Community - Complete Setup

Description

This article will go over the necessary steps in order to add and get started with a new community.

Setting up a new community is tedious and time should be allocated to ensure all the steps are completed correctly and thoroughly. 

Before adding a new community, make sure to have the following information 

• Community Name
• Mailing Address
• Tax ID
• Return Payment Address
• City, State, Zip Code where the community is located
• Chart of Accounts
  • Trial Balance Report w/Balances
• Community Bank Info
• Home and Owner Info
• AP Vendors

Before completing the community setup, make sure you consult with your accountant as to
accounting methods, chart of accounts, and bank information

In This Article 

1. Create New & Enter the Community Info
2. Community Setup Wizard 
   • Properties & Owners 
   • Setup Accounting 
3. Add Vendors
4. Owner Beginning Balance
5. GL Beginning Balances

Step By Step

Create New & Enter the Community Info

1. Click Portfolio and select Communities.

2. Click Actions then Add Community

3. Enter the Community Information 

Community Alias & Name

Alias - Unique ID for the Community. It cannot be used more than once, even if a community is deleted. 

Name - Community Name

Display Name - Name that will display on reports. Can be edited.

Removing the alias from the Display Name will remove it from showing on reports. 

Info

It is recommended to fill in as much information as possible on this page. 

Federal Tax ID - Needed if 1099's will be needed for the community. 

Delinquency Period - Usually set by the Board. Defaults to 30/60/90 days

Community Contacts 

Designate your Manager and Accountant for your community. 

Once they have been assigned, you can easily enter their information on form letters using our Merge Code Manager.

Community Contact Information

Enter the Community Contact Information. To add additional addresses, phone numbers, or emails, click the  next to the section. 

Recommended Info to Track:

Phone 

Main Number

Email 

Reply To - Will be used for the Send Message feature 

Address 

Main

Return Payment Address - The mailing address for the Return Payment
Address used on bills, statements, coupons, and collection

Lockbox

4. Once finished, click Save

Using the Community Setup Wizard  

Our Community Setup Wizard is designed to walk you through the setup of a community in
a very simple, step-by-step manner.

Once the community has been created, select what to set up first, Accounting or Properties & Owners. 

It does not matter which part is done first, but both should be completed in order to use TOPS [ONE] in it's entirety. The orange bar will remain on the Community Profile Page until the setup wizard has been completed. 

Properties & Owners Add Property and Owner Information   

Choose this option if you're not ready to enter your communities financial information 

Choosing this option first will skip the accounting set up. 

Accounting Edit your communities financial information. 

(Accounting Method, Required Accounts, GL Account, etc.) 

Some portions of this article will allow to import community information.
Read more here: Add Community Data to Import Files

Properties & Owners 

1. On the community page, click Properties & Owners 

2. Enter the Owners. 

Owners can be manually entered or imported.

When importing owners & properties,  Owner ID's will be created, which will be needed if Owner Balances are to be imported. If there are many balances to add into the system, it is recommended to import the owners versus manually entering them for this reason. 

3. Once the owners have been added, click Next. 

4. Verify the number of owners and properties. 

5. Click Print to print the summary of this page. 

5. Click Complete Setup.  

6. Click View Community to return to the Community Profile Page 

Accounting

1. On the Community Page, click Accounting 

2. Enter the Accounting Details

Fiscal Start Date - Actual fiscal start date, not the date the community is added. 

Accounting Period Frequency - How often will reports need to run and reconciled? 

Accounting Method 

Cash- Income is counted when cash (or a check) is actually received, and expenses are counted when actually paid 

Accrual- Transactions are counted when they happen, regardless of when the money is actually received or paid 

Modified Accrual- If an AP bill has not been received for an expense incurred during an accounting period, the expense is not recorded(accrued) until the bill is actually received.  

3. Enter the Account Ranges 

Ranges can be manually entered or imported. Ranges can also be edited after the setup is complete. 

If using Cost Centers, it is recommended to set that up after the community setup.

4. Click Next 

5. Add the GL Accounts.

Click Use the Default Values or import the GL accounts. 

This can be edited after the setup is complete. 

6. Select the Required Accounts 

There are certain accounts that must be part of the chart of accounts. These are accounts used by the general ledger, A/R & owner collections, and accounts payable modules. Each of these accounts needs to be set up in the chart of accounts.

7. Click Next 

8. Choose a bank for the community. 

Select from the dropdown list, or click  to add a new bank. 

9. Enter the Community Bank Account Details. 

Everything must be filled out before proceeding. 

10. Click +Add This Account

11. Verify the Bank Account Information, then click Next. 

12. Add the Charge Codes & Code Categories. 

Click Use the Default Values or import the codes. 

Additional codes can be added, removed, or edited after setup has been completed. 

13. Skip the Owner Balances & History. This will be done at a later time. 

Balances can only be imported if the properties were previously imported with Owner ID's. 

14. Click Next 

15. Verify the information on the review page. 

16. Click Print to print the summary of this page. 

17. Click Complete Setup. 

Add the Vendors 

Vendors are global in TOPS [ONE], meaning vendors in the portfolio can be used throughout the communities and only need to be entered once. 

1. Add the vendors.

Owner Beginning Balance 

The AR Beginning Balance Entry function is used to enter balances owed by homeowners when transitioning a community into TOPS [ONE]. The outstanding owner balances from the previous application must be entered into TOPS [ONE] so that everyone starts out with the same balance they ended within the previous application.

If a homeowner has a credit balance, then the credit must be entered using the Owner Adjustment function. The Credit and Debit side of the Prepaid Beginning Balance must be the General Ledger Account linked to the Prepaid Code.

The AR Beginning Balance Entry function does not make an entry into the General Ledger. This is because the General Ledger balances were updated when the charges were originally applied in the previous application. General Ledger balances are input separately.

When importing the Owner Balance, add the Owner ID for the owner, the charge code alias, and the balance. If a homeowner has a credit balance, then the credit must be entered using the Owner Adjustment function.

Import the Owner Balance 

1.  Return to the Community Profile Page. 

2. Click Actions then Import Owner Beginning Balances 

3. Click Download a Sample. 

4.  Enter the Owner ID's and Owner Balances in the sample file. 

5. Enter the Post Date 

6. Click Select Files and upload the beginning balances. 

Once the balances are uploaded, the transaction can be found on the community profile activity feed. 

7. Find the Beginning Balance transaction on the Activity Feed.

8. Click the transaction number to view  batch information

9. Verify the Owner balances are correct. 

If there is an error in the batch, the transaction will need to be deleted and reimported with the correct information. 

Manually Add Beginning Balance 

1. Balances or credit balances can be added through the Beginning Balance Adjustment page.

If a homeowner has a credit balance, then the credit must be entered using the Owner Adjustment function. The Credit and Debit side of the Prepaid Beginning Balance must be the General Ledger Account linked to the Prepaid Code.

GL Beginning Balances

Prior to entering GL balances, it is highly recommended to have a Trial Balance report from the previous software or management company showing the ending balances. 

1. Click General Ledger then Journal Entries 

2. Click Actions then New Journal Entry 

3. Fill in the following information in Details 

Date Either type it in or use the calendar icon to select a date 

Reference This is the easily identifiable name that will see on the activity feed for this transaction

Description Describe this entry 

4. Under Line Items, select the Account to create the entry for. 

5. Enter the amount in either the debit or credit field for the first account then press the + to the right to add the next account.

6. Repeat for all accounts in the transaction.

The Debit and Credit sides of the transaction have to show a 0 difference denoted by the Running Balance at the bottom of the transaction once this is done.

7. Once the balance is $0.00, click Post