HOA Treasurer Duties Across the Monthly and Annual Cycle

HOA treasurer duties center on the money of the homeowners association (HOA): overseeing the budget and financial reporting, reviewing bank statements and reconciliations every month, presenting financial reports at board meetings, monitoring assessment collections and delinquencies, coordinating the annual audit or review, and checking that reserves are funded according to the reserve study.

The association’s bylaws and state law set the exact duties. The sections below break the work into a monthly routine and an annual cycle. They also list the controls that protect the treasurer and the association.

HOA Treasurer Duties Set by the Bylaws

An HOA treasurer oversees the association’s finances, and the bylaws and state law define the exact scope of the job. The standard board positions are president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, and directors at-large, and each has distinct duties. The board typically chooses the treasurer from among its directors.

The typical duties of the seat are:

• Overseeing the annual budget and financial reporting
• Reviewing bank statements and reconciliations every month
• Presenting financial reports at board meetings
• Monitoring assessment collections and delinquencies
• Coordinating the annual audit or financial review
• Making sure reserves are funded according to the reserve study

The treasurer does not set the rules for the treasurer’s own role. The bylaws do, so read the officer section of your bylaws before the first board meeting you attend in the seat. In smaller associations, the bylaws may allow one person to hold a combined office, such as secretary-treasurer.

For how the treasurer fits with the other officers, see the overview of HOA board member duties. The full set of board operations guides sits in the run your HOA hub.

A Monthly Routine for the Treasurer

The treasurer’s monthly work comes down to three tasks:

1. Review the bank statements and the bank reconciliations.
2. Review the financial reports before the board meeting, then discuss them at the meeting.
3. Check assessment collections and delinquencies.

The monthly reconciliation should be performed by someone other than the person writing the checks. If the treasurer writes the checks, a different person does the reconciliation.

A recommended practice for board financials is to review the reports in advance of the meeting. The board then holds a dialog about them at the meeting itself.

The treasurer monitors assessment collections and delinquencies. Collection steps beyond monitoring depend on the governing documents and state law.

One failure is common. A new treasurer inherits a login to the accounting software from the prior board, gets no walkthrough of the account structure, and posts transactions to whatever account looks closest. Post to the association’s chart of accounts instead, and use the HOA accounting guide to learn how the books are organized.

The Annual Cycle of HOA Treasurer Responsibilities

The annual cycle covers the budget, the reserves, the outside financial review, and the reports to owners. The yearly items on the treasurer’s calendar are:

• Adopting the annual budget with the board
• Documenting reserve-funding compliance against the reserve study
• Coordinating the annual audit or financial review
• Delivering the treasurer’s report at the annual meeting
• Reviewing the insurance policy with the broker each year

Budget season pushes treasurers to the higher end of board hours. Use the steps in how to create an HOA budget and start from the HOA budget template.

The treasurer checks that reserves are funded according to the reserve study and documents reserve-funding compliance against it. The HOA reserve study guide explains how the study works.

The annual audit or review is usually delivered within 90 to 180 days after the fiscal year ends. Which one applies is covered in HOA audit requirements. The treasurer coordinates the annual audit or financial review.

When a new board takes over, confirm that the previous boards filed the annual tax return. Look at the prior returns in the association’s permanent records. The rules are covered in does an HOA have to file a tax return.

The HOA Treasurer Report at Board and Annual Meetings

The treasurer presents financial reports at board meetings and a treasurer’s report at the annual meeting. At a regular board meeting, the treasurer presents the financial reports, and the monthly work covers:

• The financial reports for the period
• Delinquencies

The treasurer presents the audited financials, and the agenda also includes the president’s report and the status of the budget and reserves. The HOA annual meeting guide shows where the treasurer’s report fits in the agenda.

Financial Controls That Protect the Treasurer and the Association

Financial controls protect both the treasurer and the association. The standard controls are:

• Dual signatures on checks above a threshold, often $2,500 or $5,000
• Monthly bank reconciliations performed by someone other than the person writing the checks
• A vendor W-9 file kept for every paid vendor
• Board approval of contracts above a threshold, with the approval documented in the minutes
• A written check-approval workflow for the treasurer and the management company
• An annual insurance policy review with the broker
• Reserve-funding compliance documented against the reserve study

The association is its own legal entity. The entity owns the dues, the reserve fund, and the bank account, and the treasurer and president do not. Running HOA money through a personal account is commingling, and commingling strips away liability protection.

Keep operating money and reserve money in separate accounts. A blended account makes it easy to cover a bad month by dipping into reserves with no board resolution and no line item. The HOA bank account guide covers how to set up the accounts.

Deposit insurance limits also matter for large reserves. Standard Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) coverage is $250,000 per depositor, per bank, per ownership category. An association holding $400,000 in reserves at one bank would have $150,000 above that limit ($400,000 minus $250,000).

Treasurer, Manager, and Bookkeeper Roles

The size and complexity of the association decide whether a volunteer treasurer can handle the books or the board should hire help. The treasurer oversees the finances in either setup, but the daily bookkeeping can sit with a volunteer, a bookkeeper, or a management company.

Setup	Fits
Volunteer treasurer	A small, simple association
Dedicated bookkeeper	A larger association, or one with several funds and vendors
Management company with bookkeeping	A larger association, or one with several funds and vendors

An association with several funds and vendors usually needs a dedicated bookkeeper or a management company that includes bookkeeping.

Cash accounting records a transaction only when money moves. Accrual accounting records it when it is earned or owed, and fund accounting tracks the operating and reserve funds separately.

Fiduciary Duty and Numbers That Look Wrong

Board members, including the treasurer, take on a fiduciary duty to the association. Whether a volunteer is personally liable varies by state and by the governing documents. A treasurer with a liability question should speak with an HOA attorney in their state.

Embezzlement in HOAs is usually committed by a treasurer, president, or manager. It often takes the form of small, ordinary transactions repeated over time. A fidelity bond or crime insurance policy responds to these losses, and the HOA embezzlement guide covers the topic in full.

When the numbers look wrong, take the question to the association’s CPA or an HOA attorney instead of fixing entries on your own. If a director, vendor, or manager has a personal stake in the transaction, read the guide on HOA board conflict of interest. Start this month by pulling the bylaws, the latest bank reconciliation, and the reserve study, and list which HOA treasurer duties your bylaws assign to you.

This guide provides general information, not legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney in your state about specific legal questions or governing document interpretations.