Concepts
Foundational explanations of HOA accounting, fund management, and compliance. The principles that inform every feature we build.
Compliance & Fiduciary Reality
A Manifesto for Community Governance Software Institutional
Horizontal tools like QuickBooks fail HOAs because they optimize for flexibility, not fiduciary enforcement. CommunityPay is built on a different architectural principle.
Washington Resale Certificates: What HOAs Must Disclose Reference
Washington state law requires associations to produce resale certificates within 10 days of request. Most boards do this by hand. Here is what the statute actually requires — including the …
What Is Fiduciary Duty for HOA Board Members? Institutional
Board members are fiduciaries. This legal status carries real obligations that most board members don't fully understand—until something goes wrong.
What Does Compliance Actually Mean for HOAs? Institutional
Compliance isn't paperwork—it's risk control. Most boards treat compliance as a checklist. The boards that understand it treat it as governance infrastructure.
Why HOAs Are Demanding Their Operating System Institutional
For decades, switching property managers meant losing your financial operating system. That model is ending.
Foundations & Reference
Fiduciary Accounting Glossary: Canonical Definitions for Fund Accounting, Ledger Enforcement, and Financial Integrity Reference
Authoritative definitions for fund accounting, ledger enforcement, period controls, and fiduciary financial integrity—designed for HOAs, auditors, and governance-grade systems.
What Is Double-Entry Bookkeeping? Reference
Every transaction has two sides. This 500-year-old principle is why your books balance—and why single-entry systems eventually fail.
What Is Fund Accounting (Really)? Reference
Fund accounting isn't just "tracking money in buckets." It's a legal and fiduciary framework that most HOA software gets fundamentally wrong.
What Does "Percent Funded" Actually Mean? Reference
Your reserve study says you're "65% funded." But funded for what? When? This metric is more nuanced than most board members realize.
Why Reserve Drift Happens Reference
Your reserve study said you'd have $500,000 by now. You have $380,000. What went wrong? Understanding reserve drift is the first step to preventing it.
What Is Reserve Expense → Component Reconciliation? Reference
When you spend reserve money, which component did it fund? If your software can't answer this instantly, your reserve tracking is theater.