Financial tracking tool for small coop?

I’m on the board of a small (14-unit) self-managed coop. We use an accounting firm to prepare our taxes, but day-to-day tracking of expenses and income is done by hand.

I’d like to find a free, user-friendly platform to track budgets and project income, etc… There’s Mint, of course, but wondering if anyone has any other reccs for what is basically a small business.

Thanks in advance.

gfried

in General Discussion 5 years and 8 months ago

5

Please log in, in order to post replies!

5 replies

Newest Oldest

Guest User | 5 years and 8 months ago

string(1) "3"
string(6) "198917"

And I forgot to mention Buildium’s work order capabilities. Residents can input work orders and the progress can be tracked by the board. This is a huge difference maker as far as getting stuff resolved quickly, especially if you don’t have staff and are managing repairs and maintenance at the board level. We discourage tenants from calling or e-mailing in work orders and ask them to use Buildium. At first they didn’t trust it but once they saw how useful it is (they can track the progress of the work order) they have all gotten on board.

Guest User | 5 years and 8 months ago

string(1) "3"
string(6) "198917"

I would strongly suggest using Buildium, which is a property management platform that has a lot of tools for self-managed condos and co-ops. It is not free, but it is also not expensive compared to its peers (perhaps $50/mo), and it will revolutionize the way you manage your building. At least it did for me…

I use it to manage a portfolio of rental properties and it has been a game changer from a time management and record-keeping perspective. I think it would be just as helpful for a co-op/condo. You and other owners can pay maintenance fees through Buildium (they process ACH/EFT), and it will automatically flow through the P&L. They have a third-party check printing service for paying vendors, which again, automatically flows through the P&L.

Finally, the service has great reporting features. You can run arrears reports, vendor payment reports, and a bunch of other useful reports. Such a great way to figure out where the money is going, how it compares with previous years, and so on.

hkapstein | 5 years and 8 months ago

string(1) "1"
object(WP_User)#4990 (8) {
  ["data"]=>
  object(stdClass)#4992 (12) {
    ["ID"]=>
    string(6) "197623"
    ["user_login"]=>
    string(9) "hkapstein"
    ["user_pass"]=>
    string(34) "$P$Bi/rarQU.AidQ5DWnWIzXSi7UikLcx/"
    ["user_nicename"]=>
    string(31) "boerumamaemailnotprovided-local"
    ["user_email"]=>
    string(19) "hkapstein@gmail.com"
    ["user_url"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["user_registered"]=>
    string(19) "2018-06-15 18:43:24"
    ["user_activation_key"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["user_status"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["display_name"]=>
    string(14) "Helen Kapstein"
    ["spam"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["deleted"]=>
    string(1) "0"
  }
  ["ID"]=>
  int(197623)
  ["caps"]=>
  array(1) {
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["cap_key"]=>
  string(15) "wp_capabilities"
  ["roles"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(10) "subscriber"
  }
  ["allcaps"]=>
  array(3) {
    ["read"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["level_0"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["filter"]=>
  NULL
  ["site_id":"WP_User":private]=>
  int(1)
}

GnuCash is an opensource free alternative to quickbooks. It’s a bit more awkward, but it does the job. May be overkill if a spreadsheet is all you need.

yudashasom | 5 years and 8 months ago

string(1) "1"
object(WP_User)#4972 (8) {
  ["data"]=>
  object(stdClass)#5017 (12) {
    ["ID"]=>
    string(6) "194528"
    ["user_login"]=>
    string(10) "yudashasom"
    ["user_pass"]=>
    string(34) "$P$BKrcOOJj2qysH3kdOE3mMqxeyqPZ1m0"
    ["user_nicename"]=>
    string(10) "yudashasom"
    ["user_email"]=>
    string(20) "yudashasom@gmail.com"
    ["user_url"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["user_registered"]=>
    string(19) "2017-08-10 14:07:32"
    ["user_activation_key"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["user_status"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["display_name"]=>
    string(29) "Dasha Sominski Dasha Sominski"
    ["spam"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["deleted"]=>
    string(1) "0"
  }
  ["ID"]=>
  int(194528)
  ["caps"]=>
  array(1) {
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["cap_key"]=>
  string(15) "wp_capabilities"
  ["roles"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(10) "subscriber"
  }
  ["allcaps"]=>
  array(3) {
    ["read"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["level_0"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["filter"]=>
  NULL
  ["site_id":"WP_User":private]=>
  int(1)
}

I would pay the few bucks and get Quickbooks

true | 5 years and 8 months ago

string(1) "1"
object(WP_User)#4993 (8) {
  ["data"]=>
  object(stdClass)#5021 (12) {
    ["ID"]=>
    string(6) "201026"
    ["user_login"]=>
    string(4) "true"
    ["user_pass"]=>
    string(34) "$P$BEUJpFfrB4EOKjujGRA.dR9IbqBgrV1"
    ["user_nicename"]=>
    string(15) "truetrueart-biz"
    ["user_email"]=>
    string(16) "true@trueart.biz"
    ["user_url"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["user_registered"]=>
    string(19) "2017-08-10 14:11:38"
    ["user_activation_key"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["user_status"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["display_name"]=>
    string(9) "True True"
    ["spam"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["deleted"]=>
    string(1) "0"
  }
  ["ID"]=>
  int(201026)
  ["caps"]=>
  array(1) {
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["cap_key"]=>
  string(15) "wp_capabilities"
  ["roles"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(10) "subscriber"
  }
  ["allcaps"]=>
  array(3) {
    ["read"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["level_0"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["filter"]=>
  NULL
  ["site_id":"WP_User":private]=>
  int(1)
}

Have you considered using Google Sheets? Not a tailored solution, but I like that it keeps a running record of edits that can be reverted back if needed and there’s a large community of users who can help troubleshoot if an issue arises. It’ll also be easy to turn the spreadsheet into a dashboard for coop members who want to stay in-the-know but don’t need to look at every line item. https://www.google.com/sheets/about/