Five Questions to Ask Your Manager about Your Homeowner Association's Finances
Community leaders should understand the financial wherewithal of the associations they lead. Unit and Home Owners also have rights to review financial records. It seems like we hear about theft of association funds more and more these days. Simply leaving finances in the hands of a manager, bookkeeper or treasurer is not enough. For some practical ideas how to stay "in the know", please see the following article published by HOAleader:
Five Questions to Ask Your Manager about Your Homeowner Association's Finances
As an accountant, at a minimum, I would expect to see, not only invoices, but evidence on the invoices (initials) indicating who vouches that the goods or services represented by the invoice were actually received. Anyone can print a credible-looking invoice on a PC these days. A human being needs to "be on the hook" that the invoice not only is legitimate, but also that the goods were not faulty and the services were workmanlike. I have seen costs skyrocket because Board members and property managers simply "assumed" that work was done or done correctly, resulting in costly repairs later. As for credit cards, in my experience, it is standard practice for corporations to make a holder pay for charges on a statement which are not supported by paper receipts if such receipts are routinely issued (e.g. store charges but not taxi-cabs). In multi-condominiums, annotations on the face of such receipts as to the purpose/use are needed to determine which condo is to be charged.
RESPONSE: Thank you for these suggestions. Every association should implement procedures designed to protect the association's funds.