Bookkeeping and tax for HOAs and condo associations
You volunteered for the board. You did not volunteer to be an accountant.
Treasurers hand over, management companies come and go, and somewhere along the way the books stop making sense. Ashmore Books takes the accounting off the board so the reserve balance is real, the owner ledgers are right, and you can answer any question an owner asks at the next meeting.
Sound familiar
You are a volunteer. The responsibility is not.
Board members are neighbors who agreed to help. Nobody signed up to defend a reserve balance in front of a room full of owners, or to explain a set of books somebody else left behind.
You are holding other people’s money. The records should make that easy to prove.
- I inherited the books and nobody can explain them.
- The bank has not properly reconciled in a long time.
- I cannot tell an owner what they actually owe.
- I do not know whether the reserve is really there.
- Our budget and our actuals are nowhere near each other.
- The last management company left, and so did the records.
- I am not sure the association has filed a return in years.
- If someone questioned how the money was handled, I could not prove it.
What it is costing the association
Unclear books do not stay a bookkeeping problem for long.
Owners stop trusting the board
A question at a meeting that nobody can answer does more damage than the answer ever would. Once owners suspect the money is not being tracked, every decision after that gets fought.
A reserve balance that is not really there
Roof, paving, elevator. Those decisions get made against a reserve figure. If that figure has never been reconciled, it is a number on a page rather than money in an account.
Dues that quietly go uncollected
Owner ledgers that drift mean delinquencies age unnoticed and late fees get applied to some owners and not others, which is the fastest way to a dispute the board cannot win.
Filings that were never made
Associations generally do have a federal return to file, even though they are not run for profit. Unfiled years do not resolve themselves, and the penalties are paid by the owners.
How we help
What changes once we are handling it
The bank reconciles, and stays reconciled
Every account tied out every month, with differences chased down rather than carried forward for the next treasurer to inherit.
Operating and reserve kept properly apart
Reserve money tracked as reserve money, transfers recorded on both sides, so the board can say what is available and what is committed without guessing.
Owner ledgers that hold up
Dues, credits, and late fees applied the same way for every owner, and a receivable balance that actually agrees to the sum of the ledgers behind it.
Special assessments followed to the project
Money raised for a specific job tracked separately from operating income, so owners can see what was collected and what it was spent on.
A budget the board can run against
Budget against actual each period, with the variances explained in words rather than left for someone to work out during the meeting.
Reporting you can present
A monthly or quarterly package with plain commentary on what changed and what needs attention. Our Financial Review walks the board through it if that helps.
Records ready for the review or audit
If the governing documents or state rules call for a review or an audit, the file is in a state where that is a straightforward exercise rather than a scramble.
The return filed, and the right one chosen
Associations usually have a choice of return each year, and the better option depends on the numbers for that year. We look at both. See tax preparation.
We know where to look
What we usually find in an association’s books
None of this is unusual, and none of it means anybody did anything wrong. It is what happens when the role passes from one volunteer to the next.
You will see the list for your own association, in writing, before the board decides anything.
- Operating and reserve funds running through one ledger
- A reconciliation carried forward with a difference nobody chased
- Special assessment money absorbed into operating income
- Owner ledgers that do not add up to the receivable balance
- Late fees charged to some owners and not others
- Reserve transfers recorded on one side only
- Vendor payments coded to whatever account was closest
- Prior year figures changed after the books were closed
- Returns that were never filed
Why boards choose Ashmore Books
Why us and not the next firm on the list
We have already done this exact job
Six months of association books that would not balance, two bank accounts, reserve and special assessment activity untangled and reconciled. Read the case study.
We take the files others turn away
Years behind, records missing, a prior treasurer or management company gone. That is the work we are known for, not the work we avoid. See cleanup and catch-up.
Reconciled is not the same as correct
Matching the bank is the easy part. We check whether the entries behind the match make sense, which is how books pass a reconciliation and still mislead a board.
Enrolled Agent led
An Enrolled Agent is licensed federally, tested specifically on tax, and can represent before the IRS. The return is handled by the team that already knows the file.
A fixed quote before anything starts
The board sees the findings and the price first, then votes. No open-ended hourly bill landing at the end of a cleanup.
A reply within one business day
Board questions do not sit in an inbox until the next meeting. You get an answer while the decision is still live.
The association keeps its own file
Work happens inside your accounting file with your access intact. Nothing is held on our side, and nothing is locked behind us if the board ever changes direction.
We explain it in plain words
Board members are volunteers, not accountants. Findings and reports come in language you can take straight into a meeting.
How it starts
Find out what is actually wrong before the board spends anything.
The Books X-Ray is a read-only review. Nothing is changed, nothing is committed, and the board keeps the findings whether you hire us or not. It is also something useful to put in front of the other board members.
- You give read-only access to the accounting file and bank statements
- We review it and write up what we find, in plain English
- You get a recommended scope and a fixed quote
- The board decides. If it is a no, the findings are still yours
Where we work
Whatever the association already keeps its records in.
- QuickBooks Online
- QuickBooks Desktop
- Xero
- Wave
- Bank and lockbox statements
- Management company reports
- Spreadsheet registers
- Paper records and PDFs
Pricing
From $80/month, a fixed price the board can approve in advance.
Monthly bookkeeping starts at $80/month and is priced on the association’s annual revenue. Cleanup of past periods is quoted separately from ongoing monthly work, so the board can approve them one at a time. See the full pricing.
Before you ask
The questions boards ask us first
General information for boards and treasurers, not tax or legal advice for your association.
We are self-managed and run by volunteers. Can you work with that?
Yes, and most of the associations we help are exactly that. You do not need an accounting background on the board. We work directly with the treasurer or whoever holds the records, and everything comes back in language the whole board can follow.
We already have a management company. Do we still need you?
Sometimes yes. A management company collects dues and pays bills. That is not the same as reconciled books, accurate owner ledgers, a clean reserve, and a filed return. We can work alongside them, or review what they produce so the board is not taking it on trust.
Our books are years behind and the last treasurer left no notes. Is that too far gone?
No. Rebuilding association books from bank statements, dues records, and whatever survives the handover is the work we are known for. The review tells you how far back the problem goes before the board commits to anything.
Does an association actually have to file a tax return?
Generally yes, even though the association is not run for profit. There is usually a choice of return each year, and which one is better depends on that year’s income and expenses. We look at both rather than filing the same form out of habit.
Can you separate our reserve fund properly? Right now it is all mixed together.
Yes. Reserves, operating funds, and any special assessment are tracked apart, with transfers recorded on both sides, so the board can state what is available and what is committed at any point without working it out by hand.
Will the board stay in control of the accounts?
Completely. Bank access, signing authority, and approvals stay with the board. We work inside your accounting file and never move money. You keep full access to everything throughout.
How do we know what this will cost before we commit?
The Books X-Ray comes back with written findings, a recommended scope, and a fixed quote, which is something you can take to the board and vote on. If the answer is no, you keep the findings.
Hand the books to someone who does this every day.
Tell us how many units, how many accounts, whether there is a special assessment running, and how far behind things are. You get a read-only review, written findings, and a fixed quote to take to the board. You will hear back within one business day.