Operating a fully-functioning HOA or community association requires significant time and effort, not to mention the specialized skills required.
The board of a homeowners’ association is commonly composed of volunteers with personal careers.
Considering this, handling the various vital requirements and tasks of an HOA could be extremely difficult. For this reason, partnering with a community association management (CAM) company would be a good option for any HOA or community association.
While it is ideal to have a CAM company handle all necessary facets of HOA management, this may not be possible for some homeowner associations.
In this case, HOAs can consider delegating specific tasks to the CAM company– like financial services, for example.
Though other facets are also important, having proper and functioning systems to manage operations is especially important regarding an HOA’s finances.
A well managed financial system, like lubricant that keeps a HOA running without overheating
Financial management is one of an association’s most tedious and complicated tasks.
However, it is also the association’s lifeblood, so it can’t be pushed aside, avoided or taken lightly.
Like in other associations and businesses, it is essential for a Community Association to correctly record and keep track of their cash flow, budgets, billings, taxes, and other financials.
This is why a proper financial system should be in place to make the HOA fully functional and sustainable, indefinitely.
Taking advantage of financial services can save time and money for any HOA
Mismanagement of funds is the main reason HOAs and communities struggle. Even if specific DIY systems are in place, more resources may get shelled out because of such systems.
This is especially true when inevitable system mistakes happen and don’t end up getting addressed. While these DIY systems seem to be a cheaper alternative, they may become a significant source of leakage over time.
These leakages may lead to financial ruin and turmoil.
Availing of financial services from a property management partner can help your HOA handle finances more effectively. Payables handling, collection management, financial reporting, and even sound financial advice can all be accessed by your HOA should you decide to avail of financial services.
Other than helping HOAs with proper financial systems and financial management, a community association management partner can relieve the homeowners’ association board of specific tedious tasks.
What options do HOA have to manage their finances?
In order to have good financial management, some changes need to be made. These activities are pretty complex and time-consuming.
Considering how enormous the scope is, non-specialists may have difficulty managing finances effectively.
- Have an in-house financial specialist.
- Partner with a community association management company.
If the HOA is lucky it may have a financial expert among its board members.
However, considering how the board of directors consists of community volunteers with jobs other professional obligations outside the community association, running all the day-to-day task may not be possible for most HOAs.
Thus, the best option would be to partner with a community association management company and take advantage of their financial services by delegating all the necessary tasks to them so that board members can focus on high level decision tasks.
As mentioned earlier, financial tasks are not easy to do. They require expertise and precision and conscience.
Thus, by availing of financial services from a community association management company, your HOA can be relieved from these taxing and burdensome activities.
Outsourcing financial services helps save money in the long run, and it relieves the board from the stress of handling financial duties, that can be delegated to a team of experts.
Finally, it is also important to consider that sensitive financial data must be properly managed in order to comply with state regulations.
If you can’t entrust all HOA management tasks to a community association management partner, you should at least consider availing of financial services from one. This way, you can ensure that your HOA is on the right trajectory. In the end, availing of financial services could help your HOA save time and money in the long run.
