Finances overview
How the books are organised — two funds, a general ledger, per-owner ledgers — and where each of the finance sub-pages fits.
The finance section is built for a volunteer treasurer, not an accountant. You do not need to know debits from credits. You do need to understand three ideas, and after that everything else is a form.
Idea 1 — two funds
Your corporation keeps two pots of money, and they are accounted for separately.
Operating fund — this year's recurring costs. Insurance, utilities, landscaping, cleaning, small repairs, management fees.
Contingency reserve fund (CRF) — savings for big, infrequent replacements. Roof, elevator, boiler, envelope.
Every transaction belongs to one fund or the other. Money moves between them only as a deliberate, recorded transfer. See contingency reserve fund.
Operating fund
$184,200
Contingency (CRF)
$612,800
Idea 2 — two views of the same money
The general ledger is the corporation's view: every transaction in date order with a running balance per fund, narrowable to a single month. FinancesGeneral ledger.
Owner ledgers are each lot's view: what that lot was charged, what it paid, and what it still owes. FinancesOwner ledgers.
They're two windows onto the same transactions. Bill a lot and the charge appears on their ledger; take their payment and it appears on both.
The general ledger is paged — newest postings first, with Newer and Older at the foot and a count of what you're looking at. The running balance is computed over the entire fund rather than over what's on screen, so it stays true on page 40, and the closing balances at the top are the funds' real balances, not the sum of the page.
Idea 3 — nothing is ever deleted
Corrections go beside the original, never over it
Recorded a payment against the wrong lot? It gets moved, with a reason. Raised a charge in error? It gets cancelled, with a reason. A cheque bounced? The payment gets reversed. In every case the original entry stays visible and the correction sits next to it.
This is what makes your ledger answerable when an owner asks a hard question two years from now, and what keeps a Form B honest. See fixing mistakes.
The finance pages
Bill each lot its share of the adopted budget, charge a flat amount, or invoice a single lot.
Payments and expensesRecord a cheque, an e-transfer, or a bill you paid. Online card payments post themselves.
Owner ledgersEvery charge and payment for one lot, with a running balance.
Arrears and interestWho's behind, and charging the interest your bylaws authorise.
BudgetsBuild next year's budget, with an AI draft as a starting point.
Special leviesModel, allocate and issue a one-off charge for a major project.
Opening balances and importsBring an existing set of books in, and undo a batch that was wrong.
Bank reconciliationMatch your bank statement against what's recorded.
Statements and closingFinancial statements, and locking a finished period.
Getting started with real books
Pick a start date
The first day of a month, or better, of your fiscal year. Entering years of back-history is rarely worth it.
Enter opening fund balances
What each fund actually held on that date, per your bank.
Enter opening owner balances
Any lot in arrears at that date needs its balance recorded, or its ledger starts a lie. Enter it as arrears, not as cash — the two are separate boxes for a reason. Opening balances and imports →
Bill from there forward
Bill each period's fees — from your adopted budget once you have one — and record everything as it happens.
Reconcile monthly
Match to the bank every month. Small discrepancies found in four weeks are trivial; found in a year they're an archaeology project. How →
The treasurer's monthly rhythm
| When | Do this |
|---|---|
| Start of the period | Bill the month's strata fees from the adopted budget |
| Same day | Move that month's CRF contribution across to the reserve |
| As they arrive | Record cheques, e-transfers and expenses |
| Mid-month | Check arrears; charge interest if your bylaws set a rate |
| Month end | Reconcile to the bank statement |
| Quarterly | Review actual against budget; report to council |
| Year end | Statements, AGM, then close the books |
Let an agent watch it for you
On the Council plan, Budget Watch flags unusual spending and funds running low, and Collections spots overdue accounts and drafts a polite reminder for you to send. Both propose; you approve. See AI agents.
What owners see
An owner sees their own lot's ledger, invoices and balance — never the corporation's overall finances or another owner's account. Their statutory right to corporate financial records is a separate matter, satisfied by the financial statements you publish.
Still stuck? Open Support in the top bar of the app, ask the Assistant, or contact us.