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Homeowners associations and subdivisions4 min read

Moving an HOA from Excel and a notebook

Most associations run on a master list in Excel, a receipt notebook and the treasurer's memory. Moving is mostly cleaning the list once and deciding what to do about old arrears — the rest is a paste.

By the end of this pageYou will have a sequence for the move that keeps the old records honest, avoids a month of double work, and gives homeowners a clean start.
On this pageWhat to keep from the old filesWhat goes wrong
  1. Reconcile the master list. Before importing anything: one row per lot, one homeowner per lot (or the developer), a mobile number, the current dues rate, and the balance owed as of a date you pick. Most lists have lots sold twice, homeowners who died, and balances nobody can explain. Fix what you can; flag the rest. This is the work; budget a week.
  2. Arrears. The board decides, by resolution: bring every balance across as-is; write off balances older than X with a note; or offer an amnesty that clears penalties for lots that settle principal by a date. Whatever it is, it is a resolution, recorded. Do not let the import quietly decide.
  3. Import. Paste the cleaned list: lots, homeowners and dues schedules in one go. Opening balances import as a carried-forward line per lot dated the cut-over date, referencing the resolution — not as fake old invoices. Flagged lots import without a homeowner and sit in the Inbox.
  4. One month in parallel. Run the first month's dues from the platform as drafts; compare to what the spreadsheet would have billed; fix rates; then send. Record payments in both for that month. At month close, the two should agree to the peso; where they do not, the platform is usually right and the spreadsheet has a formula someone broke in 2023.
  5. Tell homeowners. An announcement: new statements from next month, the portal invitation, how to pay, and that balances as of the cut-over are as shown — query them by a date. Then invite everyone. The notebook stays for ORs if that is your registered receipt; the platform keeps the register.

What to keep from the old files

The spreadsheet, frozen, as a document in Records with the cut-over date. The notebook, physically, for as long as BIR retention requires. Nothing needs to be retyped into history; the carried-forward line is the bridge.

What goes wrong

Importing before reconciling, then fixing seventy lots one at a time. Bringing arrears across without a resolution, then arguing about each at the assembly. Running the new system alone in month one and discovering the rate for phase 2 was wrong after seventy statements went out. Each is avoided by the order above.

Two treasurers' worth of memory usually lives in the old list's comments and colours. Export the comments to a column and import them as notes on the lot; the colours mean something only to the person who chose them — ask them before they go.

Related

HOA · 3 minSetting up a subdivisionRead the article →HOA · 3 minAssociation duesRead the article →Start here · 5 minMoving from a spreadsheetRead the article →
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