Client Case Study
From Guesswork to Confidence: How PMI Blue Ridge Recovered $50,000 and Built a Bookkeeping Foundation for Growth
Results at a Glance
Recovered from trust account in cleanup
Funds owed to PMI Blue Ridge that had gone undetected
In bookkeeper time redirected to operations
In-house bookkeeper now supports broader STR business functions
Projected best year in PMI Blue Ridge history
Accurate financials supporting record-breaking growth
About PMI Blue Ridge
PMI Blue Ridge is a full-service real estate asset management company based in Western North Carolina, providing professional property management and real estate brokerage services to both residential and commercial property owners across the region.
Founded by Richard Prince and his son Corey, the business grew out of a shared passion for real estate and a gap they spotted in the local market. There was no dedicated property management company serving the WNC mountains. That search led them to PMI, the number one property management franchise in America, with over 140 locations and 40,000 properties under management nationwide.
Corey, a licensed Real Estate Broker and General Contractor, co-owns and operates the franchise day to day. Beyond running the business, he serves as treasurer of his local Rotary club and enjoys life in the Blue Ridge mountains with his wife Kasey and their two young children.
As a short-term rental operator within the PMI franchise network, Corey manages client funds, owner payouts, and the full operational complexity that comes with scaling a property management business. Getting the financial side of that right isn't optional. It's the foundation everything else is built on.
The Challenge: Confident Owners, Uncertain Numbers
Corey had built a successful PMI franchise in the Blue Ridge region, and by most measures, things were running smoothly. Owners were being paid correctly. Properties were being managed well. But when it came to the business side of the books, specifically what PMI Blue Ridge itself was owed, something felt off.
Like many property managers, Corey had come into the franchise with a promise that bookkeeping would be handled. PMI corporate offered its own solution, but it didn't deliver. He moved to an in-house bookkeeper using VR Platform, which helped but still left gaps. Reports didn't fully make sense. The monthly trust-to-operating transfers never quite felt right. And there was always a nagging sense that more money should be coming his way.
"I always knew the owner payments were right. But I had no confidence in my side of it."
There was no single breaking point. Just ongoing uncertainty, and a growing conviction that the numbers weren't telling the full story.
"I knew there was money in there," Corey says. "I just didn't know how to find it."
The Keystone Cleanup
Corey had known Ben Coons at Keystone Bookkeepers for a few years before signing on. The timing wasn't right at first, but when Keystone introduced the Trust Essentials program, a more accessible entry point with shared responsibilities, it became the right fit.
The first thing Keystone did was clean up the books. It took about a month. What they found confirmed everything Corey had suspected.
"It was close to $50,000 that we ended up getting to transfer. It wasn't a small amount."
The cleanup also required retraining the in-house bookkeeper on the right processes, a transition that took around three months. The experience with Keystone itself was smooth throughout.
"There weren't any pain points with Keystone," Corey says. "It was just learning a different way of doing things. It took a burden off my shoulders. For the first time, I finally felt like the numbers were right."
After Keystone: Clarity, Confidence, and Room to Grow
Once the books were cleaned up and the right systems were in place, the difference showed up across the whole business. Keystone took on the majority of the bookkeeping under the Trust Essentials program, while the in-house team shifted to supporting other areas of operations.
"Before, she was doing 100% of the books and it was a full-time job. Now she has time to help with other things, and that takes a lot off me."
Corey worked closely with Keystone team members JL and Jennifer to restructure P&L reporting in a way that actually made sense for how the business runs.
"It wasn't categorized wrong before. It just wasn't in a way I could look at and understand the numbers. Now I'm going to be extremely confident in what I'm looking at."
That clarity has a direct operational payoff. Where adding 15 properties in a month used to create bookkeeping pressure, it no longer does.
"Bookkeeping in my business is the number one most important thing. I am the steward of other people's money, and you don't mess with other people's money."
Adding Vacation Rental Tax Services
As the relationship with Keystone grew, Corey made the decision to bring his income tax filing under the same roof. It was a move driven by a simple reality: his previous accountants, while technically competent, didn't know the short-term rental industry.
"They were good accountants, but they didn't understand this business. Keystone found some things that were being done wrong because they know property management inside and out."
Short-term rental tax filing carries nuances that general accountants often miss, from lodging tax compliance to how management fees, owner payouts, and trust activity are treated. Having a team that lives in this space every day means those details don't fall through the cracks.
For Corey, consolidating everything under one team removed a layer of uncertainty he hadn't fully realized he was carrying. "Having Keystone do both sides has been a really good fit. Someone has the full picture."
Streamlined Workflows with the Client Portal
As an early beta tester of Keystone's client portal, Corey has already seen meaningful time savings in his monthly statement review process.
Before the portal, reviewing statements meant taking separate notes and writing out detailed emails for every property. Now, notes go directly onto the statement in real time, and bulk approvals handle the rest.
"What used to take hours now takes significantly less time."
As an early adopter, Corey has been actively collaborating with the Keystone team on ongoing improvements, and his feedback is already shaping the next round of updates.
Looking Ahead: Best Year Ever
Despite a difficult 2025 due to Hurricane Helene, PMI Blue Ridge is entering 2026 with the strongest outlook it has ever had.
"We're super busy, and knowing the books are right just gives me a lot of confidence that we're actually going to be making the money we should be making."
For other short-term rental managers sitting on the fence, Corey's message is direct: "It's the most important thing in the business. If you're at all unsure whether your financials are right, it's a no-brainer. Especially now with the Trust Essentials program. It's affordable. Any size PM could afford it."
"I don't know how many other PMs have signed up, but I'm a pretty big advocate."
When asked what surprised him most about working with Keystone, Corey pointed to something simple: availability. "Ben has responded to my emails at 11 o'clock at night when it wasn't necessary. That's the mentality I have as a business owner too. That's what good customer service looks like, and I like that about them."
Final Thoughts
For Corey, the biggest change is simple:
Less stress.
More clarity.
Complete confidence.
Ready to find out what your books are really telling you?
Book a free call with Keystone Bookkeepers at keystonebookkeepers.com