Book Keeping for hoa

I am currently using Quick Books pro for our records. The problem is it's is far more difficult to use and I feel contains way to much needless information. Can anyone suggest to me what software I could use instead of Quick Books Pro.

Very interested in recommendations here. Intuit/Quicken has a pretty good monopoly on financial software, but they do have products which are easier to use than Quickbooks.

Quicken Home & Business
Quicken Rental Property

Check out this review. I would also contact Quicken and ask for a consultant you can describe your needs with, and also ask for trials of these two products.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/80/topics/440737-quicken-home-and-business-vs-quicken-rental-property

All good points. Pay attention to them.

Also how complex is your association such as number of units, budget, etc.

QuickBooks Pro is a very good package and can be moved from computer to another without problems. All information in a data file need not be completed to continue with recording transactions. I'm a Pro Adviser and am willing to answer detailed questions.

I seriously question whether most "individuals will have Microsoft Office on their computers". MS Office is expensive and not everyone has it. I believe it has moved to a subscription model in the last few years. If the association wanted to keep a certain number of subscriptions active and allow directors and officers access to the product(s) then that might be one possible solution. But, again, it's expensive and a business-level subscription is probably more than an individual subscription. Last I checked, Microsoft did not offer discounts to not-for-profit corporations.

Geno ... almost everyone I know in my area has MS Office on their home computers. It runs around $99/yr basic which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook under the new subscription scenario. If you want Access and Publisher then they tend to charge a little more. Yes they have moved to a subscription model in the last few years ... LOL which is why I am glad I have hard copy of last released CD's to install on any of my computers. Their software has not changed that much over the last many years with regards to the overall programs and what they can accomplish. Most changes have been with regards to the look and feel.

LOL ... If virtually every owner in my subdivision has MS Office on their computer ... why would the HOA need to have a "business" subscription? After all each board member is an elected "VOLUNTEER" utilizing their volunteer personal equipment to handle the HOA.

Of course, nothing prevents the Association from purchasing a laptop and software that goes from Treasurer to Treasurer (signed for showing model and serial numbers)

You may need to assign a file association to your 'word processing' if you have never opened an RTF.

Simply 'open with' the processor of your choice, one time or 'always'.

Due to my work I can get a copy of the Newest Office for $10 (Disc or copy online). As long as I stay employed I get to keep that copy. So some employers may have special programs for certain software packages. A lot of people don't look at the "perks" of some membership/discounts they qualify for through their employer or even insurance. My former car/house insurance company had special offers for being members. One company worked for could get a 10% discount off cell phone service or even certain cars.

Wanted to mention this as it's often a forgotten resource for savings and access. Believe even had access to legal services online. There is often a variety of such programs if you look.

Personally, I don't like "the cloud."

In my opinion, it's simply a marketing term.
It's old methodology (remember dumb terminals and servers?).
The industry wants to rent you software that you download when needed (just like dumb terminals).
The industry wants you to store your personal information on their servers (which can then be used to target advertising to you - read those terms people). That industry has been hacked before and will be hacked again.

Again, with the "cloud" one is placing their information on somebodys sever (i.e. computer) and then they have zero control over it. Yes they have access to the files, but they have zero knowledge what, if anything, was done with those files by the individual(s) who own the other computer (server).

It is far more likely that a server or a server farm that is known to store information from many individuals will be hacked before your personal computer.

That's what I think about the "cloud" too, Tim. Once upon a time it used to be called offsite storage of data, often on some mainframe system somewhere. Dumb terminals were able to access the data remotely. Today the "mainframes" are server farms, and a lot of them are offshore. I don't relish the thought that this roomfull of servers in Mumbai will be hacked some day and all my private information will be revealed to nefarious types. I'd rather have it on MY machine, thank you very much.

It's definitely a marketing term. And while I can see how some useful solutions might come out of it, it's not something I want to trust my data to.

Our new secretary this year came up with the idea to scan all of our association records into electronic form. Good idea, for the most part. Then she decided (the board voted to approve all this so I can't just blame her) to store all these scanned documents "in the cloud". I opined that I thought it was a bad idea, that we should buy a low-power server and keep everything on it, making frequent backups. There's only about 500 MB of files altogether. Nope, gotta go with the cloud. So we had 7 years worth of association records scanned and then she asked me over the summer, knowing of my IT background, if I could look into some cloud solutions whereby we could grant access to our documents and records to owners online. She decided a business account with one of the cloud providers was too expensive, so now she's trying to decide how to pass on the cloud storage control and admin to future secretaries. Talk about putting the cart before the horse. I get along pretty good with her and we're on friendly terms, but I had to tell her, "I know nothing about the cloud. I avoid the cloud. I told you it was a bad idea to do this with cloud storage 8 months ago. Sorry, I can't help you."

Of course, the problem with setting up a small server in our clubhouse is you need a front end for people on the internet to connect into. A website, if you will. Who's going to maintain that 5 years down the road, even if we set up the greatest thing since sliced bread tomorrow?

Please remember, Janet, that that cloud storage is not free. When an online service is offered for free, then YOU are the product being sold and the actual customer is somebody else. That the information will eventually be compromised is not an if, it's a when, as so aptly demonstrated by Equifax last week.

It is essentially disk storage space on a separate server from the HOA computer or server. HOA's unlike Equifax are not storing such data as individuals Social Security Numbers. Yes I do also use Thumb/Pen/Flash drives and also other small (but larger) separate USB connected hard drives. However, if a copy of records is kept on a separate server it will serve a good purpose of the HOA cannot be held hostage by any individual refusing to turn over documents ... as long as most recent documents has been properly backed up to a place all other BOD members can access. Sorry ... I do not like the idea of being held hostage and the potential legal cost involved.