An HOA’s financial health is critical to its success and reputation within the community. Because of this, one of the primary responsibilities of HOA management is to provide a promising financial future for the homeowners. 

Homeowners association software helps an HOA build toward a prosperous tomorrow by maintaining a clear focus on the organization’s financial situation and offering tools to record, observe, and analyze every interaction. With the right software, an HOA can improve their organization while streamlining their daily processes. 

Table of Contents 

Simplify Invoicing with Homeowners Association Software 

Modernize Payments with Homeowners Association Software

Budget Smarter with Homeowners Association Software

Upgrade your Financial Reporting with Homeowners Association Software

Facilitate Healthier Record Keeping with Homeowners Association Software 

Simplify Invoicing with Homeowners Association Software

There are many operation costs associated with running an HOA managed community. In order to maintain and invest in the community, the HOA must collect monthly or yearly dues. Sending invoices to homeowners and easily collecting payments should be a smooth and simple process. 

Without the proper software, distributing invoices can be an arduous task. Sending individual emails or letters can be time-consuming and confusing without a record of which homeowners’ invoices have already been sent, and when. Sending an invoice late or multiple times can make the HOA look disorganized and untrustworthy.  

PayHOA provides a quick and easy way to invoice residents en masse. Simply create an invoice and add the appropriate units, then select the invoice as a one-time bill or recurring. If sent through the software, a copy of the communication is saved on the profile of each unit. 

Homeowners association software can also handle invoicing physical mail for your organization. Simply upload a PDF of your invoice, and PayHOA will print, stuff, and send the letters. It takes care of tedious tasks so your HOA can focus on more complex and important issues. 

Solidifying a good system for invoicing creates a solid foundation for your HOA to collect monthly dues and fund the community. 

Modernize Payments with Homeowners Association Software

Many HOAs rely on collecting paper checks from residents and depositing them in various financial accounts. This can result in a lot of time spent contacting homeowners, driving around to receive the payments, and making multiple trips to different banks to deposit the dues. 

Homeowners association software offers several improved methods to collect dues from community members. This includes: 

• Online portals: PayHOA offers a secure portal for homeowners to pay their dues online either through ACH or with a major credit card. Residents can login and pay dues at their leisure 24/7, making it convenient for everyone to pay and receive dues. 
• Autopay: Setting up recurring charges with autopay prevents forgotten dues and late charges for the resident, and ensures the HOA receives its funds in a timely manner. Both parties benefit with autopay.
• Lockbox: For homeowners who prefer to pay with a physical check, PayHOA offers a Lockbox function where homeowners can mail their checks. PayHOA collects and deposits the checks, saving the HOA volunteers and residents the hassle of delivery. 

It is predicted more than 6.1 billion people will use digital payments by 2023, but individuals will always have a preference between checks and credit cards. Because of this, HOAs should offer an assortment of payment methods to its homeowners.  

Budget Smarter with Homeowners Association Software 

An informed and realistic budget should form the foundation for your HOA’s financial plan. A budget helps the HOA project their revenue and expenses while preparing for any unexpected costs that may arise throughout the year. It also helps them set dues for homeowners at an appropriate price. 

Referencing and analyzing financial reports from the past three to five years will provide a good place to start creating a budget. Homeowners association software with comprehensive financial reporting offers a clear picture of an HOA’s financial history and an idea of where it is heading in the future. 

Once your HOA knows its approximate spending for the year, you can factor in any special projects, reserve fund additions, or facilities upgrades the HOA wants to undertake. Having the necessary funds up front to pay for these projects prevents you from having to ask homeowners for more money. Community members will have confidence the HOA is running properly when it sees its dues being put to good use to improve their property value.

HOA accounting software, like PayHOA, offers charts and reports to compare your budget with your actual spending so that you can check your progress throughout the year and make sure you are staying on track. Staying on budget inspires confidence in the HOA to make decisions for the entire community.

Upgrade Your Financial Reporting with Homeowners Association Software

Thorough reports are essential to healthy finances for an institution. Homeowners association software should offer both templates and customizable reports so you can track spending and revenue for your HOA. A general ledger, balance sheet, profit and loss statement, and budget report are just a few regular reports you should frequently analyze. 

Homeowners association software syncs to your bank ledger, which means all financial information is in the system and categorized without any effort on your part.

Financial reporting through your homeowners association software will help you keep a close eye on your organization’s finances. You will be able to quickly discern potential problems and address them before they turn into larger issues. 

By forecasting major expenses, the HOA will be able to be proactive when responding to major expenses, rather than having to react quickly and without the proper resources available. Ultimately, reviewing these reports gives the HOA power and clarity to make the best decisions for their community. 

Facilitate Healthier Record Keeping with Homeowners Association Software

Comprehensive homeowners association software serves as the memory for your HOA, from maintaining your up-to-date transaction history to saving all communications sent through the platform. Having a detailed record will ensure there are never any unanswered questions or lost time trying to figure out who received which message and when. 

Homeowners association software also acts as a central hub for all of your organization’s important documents, such as bylaws, its Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions, and community regulations. Once uploaded into the system, the documents can be accessed anywhere and at any time by the parties with permission to view the files. 

Having all of your documents easily accessible in one location creates transparency within the community and shared awareness of the rules. With everyone on the same page, financial health is more achievable and a sense of community is created. 

Your HOA’s audit is an important event each year. Your accountant will need all of your organization’s information, from bank statements and reconciliations, to the budget sheet, to bylaws and rules. Having your bank account synced with your homeowners association will mean your HOA is ready for the audit without much additional preparation. 

Good record keeping will help your accountant immensely once it is time to perform your annual audit. With all of your HOA’s documents in one place, the accountant will have no trouble conducting the audit.

Ultimately, homeowners association software improves an HOA’s financial health by providing easy to use, sophisticated tools in a central location. Proactive financial planning strengthens the foundation and longevity of each organization as it grows each year. 

PayHOA offers an HOA management software solution for HOAs of any size or managerial priorities. To find out if PayHOA fits all your HOA management needs, try our software free for 30 days.