Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: payment systems?

[jpustell [at] verizon.net (jpustell]

Diana - 
I just use Quicken for our accounting.  I did NOT go for the online version - 
we have the version where you load it on your computer - then to avoid futrure 
charges we do not bother to accept the annual renewals/upgrade.  We use a free 
ACH system provided by our bank (see below) and also have them print checks to 
vendors when needed. All our usual utilities do direct debiting of our accounts 
so I usually only have tp physically write maybe 1 check every other month.
We are in the Boston area (Bay State Cohousing in Malden) and we bank with 
Leader Bank in Arlington.  They set us up with a Business checking account and 
as part of that I get Free ACH processing - I can pull funds from members and I 
can pay vendors - all for no fee at all.
I also have the ability to deposit checks using my phone that works pretty well 
as also.
I have a standard ACH template I pull up that has all the transactions so I 
just need to make any changes (like a new date to pull the funds) and off it 
goes.
24 of our 30 members allow me to pull the HOA fees this way.
I can't say enough about Leader bank.  To set it up you will have to drive to 
their location (Burlington is the closest to you).  AND when your bank signers 
change (We have folks who can access the account - the Treasurer and the 
President.) you need to visit in person.  Otherwise - everything is done online 
or on the phone.
PS - Their CD rates are ok as well so our Capital Reserve funds are all with 
them earning interest as well.
John Pustelljpustell [at] verizon.net
 

    On Monday, March 31, 2025 at 12:38:57 PM EDT, Diana Carroll <dianaecarroll 
[at] gmail.com> wrote:   

 Hello, fellow cohousing bookkeepers, accountants, treasurers or
trustee-type-folk!

Here at Mosaic Commons, we have used QuickBooks for managing our community
finances for many years.  For a long time, our members were able to pay
their HOA fees via QuickBooks bank transfer for no fee, but a couple years
ago, Intuit started charging a 1% fee for ACH transfers, which is kind of
nuts.

Looking around for other options, I see there are HOA management platforms
that would let us do this much cheaper, e.g. PayHOA which would charge a
much more reasonable $1.95 flat fee per transaction.

Does anyone have experience with this or other similar platforms for
payments? (Or for general HOA management?) What do you think?

I know about Gather and Mosaic cohousing management applications but as
best I can tell, neither offer any help with managing payments.

Thanks in advance,
Diana, on behalf of Mosaic Commons in Berlin, MA
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