Every year they put on the agenda at the AGM about having the scheme audited. I always say we should but I am outvoted. I think it should be compulsory. I would be interested to know what others think.
Hi,
I think auditing of financial accounts for smaller blocks, say up to 20, or 30 is not required every years (If you trust folk, one every 4 to 5 years may be acceptable). One comment made on the string of responses to your concern indicates auditing is not expensive, but its all the small charges that add up to substantial amount of money. I really think it important that Owners Corporations only accept 12-month agreement with their managing agent. I also think it important that Owners Corporations monitor charges very careful including the frequency of auditing and insurance valuations. Take time to negotiate, management fees, Insurance valuation fees, audit fees, audit preparation fees, service provider monitoring fees, yearly disbursement fees, accounts administration fees, storage and retrieval, scanning fees. Also remember most strata managing agent’s get 15% to 20% of your insurance premium
I am certainly not an expert on strata matters, but I know through experience that strata titled properties are becoming very expensive to administer and manage and care really needs to be taken to ensure money is spent wisely
Thanks and regards,
Mick W
Hi,
Accounting for most strata schemes is really straight-forward, if you have a strata manager with a good accounting team and a decent treasurer that takes an interest in reviewing the accounts it's generally not necessary as 99.5% of the time the audit won't show anything up.
That said, the audits are not expensive and do provide a level surety over the accounts.... My rule of thumb is recommending schemes be audited when they are in excess of 30 lots (average residential with ordinary expenditure).