10 things to consider before evaluating balance sheet

If you are a Secretary, President, or the Treasurer of a gated community, terms like maintenance dues, late payment charges, reconciliation of the balance sheet are a part of your everyday job.

For a society to run smoothly, maintenance dues have to be paid on time, the accounting has to be precise, and the treasurer must have clear insights on the society’s income and expenses.

However, not every treasurer or secretary comes from an accounting background and for this very reason, ApnaComplex offers a robust, fully automated accounting and billing solution with 100+ financial reports and 30+ audit-ready reports.

When the time comes to reconcile or evaluate a balance sheet, the Treasurer must consider various aspects and pay attention to a handful of factors before evaluating the balance sheet and submitting for audit.

Keep reading to learn about these essential factors and why they can never be overlooked!

Fixed Asset Verification

A Treasurer must ensure that whatever fixed assets physically available in the society’s premises,  must reflect on the balance sheet as well. This will help the treasurer keep note of the available assets, depreciated value, etc.

Outstanding receivable confirmation

All outstanding amounts, including maintenance charges, vendor payments, service charge dues, etc are received and updated on the balance sheet. Failing to add even a negligible amount can cause confusion and discrepancies which will cause trouble to the Management Committee during the time of auditing.

Bank Reconciliation

The treasurer must ensure that the bank balance reflecting on the account and bank statement/balance sheet are the same. If it doesn’t match, the treasurer must spend eons of time figuring why the statement and balance doesn’t match and must fix it before auditing.

Thankfully, with ApnaComplex, a treasurer doesn’t have to worry about this, for the solution auto-reconciles the balance sheet. It also gives the comprehensive details of overdue, advance payments, late payment charges, etc, saving a treasurer’s time by more than 80%.

Vendor Payments

Vendor payments, including any loans or advance payments made to or received from vendors, have to be cross checked and recorded along with the date and vendor details. The treasurer must also keep a copy for all the invoices and receipts for future references.

The ApnaComplex system, enables the treasurer to auto-generate receipts and invoices, and maintain digital repository of the same.

Vendor Payable Reconciliation

Payments made to vendors must be recorded and reflected on the bank account and bank statement.

Corpus Fund and Sinking Fund

The Treasurer must confirm that the Corpus Fund (capital amount, or the money provided by the builder to RWA during the formation of RWA), and the Sinking Fund (emergency money) are untouched. They should also ensure that the money in the bank and the amount reflected on the balance sheet/statement are the same.                        

Fixed deposit and interest

The Treasurer must confirm the money fixed deposit and the interest it generates. It should match the bank statement.

Year ending provision

Any provision such as security services, electricity charges, equipment maintenance services that happened before March has to be incorporated in the provision and reflected on the balance sheet.

Refundable Deposit and Advances

The Treasurer must also confirm the Refundable deposits (if any) and advance payments.

Statutory Payment payable and Compliances

The Treasurer must make sure that the TDS payments, GST payments, ITR payments, etc are done and all the relevant forms are filled and submitted.

We hope you find these quite useful! ApnaComplex’s accounting solution is the only fully-mature solution made for and by gated communities available today. It is GST compliant and fully automated. If you would love to simplify your society’s accounting processes and save your time and energy, visit apnacomplex.com


Women’s Day Special: Exclusive interview with Super Women at ApnaComplex

International Women’s Day is no longer a new topic today. It is celebrated across the World in order to recognize and appreciate the contributions and achievements of the women in various fields. Starting from being Home-maker to Management Committee members to Working Professionals, they truly define the spirit of today’s women. Today, we decided to talk to three such women about their journey in ApnaComplex and how they are leading their lives with multiple roles and responsibilities.

These women are super confident and self-motivated either at home or at the workplace. Mrs. Prema Robert, Head of Human Resource at ApnaComplex quoted that “Confidence comes from the kind of responsibilities that I get it, more the responsibility that is given to me, the more I feel confident and that makes me explore more, learn more and motivates me to give my best.” Mrs. Arundhati Sen Pradhan, Head of Strategic Partnerships at ApnaComplex states “Motivation comes from the team that I work with, the people that I work with, gives me the motivation to do best in what I do”.

They mentioned that it has been a great journey so far and it is fun working at ApnaComplex. It is quite an experience for anyone to manage multiple roles. Ms. Monika Mitruka, Software Developer at ApnaComplex finds the experience ‘’very challenging and satisfactory.” They also mentioned that the key to confidence is knowledge & learning. These women feel privileged being women as they feel that they have the ability to handle both work and family life.

At ApnaComplex, they all have built stronger social connections amongst themselves. They advised that everyone has her own way of doing things and everyone should have belief in themselves first. Mrs. Arundhati concluded as “It is a very fun life, live to the fullest.” At ApnaComplex, people are full of enthusiasm, confidence and most importantly motivated to face all the odds. Moreover, accomplishing these odds has always been a challenging situation for these women.

Raj Sekhar Kommu – Co-founder and CEO of ApnaComplex says “We are pleased to celebrate International Women’s Day with all the amazing superwomen at ApnaComplex. International Women’s Day is celebrated globally to highlight and honor the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, and to call for gender equality. At ApnaComplex, we firmly believe in gender equality and are forever grateful to every female employee who is an integral part of ApnaComplex.”


Pitfalls of Cash Transactions in an Apartment Complex

Maintenance collection is a task that recurs every month. Committee members need to ensure that each unit in the apartment complex pays what is due and is done so in a timely manner. This is a long undertaking in itself. However, in many cases, these transactions are made in cash. While this is convenient in many cases and helps clear any immediate payments that need to be made, cash transactions come with a few pitfalls that are not easy to ignore.

Inefficiency
The time of maintenance payment sees a lot of activity within an apartment complex. Often, the committee members have to knock on individual doors to collect the dues. In other cases, the residents flock to the committee office to make the payments. Payments also need to be eventually collected and recorded from the defaulters. This takes up a lot of time from the committee member’s schedule.

Safety concerns
One of the main concerns with cash transactions is safety. When there are multiple units within an apartment complex, the amount of cash that is exchanged is a considerable sum. This opens up the possibility of misplacing or miscounting the amount. It also makes it open to theft. Further, the cash collected needs to be physically deposited in a bank. Driving around the streets with a large amount of cash can even put you at risk.

Inaccuracy
With an influx of cash payments, it falls on the committee members to ensure that the amount is recorded and reconciled. In an absence of an automated system, it has to be done manually. This leaves room for human error. The issue further extends even to cheque payments. In case of a bounced cheque, bookkeeping becomes long and tedious and prone to errors.

With tools like ApnaComplex, maintenance collections can be made almost effortless. It also sends out reminders for payments and draws out a defaulters list. ApnaComplex also offers a one of a kind and convenient Collection Gateway where members can do a NEFT/IMPS transfer of their maintenance dues to a unique “Account Number” issued by ApnaComplex. With Collection Gateway, ledgers are updated automatically with details of the amount transferred by the member and payment receipts are issued automatically. This eliminates the need for cash transactions and manual effort by the treasurer or accounts office. Going cashless has never been easier!


go cashless

6 Reasons Why A Cashless Society Is Here To Stay

With the new cashless wave gaining momentum in India, societies all over are adopting various ways of doing their bit to forward this initiative. Here’s why everyone should go cashless starting from today –

 

(Firstly, to avoid this…)

go cashless

 

  • Track dues and payments automatically

Now, Indians will make payments for most purchases/liabilities online. Automatic withdrawal and payment from connected accounts are also an option. So, there are no dues pending at the end of every month and that gets ticked off your to-do list instantly, without even having to make a confirmation.

go cashless

 

  • Cloud-based auto sync in real-time

All transactions are updated in books online and accounts are kept up-to-date after every transaction. Even people not so good at math will like this number game. Going cashless isn’t so bad after all.

go cashless

 

  • No long queues to wait around in

Queues that move quickly are a crowd favourite. A place where personal presence is optional is looked forward to by everyone, not just by introverts. Anyone who can’t be at a particular place at a specific time would appreciate such a development.

go cashless

 

  • Countrywide acceptance of this stance

This line of thinking will be eventually accepted and put into practice all over the nation. So, purchasing most things gets easier when done directly using an e-account.

go cashless

 

  • Chances of robbery & theft are low

When there isn’t enough to rob, why would someone painstakingly make the effort to break in and steal? Travelling outstation also gets easier since staying connected with your funds becomes more flexible. This is a great move for tourists looking forward to exploring our country.

go cashless

 

  • You can’t get lazier than swiping a card / pre-storing payment details just ONCE!

There will be no such thing as overusing your card, especially during difficult times. Swipe it for a purchase and you’re good to go. No more hunting for change in your pocket / wallet / bag / other nooks and crannies they managed to slip into. Added bonus: It just adds to your laziness. Now, who would want to go against that?

go cashless

 

But, a move like this cannot be taken for granted. Regular monitoring of one’s own funds is the primary reason for this move to be able to thrive. You can check your account details online without the hassle of visiting the bank by visiting the website provided by it instead. The web and mobile applications made available by banks equip you with another option to go cashless.

 

Let’s make a conscious and informed effort towards having a cashless society.

 

Going cashless in your society is easy with Collection Gateway by ApnaComplex. Try it here. Go cashless today!

Announcing Request Box for your Housing Society – Streamline issuing NOCs, Address Proofs and everything

In yet another first and raising the bar for Society Software, ApnaComplex – India’s #1 Apartment Management Software, now announces Request Box.

Problems that Request Box Solves

In most housing societies, it is a common practice to issue No Objection Certificates, No Dues Certificates, Address Proof Letters, Move Out Letters etc. upon request by Members of the Society.

However, issuance of these letters usually follows a process of verification and approvals. For example, the society office would check among other things if the tenant has returned the club house access cards before issuing a No Objection certificate. Also, the General Secretary or Treasurer may have to approve these requests before a letter is issued.

This is a significant administration overhead on society office. Even for Members, they need to make multiple visits to the society office in order to get the required letter. This often delays the entire process of issuance.

In order to reduce the efforts required, ApnaComplex now supports a new feature – Request Box.

How does Request Box Help / Work?

With help of Request Box, Administrators can first configure various categories of Requests that can be raised by Members. For example, administrators can create a new Request Category called “Issue NOC Certificate”. Each Request Category needs to have configuration defined for:
1. Approver List
2. List of items to checked by the Approvers
3. Template of the Certificate that is issued once necessary approvals are obtained

With help of above configurations, the society can customize who all would approve a given request, the questions or items to be checked before approving, the format of the certificate to be issued.

Powerful all in one!

Along with Request box functionality, we have added two new roles – ‘Request Box Administrator’ and ‘Request Box Assistant’ that would help community admins delegate better. Request Box Administraor can primarily do the configuration activities (like setting up workflows, checklists etc.). Request Box Assistant (typically the society’s estate manager) would be able to raise requets on behalf of members if needed, track the progress on the request and can issue the certificate to the members once all approvals are done.

One of the existing role ‘Purchase Request Approver’ is now renamed as ‘Request Approver’ to be inline with the Request Box. Members with the Request Approver role can now approve both Request Box Requests and Purchase Requests.

Go to Helpdesk->Request Box to get more organized and manage your society professionally!


ApnaComplex Enhancement: Delegate User Management in ApnaComplex

Making the Community Administrators Happy – a new role “User Management Administrator” has been added to ApnaComplex.

This role shall enable Community Administrators to delegate User Management to others with out giving away the full control of the portal. The role based access control mechanism in ApnaComplex ensures that members having “User Management Administrator” role can add/de-activate users, update the profiles, approve/reject new users. All “Join” requests from members will go to the User Management Administrators, if configured.

Happy delegating!


Want to improve community life in your Society? – Get on to ApnaComplex – Today!

ApnaComplex is India’s most comprehensive web based housing society accounting, management and community collaboration software. It is designed to make the life of residents and owners way lot better by bringing in more transparency and accountability in managing a housing society. Check out the features of ApnaComplex and sign up your society today to get the benefits! We offer a Free Edition which you can use free of cost forever.


Opt-in to receive SMS from ApnaComplex from your mobile!

Members and Staff of your complex can now send just send an SMS to start receiving SMS sent by ApnaComplex

From the mobile number that needs to be opted in send “Apna SMS START” to 9243000111 as an sms.

You would get a confirmation message back stating “Your message is received by ApnaComplex.com and will be processed in 24-48hours”.

Once sent the mobile number should be enabled to receive SMSs with in 24-48 hours, if the number is listed as a mobile number in ApnaComplex against a member or staff.

You can use the same facility to opt-out as well by sending Apna SMS STOP to 9243000111.


Every Hour Counts – Superior Complaint Escalation Process with support for Society “Working Hours”

In yet another innovation based on customer inputs, ApnaComplex now supports concept of “Business Hours” (or Working Hours or Society Office Hours). Now, administrators can define business hours in a week for a given category of complaints – for example, gardening staff will work from Monday-Friday 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Security staff works 24*7, Accountants work on Saturday and Sunday 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

Every Hour Counts!

Every Hour Counts!

Now, you can define the escalation paths to use Business Hours than calander days. This means, that a complaint related to gardening will take into account the fact that staff will not be working on Saturday and Sunday and also after 5:00PM before trigerring an escalation to next level. So, a complaint logged on Friday evening, will not get escalated on Sunday morning – and avoids raising a false alarm. Helps you monitor the staff more effectively.

With this enhancement, ApnaComplex now supports defining escalation periods in terms of business hours than days. So, if you want a unattended security complaint to be escalated in 2 business hours – it’s easily possible.

When you redefine the SLAs or re-define the business hours, the complaints that are already raised automatically take into the account of the new hours and get escalated accordingly.


Get your Society on ApnaComplex – Today!
ApnaComplex is India’s most comprehensive web based housing society accounting, management and communication software. It is designed to make the life of residents and owners a lot better by bringing in more transparency and accountability in managing a housing society. Check out the features of ApnaComplex and sign up your society today to get the benefits! We offer a free 30-day trial as well so that you can try before you buy!

ApnaComplex has Really Revolutionized Facility Maintenance

As the year end comes , we just recieved great testimonial from Mr. Ganesh Raja, treasurer of Ittina Abby, a 200+ unit society in Bangalore who have been using ApnaComplex for past 6 months now. Below is the testimonial:

Gone are the days of Maintaining Excel sheets and reconciling the same for Expenses made … Gone are the Days of having a home grown solution that crashes or have sleepless nights thinking about a Hard Disk crashes… ApnaComplex has really revolutionized facility maintenance all the way from collecting Maintenance to spending it. We at ITTINA ABBY are so happy and yesterday also a resident was saying how easy it is to use it and they never have to come to the Treasurer’s office for anything.

Great Team who is always ready to hear our problems and offer a solution even if it means more work for them. Always there to correct mistakes made by our Facility Manager, Support is so important for a System like this and the Team at Apnacomplex have understood that very well.

Kudos to the team and hope to see them enhance this more as we roll into 2012. — Ganesh, Treasurer ITTINA ABBY LBS Nagar Vimanapura PO”

Thank you Mr. Ganesh for your kind words!! We are so happy to receive these words from you!


Want to ease your (or your treasurer’s) burden? – Get on to ApnaComplex – Today!

ApnaComplex is India’s most comprehensive web based housing society accounting, management and communication software. It is designed to make the life of residents and owners way lot better by bringing in more transparency and accountability in managing a housing society. Check out the features of ApnaComplex and sign up your society today to get the benefits! We offer a free 30-day trial as well so that you can try before you buy!


Enhancements to ApnaComplex Groups: Discussions made easier

We just released an enhancement to ApnaComplex Groups functionality. The new enhancement shall enable members of a group to interact over email. Till now, group members were able to post new topics and replies only when by logging into the portal and accessing the specific group’s discussion forum.

With the new enhancement released, every group will get a mailing list with an address such as – “my_society+group+my_group at apnacomplex.com”. Group members can post topics and reply to topics using email in addition to posting from portal, very similar to the main discussion forum of the society.