Last modified on June 16th, 2020
By Brittany Benz

Between mobile violations and tracking, architectural reviews, and accounts payable, you have a lot on your plate when it comes to keeping your community association running smoothly. Being able to track and complete all of these tasks easily and efficiently can become a daily struggle if you don’t have the right technology in place. Things like a confusing architectural review process or lost violation letter can quickly escalate into a big issue, resulting in wasted time and frustration for all parties involved. Digital tools that are hosted in a single, integrated solution can make a significant difference in how well you handle management demands. 

Here are 4 common inefficiencies that can be solved with technology:

Violation Management

With dispersed teams out in the field tracking violations individually with pen and paper, it can be a struggle to keep up with the status of all of your community’s violations. As a result, you can spend a lot of time adding new violations, following up with homeowners, and closing out violations. 

Solution: Mobilize the Violation Process

Streamline the entire process from start to finish by leveraging mobile tools that allow you to manage the end-to-end violations process on the spot directly from your phone or tablet. For instance, AppFolio’s violations capabilities enable managers to upload photos, record notes, and escalate violations within the mobile app. This not only saves time, but also makes it easier to manage all of your violations, no matter the size of your association. 

Mailing Letters 

Every month, hours are spent manually printing and mailing statements, violation letters, and association letters to homeowners. This tedious process often leads to human errors, along with a loss of visibility once the materials have been dropped in the mail.

Solution: Streamline Association Mail

Send letters faster and more efficiently by streamlining the direct mail process. With AppFolio’s Mailing Service, you can send physical mail to homeowners and board members all within AppFolio. All you have to do is create your letter and select a homeowner or entire association to mail it to, and it will be automatically sent to your community members on your behalf. From letter creation to delivery, you can preview, track, and monitor each piece of mail, increasing transparency and efficiency every step of the way.

Maintaining Accounts Payable

Manually scanning invoices, entering receipts, and processing invoices is a time-consuming, frustrating process that’s prone to mistakes and wasted time.   

Solution: Put Accounts Payable on Autopilot

Increase operational efficiency and accuracy by automating your entire accounts payable process. Technology like AppFolio’s Automated AP does all the work for you, so you can increase the speed of invoice processing while scaling your accounts payable to meet your monthly demands. Invoices are automatically forwarded to AppFolio via mail or email, where they are then scanned and processed accordingly. All you have to do is approve and pay the bill. We keep your AP process working even when you’re not.

Staying on Top of Architectural Reviews 

Whether you’re managing multiple associations or perhaps even one association with many doors, it can be difficult to manage homeowners’ architectural requests easily, causing an increase in lag time and a poor customer experience. 

Solution: Leverage Self-Service Tools

Drive efficiency, save time, and boost customer satisfaction by providing homeowners and board members with self-service tools that allow them to confidently submit architectural requests and discuss logistics online. With clear instructions within their Online Portal, homeowners will have a transparent understanding of the ARC process specific to their community and know exactly what details and documents they need to submit. With documents, voting, status updates, and all communications tracked all in one place, your homeowners and board members are never out of sync.

Community association management comes with its own unique set of challenges. However, if you put digital technology to work, you can streamline processes and increase operational efficiency, so your teams have more time to focus on building strong relationships with your communities. Learn more about AppFolio’s all-in-one solution for community association management.