The booming commercial real estate market provides a unique and profitable niche industry.

It doesn’t matter what part of the country you are in, the commercial real estate market is booming. But while business owners are spending a ton of money building and remodeling their offices, most are unaware of a concept called cost-segregation which could actually save them money.

Now there is help available for these businesses - Commercial Property consultants of Scottsdale, Arizona. The affiliates of Commercial Property Consultants help small and mid-sized businesses use Fortune 500 strategies to save money by taking advantage of a business real estate tax law which offers substantial benefits to those commercial property owners who are able to use an accelerated tax schedule instead of straight line depreciation.

Commercial Property Consultants was started 3 years ago and now has about 160 affiliates involved in this business opportunity. Scott Sandler, CEO of Commercial Property Consultants, says the opportunities are so great from this business that there is room for probably 400-500 affiliates nationwide.

What is this tax law?
The concept of cost-segregation has been around for awhile but the government has recently made it easier for businesses to use. “However,” points out Sandler, “most CPAs and accountants of small to mid-sized companies are unaware of how cost-segregation works and not equipped to provide this service for their clients as it really requires technical know-how. I’d estimate that 9 out of 10 people in this 3 trillion dollar industry don’t take advantage of this concept and are unaware that this procedure exists.”

To put it simply, a business property can be shown to depreciate in value over time and this depreciation allows the property owner to pay less in taxes from one year to the next. In straight line depreciation, which is what most businesses currently take, all parts of a building and property depreciate at the same rate over a long period of time.

“A commercial property owner who can provide a cost-segregation study will be able to take different depreciations for different assets,” says Sandler. “For example, personal property, such as business furniture, can be depreciated over 5-7 years instead of 39. The cost savings to the owner can be tremendous. Not only does he get the immediate tax savings instead of waiting for years or decades but he also gets the savings at today’s dollar value instead of the greatly reduced value the dollar will have in the future.”

How does a Commercial Property Consultant help?
An accountant is simply not equipped to go into a building or to look at an architect’s drawing and break out the components into separate depreciation areas. But Commercial Property Consultants has engineers specifically trained in this area who can provide this analysis using the IRS provided Audit Techniques Guide.

Even greater savings can be realized if this service is used before or during construction of a commercial property because the analysis can provide suggestions on what to buy to maximize IRS deductions.

As Sandler explains, “This cost-segregation study does not replace an accountant or CFO. Rather, an affiliate of Commercial Property Consultants will provide information to the accountant so the proper IRS forms can be submitted for the maximum allowable deduction and with the appropriate supporting documentation. Through these tax savings, a commercial property owner will realize increased cash flow which he can invest in additional property or put back in the business, resulting in increased profit. Savings from using cost-segregation vs. straight line depreciation can be 10-40%.