Why Choose The HOA Controller?
About
The HOA controller was created to assist small homeowners and condo owners associations with the simple need for bookkeeping that is cost effective, consistently handled and done correctly.
Owner associations are difficult enough to manage without the added inconvenience of needing to find competent help in the bookkeeping and accounting areas.
The HOA controller provides ongoing service to its’ clients with the added benefit of not changing, as boards and owners change.
WHY CHOOSE THE HOA CONTROLLER?
- Timely and accurate bookkeeping
- Financial documents are provided monthly and record keeping completed according to the covenants and bylaws of your association
- Strong internal controls and oversight by a bonded company and outside accountant
- All necessary regulatory filings handled
- Consistency in accounting: small owner groups have few “volunteer” resources to choose from – many owners do not want o spend time volunteering for their association or have done it. With the accounting aspect completed, the treasury role becomes much more manageable
- Transparency with the HOA board thru a shared environment so you can see everything your controller sees and does – as much or as little as you prefer!
It’s time for a change
Shuffling the owner’s association treasury role has never been more difficult and inefficient. Volunteers are great but with the responsibility of having to keep accurate financial records that can be made available to your owners’ group – it is quite a task to take on. Hiring out for these tasks is advisable, but then WHO to hire, and at what cost?
How we got started…
A few years ago, our founder Deborah Kaplan had moved into her 3rd HOA community and the word was out…an accountant was moving in!
She was immediately recruited to assist with the treasury role, and at the time the association had engaged an outside CPA firm to handle the books, bill paying and invoicing for approximately $250/month. Great!!! She thought…
Soon into the role, Deborah was seeing the CPA bills come in – only the first invoice was for $250 – the bills began increasing from there each month – bouncing around until one exceeded $700 for one month. The entire HOA annual budget was only about $20k. This was eye opening, and though the association liked having an outside service handling these tasks – it was becoming difficult to justify the expense. Knowing the time involved, she had one of her bookkeepers assist with the HOA books for a fixed fee – No need to review bills – just a predetermined rate that made sense for the HOA.
A few months later one of Deborah’s actual accounting clients – a real estate developer completed a project where she had handled the financial statements and other accounts tasks. They were ready to spin off the commercial condo owners association and asked if Deborah would handle the accounting for the new president. Truly, this was too small a job to take on, she thought. She bid it anyway, the same way she bid the HOA – fixed fee for the required services. They accepted it and…a new business venture was born!
The days of passing the buck around the owners associations to handle the bookkeeping amongst its residents is changing: We will handle your state and federal annual filing requirements, 1099 production and liability issues make having someone else handle the books and financial tasks makes sense. No more collecting dues from your neighbors!