Although there has been concern in Florida that has highlighted the importance of adequate budget planning and preparation for every HOA, the beauty of good budgeting with Seacrest Services ensures a year of impeccable community association governance. At Seacrest Services, we take great pride in the longevity of our client relationships and continued customer satisfaction with Seacrest’s superior HOA budgeting and property management services. Seacrest Services maintains the highest levels of experienced employees in the industry and can tailor a specific plan for your community association or commercial property, from full-service property management and professional accounting services, to complete landscaping and property maintenance!
For boards of directors across the country, Autumn is known as the somewhat dreaded “budget season,” where budget meetings and discussions serve as the important starting point for different ideas about the community. Even though HOA budgeting can seem like an overwhelming task, with Seacrest Services by your side, we can simplify that task by making sure there is sufficient time to do the necessary work and planning – and by taking it one step at a time. The beauty of good budgeting with Seacrest Services is when we consider both your anticipated and unexpected community expenses and accurately assess sources of income and help avoid problems to ensure your HOA’s financial stability.
At Seacrest Services, we have the most comprehensive list of services for community association budgeting with accounting and financial services that includes:
-Maintaining the general ledger
-Preparing monthly and year-to-date receipts and disbursement statements with budget comparisons
-Supplying copies of monthly financial reports to the board of directors each month
-Organizing all bills with proper account numbers and preparing checks to be drawn on Association checking account
-Maintaining an up-to-date owners’ roster
-Prepare and issue maintenance coupons to all unit owners, annually
-Maintaining a monthly accounts receivable report and providing it to the Board of Directors
-Collecting and depositing maintenance and other assessment payments and miscellaneous receipts (these funds are kept separate from other funds managed by Seacrest)
-Consulting with the treasurer on an ongoing basis
-Providing an automatic account debit service for owners’ maintenance payments
-And so much more
Community Association Management and Budgeting with Seacrest Services
A community association management company is responsible for some basic services that can be offered to our communities, including some of the best budgeting in all of South Florida! At Seacrest Services, we know that budget season is the perfect time to reflect on what has or has not worked effectively in the past, and when to consider current needs when looking to the future.
The most effective way to budget for your community is to start by gathering the association’s financial documents from the previous two years, because having this much data helps to make better-informed decisions. Next, we can take this information and create a careful business and budget plan for the upcoming year that outlines annual, month-to-month goals. As we assist with crafting the budget for the coming year, we urge community associations to consider the special needs of their community, reviewing their most recent financial reports and previous budget performance. We keep in mind that reserves are the cornerstone of success for your community association. Some of the other areas to focus on while doing the best budgeting for your community association are:
-Requests for proposals: send out requests for all contracted services, including pool management, lawn care/ landscaping, trash removal, insurance policies, audits and tax preparations
-Focus on importance: Insurance, utilities, and labor costs should be your budget focus. Review before you renew insurance coverage and see about savings in water and electricity
-Anticipate repairs: maintenance, repair and utilities expenses are important in South Florida, so it’s best to look at what those costs were in the previous year and asses new costs you expect in the coming year
-And so much more
For a complete list of helpful tips for the best budgeting this year, contact the experts at Seacrest Services. At Seacrest Services, we believe that the heart of a thriving HOA is transparency, cooperation, and collaboration. The best financial governance of a condo or HOA community does not end with the simple creation of the annual budget. The beauty of good budgeting with Seacrest Services is that you will have our guidance through a month-to-month process where boards review the budget against actual costs and maintain management practices that are central to the fiscal health of a community and its property values.
