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Payments for real estate brokerages, with escrow left alone
Most of what a brokerage collects is not brokerage money, and the fastest way to create a compliance problem is to let a card terminal touch the part that is not.
Which money a card may touch, and which it may not
The distinction below is the whole design. Everything else follows from it.
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Earnest money is not brokerage income
Buyer deposits belong in the escrow or trust account the transaction is written against, and the card acceptance a brokerage uses day to day is deliberately scoped so it cannot reach that account. DRAFT — pending counsel
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Administrative items are what cards are for
Transaction coordination, application handling, marketing packages and desk items are brokerage income and belong on the operating account, where card acceptance is straightforward.
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Commission splits are a payout schedule
Agent payouts run on their own schedule against closed transactions, so an agent can see what is owed and when without asking the office to check.
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Every payment names its transaction
Payments carry the transaction reference through settlement, so the brokerage books tie to deals rather than to a daily total that has to be decomposed by hand.
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A team lead is not an accounting boundary
Team-level reporting is a view over the same ledger rather than a second set of books, which is what stops two systems disagreeing at year end.
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Refunds go back the way they came
A returned administrative payment is issued from the operating account it settled into, and never from the account holding somebody deposit. DRAFT — pending counsel
What to ask before a brokerage changes processors
Five questions that surface the client-funds problem before it becomes an audit finding.
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Ask what the terminal is prevented from doing
A provider who describes only what the terminal can do has not thought about the account it must never reach. DRAFT — pending counsel
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Ask how a payment is tied to a transaction
If the reference lives only in a note field, the brokerage books will not tie to deals and somebody will spend a week each quarter proving it.
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Ask how agent payouts are evidenced
The agent needs to see the split and the date without calling the office. Ask to see that screen.
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Ask what happens when a deal falls through
Administrative items already earned and deposits held are different questions with different answers, and a system that treats them alike will get one of them wrong. DRAFT — pending counsel
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Ask who is on the hook for a dispute on an administrative charge
The answer should name the operating account and a person, not a process.
Questions brokers ask
Answers touching money the brokerage holds for somebody else are marked draft until counsel signs them off.
Can we take earnest money by card?
Buyer deposits belong in the escrow or trust account written into the transaction, and our card acceptance is scoped so it cannot settle there. (DRAFT — pending counsel)
What can a brokerage put on a card?
Brokerage income: transaction coordination, application handling, marketing packages and desk items. Those settle to the operating account.
How are agent commission splits handled?
As a payout schedule against closed transactions, visible to the agent with the amount owed and the date it is due.
Does team reporting mean a second set of books?
No. Team views read the same ledger, so there is never a second version to reconcile at year end.
Do we have to change our transaction management software?
No. We integrate with it. If it is doing its job, we leave it in place.
Talk to somebody who has boarded a brokerage
Tell us about the brokerage and how to reach you.
Thank you. We will book a short call and bring the client-funds question to it in writing.
We will implement whatever is right for you — including keeping what you have.
Two free tools, before you talk to anybody
Both are open to anyone, and neither asks about a listing or a client.
- Answer the boarding questions Say that application fees, earnest money and commission splits each need their own trail, and it returns a starting configuration that will not let a card touch the fund it must not touch.
- Get a free statement audit Send a month of application and administration fees. We name the lines and show which are brokerage income and which are only passing through.
Last updated: 2026-08-17