At ADDA, empowering community leaders with practical knowledge has always been a core mission—and our recent webinar on “Book Closure & Budgeting” was another step forward in that direction.
It drew Managing Committee (MC) members, Treasurers, and Society Accountants from across India, all eager to gain actionable insights on audit closure, budgeting, and financial best practices.
The webinar featured three seasoned experts Mr. Sahil Lohia, Mr. Sunil A & Ms. Aditi, each bringing a unique perspective—from statutory audit processes and strategic budgeting to modernizing accounting operations using technology.
Let’s dive into the highlights of what each speaker shared:
Table of Contents
🎙️ Speaker 1: Mr. Sahil Lohia – Year-End Financial Closure & Reporting
Mr. Sahil Lohia, Founder of The Society Consultants and Director at SL Realty Private Limited, shared his expertise on community finance management and statutory compliance. With hands-on advisory experience for over 150 housing societies across Western Mumbai, his session offered practical clarity on what societies must do to stay compliant and financially sound.
Key Highlights of Mr. Lohia’s Session:
1. Mandatory Audit Deadline
- Housing societies must complete account audits for the previous year by 31st July annually. This is a statutory requirement for all cooperative housing societies.
2. Responsibility of Audit
- The Managing Committee or the Secretary is responsible for ensuring the accounts are audited on time, especially in the absence of an active committee.
3. Documentation for Audit
Important documents that are required during audit are:
- Cash & cheque vouchers (with bills)
- Bank passbook & statements
- Fixed Deposit receipts
- Income & Expenditure statements
- Member collection reports
- Statutory registers (Share, Nomination, Investment, etc.)
4. Audit Process Flow
- Final Accounts Preparation – Society prepares year-end financial statements.
- Committee Review – Managing Committee checks and approves the accounts.
- Auditor Submission – Books are given to a certified auditor for verification.
- Post-Audit Corrections – Errors found must be discussed and fixed by the committee.
- Form O Submission – A rectification report must be filed with the Registrar within 3 months.
5. Grading & Compliance
Societies are graded A, B, or C based on:
- Minimal pending dues (fewer defaults = better grade)
- Proper record-keeping (registers, bills, meeting minutes)
- Timely meetings & approvals (monthly MC meetings & AGM on time)
- Insurance & audits (building, lift, and structural compliance)
Grade A = Best compliance | Grade C = Poor compliance (risk of penalties)
6. Financial Transparency & AGM
- Members must get access to financial records upon request
- The AGM must be held before 30th September, and
- Financial statements and auditor appointments are to be approved during the AGM
Live Poll Insights: What Society Leaders Struggle With Most
During the webinar, we conducted live polls to uncover the biggest pain points societies face in book closure and audit processes. Here’s what attendees shared—
Poll 1: Year-End Book Closure Challenges
Why It Matters:
Nearly half of attendees struggle with manual data entry errors, highlighting the need for automated accounting tools like ADDA.io to reduce human effort and ensure accuracy. The second-biggest challenge—compliant reports—ties into our speaker’s emphasis on digitizing records for seamless statutory compliance.
Poll 2: Audit Process Bottlenecks
Why It Matters:
A staggering 60% of societies lose time hunting down paperwork—a problem easily solved by cloud-based document storage and digitized workflows. The session’s demo of ADDA’s centralized bill management feature directly addressed this pain point!
🎙️ Speaker 2: Mr. Sunil A. – Budgeting for the New Year
Mr. Sunil A., a seasoned Residential Welfare Association (RWA) Consultant with over a decade of experience, led an insightful session on the intricacies of financial governance for RWAs. The session primarily focused on the practical aspects of budgeting, compliance, and financial workflows aimed at ensuring long-term sustainability and optimal management of funds for housing societies.
Key Highlights of Mr. Sunil’s Session:
1. The 3 Pillars of Financial Governance
A housing society’s financial governance stands on:
- A well-planned annual budget (April to March).
- A forecast plan for major upgrades and capital expenses.
- A clear savings/reserve strategy.
2. Budgeting Starts with Thorough Review
Before preparing the new budget:
- Review past 2 years’ income, expense & cash flow.
- Check budget vs. actuals to identify overspending or under-utilized areas.
- Evaluate existing AMC contracts for cost inflation.
- Analyze bank balance vs. payables as of 31st March.
3. Differentiate OPEX vs. CAPEX Clearly
- Operational Expenses (OPEX): Regular monthly costs like housekeeping, water, electricity, insurance.
- Capital Expenditure (CAPEX): Asset replacements or upgrades (e.g. lifts, fire safety).
- Ensure reserves are enough before making CAPEX plans.
4. Separate Operational & Reserve Bank Accounts
- Keep operational funds and syncing/reserve funds in separate bank accounts.
- Don’t mix these – it causes accounting confusion and hampers tracking.
- Never use reserve funds for daily ops or vice versa.
5. Service Charge Computation Must Be Data-Driven
- Use detailed monthly/yearly forecasts to arrive at the maintenance fee.
- Include a 5% contingency buffer for unexpected costs.
- Factor in expected income (FD interest, rentals) and derive per sq.ft. charges accordingly.
6. Ensure Consistent Syncing Fund Collection
- Avoid one-time large collections to bypass GST thresholds—it can backfire due to higher cash outflows and compliance issues.
- Instead, consistently collect sinking funds based on asset life cycles and forecasted CAPEX needs.
- Review budget vs. actual monthly (MTD & YTD) for better fund tracking and accountability.
🎙️ Speaker 3: Ms. Aditi – Keeping Books Audit-Ready with ADDA
Closing the session with impact, our very own Ms. Aditi, Product Success Specialist at ADDA, delivered a powerful and insightful demonstration. With her extensive experience in product deployment and customer success, Aditi showcased how ADDA’s robust accounting suite is purpose-built to keep housing societies audit-ready 365 days a year.
Here’s how Aditi outlined the standout features of ADDA’s society accounting software that simplify year-end auditing and budgeting for management committees:
Key Highlights of Ms. Aditi’s Session:
Here’s how Aditi explained the ADDA features that will make your year-end auditing and budgeting a breeze:
- Auto Invoicing: Simplify monthly billing with custom recurring schedules. Automate maintenance and utility charges to avoid manual work and delays.
- Automated Follow-ups: Set intelligent reminders for due payments. Get clear overdue reports and eliminate the need for manual follow-ups.
- Smart Budgeting: Upload your annual budget and monitor real-time variances. Make informed decisions with live expense tracking.
- Procure-to-Pay (P2P): Digitally manage purchase requests and approvals. Prevent duplicate or unauthorized vendor payments with structured workflows.
- Bank Reconciliation: Quickly match bank transactions with ledger entries. Spot mismatches early and maintain audit-ready books year-round.
- FD & Tax Compliance: Easily track FD renewals and generate GST/TDS reports. Stay compliant with minimal effort.
- Audit-Ready Reports: Access accurate financial reports anytime. Ensure full traceability and readiness for audits or AGMs.
- Access Control: Assign role-based permissions to ensure data security and accountability across your team.
Top 5 Takeaways from the Webinar
- Audit is more than compliance—it’s a credibility marker. Meeting deadlines, maintaining documents, and submitting Form O timely shows how seriously a society takes financial governance.
- Budgeting isn’t just numbers—it’s strategy. Historical reviews, CAPEX forecasting, and separating accounts are key pillars for a sustainable financial future.
- Transparency builds trust. Giving residents access to reports, conducting timely AGMs, and grade-based audits foster a healthy financial culture.
- Avoid financial blind spots with automation. ADDA’s accounting module reduces human error, improves traceability, and saves time.
- Tech + Expertise = Future-ready societies. The right blend of expert advice and digital tools can transform how societies manage finances.
Gratitude & Looking Ahead
We sincerely thank our distinguished speakers—Mr. Sahil Lohiya, Mr. Sunil A., and Ms. Aditi—for sharing their time, expertise, and valuable insights during our recent session. Their contributions sparked engaging discussions and provided practical takeaways for community leaders.
A big thank you to all the participants as well—your active involvement and dedication to building transparent, well-managed communities truly made the session impactful.
Our journey toward better society management continues!
Stay tuned for our next webinar—we’re excited to bring you more conversations that matter.
You won’t want to miss it!
Let’s keep moving forward—together.
