20 hours per month of my life is mine again! <img src='desktopmodules/ntforums/images/emoticons/smile.gif' height='20' width='20' border='0' title

As others may know, I've been debating if I should resign from the board or not.
A decision has been made and I am no longer treasurer but remain as a board member (Director).
In the next couple of days, I'll turn all files over to the new treasurer.

Since I know that their is a lurker on here from my Association (and I'm fairly positive who it is), I won't go into details how this occurred. Lets just say that it was a mutual agreement based on disagreement on interpretation of duties assigned. If someone would like to know details, email me.

I am honestly happy about it.

No longer am I:

taking time picking up the mail.
Wasting time standing in line at the post office to pick up certified letters that were returned.
deliver non treasurer mail to appropriate individual
Opening envelopes
posting payments to the ledgers
calculating and posting late charges
tracking and posting charges for various items (copies of records, disclosure packages, etc.)
writing and mailing letters to those members who are behind
writing an mailing letters to those who paid too little
writing and mailing letters to tell those who were behind that they are now current
Filing copies of letters in financial lot folders
preparing deposit slips
stopping by the bank to make deposits
downloading copies of payments (check images) from the bank website (recommended by the CPA)
looking for and identifying address changes to inform the board about
verifying contracted jobs were completed prior to making payment
Looking for and, if needed, requesting invoices that are given to other board members
writing checks and mailing payments
transferring funds to and from the Reserve account
reconciling bank statements
updating financial spreadsheets
updating the current budget for the board
writing treasurer reports
identifying financial issues on items the Board desires to accomplish
updating the reserve study
creating and proposing a budget for next year
prepare annual report to membership
preparing 1099s
preparing federal taxes
preparing state taxes
calculating and preparing quarterly estimated tax payments for the State
dealing with the attorney for collection actions
challenging the attorney on charges that seem inaccurate or not properly assigned to member
preparing and calculating payment of the State mandated report for Associations (CIC report)
updating the annual report to the corporation commission
Updating payment info for closing companies
Providing info for disclosure packages
Providing financials for disclosure packages
Updating the budget document used for disclosure packages
Responding to letters/email from members about their financial obligations
Purchase stamps
purchase envelopes
order new checks
order new deposit slips
Create, print, address envelopes, stuff envelopes and mail payment books
Mail duplicate payment books for those who claim to have never received them
Filing financial documents in folder for audits
burning and labeling data discs for historical archive of financial files

Yep, to be done properly the above takes about 20 hours per month.

My gosh. You are doing the work of the manager, a HOA bookkeeper, and a HOA CPA. This only took 20 hours a month? I would have thought this was more like 20 hours a week, on average. Perhaps your board is about to learn a hard lesson via losing you as treasurer.

Sheesh, Tim, you were doing an awful lot. Your introductory remarks are why I take great pains in order to NOT let anyone else in my HOA know about this site.

Great summary - I’ll offer it to our treasurer to make him feel good about much of his life he is giving us!

Related - I’ve TRIED to get our board members to register and read the material on this site - blank looks.

Actually, that list of requirements for the next treasurer is a disservice to anyone considering the office.

No way would any sane person have done ALL that and not gotten help - paid or volunteer - since the job of the treasurer is not to do everything, but to see that everything is being done.

The Board needs to be aware that the previous Treasurer was doing all those jobs and the future treasurers probably won't. So they need to start planning to get some paid help, especially in the billing and tax filing departments.

Sue,

Keep in mind that this is what I did. What another Treasurer does will be up to them.
We had a bookkeeper in the past. The bookkeeper position didn't take many of the tasks above away. However, it did take away many of the time consuming tasks.

I absorbed the bookkeeper duties for two reasons:

1) We could use the money in the tree budget (and it helped a lot).
2) I felt the treasurers position required at least spot checks on the Bookkeeper (I did them quarterly). When I first worked with the CPA for our first audit in over 10 years, the bookkeeper we were using simply didn't keep the best records. This caused a lot of extra time and energy then it should have to figure things out for the CPA. This is what had me do spot checks. Well the spot checks were taking as long (or longer) then if I simply did the work myself.

I doubt most board members will be willing or, perhaps, even have the time, to do the jobs I've done the same way.
This won't mean that the job is being done wrong. It's simply being done differently.

That said:

I'm proud to say that during my time as Treasurer, I have saved $22,500 by performing those duties. These funds were instrumental in addressing the issues identified in our Arborist report. During my time on the Board, because I did the work and had it ready to go when seeking approval to solicit bids for the trash/recycling contract, I was instrumental in saving $45,000 over the last 4 1/2 years. This actually allowed the Association to finally start addressing storm water management and erosion issues. Because of taking the initiative to perform a good (not great, just good) reserve study (the first the Association ever had even though it was mandated by law years earlier, Association reserves have grown from $20,000 to over $200,000 in 8 years - meaning no need for special assessments. Because I took the initiative and did the work, corporate knowledge is better protected via the creation of Officer binders. Because I took the initiative and did the work, Association records were digitized and made available to all members via our website.

I'm proud of what I've done. I only hope that what I've done will at least be maintained. Hopefully, they will be improved and expanded. However, the reality of how much time each volunteer has to donate will vary year to year, there will be some steps forward and some backwards. Overall, I can say I left the Association in a better position and made the job a little more easier for the next person then when I first joined the board.

I doubt if I could have done that without the knowledge I've gained from others on this site.
Thank you all for that.

This will definitely be my last year on the Board.
All I can do for the remainder of this year is keep the membership informed of how I see things so they can make an informed decision when deciding to volunteer and when casting their vote.