Duties of an HOA Treasurer - Chief Financial Officer

In the Common Interest Developments industry, the terms Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) are used interchangeably. The Davis-Stirling Act uses the term Treasurer while the California Secretary of State uses the term Chief Financial Officer.

For our purposes, we will use CFO. The CFO is an officer elected by the board of directors of a homeowner association.

The duties and powers of the CFO are generally set forth in the association bylaws.  In addition to those duties and powers, it is common for the board of directors of an HOA to delegate or assign other duties to the CFO.

Duties of the CFO usually (but not always) include the following:

 

  1. Receiving, reviewing, and maintaining the financial records of the association, including monthly financial statements, the year end financial report, and both federal and state tax returns.

 

  1. Ensuring that both the federal and state tax returns are signed and filed on time and that any amounts owing are paid timely.

 

  1. Ensuing that reserve studies are prepared in accordance with the law so that unfair special assessments are avoided.

 

  1. Making certain that only current board members are authorized to sign on any reserve accounts.

 

  1. Preparing an annual budget for the board’s approval with the input of the management company and other board members.

 

  1. Reviewing monthly invoices from vendors and contractors and verifying that all accounts payable are paid on time.

 

  1. Reviewing the status of all delinquent assessments with the management company and board after the 15th day of each month.

 

  1. Reviewing the association’s year-end financial Review or Audit (if required) with the board and management company upon receipt.

 

  1. Being a cosigner on the association’s reserve account with one or more other board members.

 

  1. Making certain that all financial records are passed on to the next CFO and obtaining a receipt for the documents passed on.

 

While it is perfectly acceptable and customary for the CFO and board to delegate much of the work described above to the management company, it is still the responsibility of the CFO to supervise and make certain that all requirements have been met.

HOA Financial Management Services
818-991-1500