What Is HOA Management Software?

The all-in-one, accounting-first platform built for community management companies and self-managed HOAs

Managing communities means keeping up with dues, violations, ARC requests, work orders, and nonstop communication. HOA management software brings it all into one platform, so data, tasks, and reporting stay connected. The payoff: fewer errors, audit-ready financials, and a smoother workday. 

What does it include? 

  • Accounting (core): assessments, AR/AP, bank syncs, GL, collections, audit-ready reports. 
  • Violations (Smartwebs specialty): mobile inspections (offline capable), time-stamped photos, letter templates, and one-click escalation. 
  • ARC (architectural requests): Online ARC submittal, review and vote, with same day approvals 
  • Work orders & maintenance: create/assign on desktop or mobile, assign vendors, and update progress in real-time. 
  • Portals (office/resident/mobile): payments, requests, announcements, and two-way messaging. 
  • Automation & dashboards: scheduled notices, reminders, recurring tasks, KPI views for leadership. 

How it works (day in the life) 

  • Morning: AR aging, assessment exceptions, and delinquency follow-ups appear on your dashboard. 
  • Midday: Inspectors run mobile violation drives, snap photos, and generate letters instantly. 
  • Afternoon: ARC approvals route automatically; work orders update vendor status and costs. 
  • End of day: Finance exports audit-ready reports; managers view KPIs. 

All-in-one vs. patchwork tools 

  • Patchwork: multiple logins, double entry, conflicting data, and manual reporting. 
  • All-in-one: one login, shared data, end-to-end automation, and real-time visibility. 

Must-have features in 2025 

  • Accounting-first design with live bank integrations 
  • Mobile-first inspections (offline capable) with maps and time-stamped photos 
  • Automated notices, escalations, and recurring tasks 
  • Role-based permissions and audit logs 
  • KPI dashboards (violations, AR aging, ARC approvals) 
  • Secure resident and board portals 
  • Fast-track training & onboarding for quick ROI 

Who is it for? 

  • Community management companies that need standardized, scalable operations across dozens (or hundreds) of HOAs.  
  • Self-managed HOAs that want professional-grade accounting and compliance without duct-taping multiple tools together. 

Why teams choose Smartwebs 

Smartwebs is all-in-one HOA & Community Association Management Software—accounting-first, violations-strong, and client-centric. Consolidate accounting, violations, ARC, work orders, and portals into one easy-to-use platform with automation and mobile at the core. 

 

Ready to streamline the workday?

 See It Live: Book A Demo

 

Budget Season, Simplified – Your HOA Accounting Playbook (2025)

Budget season is a critical period for community management, it’s when spreadsheets multiply, deadlines tighten, and boards expect absolute clarity. With the right processes and the right platform, you can transition from a reactive stance to a strategic approach, enabling you to complete your budget faster and with fewer errors. With approximately 369,000 community associations in the U.S. serving around 77 million residents, you’re certainly not alone in the crunch. (Source: CAI Fact Book 2024 Statistical Review)  

Why Budget Season Gets Messy (and How to Fix It) 

Usual Pain Points:  

  • Rising vendor costs 
  • Unexcepted capital expenses 
  • Rising Insurance costs 
  • Inaccurate forecasting – budgets based on last year’s guesses 

The Fix:  

  • Centralized Vendor Management + Invoice Processing – Contracts, insurance, invoices and pricing live in one place 
  • Reserve fund planning – capital needs are forecasted and tracked 
  • Document management + Vendor records – policies, renewal dates, and premium history are visible 
  • Accurate forecasting: Budgets based on last year’s data that auto-populate 

CAI Standards Alignment: Ensure your budget reflects current reserve study standards for realistic and defendable contributions. (Helpful references: Smartwebs Portals, CAI National Reserve Study Standards) 

What Sets Smartwebs Apart – Accounting & Budgeting, Front-and-Center 

Accounting Built for HOAs:/

When budget season arrives, boards don’t need bells and whistles, they need clean numbers. Smartwebs is built with accounting workflows so you can close the month faster, forecast confidently, and present budgets. 

The 7-Step HOA Budget Playbook (2025) 

  1. Pull clean actuals (12–24 months). Export GL, AR, AP and bank activity. Tag one-time/non-recurring items and reclassify miscoded transactions so historical trends are usable.
     
  2. Normalize and trend expenses. Adjust for seasonality, contract escalators, and utility indexation. Use rolling averages and CPI adjustments where appropriate.
     
  3. Model revenue with delinquency scenarios. Build best/likely/worst revenue projections that incorporate current collection performance and plausible shifts in payer behavior.
     
  4. Pressure-test contractual & recurring costs. Load vendor contracts into the system, apply known escalators, and flag renewal windows. Assign budget owners for each major line.
     
  5. Translate reserve study to budgeted funding. Convert reserve timelines and replacement costs into scheduled contributions and link them to reserve GL accounts and projects.
     
  6. Lock budget with controls & approvals. Route the budget through AP/board approval workflows, lock the budget period, and preserve an approval audit trail for the CPA.
     
  7. Publish to board portal for review. Post the proposed budget to the board portal for review. Allows real-time access for HOA boards to review the budget. 

Built for Community Management Companies’ and Self-Managed HOA’s 

For Community Management Companies:

Easily manage multiple associations with portfolio rollups, consolidated financials, standardized workflows, and permission-based access — all designed to help your team scale efficiently without adding headcount. 

For Self-Managed HOAs:

Run like a pro with professional-grade accounting tools: automated AR, clear and customizable financial reports, and the ability to manage multiple bank accounts with ease. 

Accounting Features Checklist (Budget-Focused) 

  • Recurring assessments with proration and multi-period posting 
  • Automated statements, reminder cadence & payment plans 
  • Vendor management with contract dates, insurance docs, and PO approvals by role 
  • Project accounting for capital repairs with work-order cost capture 
  • Real-time bank feeds + automated reconciliation utilities 
  • Budget vs. actuals (accrual & cash views)  
  • Scenario modeling: delinquency, vendor escalation, special assessment options 
  • Period locks and audit trails 

 See It Live: Book a live demo of Smartwebs

Sources (quick reference) 

CAI — Community Association Fact Book 2024 Statistical Review (PDF); Fact Book 2024 Dashboard.
CAI — National Reserve Study Standards (July 2023); Reserve Studies & Funding Resources (Jan 2024).
AICPA — Segregation-of-duties charts: two-person, three-person, four-person.
First Citizens — 6 HOA payment options homeowners expect.
CPA explainers on HOA audits: HOA PPM; AcoBloom.
Smartwebs — Product overview; Portals; Reviews on G2 and Capterra 

 

10 Best HOA Accounting Software Companies

Best HOA Accounting Software

Manual bookkeeping is no longer used by homeowners associations across the country. You can easily automate accounting processes and generate financial reports with HOA accounting software. 

Table of contents

If you’re new to technology, you may be asking yourself what HOA accounting software is.

HOA accounting software automates numerous finance-related tasks and produces a comprehensive range of financial statements. This software is invaluable for HOA boards and managers, facilitating the management of day-to-day financial operations such as Balance Sheets, Income Statements, and Cash Flow Statements.

HOA management software offers a broader suite of services including communication and event management, HOA accounting software typically focuses more narrowly on financial management. This distinction is crucial for understanding the scope of functionalities provided by different systems.

Property management software on the other hand, is designed to assist in managing rental properties, whether they are residential or commercial. Unlike HOA management software, property management systems concentrate on individual property management rather than overseeing an entire neighborhood.

  • HOA software HOA software simplifies processes within your community, such as tracking and resolving maintenance requests, ensuring violations are addressed promptly, and facilitating communication between management companies and residents. 
  • Cloud-based HOA software solutions allow for management from anywhere, providing access from any device at any time, which is especially crucial in today’s remote work environments.
  • The best HOA accounting software centralizes review of all crucial association documentation and data, ensuring that information is readily accessible to all relevant parties. This centralized access improves accountability and decision-making efficiency.
  • Secure data –Moreover, cloud-based systems offer enhanced data security compared to traditional storage methods, and streamlined communication software fosters better interactions with residents. The availability of data enables strategic planning for the neighborhood’s future, leveraging reports on the association’s activities to assess current circumstances.
  • HOA accounting software, the margin for error is significantly reduced due to the efficiency of requiring only one accounting entry per transaction. This efficiency translates into time and cost savings, as the software minimizes the duration spent on manual tasks. Furthermore, real-time financial reporting capabilities allow for informed decision-making for the community.

1. Smartwebs

Smartwebs Offers an All-In-One Platform + Mobile, streamlining community bookkeeping and enhancing efficiency with its cloud technology. Its features make it simpler and smarter to manage accounting, violations, work orders, communications, architectural requests, and more. Smartwebs pricing starts at $0.40 per door, making it accessible for both self-managed associations and larger entities.

Rated the best HOA accounting Software for ease of use, Smartwebs makes accounting, violations, work orders, communications, architectural requests, and more not only simpler but SMARTER.

  • Automate Receivables
  • Faster Payables
  • Better financial reporting
  • Advanced Accounting Intelligence
  • Stronger Bank Integrations

You can schedule a FREE demo to learn more about pricing and see how the software works.

HOA Accounting Software

2. Appfolio

AppFolio Property Manager Known for its comprehensive accounting features suitable for HOAs, Appfolio supports automated accounts payable and integrates well with online payments for debt collection.

Though primarily a property management software, HOAs can benefit from its corporate accounting features, such as:

  • Record corporate transactions in a separate chart of accounts
  • Automatically create bills and invoices between corporate and property books
  • Bill back associations for management fees, admin work, vendor bills, and costs for common area maintenance

Pricing starts at $0.80 per unit per month, with a minimum monthly fee of $250. You can even sign up for a free customized demo.

Appfolio property management software

3. Buildium

Buildium A property management software that serves HOAs as well, focusing on efficiency and ease of use, even for those new to technology. This solution streamlines various property management tasks, including accounting and tenant screening.

Buildium is free to try, and while pricing may not be ideal for all communities, it has plenty of options for those of different sizes. This software could improve small things, such as accounting functions, though it remains a good product overall.

 

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4. FreshBooks

FreshBooks promises to make bookkeeping easy, allowing you to spend time on more important tasks. This software focuses purely on HOA accounting. One key feature of FreshBooks is its ability to be used on the go. That way, if you run into an emergency and need to track your time for a client later that evening, you don’t have to worry about not having the app with you.

You can try FreshBooks for free for 60 days. After that, subscriptions start at $4.50 a month with five billable clients. If you have over 500 billable clients, you will need to contact FreshBooks for custom pricing.

5. Condo Manager

Condo Manager is specifically designed to cater to HOAs and COAs, although property managers can still use their suite of features.

This software provides full-service accounting, from budgeting to bank reconciliations to monthly reports. Condo Manager not only does accounting, but also offers website services, online resident portals, communication tools, and service request management that help to improve your association. You can contact them for a free demo of the software.

6. CINC Systems

CINC Systems provide robust accounting and HOA management software modules. Their pricing starts at $39 a month. This all-in-one association management software boasts modules for accounts payable, collections, homeowner billing and payments, lockbox services, and monthly reports. It also offers other features typical in HOA management software, such as communication, CCR management, and ACC management.

Pricing starts at $39 a month.

7. FrontSteps

FrontSteps is a service that can be used to create and manage HOA websites. With this software, you can customize it to have many useful features such as violation tracking and online payments. This website makes it easy for residents in the community to file work orders. The management side lets you take care of your financial needs with their accounting services.

Pricing starts at $79.95 per month.

8. PayHOA

PayHOA is a cloud-based homeowner association (HOA) management software for communicating with members, collecting dues, and tracking expenses. It boasts of being an all-in-one platform to manage your community associations.

PayHOA offers a 30-day free trial. Afterward, pricing begins at $49 / per month.

9. MoneyMinder

MoneyMinder provides software exclusively for HOA accounting, catering to its needs. Utilizing MoneyMinder, you can track resident dues and other income. This software also displays reports, sends invoices to homeowners for payment, and compares your budget with your actual expenses.

What’s even better is that it is free for the basics, yet comes at $159 for the paid version for full capabilities. Those who want a taste of the features without risking anything are able to download the app for a trial period before paying.

It’s noteworthy that MoneyMinder has discontinued support for the Internet Explorer web browser, emphasizing the importance of modern technology compatibility.

10. Quickbooks

QuickBooks is well-known accounting software. While it does not offer options specifically catered to HOAs, it is still a great solution for an HOA just starting out. With this software, you can automate dues payments, wages, and bills. You can also track your income and expenses, allowing you to compare your budget with actual figures.

Pricing starts at $12.50 per month.

An efficient HOA accounting software can help HOAs save time and money, minimize errors, and improve overall financial management. But how do you know if you’re choosing the best software for you? Below are some of the key features to look for in HOA accounting software.

  • Budgeting and forecasting tools
  • Accounts payable and receivable
  • General ledger and financial reporting
  • Real-time balances

Budgeting and forecasting

Budgeting and forecasting are essential components of financial management for HOAs. An HOA accounting software with robust budgeting and forecasting tools can help HOAs create accurate and realistic budgets and forecast expenses, ensuring that the HOA’s finances are on track.

A good software solution should provide tools for creating and managing budgets. It should allow HOAs to set up budgets for different periods, such as monthly, quarterly, or annually, and allocate funds to different expense categories, such as utilities, landscaping, or maintenance. The software should also allow HOAs to adjust budgets as needed and compare actual expenses against the budget.

Accounts payable and receivable

Accounts payable and receivable are crucial aspects of managing an HOA’s finances. An HOA accounting software with efficient accounts payable and receivable management tools can help automate many of the manual processes involved in these tasks, saving time and reducing the risk of errors. Your software should allow invoicing, payment processing, and record keeping.

Overall, HOA accounting software with efficient accounts payable and receivable management tools can help HOAs streamline their financial operations and reduce the risk of errors. By automating these tasks, HOAs can focus on other aspects of managing their community, such as communication with members, maintenance, and compliance.

General ledger and financial reporting

A general ledger is a fundamental tool in accounting and financial management. It is a complete record of all financial transactions, organized by account and date, that is used to generate financial statements and reports. An HOA accounting software with a general ledger and financial reporting tools can provide a clear and accurate view of the HOA’s financial health.

Real-time balances

Real-time balances are an important feature of HOA accounting software because they provide an up-to-date and accurate view of the HOA’s financial status. This feature allows HOA members, board members, and financial managers to see the current balance of the HOA’s accounts, as well as any outstanding invoices or payments.

Having accounting software with real-time balances can save time by reducing the need for manual updates and reconciliations. Instead of manually entering and updating financial data, HOA accounting software with real-time balances can automatically update account balances and provide alerts when payments are received or invoices are issued. This can save time for financial managers and allow them to focus on other aspects of managing the HOA’s finances.

Selecting the best HOA accounting software

When choosing HOA accounting software, consider key features such as budgeting and forecasting tools, accounts payable and receivable management, general ledger and financial reporting capabilities, and real-time balances. These features are crucial for efficient financial management, error minimization, and strategic planning within your association.

Incorporating advanced technology into your HOA’s financial operations not only streamlines tasks but also enhances the management system, allowing your association to focus on essential duties like bank accounts and credit card management, handling maintenance requests, and coordinating with management companies. The right software ensures that your community can operate more effectively, fostering a well-managed and financially sound environment.