Real Estate Development Accountant

About Banneker

Banneker Ventures is a dynamic and fast-growing real estate development, construction, advisory, and property management firm dedicated to building vibrant, sustainable communities throughout the Washington, DC metropolitan area. With a reputation for excellence, Banneker recently expanded its operations to include a Property Management division. The role we are seeking to fill offers the unique opportunity to lead and shape this new division, directly impacting the long-term growth and success of the firm.

Its real estate development division prides itself on helping to solve the affordable and workforce housing problem in the Washington Metropolitan region. It is currently working on $1.5 billion in projects, and 2 million square feet of housing, retail, office, and entertainment space throughout Washington DC, Maryland, and New York City. Its mission is to ensure that every family has a safe, quality, and affordable place to live while creating opportunities for those who have historically not had the opportunity to work on and be part of large-scale development and construction projects.

Job Description

Reporting to the CFO, the Real Estate Development Accountant is responsible for performing professional-level accounting work related to the maintenance, analysis, and reporting of financial records for real estate development and construction projects. The role requires strong knowledge of construction and real estate accounting principles, with an emphasis on general ledger management, job costing, and accounts receivable. Key responsibilities include managing monthly closings, maintaining accurate accounting records and files, preparing and organizing financial reports and analyses, and ensuring compliance with company policies and industry standards. The Real Estate Accountant will also support draw requests, work-in-progress schedules, and other project-related reporting. This position may also participate in ad hoc projects, process improvements, and general office support as needed.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Prepare and maintain pre-development budgets, including land acquisition costs, zoning, permitting, and soft costs.

• Track feasibility study expenses and compare them against approved budgets.
• Model project pro formas, including anticipated financing costs, developer fees, and contingency allowances.
• Record and categorize all pre-development expenditures (legal, architectural, engineering, due diligence).
• Maintain general ledger accounts for pre-development costs to ensure accurate capitalization.
• Monitor use of equity contributions and pre-construction financing draws.
• Prepare draw requests for lenders and investors, including supporting documentation for each cost incurred.
• Track pre-development loan interest, fees, and repayment schedules.
• Produce monthly pre-development financial reports for project managers and executives.
• Assist in variance analysis between budgeted and actual costs.
• Provide financial input for investor updates and capital partner reporting.
• Maintain detailed job cost reports by cost code, including committed costs vs. actuals.
• Process contractors invoices and progress billings, ensuring alignment with contract terms and percentage of completion.
• Prepare monthly construction loan draw packages with all supporting invoices, lien waivers, and compliance documents.
• Reconcile lender draw disbursements with recorded project costs.
• Monitor availability of contingency funds and adjust forecasts accordingly.
• Produce development-phase financial statements for management and investors.
• Ensure compliance with loan agreements, investor reporting requirements, and audit requests.
• Monitor insurance costs, bonds, and other project-related financial obligations.

Additional Performance Factors:

• Extreme attention to detail and focus on accuracy
• Maintains professional and technical knowledge by identifying and participating in training programs. Recommends process performance improvements.
• Adheres to corporate policies/standards and guidelines as established in cross-functional areas.
• Prompt arrival to work, meetings and activities as related to job functions
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance and a minimum of 1 year of applying accounting principles in a general contracting environment with annual revenue of at least $10MM; or an acceptable equivalent to education and experience in the field.
• Able to demonstrate proficiency with general accounting principles and application of appropriate standards such as revenue recognition, job costing, and payroll taxes.
• Hands on experience preparing financial reports and extracting data from databases to prepare reports for analysis at a high level.
• LIHTC Experience preferred.
• Strong Excel skills and experience working with Quickbooks software.
• Experience in accounting, real estate accounting, or property accounting preferred.
• Experience in real estate industry preferred.
• Solid written and verbal communication skills are a must.
• Good interpersonal, communication, organizational, multi- tasking, teamwork and abstract thinking skills are required.