summary of the lease, with all pertinent details, to alert the accountants,” said another. But “accounting guys have a secret handshake,” cracked another participant. “How do you interface with accounting so you know the secret handshake?” “They would come to us,” responded one of the questioner’s peers. “The business is responsible for its own information, to make sure it gets recorded properly.” “My group also owns the budget,” observed another. “We want to measure it right from the beginning. Finance groups, like others, have been outsourcing, so the experience level and business acumen among finance business partners is not nearly as strong as it used to be. And they also don’t have time to work. So as a result they rely on us to give them the guidance. We enter it, and if it happens to b
