The HOA Treasurer’s First 90 Days

Two ideas that matter more than any spreadsheet

1. Keep operating money and reserve money separate. Operating funds cover day-to-day costs; reserve funds are savings for big replacements like roofs and roads. They’re usually required to be kept apart — ideally in separate accounts. Commingling them is the most common self-managed mistake, and it bites hardest when a major repair arrives and the savings aren’t there.

2. Two sets of eyes on every dollar. Have a second board member approve payments and note who approved each one. It protects you and it’s the simplest fraud prevention there is. Boards have watched a lone treasurer quietly drain an account — don’t give anyone the chance.

Days 1–30 — Get oriented and get control

Confirm bank access and signing authority. Pull the last year of financial statements and the owner ledger so you know who’s paid and who’s behind. Set up your tools: most self-managed boards run PayHOA for dues and payments and QuickBooks (or free Wave) for the books. If you want to start on spreadsheets, grab the free templates below — they’re built for HOA accounting, with plain-English instructions.

Days 31–60 — Build the picture

Create or import a simple budget that separates operating and reserve, and start tracking budget versus actual each month so a shortfall shows up early — before it becomes a special assessment. Look at your reserves: are you funding toward replacing your major components on schedule? You don’t need a reserve study this week, but you should know whether you have one and how old it is.

Read the financial statements monthly — you’re looking at five things: cash on hand, operating vs. reserve balances, delinquencies, budget variance, and any unusual expense. That five-minute habit is most of the job.

Days 61–90 — Get ahead of it

Reconcile to the bank so your records match reality. Confirm your tax filing is handled — most HOAs file a simple 1120-H, and a CPA does it inexpensively (this is one of the few things you should not DIY). Make sure everything is documented so the next treasurer can pick it up cold; turnover is the silent killer of self-managed finances.

You don’t have to know it all — you have to know who to ask

When a question comes up — can we raise dues? how do we handle a delinquency? are we required to fund the reserve? — you want an answer grounded in your documents, not a generic guess. That’s where Steward comes in: it tells you how experienced community managers and treasurers typically handle the situation, cited to your governing documents and state law, and flags when it’s time to call a CPA. The seasoned treasurer your board never had — without the bill. BoardPath educates and advises; it never keeps your books or moves your money.