This page explains Common Ledger's operating intake. It is not legal, tax, audit, CPA, reserve-study, or investment advice.
1. Confirm the operating scope
Before files move, the board should confirm whether Common Ledger is handling monthly accounting only, cleanup plus accounting, virtual administration, resale support, owner communications, or a combination of those services.
2. Gather platform and bank records
- Current platform access, such as PayHOA, AppFolio, Buildium, QuickBooks, or other records.
- Bank statements for operating, reserve, and other association accounts.
- Most recent reconciliations and prior-year financial reports.
- Current owner roster, unit list, assessment schedule, and owner balances.
- Open invoices, recurring contracts, vendor W-9 files where available, and approval rules.
3. Review owner ledgers before live billing
Owner balances should be reviewed before a new recurring process begins. Credits, unapplied payments, payment plans, late fees, legal accounts, resale transactions, and prior adjustments should be identified early.
4. Establish the monthly close calendar
The board and Common Ledger should agree on statement availability, close timing, board packet date, approval workflow, delinquency review cadence, and the best point of contact for questions.
5. Decide what cleanup is separate
Cleanup is different from recurring accounting. If historical bank reconciliations, owner ledgers, reserve transfers, or old invoices do not tie out, Common Ledger will scope that work separately so the board knows what is included.
- Define recurring scope before cleanup begins.
- Collect bank statements and prior reports first.
- Review owner balances before owners receive new notices.
- Set close and board packet dates.
- Keep board authority over approvals and policy decisions.