James Kennedy sits down with Alison Carnie, founder of Domino Bookkeeping, to demystify Profit First for real-estate businesses – and how pairing the method with Relay can make cash management simple, visual, and disciplined. From flipping vs. buy-and-hold accounting to multi-account cash allocation, Alison shares the practical playbook she uses with clients (and why her psychology background makes her a better numbers partner).
About Alison Carnie
Alison Carnie is the owner of Domino Bookkeeping, a U.S.-based firm serving real-estate brokerages and investors nationwide. A former internal auditor and corporate accountant (Crate & Barrel) with master’s degrees in Business and Accounting, Alison is also a QuickBooks ProAdvisor and a Profit First practitioner. She helps clients implement modern, bank-integrated systems (notably Relay) to get clean books, steady cash flow, and stress-free tax time.
What You’ll Learn
- Profit First, made practical: How to set target allocations (Profit, Owner’s Pay, Tax, Opex) and start small (e.g., 1% moves) without starving operations.
- Relay for Profit First: Why multiple no-fee accounts, easy transfers, role-based access, and built-in memos reduce month-end questions and close time.
- Real-estate bookkeeping nuances: The different treatment for flips (COGS/PL) vs. buy-and-hold (capitalize to the balance sheet), plus what to do at year-end.
- In-service dates & cost basis: How timing changes where rehab and holding costs live – and why your CPA keeps asking for that “placed-in-service” date.
- Cash clarity > one big pot: Using an income-only account and allocations to stop commingling and earmark taxes and profit before spending.
- Client access & controls: Why read-only banking and segregation of duties protect both you and your bookkeeper.
Episode Highlights
- “Profit First is treating profit like a non-negotiable bill – you pay it before you pay anything else.”
- “Relay’s multiple free accounts and same-login client switching are game-changers for bookkeepers and owners.”
- “For a flip, I want everything visible on the P&L – until 12/31. Then I’ll move it to the balance sheet and reverse on 1/1 if it’s not sold.”
- “The in-service date dictates how we treat rehab and holding costs for rentals – your tax pro isn’t being picky; it truly matters.”
- “If all your cash sits in one account, you’re guessing. Separate buckets make the right decision obvious.”
More About Alison’s Role
At Domino Bookkeeping, Alison builds end-to-end finance stacks for real-estate pros: QuickBooks Online, Relay banking, structured allocations, monthly closes, and investor-friendly reporting. For brokerages, she handles gross commissions, agent splits, fee net-outs, and 1099s; for investors, she sets up property-level tracking, flip vs. hold workflows, and clean handoffs to tax.
