The start of a new year is a time for reflection on what went well and what didn’t go so well in the prior year. Whether you call them resolutions or goals what can you do to take steps to improve your community or your time spent on the Board? Let’s take a look at what could be on your list of 2024 HOA & Condo Board resolutions and goals.
First, what happened last year will have an impact on current planning. Over the last few years, we have had significant price inflation. A standout example of this is 2023 saw significant, double-digit, increases in insurance costs forcing many associations to levy special assessments for this over-budget expense. The impact of cost overruns on a fixed community budget requires having a firm grasp on your income, expenses, and overall financial health.
With this in mind here are some items that may make it onto your list of 2024 HOA & Condo Board resolutions and goals:
Clear Financial Picture
Do you have a budget that accounts for the increased cost of services? We hear it all the time that no one wants to increase charges but you can’t use earmarked reserve funds and owners don’t want unpredictable and unbudgeted special assessments.
Start your budgeting process earlier. If you are on a calendar year-end as your fiscal year-end, we suggest starting August 15th, by October 15th finish your budget, by November 15th ratify your budget and provide the budget to your accounting team to get the fees input for a smooth January 1 billing
Receive financial reports on time – too many boards don’t get info for several months – this is too late to be of use.
Get a Grip on Expenses
More than one Board member (or a Board member and a manager) reviews bills before paying
The comparative income & expense report shows actual income and expenses versus what was budgeted and any variance you should research
Don’t put yourself in a position to spend more time juggling cash flow and payments and worry about services being interrupted.
Collect Your Funds
Remind owners to pay – send out statement reminders or coupons
Make it easy for owners to pay – online, check, & accept credit cards
Deposit funds quickly and record them quickly for accurate delinquency info and better cash flow
Get online access for the Board to view up-to-date delinquency information
Add deterrents to non-payment: late fees, late reminders, reporting to credit rating agencies, following a collection policy, and escalating delinquent owners to a collection agency or attorney
Save Money
If you’ve done the above items you may need to look for other ways to save money – are there projects you need to defer to the following year and give yourself more time to increase your common fees?
Can you have a community clean-up day? How about a community landscaping project? If you buy plants and mulch can some volunteers help replace old plantings with new ones and you save the labor costs?
If you are using a management company and your community is simpler, do you think you can self-manage or self-manage with an outside firm handling your monthly accounting? Then you can use the difference to meet any budget shortfalls or save for capital projects.
Make the Board’s Role Easier
Use software and online tools to reduce manual tasks; i.e. don’t manually create spreadsheets, fill out deposit slips, and drive deposits to the bank
Use a system that allows owners to view their ledgers (amount due and payment history) online so owners see this themselves and don’t ask the Board (this is the limitation with using QuickBooks for an HOA or Condo or older software like Tops Pro)
Make it easier for busy or traveling Board members – one example is online bill approval versus shuttling invoices around for sign-off and signing checks
Use software that provides all the main board tasks you need to do in one location (instead of logging into 4 different tools or coming up with piecemeal spreadsheets and manual solutions
Have a system for online documents that are shared with the Board and owners so owners can self-serve this info instead of always asking Boards for it (reminder a best practice is to have Board restricted folders for more sensitive information like owner delinquency reports and actions, etc.)
Stop spending as much time on accounting items – if self-managing, use an outside firm to handle this so you don’t have to
Improve Service
Improve Board and homeowner customer service
If you are self-managing use a firm to do this so it isn’t waiting for a busy Board member to return calls and emails
Stop chasing vendors for information or answers (management staff, accounting company staff, contractors, etc).
Consider split or hybrid management if you like the job your manager does on physical management but they are not equipped or fall short on accounting. Hire the manager to help with the things they do well and hire an outside service to handle the accounting and pair them together to improve your overall service.
If your current provider can’t call or email you back find someone that will. Check out online reviews that state the potential new provider is good at service
We encourage you to share this before or during your next Board meeting to help you with a brainstorming session to come up with your community’s 2024 HOA & Condo Board resolutions and goals.