Summary of Finance Committee Meeting of 7 November 2006
Present:
Finance Committee: John Frisch, Don Horan, John Lynch, Jean Strub
Board of Directors (BoD): Mal Malo
Board Candidate: Chuck Heath
Monitor FRCA (Koger) Account: It was noted that a new management company has been selected by the BoD. Armstrong Management Services, Inc. of Fairfax, Virginia will replace Koger Management Group, Inc. on 1 January 2007. Mal Malo said that representatives of Armstrong Management will meet with the Finance Committee as part of the transition process.
The modified chart of accounts for 2007 was discussed. Minor modifications had been made to the previous chart to better align it with the 2007 budget adopted by the BoD. It was decided that it will be additionally modified so that there is only a single account for charges against the replacement reserve fund. The chart of accounts is a topic that will be discussed with Armstrong Management.
Recently, the monthly financial reports from Koger Management have been primarily delivered via e-mail. Because it is necessary that we receive so much data, the electronic files have been huge and difficult to print and manage. Therefore, we will request that very large reports such as the general ledger be provided in hard copy. It will be helpful if the smaller reports are divided among several files instead of collected into one large, unwieldy electronic file.
The audit of the 2005 financial data has not yet been completed. Nevertheless, it is time to seek an accounting firm to audit the 2006 financial records.
Monitor Community Center Account: Matching the Visa debit card transaction records with the Activity Director’s records through the end of August 2006 has been done. John Frisch will sort the transactions into their proper accounts. Additional monthly statements from Visa are needed from Koger Management to proceed beyond the end of August.
In an earlier meeting, it had been decided to change from Quicken to Quickbooks to provide the record keeping and reporting for the Community Center account. There is more than one version of Quickbooks to choose from, however. It was decided that Quickbooks Pro is the appropriate version for our use. It will be purchased and installed.
Investment Strategy: A check for the final interest on the Merrill Lynch account was received. It will be deposited into the same account as the rest of the money from closing the Merrill Lynch account. All of the funds from this Merrill Lynch account are part of our replacement reserve fund.
An agenda item for the Finance Committee’s meeting with Armstrong Management will be a discussion of how we can best use their capabilities to provide sound investment of our funds.
Budget: The budget recommended by the Finance Committee to the BoD in late September was adopted by the BoD on 25 October with very few changes. Compared to the recommended budget, the adopted budget increases expected income by $8,000 because the BoD significantly raised the rental rates for use of the Community Center. Also, expenses were reduced by $10,000 based on more accurate knowledge of the cost associated with the new management contract. With these changes, the adopted budget establishes a monthly assessment of $137 per home for 2007.
Contracts: An updated version of the contracting action list was presented.