Understanding Accounting in HOA Hub
HOA Hub includes a full double-entry general ledger — the same kind of system a professional bookkeeper would use. You don’t need accounting experience to use it.
- Bills, income, deposits, resident invoices and payments, and reconciliation adjustments all post to one ledger. Budgets and reports read from it
- That ledger is made up of journal entries, and every journal entry must balance (debits = credits) within each fund
- Once something is posted to the ledger, it can’t be silently edited — only reversed, so there’s always a clean audit trail
The chart of accounts
Section titled “The chart of accounts”Your chart of accounts is the list of categories your community’s money moves through — things like “Operating Cash,” “Assessment Income,” and “Landscaping & Grounds.” Every account has a type:
- Asset — things you own (cash, receivables)
- Liability — things you owe (accounts payable, deposits held)
- Fund Balance — your community’s equity: what it owns minus what it owes
- Income — money coming in
- Expense — money going out
HOA Hub sets your community up with a default chart of 60 accounts covering the essentials, and you can add more as needed. See Setting Up Your Chart of Accounts.
Operating and Reserve funds
Section titled “Operating and Reserve funds”Most HOAs keep two pools of money separate:
- Operating — day-to-day expenses (landscaping, utilities, management fees)
- Reserve — savings for big future projects (roof replacement, repaving)
Fund isn’t a property of an account — it’s tracked on every individual transaction, so the same “Landscaping & Grounds” account can hold both Operating and Reserve activity if needed. Bank accounts are the exception: each one belongs to exactly one fund.
Every entry must balance within each fund. To move money from one fund to the other, record an interfund transfer.
Departments
Section titled “Departments”Departments are an optional second breakdown alongside funds: they split income and spending by cost center — the pool, the clubhouse, landscaping. See Departments.
Where everything connects
Section titled “Where everything connects”- Bills you enter for vendors post to Accounts Payable and your expense accounts — see Managing Bills and Vendors
- Deposits and income you record move money into your bank accounts — see Recording Income and Deposits
- Resident invoices and payments from Billing post to the ledger automatically — see Understanding Billing in HOA Hub
- Reconciling your bank statement each month confirms the ledger matches reality — see Reconciling Your Bank Accounts
- Journal entries are the manual, direct way to post to the ledger — see Journal Entries and Transfers
- Budgets plan out the year ahead and can be shared with residents — see Budgets
- Reports summarize all of the above — see Reports
Permissions
Section titled “Permissions”Owners and Admins can do everything in Accounting.
Board Members can view the chart of accounts, departments, budgets, reports, bills, vendors, income, and deposits, but can’t change them. They can view bank reconciliations, and when your community requires board review, they mark finished reconciliations as reviewed. They can’t open Journal Entries (including recurring entries and interfund transfers): posting directly to the ledger is intended for whoever’s comfortable with double-entry bookkeeping.
Billing Managers and Residents have no access to Accounting. Residents see what the board publishes on their Finances page.
Where to go next
Section titled “Where to go next”- Brand new to this? Start with Setting Up Your Chart of Accounts.
- Paying a vendor? See Managing Bills and Vendors.
- Depositing checks or recording other income? See Recording Income and Deposits.
- Building next year’s budget? See Budgets.
- You’re a resident, not an admin? See Viewing Your Community’s Finances.