Tag: bookkeeping services

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Rules Every HOA Board Member Should Follow – Part 2

Hello, and welcome back to our blog here at RS Fincher. In our last blog, we took a look at several rules every HOA board member should follow. We talked about understanding the community, asking questions, and reading the CC&Rs. This time, we’re going to talk about several more things that every board member should do. If you have any questions about getting help for managing your HOA community in Raleigh and the surrounding area, don’t hesitate to contact RS Fincher.

Read the bylaws

Even more important than the CC&Rs are the bylaws. Bylaws tell the reader how the board will operate, how often meetings will be held, the duties of each position on the board, as well as membership voting rights. For residents, these bylaws are important to read so that they know how their HOA management works, but they’re even more important for board members to understand so they can be better at fulfilling their position on the HOA board.

Go to board meetings

There’s nothing more frustrating as an HOA board president or board member to see people not showing up to board meetings. Board meetings are usually planned well in advance so that everyone can make it and they are absolutely critical to the success of not only the board but the community as a whole. Board meets help everyone get on track and allow members to speak their mind about any concerns or ideas.

Seek advice

It never hurts to seek out advice on any questions you may have about running your position. The HOA board president is a great person to talk to, as well as lawyers, or anyone else who has previously worked in your position and may have more experience with certain situations. There’s never a bad time to seek out expert advice.

Contact RS Fincher today

Running an HOA community is no simple task and you shouldn’t have to do it alone. RS Fincher is proud to support local Raleigh HOAs run their communities with a comprehensive list of services. These include everything from bookkeeping, accounting, and financial reporting to managing service requests and overseeing board meetings. We will work closely with the board president and board members to understand what goals the community has, then do everything we can to help you reach them quickly and affordably. If you have any questions or you’re ready to get started, contact us today.

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Rules Every HOA Board Member Should Follow

Being an HOA board member or president is generally a great experience. It allows people to take on new challenges outside of their normal full-time job and also learn how to take responsibility and make some big decisions that will impact their community (hopefully for the better). Although HOA management is usually a positive experience, heavy workloads along with a lack of experience can lead to complications. In this blog, we’re going to talk about several rules that all HOA board members should follow.

Understand your community

The most important thing you can do as an HOA board member is to have a better understanding of your community and its needs. Although you should already have a good understanding of your community just by living in it, you shouldn’t assume that the problems or concerns that you have faced are the only concerns out there. You should take every opportunity to speak with people in your community and meet new people to see what their concerns are. Once it comes time to perform your board duties, you’ll have a better idea of what should be done to satisfy everyone’s needs rather than just the needs of a few.

Ask questions

Nobody would be able to get anywhere without questions, and great ones at that. However, that doesn’t mean you should be afraid to ask questions, no matter how silly or insignificant you think they are. The truth of the matter is that as a board member, this isn’t your only job. You have a full-time job that you need to focus on, and probably a family that needs your time too. So there really isn’t any time to be walking around with unanswered questions whether it’s for another board member, the president, or a resident. Asking questions will also give other people an idea of what your concerns are.

Understand the CC&Rs

CC&Rs or Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions indicate what things can and cannot be done by those living in the community. For example, they could dictate that homeowners can’t keep certain things in their yard or park a car on the street. These restrictions are in place for the benefit of everyone in the community, so it’s in your best interest to understand them.

Contact an HOA management company

The great thing about being an HOA board member is that you don’t necessarily have to do everything alone. Part of being a board member is being a team player and that means giving and taking advice when it’s necessary. Although your peers are great people to go to for help, your HOA may need more than that. At RS Fincher, we provide comprehensive HOA management services. We don’t completely take board member’s jobs off their hands, but we provide guidance and services for every aspect of HOA management. What this means is board members will have a lower workload and be more confident that everything they’re doing is in compliance with regulations. If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to contact us.

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Tips For Better HOA Financial Management – Part 2

Hello, and welcome back to our blog here at RS Fincher. If you recall from last time, we talked about several financial management tips for you and your HOA board of directors. We talked about understanding basis of accounting, understanding federal and state laws, as well as having a clear and organized budget that will work several years down the line. This time, we’re going to talk about several more tips to help you manage your HOA community. If you’d like to learn more about RS Fincher and our HOA management services, contact us today.

Perform an annual audit

Even if you’re not required to do an annual audit, HOA boards should still do one, especially if it has a lot of cash flowing in and out. An audit is one of the most all-inclusive types of reports. It allows you to understand the HOA community as a whole by focusing on verification and substantiation procedures, in addition to inventories with creditors and debtors.

Shop locally

Shopping locally for everything that your HOA needs is almost always a good idea. Not only does this mean your pumping money back into the local community and homeowners in the area, but it may be beneficial for the board and the HOA as a whole. HOA boards that shop locally usually end up with loyalty rewards or discounts that can go a long way towards creating a sound and stable financial management plan.

Don’t forget security

The security of your bank account is fundamental to the success of your HOA community. Since the security of the community’s funds is important for both board members and residents, it’s important to ensure that everyone is on board and that no major purchases are made without first being approved by the board.

Learn from each other

Since the majority of HOA board members work full-time jobs and have to manage their own finances on top of that, it’s important that everyone learns from and bounces ideas off each other. Being a board member is a huge responsibility, so don’t be afraid to ask for help or take on new members to handle the workload.

Speak with an HOA management company

If you’ve followed some of our tips and are still experiencing difficulties managing your HOA’s financials, you should contact RS Fincher to learn about our HOA community management services. When you hire us, we will provide you with accounting and bookkeeping services; weekly, monthly, and yearly financial reporting, as well as coaching board members, to better handle financial situations. But that’s not all, RS Fincher will help you with all of your HOA management responsibilities from overseeing board meetings to managing facilities and amenities. We will work closely with your HOA board of directors to understand what goals you have, then formulate a comprehensive plan to see it all come to fruition. Managing an HOA community is no simple task, so don’t be afraid to call in some help. Contact RS Fincher today to learn more about us.

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Tips For Better HOA Financial Management

Financial management is a critical component of any HOA board, but all too often, it’s something that many board members avoid due to lack of experience or knowledge in the area. It’s not unusual for an HOA board member to have no experience tracking budgets or creating financial reports. And if these duties are neglected each year, you may find your community in a state of disarray or financial turmoil. In this blog, we’re going to talk about some helpful tips for managing your HOA’s financials and staying on track.

Understand basis of accounting

If you want to better manage your HOA finances, you’re going to need to know what basis of accounting you should be using when preparing your interim monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements. These include accrual basis of accounting, cash basis of accounting, and modified accrual basis of accounting. Accrual basis of accounting is generally seen as the best option because it is comprehensive. This basis of accounting is when all financial transactions are reported on the homeowners association’s financial statements. Cash basis of accounting records income and expenses when cash is actually exchanged. Finally, modified accrual basis of accounting is a combination of the two. Revenues are reported when they are earned whereas expenses are reported when they’re paid. Although it is not in conformance with the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP),  it is used as an acceptable basis of accounting for interim reporting for HOAs.

Understand federal and state laws

When creating and distributing financial statements, you won’t be able to just do whatever works for you. There are certain federal and state laws that you will need to follow in order to ensure that your HOA’s practices are legal and fair to homeowners. For example, after yearly reports, financial statements will need to be physically distributed to homeowners within a certain period of time and the HOA board must be able to provide certain financial documents if they are requested. Make sure you understand all federal and state regulations and laws.

Have a clear budget

Having a budget for your HOA community is similar to having a budget for your own personal income, just on a much larger scale. However, one problem many HOA leaders make is that they’re not specific enough with their categories. For example, as you manage your general ledger account, you should have it divided into separate categories like landscaping and maintenance. This way you can create sub-categories to budget specific projects that you have going under each category.

Another thing you need to make sure to do is to ensure this system will work well into the future. If you change treasurers or have an assistant treasurer on the job, there may be complications if the categories aren’t easy to understand and make sense.

Hire an HOA management company

If you’re having trouble managing your HOA community finances, one of the best things you can do for yourself and your board is to hire a qualified HOA management company. HOA management companies like RS Fincher are essential for managing HOA communities of all sizes. With us, you’ll never have to worry about your bookkeeping, accounting, or financial statements. We work closely with HOA board members to understand their goals, then do everything we can to make them happen. And financial management is only a small part of what we do. RS Fincher will guide your board of directors through every aspect of HOA management and establish a system that works best for you and your residents. If you have any questions or you’re ready to get started, contact us today.

Read part two of this blog to learn some more helpful tips about financial management.

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Tips For Having A More Productive HOA Board Meeting

The Davis-Stirling act requires that your community association board has regular meetings, and since these meetings are one of the only times you’ll have all your board members together in one place, you should make sure you take advantage of them and plan accordingly. Hiring a community association management company like RS Fincher in Raleigh will help you better organize these meetings and have the most productive conversation possible. Contact us today if you have any questions.

Communicate

The best thing you can do before, during, and after your board meeting is to have great communication. According to the Davis-Stirling Act, you must notify board members four days ahead of time about the meeting. Make sure you send out with the notification, some general information about what the meeting will cover, as well as some ideas of what to prepare. Most great leaders will take the time before a meeting to get people talking and thinking about things so that by the time the meeting comes around, people not only feel more prepared, but they’ll be more likely to show up to the meeting because they’ll feel more involved in the decision-making process.

During the meeting, you should make sure that you facilitate communication between all members of the board, not just a small handful. Even if a certain member doesn’t work in the current area of conversation, they should still be allowed to have an input.

Once the meeting is over, you should take some time to write a follow-up email to everyone. This will help remind everyone what took place in the meeting and what decisions were made. This way, that time will not have been wasted and board members will feel like their time was put to good use.

Keep it on track

As anyone who has run a meeting before, it’s easy for a discussion to be taken off topic quickly and it’s oftentimes difficult to get it back on track once that happens. Before the meeting starts, remind your board members what the meeting will cover and once it starts, keep it on track by redirecting the conversation. It doesn’t hurt to remind members that there is a limited amount of time to talk and a lot of things to cover.

Take notes

If you want to be able to follow up with your board members after the meeting is over, make sure you take notes. By the time the meeting is over, you should have a general outline of everything that was discussed, as well as some notes about things that you didn’t have time to cover. This way you can start formulating an agenda for your next meeting. You should encourage your board members to take notes as well.

Be prepared

Another way to increase the productivity of your meeting is to be fully prepared once the meeting starts. This doesn’t just include preparing the subject material and being ready to talk about it, it also includes documents, records, computers, projectors, and whatever tool you need. If all these things are set up and ready to go by the time the meeting starts, you won’t be wasting any time, and your board members will be more inclined to show up to meetings more often and on time.

Speak with an HOA management company

If you want to make your board meetings as productive as possible, you should speak with and hire a community association management company that will help you refine your HOA procedures. If you’re in Raleigh or the surrounding area, contact RS Fincher today to learn about our community association management services.

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What You Should Look For In An HOA Board Member

When it comes to recruiting board members for your HOA community, it’s not just about choosing whoever is interested in the position. You should take time to understand the qualities of a good HOA board member and base your decisions around that. A qualified candidate will have a great sense of direction, leadership, and will be able to keep an eye on the big picture while delving into the details. Keep reading to learn more about finding and recruiting great board members for your HOA community.

Great communication

Having superb communication skills is the first thing you should look for in a board member. When you’re having a meeting, you want a group of people who are going to communicate well amongst each other. You want someone who will be able to work in this environment, not only being able to communicate their own thoughts and ideas, but being able to listen to and understand other board members’ point of view. Communication is also a key part of forming a great community. You want your board members to be actively involved and communicating with homeowners.

Team mentality

Another great quality for your HOA board member to have is a team mentality. The member should understand that they have a role to perform, but that their efforts are part of a larger, team-oriented effort that will make the community better for everyone. Generally, your board member needs to take his/her individual strengths and know how to use them in a way that will be beneficial for the board as a whole.

Hard working

Many people will volunteer to be board members but end up not putting in the effort to maintain their role. Although being a board member is a volunteer role and you can’t expect your board members to put in as much effort as a full-time paid job, there is still a minimum level of effort your board member will need to put into their work. And if they don’t seem enthusiastic about this, they’re probably not the right person for the job.

Committed

Going along the same lines as hard working, you want your board members to be committed to what they do. If they show commitment to their role on the board, you won’t have to spend any time worrying about whether they’re doing their job or not, and everyone else can worry about their own job as well. You also won’t have to worry about looking for other potential volunteers to fill his/her role if they decide to leave at a moment’s notice.

Contact RS Fincher today

Are you feeling overwhelmed with the responsibility of leading your HOA board? A reputable community association management company like RS Fincher will help you find the right candidates for your board, ensure that they comply with laws and regulations, and relieve a lot of the workload for them. Contact RS Fincher today and learn why we’re one of the most respected HOA management companies in the area.

Four Reasons To Hire An HOA Management Company 2

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Four Reasons To Hire An HOA Management Company – Part 2

Hello, and welcome back to our blog here at RS Fincher. In our last post, we talked about two of the most important reasons you should call an HOA management company. We talked about how this would reduce the workload on you and your Board of Directors, and how you’ll have a stronger sense of direction when it comes to decision making. Keep reading to learn about more of the benefits.

Expertise

One of the most important reasons to hire an HOA management company is for expertise. There are a lot of aspects to community association management, and it’s nearly impossible for one person to be an expert in all these areas. A traditional board can be used to spread out the management responsibilities a little bit, but without external help, it’s difficult to see real progress. When you hire an HOA management company, you’re not only reducing the workload on your board members, you’re also bringing in expertise that has been used, time and time again, to run successful communities.

One area in particular that RS Fincher will assist your business with is financial management. Financial planning would be useless if it wasn’t clearly communicated with everyone managing your community. That’s why, at RS Fincher, we’ll work perform accurate financial reporting, then make sure everyone on the Board of Directors is on the same page. We’ll help you determine annual budgets and financial control systems that will safeguard the community and make financial information easy to understand. Here are some of the many financial services we offer:

  • Budget planning
  • Monthly financial statements
  • Timely invoice payments
  • Prepare and review homeowners’ account status
  • Assist in drafting and executing a collection policy
  • Daily bank account reconciliation
  • Analyze operating and reserve accounts
  • Prepare data for annual auditing and filing taxes
  • Exclusive online access to financial information for board members
  • Assistance with real estate forms and closings

Homeowner Resources

At RS Fincher, we realize that making your job easier also means making life easier for your residents. We aim to do this by streamlining association living and allow residents easy access to information and other resources. Our community website allows for online payments, easy access to documents such as community policies and other forms, submission of maintenance requests, and payment of fees.

Account management

Through our website, residents will have 24-hour access to payment history, balance, and make payments. Although there’s no need to visit in person, our staff will be available by phone, email, and in person in case there are errors or the resident has questions

Work orders

Allowing your residents the ability to maintain work orders online is the simplest and surefire way to ensure that they’re getting the services they need, right when they need them.

Other Requests

Other submissions such as architectural requests are made easy through our website. Residents will be able to submit their request through the platform which will be sent directly to the community manager and architectural committee who will be able to reply with their decision.

Contact RS Fincher Today

RS Fincher has served community associations and office condominiums for over 20 years. It’s due to our passion for successful community living that we’re able to build healthy communities through our partnership with homeowners and their values. Our strong communication skills allow us to identify issues, provide financial direction, engage the community, and provide a sense of direction for our clients. Our staff is certified and attends education opportunities to stay on top of innovative ways to serve our communities, as well as the ever-changing laws that impact homeowner associations. Contact RS Fincher today to learn more.

Four Reasons To Hire An HOA Management Company

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Four Reasons To Hire An HOA Management Company

There is a lot of work that goes into building and maintaining a well-managed HOA community, from accurate accounting and bookkeeping to community engagement, there’s never a lack of work to do. Although you can attempt HOA management with just you and your board members alone, there is another option: hiring an HOA management company. There are a number of benefits to choosing the latter over the former, and if you want the best possible leader for your community, you’ll take all options into account. Keep reading to learn why you should hire an HOA management company today.

Reduced Workload

There’s no doubt about it, running a successful HOA community is no small task. You have to have great communication skills, be a great leader, and manage a safe neighborhood, all while keeping the residents’ best interest in mind. Although Homeowner associations represent a rather small portion of housing in the U.S., since 1970, HOA’s have grown from around 1 percent to 20 percent of housing since 2010. This is an enormous spike in the popularity of Homeowners’ Associations, and with this popularity comes the need for great leaders who are up for the task of managing a community.

Although there are many great leaders out there who are willing to take on the challenges of being a community manager, they won’t necessarily have the manpower to make it happen. This is where an HOA management company like RS Fincher will come into play. Instead of completely handing your HOA community over to us, you’ll still maintain a leadership position. The difference is that the workload will be on us. All you have to do is tell us your community’s goals and we’ll manage all the intricacies necessary to allow you to maintain a happy and healthy community. Our staff at RS Fincher is already trained to run every aspect of an HOA community and share the values of community engagement, safety, and a high standard of living. With every client, our highest priority is to help you and your community to reach your maximum potential.

It’s great to have a “do it yourself” mentality when it comes to HOA management, but part of being a leader is knowing when to seek help, and RS Fincher is here when you need it.

Stronger Sense Of Direction

Another reason to hire an HOA management company is to have a stronger sense of direction while managing your HOA. Chances are, you and your board members already have goals and aspirations for your community, but you may not know the best way to achieve those goals. That’s okay! When you contact RS Fincher, you and your board members will always have a team of experts to contact and will provide you with information that is crucial to maintaining your HOA exactly the way you like it. And we aren’t just there to do administrative work either, we are a team of experts, equipped to handle all levels of decision-making within your HOA.

HOA laws and regulations are another aspect of HOA management that will be difficult without an HOA management company. We are your all-in-one resource for consultation on the legality of your HOA’s actions, so you never have to worry about breaking any laws that could lead to hefty fines or lawsuits. Since we work internally, we’re able to micro-manage these regulations on a daily basis and ensure that you and your board abide by them.

Are you ready to speak with an HOA management representative? Contact RS Fincher today.