It’s mandated by the Cooperative Societies Act of 1912 that all registered societies in India shall maintain proper accounts. The purpose of keeping these records is to ensure transparency and accountability while promoting practices of efficient financial management.
At the same time, some regulations are also passed by the State governments towards the effective management of these cooperative societies’ accounts. Given the number of variables, working in a society to ensure effective management, financial or otherwise, is challenging and cannot be done manually.
Today, we’re going to discuss the unique challenges societies face in terms of accounting management and how software can help them manage it efficiently.
Accounting Needs Exclusive to Societies in India
According to a press release by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), as of December 2023, there are 7.94 lakh registered societies in India with 29.7 lakh members managing them.
There’s rarely a society that does not include any financial transactions. For those who do, managing their accounts is essential and here are the unique challenges they face that software can solve (more on the software later).
1. Reliance on Member Contributions
Societies, registered or non-registered, depend on members for contributions to get finances and use them to complete the underlined duties. Since members are a primary source of their funding, keeping an account of all the contributions and that they are received on time is difficult, which gets even more challenging as the number of contributing members increases.
Keeping an account of society’s profits and losses, given the quantum of money collected and distributing profits, is difficult.
2. Money Management is Complex
Some societies also provide loans to members, and tracking them along with interest payments and repayment schedules can get cumbersome. Since societies may not have all the checks and balances in place akin to banks, they have to rely on human expertise and the features available in good accounting software for society to manage everything.
3. Society Property Management is a Cobwebbed Task
Several societies own and/or manage properties. Proper accounting is required to accurately assess and track a property’s value and depreciation from time to time. Moreover, the maintenance expenses of the properties, including repairs, upkeep costs, etc., are essential.
4. Supervising Charitable and Social Activities
Society run or managed activities also depend on charities and additional member contributions. Showing accurate proof of expenses and keeping everything clean down to the last figure is essential.
Moreover, people managing these activities will need a tool to add all the expenses and collections while ensuring the money is spent for its intended purpose.
5. Following the Government Norms and Accounting Standards
When society presidents, treasurers, etc., have a lot of pressure from the members, which prompts them to do everything on record, they must also follow the set regulations.
To ensure that society is tax compliant, they also have to take care of income tax, property tax, GST, and much more. Then there are accounting standards to follow like Indian Accounting Standards (IndAS).
When it comes to money management, accountability is the key. To maintain accountability and transparency, societies have to use relevant and solution-driven software.
Top Accounting Software for Society Management
Effective accounts management that maintains your credibility and transparency in front of the members requires accounting software for society. So here are a few recommendations for you to consider.
1. ApnaComplex
ApnaComplex is an accounting management platform designed to streamline operations of residential and commercial establishments. You can explore its wide range of features, including accounting and maintenance, along with communication to manage all aspects of society.
Key Features
- Expense Tracking: ApnaComplex allows you to record and track all expenses while dividing them into categories, ranging from maintenance costs to utility.
- Invoice Management: You can create, send, and manage invoices from a single platform related to members and vendors while keeping a check on invoice completion and recording payments.
- Receive Payments: While every bank today lets you receive online payments, ApnaComplex makes it even more convenient for members to pay maintenance fees.
- Financial Reporting: Create and share financial reports including all expenses, profit, and losses the society has faced. You can also maintain balance sheets and cash flow statements through the software and keep track of society’s financial health.
| Pros | Cons |
| ApnaComplex has a user-friendly interface with customisable modules. | The support team isn’t as responsive as you want them to be. |
| It also has an online community help desk you can maintain for your members. | The charges are higher relative to other similar software. |
| It has built-in society maintenance automation billing to streamline collections. |
2. SocietyRun
SocietyRun is a housing management cloud-based solution that is also specifically designed to address a society’s accounting needs. Featuring efficient financial management functionalities, the software streamlines how societies improve financial operations.
Key Features
- Expense Tracking: In-built expense tracking lets you easily categorise expenses like maintenance, utilities, admin, etc. and gives you a clear overview on the dashboard.
- Automation Features: The software automates receipt generation after payments are received and sends them to the sender. It has BBPS integration allowing society members to pay their bills straight from the app.
- Bank Reconciliation: The software has a bank reconciliation feature wherein the society records are automatically updated on the platform, ensuring their accuracy.
- Reporting and Day-to-Day Maintenance: While you can generate year-end reports, the software also lets you maintain daily accounts and update TDS and ITR reports for a smooth year-end finalisation.
| Pros | Cons |
| The software has an easy-to-use interface that makes accounting easier. | The customer support is not as friendly as advertised. |
| Communicating is easier through the software, which streamlines operations. | The pricing structure is not readily available on the website and needs to be enquired from the support team. |
3. iSociety Manager
Another good option for managing society-related accounting, iSociety Manager, offers features to manage financial and other tasks. While the users can keep track of member’s contributions in the form of maintenance and otherwise, the solution also has in-built security features to protect sensitive data.
Key Features:
- Expense Tracking: The accounting software for society lets you track and record all expenses, giving you complete visibility into spending and savings.
- Inventory Management: Societies dealing with physical goods can use the software to track their movement in and out of the warehouse.
- Asset Management: It’s easier to manage society assets with iSociety Manager as it provides functions like Net Asset Value (NAV), Depreciation, Planned Preventive Maintenance (PPM), etc.
- Billing and Payments: The software lets you send automatic reminders to contributors and members on a set schedule. Moreover, the members can also pay their bills online through the application.
Top Features for an Accounting Software for Society
While the recommendations we mentioned above have the majority of the features you will need, we still feel there’s something missing. That is because modern-day accounting solutions must have something extra, or we can say the “X-Factor”, to make accounting as smooth as butter. Let’s see which features will make accounting and its related activities simpler.
1. Member Management
What if you can take your members from a paper list and create a digital one in the software? The solutions we mentioned above already provide, but what you need to look for is adding details against each of them.
Look for software that lets you add things like contact details, payment history, dues, fees, and payment schedules all in one place. Moreover, you must be able to send communication like reminders, updates, etc., through the software itself.
2. In-Built Security Features
Look for the security features in the accounting software for society. Some key terms to look out for are data encryption standards, access control, and role-based permission control systems.
In addition to this, if you can get audit trails, which basically lets you backtrack every transaction and find its source of authorisation and transfer, it’s even better.
3. Integrations and Third-Party Solutions
What software cannot provide, it can cover through 3rd-party integrations, depending on what your society does and how its operations check the integrations the accounting software offers.
For instance, accounting software for a housing society must have integrations like property management, parking, etc. More importantly, look for solutions that also give you API access. This will give you the ability to add new features and functionalities as required in the future.
4. Accessibility Through the Cloud
Remote access is one of the most important features of any software, regardless of what it does. So when you are looking for an accounting software for society, ensure that it has cloud accessibility.
This will ensure you can access the records from anywhere anytime, which also contributes to maintaining transparency in the accounting process.
These features are in addition to all the features we discussed in the previous section. You may not get a specific tool that gives everything you need, but you will certainly find a solution that’s perfect for your needs with some customisation.
Choose Mocha Accounting Software for Society for Best Results
Certainly, Mocha Accounting has the majority of top-notch accounting features you need for society’s accounting upkeep. You will get expense tracking, invoice management, bank reconciliation, cloud support, financial reporting, inventory management, and invoicing, among several other features.
Since Mocha is available on the cloud and you can also use its free version to check how it fits into your accounting needs, you can decide for yourself after using it once. On top of all, it also has GST compliance, so even if your society has to follow GST regulations, it’s easier with Mocha Accounting.
Using Mocha Accounting, societies and their members will benefit from streamlined financial management while automating routine accounting tasks. This means there’s less scope for errors while doing repetitive tasks.
You will also get real-time visibility into the society’s financial health through detailed reports and analytics. This allows the members and management to make informed financial decisions regarding budget, investments, etc.
Conclusion
Running and managing a society is easier said than done. Reiterating the fact that these societies have multiple players and variables, mistakes are not accommodated; rather, they are followed by a decline in the management’s credibility and trust.
The area with the highest risk is accounting. Hence, for effective management, it’s essential to choose the best accounting software for society. This will help in the upkeep of the accounts, record and track all transactions (incoming and outgoing), reconcile bank data, and conduct regular audits through report generation.
Check out Mocha Accounting for your society’s accounting needs and discover how it can help you solve all your accounting challenges. Book a demo today.
Leave a Reply