Your Treasurer’s Time Matters: How Columbus Boards Can Review Financials in About 10 Minutes

A few years ago, we managed a community in Westerville with one of the most dedicated treasurers I have ever worked with. Every month, she scheduled four hours to come into our office and sit with every invoice, side by side with the financial report. She wanted to see every penny.

I admired that commitment, and I still do. But over all those years of careful review, she never found any wrongdoing, and she never uncovered a savings opportunity that the regular reporting hadn’t already brought to light. Those four hours a month added up to nearly 50 hours a year of a volunteer’s personal time — time she could have spent with her family or leading the bigger conversations her community needed.

Times have changed. Invoices are now included right in the monthly financial packet and are available anytime on the owner portal. Reports arrive on a dependable schedule, and your management team is involved in the community every single week. Her approach wasn’t wrong. It just isn’t necessary anymore.

That experience is exactly why we developed the 10-Minute Treasurer — a simple routine that gives you a full, confident look at your community’s finances without turning the treasurer’s role into a second job.

Why the Treasurer’s Time Deserves Protecting

On many Central Ohio boards, the treasurer is the only person who reads the financial report closely each month. That is a lot of weight resting on one volunteer’s shoulders, and it is one of the fastest paths to burnout.

· Volunteer burnout is the biggest threat to a healthy board. When one role becomes a monthly marathon, good people step down and the seat gets harder to fill.

· More hours don’t equal more control. Strong financial controls come from structure and consistent reporting — not from one person reviewing every line item.

· The board’s job is leadership. At CPS, our One-Hour Board Commitment means we design our systems so board members spend no more than about an hour a week leading their community. The treasurer deserves the same protection.

What the 10-Minute Review Covers — and What It Leaves Behind

Before you open the packet, it helps to know what you are looking for. A monthly review is a confidence check, not an audit.

What the 10 minutes covers	What you can leave behind
Year-to-date budget alignment	Checking every invoice line by line
Upcoming CD and investment maturities	Rebuilding the budget every month
Delinquency trends on the AR Aging report	Multiyear historical deep dives
Confirming the bank reconciliation is explained	Redesigning operations at the monthly meeting

Big structural questions — vendor overhauls, collection policy changes, long-range planning — still matter. They just belong in budget season or a dedicated planning session, not in your monthly review.

The 10-Minute Walkthrough

Here is the order we recommend. Each step has a time box, and together they add up to about 10 minutes.

1. Balance Sheet (1 Minute)

· Look at: Your operating and reserve balances, including any Certificates of Deposit (CDs).

· Ask yourself: Is anything maturing in the next 30 to 60 days? If so, add it to the next meeting agenda so the board can discuss reinvestment calmly — no emergency session needed.

2. Income Statement (3 Minutes)

· Look at: The Year-to-Date (YTD) column, not just the current month. Monthly numbers bounce around; YTD tells you whether the community is truly on track.

· Ask yourself: Are any categories running 10% or more off budget? Seasonal items like snow removal or summer utilities naturally swing, so focus on the trends. Flag three to five categories at most.

3. General Ledger and Invoices (2 Minutes)

· Look at: Only the categories you flagged. The General Ledger lists each payment with the payee, description, and amount, and the matching invoices are already in your packet or on the portal.

· Example: If landscaping is $1,000 over budget, the ledger will likely show the regular $5,000 monthly contract plus a separate $1,000 charge for tree pruning. Question answered — no office visit required.

4. Accounts Receivable Aging Report (2 Minutes)

· Look at: The community’s overall delinquency rate. Healthy Central Ohio associations typically stay between 0% and 2%, 3% to 5% is fair, and anything over 5% deserves a conversation.

· Ask yourself: Are larger balances moving through the community’s collection policy? You don’t need to manage each account — just ask your manager for a quick status on anything that looks stuck.

5. Bank Reconciliation (2 Minutes)

· Look at: Why the bank balance and the balance sheet differ. Usually it is simple timing — checks written near month end that haven’t cleared yet, or deposits still in transit.

· Ask yourself: Is every difference explained? If so, you are done.

Why 10 Minutes Is Enough

The Westerville story isn’t about a treasurer doing too much. It is about a system that already had her covered. Today, several layers of review are working before the packet ever reaches you.

· Full transparency, without the hunt. Invoices are included with the financial packet and posted to the portal, so the details are always one click away when you need them.

· Consistent, frequent reporting. You receive financials every month on a dependable schedule, so issues surface quickly instead of hiding until year end.

· An engaged management team. Your manager is in the community and in your vendor relationships every week, with supervisor oversight behind them. Questions get researched for you, not by you.

· Oversight, not bookkeeping. The treasurer’s role is to make sure the numbers make sense and the board stays informed. Ten focused minutes does exactly that.

When Something Looks Off

A good review ends with questions, not homework. If something catches your eye, jot it down and send it to your manager before the board meeting. Let the management team dig into the details and come back with answers, so your meeting time goes toward decisions that move the community forward. That is what we mean by results oriented: the board spends its energy on outcomes, and the routine work is handled by the people paid to do it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should an HOA treasurer spend reviewing monthly financials?

Most Central Ohio HOA treasurers can complete a confident monthly financial review in about 10 minutes. By focusing on the balance sheet, year-to-date budget variances, the general ledger for flagged items, delinquency trends, and the bank reconciliation, a treasurer covers what matters without reviewing every invoice line by line.

Does an HOA treasurer need to review every invoice?

No, an HOA treasurer does not need to review every invoice each month. In Columbus communities with professional management, invoices are typically included in the financial packet and on the owner portal, so treasurers can look up only the items behind a budget variance and rely on the review already in place.

What should a treasurer look at first in an HOA financial report?

A treasurer should look first at the year-to-date column on the income statement. Comparing actual spending to the year-to-date budget shows whether a Central Ohio community is on track, and any category running 10 percent or more off budget is worth a quick question to the management team.

What is a healthy delinquency rate for an HOA in Columbus?

A healthy delinquency rate for a Columbus HOA is generally between 0 and 2 percent. A rate between 3 and 5 percent is fair, while anything above 5 percent signals that the board and management should review how the community’s collection policy is being applied to protect every owner’s investment.

How can HOA board members avoid volunteer burnout?

HOA board members avoid burnout by spending their time on leadership decisions rather than routine tasks. In Central Ohio, boards that use simple habits like a 10-minute monthly financial review, lean on their management team for research, and set clear priorities spend less time on paperwork and more time guiding their community.

Give Your Treasurer Their Evenings Back

If your treasurer is spending hours every month buried in invoices, it may be time for a system that does more of the heavy lifting. At Capital Property Solutions, we pair timely, accurate financials with a hands-on management team so your board can lead with confidence and still have time for life outside the HOA.

Ready to see how it works for your community? Schedule a conversation with the CPS team today.

Watch Become the 10-Minute Treasurer Presentation: https://youtu.be/zDEGI53cO0E?si=z21tvnAcgFO0wwsX