Strata Committee Software That Works Alongside Your Strata Manager

The short answer

• Keeping a manager doesn't hand over the committee's responsibility. In all three states, the manager does what the agreement delegates. The committee and the owners still make the decisions, and the committee can still act itself.
• A manager's portal is the manager's view. It shows what the manager shares, in the manager's format, and it usually goes when the manager does.
• Committee software gives the committee its own record. That covers decisions, documents, notices, compliance dates and the money questions owners ask. It sits beside the manager's accounting rather than replacing it.
• The law already gives you the right to ask the manager for information. A committee record makes those requests shorter and the answers easier to keep.

What the manager does, and what stays with the committee

In practice the manager usually runs trust accounting, levy notices, insurance renewals and meeting administration. The committee still answers to owners for what was decided, what was spent and what's coming up.

What you can ask the manager for

You don't need software to get information from a manager. The law already allows it:

• NSW. The owners corporation can require trust account details and full particulars of money received and paid. The agent must answer within 14 days (ss 58–62). The agent must also give the owners corporation copies of its records of functions exercised every 6 months (s 55), and report on commissions at each AGM (s 60).
• Victoria. On reasonable request, a manager must provide bank statements for the owners corporation's trust account going back up to 3 years (s 122). The manager's AGM report covers trust money, insurance and commissions (s 126).
• Queensland. On written request, a body corporate manager must show they've kept the body corporate's records as required (Act Schedule 2, code of conduct). Where the manager administers the funds, monthly reconciliations are required (Standard Module s 170).

The problem is usually that the answers end up in one person's inbox. Next year's committee starts again.

What the committee needs its own record for

• Decisions. What was resolved, when and by how many votes, so a settled question stays settled.
• Documents. Insurance, contracts, reports and minutes in a library the building owns.
• Compliance dates. Fire safety, insurance renewal, valuations and plan reviews, with a reminder before they're due.
• Money questions. Fund balances, budget against actual, and arrears trends that owners ask about between statements.
• Notices. What went out, to whom, and who read it.
• Handover. When the committee changes, or the manager does, the record stays.

How committee software fits alongside the manager

It doesn't replace trust accounting. In NSW and Victoria, a paid manager holds money under a regulated trust account. Committee software isn't that, and shouldn't pretend to be.

It doesn't need the manager's cooperation to start. You can bring in existing records yourself, from the last AGM pack, the budget and the documents you already have.

It's the building's, not the manager's. If the manager changes, the committee's record doesn't go with them.

It gives owners a view of their own lot without giving them committee controls.

Questions to ask your manager before you start

• What does our agreement delegate to you, and what stays with the committee?
• Can you send us the last 12 months of minutes, financial statements and insurance documents?
• How do we get trust account statements when we ask?
• Will you copy the committee on correspondence about contractors and repairs?
• What records will you hand back if the agreement ends? See our handover guide.

Where UnitBuddy fits

UnitBuddy is standalone software for the building. You can run it with a manager, without one, or alongside one. It isn't a manager portal and doesn't depend on the manager's data feeds. Committees use it for:

• the document vault and by-law registry
• notices with read receipts
• decisions and minutes
• budget tracking and ten-year capital works planning
• compliance dates
• an owner view of each lot

CSV import brings existing records in, and CSV, JSON and PDF exports take them out with no fee or support ticket. Pricing is a flat fee per building, from $199 a year plus GST.

Further reading

Keep the scheme file in one place the committee and the manager can both open. Features, pricing, or book a tour.