R. Mares & Associates
Last updated: January 23, 2008

Accounting Services

Here you can find an overview of our various services:

Trust Account Reconciliation Service

RMA has over 18 years of experience reconciling escrow trust accounts. This is our signature service. We are the best.

We work with the monthly accounting reports generated from any escrow trust accounting program, including the leaders in the industry: SMS Trustlink, SMS Streamline, FPS Summit, and RBJ. We also service AWI and Simon.

Daily trust account reconciling is available if you use the RBJ software and bank with Union Bank.

Our reports are clear, detailed, and concise. We document the book and bank discrepancies with reference to an escrow file number and the document number. We tell you what went wrong and how to fix it. For example, deposit discrepancies are traced to the deposit ticket; we do the work so you can process escrows.

Special services provided at no extra charge:

  1. Telephone support to assist with the correction of reconciliation exceptions.
  2. We reconcile the interest-bearing savings accounts to the savings activity reports.
  3. Priority service is given to those clients who are being audited by the Department of Corporations.
  4. Paid checks are arranged in numerical order.

Procedures:

  1. Client delivers the month-end trust accounting reports and documents.
  2. Bank statement is mailed to R. Mares & Associates, Inc. directly from the bank. Paid checks are put in numerical order.
  3. The trust account information is reconciled to the bank account information. Exception items are listed on the reconciliation report in detail.
  4. Any interest-bearing trust accounts are reconciled to the monthly bank statements and savings activity reports.
  5. The turn-around time for our reconciliation work ranges from 3 to 5 days. We work on a first-in first-out schedule. The completed report and the documents submitted by the client are returned to the client by courier.

The monthly charge ranges from $275 to $725. The fee is determined by the check volume. Newly licensed escrow companies and new escrow divisions will be charged $175.00 per month for the first three months.

General Ledger Accounting

Section 1732.3 of the California Code of Regulations requires that licensed Escrow Agents "establish and maintain currently" the general ledger books of the Escrow Corporation.

RMA has worked primarily with licensed Escrow Agent corporations for the last 15 years. We posses the knowledge to properly classify and post disbursements unique to the escrow industry, to monitor compliance with the D.O.C.'s financial requirement, and to assist the CPA with the required annual audit report.

Our service includes:

  1. Monthly coding and posting of the deposits and disbursements from the Client's bank account(s).
  2. Preparation of the following monthly reports:
    1. Balance Sheet
    2. Profit or Loss Statement
    3. Trial Balance
    4. General Ledgers
    5. General Journals
    6. Bank Account Reconciliation(s)
  3. At the end of the company's fiscal year a full general ledger report is provided to the C.P.A. to facilitate the annual audit.
  4. At the end of each calendar year 1099-Misc forms are completed as directed by the Client.

Monthly Charge: $275.00 - $400.00 including overnight delivery of the completed work. The monthly fee is determined by the size of the company, the number of disbursements made on a monthly basis, and the complexity of the accounting. Newly licensed escrow companies will be charged $175.00 per month for the first three months, starting with the capitalization audit.

Quickbooks software set-up and training for newly licensed escrow companies is available for $500.00 for a two hour on-site session. A discount will apply to those clients who use the QuickBooks accounting program and transmit the data electronically to RMA.

Payroll Services

R. Mares and Associates, Inc., offers complete payroll services tailored to escrow companies.

We can process payroll weekly, bi-weekly, or semi-monthly.

We provide W-4 forms, I-9 forms, and the required DOC and EAFC personnel forms for new employees.

Commission checks can be combined with regular pay or processed as separate checks, either through W-2 or 1099 processing.

We can either deliver printed payroll checks, process direct deposit payroll, or fax payroll reports for your use.

We process payroll tax deposit each pay period. And prepare the required IRS and EDD payroll reports.

Special Projects

R. Mares & Associates, Inc., can provide assistance with the following special needs:

  • Unreconciled trust accounts. In-house or manual accounting systems.
  • Reconstructing trust accounting records. Working with original source documents, such as duplicate receipts and checks, trust accounting reports can be compiled.
  • Clean-up of the escrow trust account reconciliation in preparation of the fiscal year-end audit.
  • Little or no internal controls in place to safeguard the escrow trust account.
  • Setting up a manual accounting system for the escrow trust account.
  • Accounting software conversions.

Hourly rates range from $125 per hour to $200 per hour. Reconstruction projects are charged at a rate of $350.00 per month.

R. Mares & Associates, Inc., Montebello, California 1988-2008 All Rights Reserved