do all management companies pool money into 1 account?

Generally there is no comingling of money from several HOAs into one account - that's very ineffective and creates too many opportunities for waste and embezzlement. Are you sure the company doesn't have all of its clients at the same institution, each with their own account? Even then, the association should bank wherever it chooses - the key is to find a bank with experience in working with HOAs. Of course, operating funds and reserves should be in separate accounts.

As far as authorized signers go, some association policies state two signatures are required for checks exceeding a certain amount. The property manager might be authorized to pay certain expenses up to a certain amount and some routine bills could be set to pay automatically. All of them should have a paper trail and be authorized by the board.

I dont know if you've contacted EVERY property manager in the state and read EVERY contract (frankly I doubt it). It may be you looked at boilerplate contracts, which I would expect several sections to be tailored to the needs of your community. If a property manager refuses to do that, keep looking for one that will.

Don't remember if you said you were on the board - if so, it's good you're taking a good look at the contract. Perhaps previous boards went along with this setup for years and didn't question it because it seemed everything was working - until one day, it didn't. There have also been stories of property managers and/or companies stealing thousands of dollars from associations who never got it back, so your questions are most appropriate.

I suggest that your board (all of you) review the contract with the association attorney to get a good understanding of what's in this contract (that means all of you will need to read it and take notes so 6ou can ask questions about anything you don't understand). It may be time to renegotiate the thing or even consider going elsewhere.

If searching for a property manager is new to everyone, the CAI website has educational materials on best practices for selecting one. If you decide a change is necessary, pay close attention to sections addressing transition plans.

If someone suggests self management, understand this will mean more work and CAI has materials on that too. It's not impossible, but careful thought is mandatory before taking this step. There are lots of conversations on this website about best practices and horror stories regarding management of HOA accounts- read a few and bring your questions back to this conversation so you'll get current information. Good luck!

PS - CAI has some useful information on establishing financial policies and protocols to protect association assets. Your association accountant can also make some suggestions.

Contracts are written to favor those who wrote it.

Contracts can be negotiated.

Other options - hire a different contractor as a bookkeeper to:
1) Collect the mail
2) Document/maintain the individual lot ledgers
3) Deposit funds into the Associations bank account (we always had it go to checking).
4) Send collection notices/invoices to members

The Treasurer would maintain the checkbook, pay the bills, transfer funds to and from the reserves and balance the receipts.

If you still need the PM for other things (based on your development), the price should go down enough to almost hire an independent contractor for this.

In my last Association, we hired from within the community having them sign a contract.
Worked well, providing the Treasurer did their job.

Hey JackS - I think a trustee should always be a signatory, in addition to the manager. As a practical matter, that trustee should NOT be conducting transactions, because the PM's office is responsible for all bookkeeping, and if we start making transactions that the PM doesn't know about, it screws up the bookkeeping. So the main purposes of a trustee being a signatory is for emergencies, and also for transparency. It means the trustee can call up the bank with a question, and the bank will be allowed to speak to the trustee.

In the contracts that you quoted, the PM's are just saying that all their clients accounts will be at the same bank - but NOT the same account:

"The funds of the Association shall at all times be maintained in the name of the Association, separate and apart from Agent’s own funds and from the funds of any others."

If a PM were proposing to co-mingle funds of multiple associations in one account, I would say that would be a bright red line. Do not hire, or, fire immediately!