Accounting Category for Unpaid HOA Dues

Don’t worry about making waves – all board members should have a decent grasp of what the financial records tell them because that helps drive decision making, although the treasurer may have a little more knowledge since reviewing the reports is part of his/her job.

Your financial background can be very useful, but if you’ve never looked at HOA financial reports, you need to get a grasp of what they usually tell you (they really aren’t that different from what you might already be aware of.) There are various resources on the web that talk about HOA financial reports and what information they provide – Google a few to get a better handle of what they’re supposed to do and then sit down with the treasurer, asking him/her to give you an overview of what your association does, and bring up your questions during that conversation.

You may also want to do this with the property manager, if you have one. Our property manager’s accounting department prepared our reports and when I was on the board {as treasurer} some of my questions would be forwarded to them.

Our association also lists unpaid/delinquent assessments as accounts receivable, as NpS stated, but another thing that may help you and your colleagues is to have the treasurer or property manager develop separate delinquency reports. We have two - one lists all the delinquent accounts, showing how much is owed by 30, 31-60, 61-90, 91-120 and over 120 days. A second report summarizes recent action being taken by our association attorney on each account (after 60 days, the account is sent to them). That report will also note if the attorney feels an account should be written off and why - the board would discuss and then take a vote or forward additional questions before a final decision.

Richard, Thank you so much for the advice and the link. HOA 'Treasurer' seems merely an arbitrary title, as no one appears to be reviewing the docs, and most self describe as 'no head for figures'! The property manager does the books, the financial statements, etc.and does not like to be challenged.