Community associations often face the problem of managing many invoices and payments.
This process can quickly become overwhelming for a community, especially if they are not equipped with a professional invoicing system or the right people to manage it.
From manual data entry to processing checks, communities could experience drastic improvements by simplifying their invoicing process and automating some steps. In this article, we’ll show you how to simplify and automate your community invoicing and why TOPS Software has been the number one choice for many HOA associations to do just that.
Different Ways to Manage Community Invoicing
There are three ways community associations can manage their invoicing.
You could hire an accountant or bookkeeper, acquire a full-service invoicing software, or recruit a volunteer community member. While the last option “seems” preferable, your data may not be as accurate as you’d like because the person is essentially working for free.
Managing a community’s invoices is a tedious task with:
- Accepting Payments and Reconciling Accounts
- Proofreading and Correcting
- Processing Invoices
- Data Entry
Let’s break down some pros and cons of each option:
1. Hiring an accountant
Pro: Having an expert manage your invoices who can advise you on areas that the association can improve.
Con: It can dig into your HOA budget, costing upwards of $40,000 a year.
2. Using a full-service invoicing software
Pro: The right software automates your invoicing process seamlessly and quickly at a fraction of the price of hiring a professional accountant.
Con: You may have some customers that are offline and unable to check their inboxes regularly. In this event, you can send printed copies straight from the program to the select few.
3. Leaving the task to a volunteer community member
Pro: It’s a significant cost saving upfront.
Con: It may cost the HOA more money in the long run since community volunteers may lack the necessary skills and time.
Now that you better understand your options in managing your community’s invoices, you can make the best business decision. Invest wisely in a process that works well with your budget and at the same time will help improve relationships with your vendors and community members.
Enumerate Central technology combines the benefits of all three alternatives into a single accounting engine explicitly designed to make life easy for community associations. With its built-in automation and considerable customizability, it’s powerful enough to please the most discerning accountant while being simple enough to use by someone with no prior accounting training.
How Can Enumerate Simplify Your Invoicing
Associations want to get paid as soon as possible, so time is of the essence when issuing invoices.
However, traditional invoicing processes present the challenge of handling and managing multiple documents. Some will get lost or errors made that require more time to fix.
The more time you spend verifying and editing things, the longer it takes for your community to receive and pay their bills.
One of the things Enumerate helps you save is time! With its cloud integration, your accountants can manage files in the program so that nothing gets misplaced. It also makes it easy for board members or HOA leaders to review and approve documents for faster decision-making.
We did a case study on StoneKastle, a property management company in Southern California that has fulfilled its unique company vision by using Enumerate Central.
How Invoice Automation Benefits Everyone in Your Community
From homeowners to vendors, everyone can enjoy the convenience of TOPS automated invoicing features.
We’ve worked with hundreds of community associations and have heard a lot of positive feedback from them, their clients, and their vendors about how Enumerate has benefitted them.
How Invoice Automation Benefits Owners
Residents can access their account information 24 hours a day via Enumerate Central Owner Access.
They can view their accounting history, make payments online, and review violations to find answers to their questions instead of calling you.
According to Zendesk, self-service is now preferred by 67% of clients over engaging with a company professional. Probably the most important gain your association has in automating your invoicing process is happier owners.
How Invoice Automation Benefits Vendors
Have you heard of TOPS VendorAlly? As the name indicates, it is built for and to make allies of vendors.
It simplifies payments for vendors, allowing them to invoice and get compensated quicker. Vendors can easily submit their invoices to Enumerate Central with attachments.
How Invoice Automation Benefits Your Association
Using TOPS to automate your HOA invoice process comes with plenty of advantages for your community association.
With one click, you can send invoices to all your residents.
And since it’s cloud-based, authorized members have access to your files and reports. It eliminates the back-and-forth emails inside your organization.
The time saved from simplifying your invoicing process can now be used to manage your community better.
Additional Accounting-Related TOPS Features
Some additional features that make it worthwhile to start using TOPS are TOPS Pay and our Financial Services.
TOPS Pay is a perfect match when automating your invoicing process to improve customer experience. It allows owners to make easy, breezy online payments and avoid late fees.
Suppose you’re a team of 5 or 10 and want to dedicate 100% of everyone’s time to managing properties and community relationships. In that case, you’ll find our Financial Services offer the support you need to manage your accounting.
Start Automating Your Community Invoicing Process for Success
Automating your invoicing process can help in so many ways, not only for your association but for everyone involved in your community.
Transitioning to a new process or using a new tool may seem overwhelming, but the result cannot compare to the few adjustments you have to make.
Need help taking that big step to success? Reach out to a Sales Representative today!
