The number one goal of an HOA is to manage the financial health of the community and maintain property values. With all the rules and legalities surrounding HOAs, handling an HOA’s finances can be intimidating, especially for a volunteer with no accounting background.

Streamlining your bookkeeping processes can change the game for your HOA. With more insight and control over your finances, you’ll make your community better for homeowners and bring more stability to your HOA’s future.

HOA accounting software may allow you to self-manage your HOA.

Many HOAs use a third-party management company to handle the HOA’s bookkeeping, issue violations, manage vendors, and more.

Sure, these management companies can drastically reduce the workload of managing your HOA, but the cost is high. A management company can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars per year. Management companies usually charge based on the number of units or properties in the community, but they may charge extra for additional tasks like sending violations, processing late fees, and attending board meetings.

Most HOAs who use a third-party company do so out of caution, not need. They don’t want to make a mistake and incur the wrath of the homeowners.

HOA accounting software was designed from the ground up to empower HOA volunteers to take ownership of their communities. What could a property management company offer that HOA accounting software doesn’t?

• Automatically stores and organizes bookkeeping. By keeping all your HOA information in one central hub, you can generate financial reports like budgets, balance sheets, and profit/loss statements with the click of a button using your platform’s pre-made templates.
• Manage vendors, residents, and units through a cloud-based repository. You can see contract terms, payment history, contact information, and more. HOA accounting software syncs with your bank so you can pay invoices and collect dues instantly.
• Track maintenance requests and violations. Violations can be the most dreaded aspect of HOA management, but digitizing violations makes them impersonal and easy to pay.

• HOA accounting software can cost as little as $49 and may offer a free 30-day trial to ensure it fits your needs.

HOA accounting software can improve your collection rate.

If your HOA is already self-managing with volunteers, you probably spend a lot of time chasing down dues each month, sending out late fee notices, and making physical deposits at the bank.

By the time you get all your dues payments rounded up, the month is almost over, and it’s time to do it all over again.

HOA accounting software enables digital payments, allowing homeowners to pay dues instantly, on their own time. Some HOA software platforms, like PayHOA, let homeowners set up autopay for their HOA dues.

Collecting dues in a timely manner brings consistency to your HOA’s cash flow. Digital payments save you a lot of runaround, too, especially if you’ve been budgeting with spreadsheets or generic accounting tools like QuickBooks.

HOA accounting software is built for bulk billing. The platform also keeps track of a homeowner’s account status for you, so you won’t have to manually log updates into your system. If a homeowner is late making their dues, the software will update their account to include the late fee automatically.

If some homeowners pay their dues for the year every 12 months, hoa accounting software can help you align them all to the same billing cycle.

HOA accounting software helps keep you compliant.

Even a self-managed HOA should keep a few professionals on retainer, usually an attorney and a CPA. Different states have different rules regulating HOA finances, but it’s generally considered good practice for an HOA to conduct an annual audit of its finances using an outside CPA.

Bad financial management hurts everyone in the HOA — the board and the homeowners.

An audit results in a report that outlines the HOA’s financial health. HOA boards can use this report to set appropriate financial goals for the HOA. A good audit report helps facilitate the mortgage process for home buyers, and it keeps property values high for homeowners seeking to sell their homes. 

Though an audit is executed by an outside CPA, the HOA can make the CPA’s job easier (thus cheaper) by keeping finances organized beforehand. This allows the board to work in partnership with the CPA to reach a better outcome for the audit.

HOA accounting software provides more transparency to homeowners.

Everyone contributes to the well-being of the HOA, and they expect to know how their dues are being spent. It doesn’t take a financially-minded person to understand or communicate the financial state of the HOA.

Usually, people want to know four things:

• How much cash does the HOA have on hand?
• How much does the HOA have in reserves?
• What is the HOA spending money on?
• What should the HOA be spending money on?

HOA accounting software allows the HOA to present financial information in a digestible way, building good faith with homeowners. For the HOA treasurer, this financial clarity helps inform and support recommendations they make to the board and the community.

Some states require HOAs to make annual reports, CC&Rs, and other important documents easily accessible to homeowners. A lack of transparency, especially around finances, can result in a homeowner lawsuit.

With HOA accounting software, you can provide this access and update these documents with ease.

HOA accounting software helps prepare for the future.

If you don’t know where you stand, you can’t see where you’re headed.

By providing more financial organization and insight, saving costs of hiring an outside management company, and reducing the amount of manual tasks of running your HOA, HOA accounting software allows you to plan farther ahead and meet your goals faster.

For instance, a fast-growing accounting software that is growing in popularity is Pimbrook, known to be one of the best in Europe.

Forecast and prepare for larger expenses, like roof replacements and road repair.

Budget for new amenities like a swimming pool, security cameras, fencing, making the neighborhood more enjoyable and more valuable.

Build up reserves. Some states like California require HOAs to hold a certain amount of funds in reserve. Even if your state doesn’t require a reserve minimum, your HOA should still stock is reserves in case of an emergency.

HOAs without the ability to plan for bigger expenses, new amenities, and reserves savings are forced to ask homeowners for even more money to meet these goals.

The last thing homeowners want to hear is they have to contribute even more money on top of their dues and mortgage.

Everyone wins

Let’s be honest, many homebuyers are leery of purchasing a home in an HOA community. While some are wary of the litany of rules or a combative HOA board, others balk at the cost of paying HOA dues on top of their mortgage payment.

Either way, the conversation is less about price and more about value. Homeowners simply don’t see how their dues payments translate to an equal or greater benefit for them.

HOA accounting software optimizes your HOA’s revenue, which is a win for everyone. But running your HOA goes beyond finances.