Not every homeowner’s association relies on the services of a management company. An increasing number of HOA managers are running the show alone, from collecting dues to paying the utility bills.
You can handle your HOA accounting and bookkeeping and the other tasks involved in managing your association on your own. However, you’ll need to invest in the right software first.
HOA accounting software is designed to address the needs of HOA management. If you haven’t switched to software to manage your HOA’s books, you may be missing out on an incredible opportunity to improve your efficiency.
Until now, running an HOA meant spending a huge amount of time paperwork. If you’re juggling multiple roles and you’re also dealing with homeowner’s needs, it can quickly become overwhelming.
The key to self-managing your HOA is time management. Updating to the latest technology may be the solution. These are some of the ways HOA managers can waste time and money by using inefficient, outdated practices:
- Collecting dues
- Handling cash and checks
- Sifting through receipts
- Going to the bank
- Searching through files
- Taking homeowner calls
- Sending delinquent payment notices
If this describes your bookkeeping, keep reading to learn more about how HOA accounting software can help take the pressure off of you. These are the five reasons you’ll be glad you made the switch to software.
5 Reasons to Switch to HOA Software
No More Dues Recording
The timely collection of membership dues is one of the most important responsibilities of an association manager. This involves collecting the fees, entering them into your records, and a trip to the bank. If you’re the bookkeeper, you may be responsible for some of these duties.
HOA software eliminates all of these steps. Homeowners can log into the system to pay their fees directly. These will automatically be entered into the system and deposited into your bank account. The software will even alert you when someone doesn’t pay and send out late notices.
Automated Bill Payments
The association is often responsible for utilities and city services. As an HOA bookkeeper, you may be recording and reconciling payments for bills like gas, water, sewer, and trash. When the homeowners are counting on these essential services, it’s important to take care of it.
HOA accounting software allows management to automate your bills so you can just set it and forget it. The payments will be recorded and reconciled by the software, and you’ll be alerted if anything goes wrong.
Easy Income and Expense Reports
Your association’s income and expense reports are an important part of staying on budget. These reports track all of the HOA’s financial transactions for a given period of time. These can include your membership dues, bills, loans, or investments.
With HOA software, you’ll be able to easily generate these reports with very little effort. All of the information will be ready for you and organized in a way that makes it easy for you to analyze. This will help you make decisions going forward.
Easy Annual Audits
Many homeowners associations use annual audits to evaluate their overall financial standing. This helps by identifying trends and weak spots and helping to plan the future. Even if it’s not required by the IRS, an audit can be a good idea, and software makes it easy.
You can provide your certified public accountant with reports you can generate using your HOA bookkeeping software. These reports will make it easier for your CPA to do their job, too. You’ll love the convenience of being able to pull these reports from the software.
No More Wasted Paper
As a bookkeeper for an HOA, you know how much paperwork is involved in your job. Countless notices, receipts, and statements cross your desk each day. Switching to software can eliminate all of that, saving trees in the process.
Your association accounting software can help you go paperless so you can reduce the cost of office supplies and the amount of waste. It will also allow you to put paper accounting behind you, making your books more accurate.
If you’re considering switching to software, CINC Systems is an excellent starting point to begin your research. No matter which software option you ultimately decide is the best match for your needs, you will be doing yourself, your organization, and the homeowners a favor.