Run a reserve study cycle
Overview¶
A reserve study cycle is the pass your association makes through its reserve study once a year: check where the current study stands, update it for what has changed, build funding options against the updated numbers, and record the plan your board adopts. This guide strings together the articles for each stage of that cycle into a single path. It does not repeat their steps. Use it to see where you are in the year and which article covers the part you are on.
This guide is for property managers, reserve analysts, account admins, and finance roles who carry the cycle from one stage to the next, and for the board members who review and approve what it produces.
Setup¶
The cycle crosses four modules, and each one hides its own controls separately.
"Components" needs write access for adding, editing, or importing component data. Without it, "Create Component" and the row menus on the component list are not shown.
"Funding Plans" needs write access for financial assumptions and funding plans. Without it, the "Save" and "Cancel" controls on "Financial Assumptions" are not shown, and the controls for adding, saving, and removing plans on the "Plans" page are not shown.
"Reserve Studies" needs edit access for the final step, "Advance to planning". Without it, the "Advance" banner does not appear on the planning year at all.
"Reports" needs at least view access to open and export a report. "Edit Report Settings" and some packet options need full access to the module, not just view access.
Before you start, confirm the property already has at least one full fiscal year of component and financial data on file. A property with nothing recorded yet has no cycle to carry forward.
How-to¶
Review where the reserve study stands today. Open the property and read the "Dashboard" for the current percent funded figure. Open "Components" to see the useful life and remaining useful life recorded behind that figure. "Reserve Study History", under "Property Settings", records the date, provider, and type of the study those numbers come from. See What a reserve study is and what it tells you.
Update the component inventory for the year ahead. Switch the fiscal year selector to the budget year you are planning. The first time you open that year, SmartProperty walks you through a short setup that creates a planning copy of your components and an estimate of that year's financial assumptions, covered in the setup section of Create and compare funding plans for your next budget year. Once that copy exists, add, edit, or import components to bring it in line with whatever prompted this year's cycle, whether that is a new inspection, a vendor-supplied study, or routine aging. See Add a component to your property, Edit a component, and Import components from a CSV file. A change you make in the planning year stays in the planning year until that year is advanced, so if a change looks missing from your current year's reports, that is expected. See Why a component change shows in one year but not the other.
Set the financial assumptions the year's funding plans will build on. On the "Plans" page for that year, open "Financial Assumptions" and enter the starting reserve balance, assessment fees, contribution amount, and rates. See Set your financial assumptions.
Build and compare funding plan options. Create the handful of funding plans worth putting in front of your board, then read them side by side on the "Plans" page chart and comparison table. See Create and compare funding plans for your next budget year.
Put the options in front of the board. Generate the "Reserve Analysis Report", or whichever report your board reviews, and export it ahead of the meeting where the plan will be chosen. See Generate and export a report.
Record the board's decision and move into the new year. Once the new fiscal year has begun, select "Advance to planning", choose the plan your board selected, and submit. Submitting updates the property's financials and components to match that plan and makes the year you advanced into your new current budget year. See Advance to Planning: move your association into the next budget year and Advance to planning: what it changes, and what your reports show afterwards.
Confirm your reports reflect the adopted plan. Open "Reports" again for the new current year and check the figures against what your board approved. If a report mixes the adopted plan's figures with an older assumption, line "Financial Assumptions" up with the approved plan. See How do I make my reserve study match my approved Funding Plan?.
Reference¶
The cycle at a glance¶
| Stage | Module | Article |
|---|---|---|
| Review where you stand | "Reserve Studies" | What a reserve study is and what it tells you |
| Update components for the year | "Components" | Add a component to your property, Edit a component, Import components from a CSV file |
| Set financial assumptions | "Funding Plans" | Set your financial assumptions |
| Build and compare funding plans | "Funding Plans" | Create and compare funding plans for your next budget year |
| Share options with the board | "Reports" | Generate and export a report |
| Record the decision and advance | "Reserve Studies" | Advance to Planning: move your association into the next budget year |
| Confirm the reports match | "Funding Plans" | How do I make my reserve study match my approved Funding Plan? |
Troubleshooting¶
A component change is missing from this year's reports. Check which fiscal year you changed it in. A change made only in the planning year stays there until that year is advanced. See Why a component change shows in one year but not the other.
Two reports show different contribution figures for the same year. This can happen without any data having changed, depending on which figures each report reads from. See How do I make my reserve study match my approved Funding Plan?.
"Advance to planning" cannot be undone. Review the plan and its figures on each step of the window before you submit.