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The responsibilities of being a Board or committee member can get busy and stressful to the point that a community’s budget season seems to appear out of nowhere. But let's face it – the big “surprise” of budget season is mostly our doing because we too often "let" budget season sneak up on us. Regardless of whether the entire Board were busy with other work or the committee members went on vacation, they find themselves in October with a budget to be approved and mailed out. Obviously, there is no quick-fix with the budget cycle, but how does a Board for an association break out of the stressful budget rut next year? It's not hard, just a little planning, a little preparation, the right presentation, and sticking to a schedule.

Planning

Budget Lead Time. Assuming a fiscal year ending of 12/31 then, as a Board member, you should start planning budgets somewhere in the latter part of June or the first week of July. If you foresee problems with the budget process or have to work with a cantankerous committee, then consider starting a little earlier. Remember: You have twelve months' - or more - financial statements so you can put together a reasonable picture of one year's expenses.

Do the research. Call the vendors - do they anticipate an increase next year? How about utilities? What percentage increase will be coming? 2%? 5%? Any other variances you know or anticipate upcoming? This process will probably take you 7 - 10 working days to complete, including consideration for the rest of your duties. When you finally are done gathering this information, do not be surprised to find yourself in mid-July! Now that you have all pertinent information for each line item, you can prepare your preliminary budget.

Arrange times to work on your budget just as if they were a meeting or appointment. Close your door (if you have one) and let your calls go to voicemail. Give it an hour or two a day, as the end reward will be a completed budgetary plan (and less worry) for the coming year.

Format. An excel spread sheet is the optimal budgeting tool for you to use because as the numbers inevitably change you'll be able to plug them in and they will be calculated quickly and accurately. Not to mention that you can save the excel sheet, which can help you prepare for next year's budget. Don't know how to do excel? Then get out your calculator, but make it a goal to learn excel for next year.

Reserve contribution: The Board's budget conundrum. Assuming you have a reserve study in hand, it's really your duty to plug in the recommended amount unless you (and the other Board members) know for a fact that it is inaccurate. Keep this in mind, as plugging in the recommended amount and then presenting only that as a preliminary budget to your Board/committee will likely give them heart failure. Try this: Prepare two budgets, one with the recommended reserve contribution and another with what the committee or Board wants to see (unless your Board has a differing policy regarding this issue).

Budget Presentation

Presentation format. We already talked about using excel, but what can you do to make understanding and absorbing the budget easier for your committees and Boards? Submit your budget with a pie chart (or bar chart) and insert a picture of the community as a part of your excel spread sheet. The chart will give a great visual of what money is going where, so they know at a glance that the management contract is not the biggest line item. Inserting a picture of the community brings home the fact that the budget is not an abstraction; it truly has meaning and impact on those who reside within.

Time to present: Early August. Talk to the committee or Board members, and schedule a meeting as soon as is possible. Do not forget to plan for this budget presentation with the same importance as any other meeting or event- as August is still vacation season, plan ahead at least two months in advance, such as when you begin planning your budget process in late June.

Follow up. If you can't get an August meeting scheduled, at least email the budget out and follow up individually with Board or committee members for their feedback. This way you will have an idea where each association is going with their process and you can schedule your time accordingly. Does it look like smooth sailing? Then you can let this one wait and pick it up again in September. Problems or issues voiced by other Board or committee members? Better to know now so you can allot the amount of time you'll need to see it through to approval and still give yourself enough time for distribution.

Make no mistake, even though the budget may now be in the hands of others, it is still up to you to drive the process through to the finish.

Still need help scheduling? Many of us just cannot juggle all the tasks in our head or even when properly placed on an annual calendar. Instead, try using a Program-Evaluation-and-Review-Technique/Gantt/flow chart with your association and the related tasks required from start to finish. This is great for visualization. If you can't get your arms around the number of activities for your associations, critical path items, and deadlines, by all means look into these management tools to help you budget your time and track your associations’ progress.

What executives can do to help

Budget seminars. How about a nice wine and cheese budget seminar for all your Boards of Directors? A local CPA would likely be happy to speak to association budgets, and executives could speak individually to Boards whom the managers think will be problem children this budget cycle. These meetings are good use of executive time, are great marketing, and help the managers and the Boards by giving expert input in to your individual association’s budget process. There is no downside to this type of event, and for those with a marketing talent, the majority of the costs associated with a wine and cheese event can be offset by appropriate vendor sponsorships.

Don't panic. Stress at budget time is almost wholly within your control if you utilize some basic time management tools: Plan ahead, start early, and drive the process to conclusion while staying fluid enough to work on issues contingent to the budget as well as your "day" job. Like so many things in our business, if it doesn't get handled when it should or earlier it will go from snowball to avalanche in short order. Procrastination is the enemy, especially when it comes to budgets.

The responsibilities of being a Board or committee member can get busy and stressful to the point that a community's budget season seems to appear out of nowhere. But let's face it – the big "surprise" of budget season is mostly our doing because we too often "let" budget season sneak up on us. Regardless of whether the entire Board were busy with other work or the committee members went on vacation, they find themselves in October with a budget to be approved and mailed out. Obviously, there is no quick-fix with the budget cycle, but how does a Board for an association break out of the stressful budget rut next year? It's not hard, just a little planning, a little preparation, the right presentation, and sticking to a schedule.

Planning

Budget Lead Time. Assuming a fiscal year ending of 12/31 then, as a Board member, you should start planning budgets somewhere in the latter part of June or the first week of July. If you foresee problems with the budget process or have to work with a cantankerous committee, then consider starting a little earlier. Remember: You have twelve months' - or more - financial statements so you can put together a reasonable picture of one year's expenses.

Do the research. Call the vendors - do they anticipate an increase next year? How about utilities? What percentage increase will be coming? 2%? 5%? Any other variances you know or anticipate upcoming? This process will probably take you 7 - 10 working days to complete, including consideration for the rest of your duties. When you finally are done gathering this information, do not be surprised to find yourself in mid-July! Now that you have all pertinent information for each line item, you can prepare your preliminary budget.

Arrange times to work on your budget just as if they were a meeting or appointment. Close your door (if you have one) and let your calls go to voicemail. Give it an hour or two a day, as the end reward will be a completed budgetary plan (and less worry) for the coming year.

Format. An excel spread sheet is the optimal budgeting tool for you to use because as the numbers inevitably change you'll be able to plug them in and they will be calculated quickly and accurately. Not to mention that you can save the excel sheet, which can help you prepare for next year's budget. Don't know how to do excel? Then get out your calculator, but make it a goal to learn excel for next year.

Reserve contribution: The Board's budget conundrum. Assuming you have a reserve study in hand, it's really your duty to plug in the recommended amount unless you (and the other Board members) know for a fact that it is inaccurate. Keep this in mind, as plugging in the recommended amount and then presenting only that as a preliminary budget to your Board/committee will likely give them heart failure. Try this: Prepare two budgets, one with the recommended reserve contribution and another with what the committee or Board wants to see (unless your Board has a differing policy regarding this issue).

Budget Presentation

Presentation format. We already talked about using excel, but what can you do to make understanding and absorbing the budget easier for your committees and Boards? Submit your budget with a pie chart (or bar chart) and insert a picture of the community as a part of your excel spread sheet. The chart will give a great visual of what money is going where, so they know at a glance that the management contract is not the biggest line item. Inserting a picture of the community brings home the fact that the budget is not an abstraction; it truly has meaning and impact on those who reside within.

Time to present: Early August. Talk to the committee or Board members, and schedule a meeting as soon as is possible. Do not forget to plan for this budget presentation with the same importance as any other meeting or event- as August is still vacation season, plan ahead at least two months in advance, such as when you begin planning your budget process in late June.

Follow up. If you can't get an August meeting scheduled, at least email the budget out and follow up individually with Board or committee members for their feedback. This way you will have an idea where each association is going with their process and you can schedule your time accordingly. Does it look like smooth sailing? Then you can let this one wait and pick it up again in September. Problems or issues voiced by other Board or committee members? Better to know now so you can allot the amount of time you'll need to see it through to approval and still give yourself enough time for distribution.

Make no mistake, even though the budget may now be in the hands of others, it is still up to you to drive the process through to the finish.

Still need help scheduling? Many of us just cannot juggle all the tasks in our head or even when properly placed on an annual calendar. Instead, try using a Program-Evaluation-and-Review-Technique/Gantt/flow chart with your association and the related tasks required from start to finish. This is great for visualization. If you can't get your arms around the number of activities for your associations, critical path items, and deadlines, by all means look into these management tools to help you budget your time and track your associations’ progress.

What executives can do to help

Budget seminars. How about a nice wine and cheese budget seminar for all your Boards of Directors? A local CPA would likely be happy to speak to association budgets, and executives could speak individually to Boards whom the managers think will be problem children this budget cycle. These meetings are good use of executive time, are great marketing, and help the managers and the Boards by giving expert input in to your individual association’s budget process. There is no downside to this type of event, and for those with a marketing talent, the majority of the costs associated with a wine and cheese event can be offset by appropriate vendor sponsorships.

Don't panic. Stress at budget time is almost wholly within your control if you utilize some basic time management tools: Plan ahead, start early, and drive the process to conclusion while staying fluid enough to work on issues contingent to the budget as well as your "day" job. Like so many things in our business, if it doesn't get handled when it should or earlier it will go from snowball to avalanche in short order. Procrastination is the enemy, especially when it comes to budgets.