Self-managed boards · Professionals
How a self-managed HOA gives its CPA and attorney limited access
Updated · For volunteer boards
The short version
- Your CPA needs to see the books. Your attorney needs to see the one collection file you handed over. Neither needs your whole association, and neither should use a shared board login.
- In HomeownerHub the board invites a CPA or an attorney from Settings → Professionals. The CPA gets read-only books with owner names only. The attorney sees only the matters the board assigns.
- Every invitation uses a single-use link and carries an end date, at most a year out. When the engagement ends, so does the access.
- Access is a convenience for the board, not a legal opinion. Your attorney decides what the law requires.
Not legal advice. This page is general information for volunteer boards. It is not legal advice, and laws and documents differ. Ask your association’s attorney before you act on it.
Why shared logins are the wrong answer
A volunteer board often gets a professional their records the quick way: forward a few emails, share a spreadsheet, or hand over the treasurer’s password. It works once. Then the CPA has a stale export, the attorney has a folder nobody can account for, and a former board member still has a login.
Limited access fixes three things at once. The professional works from the live record, so nothing goes stale. The board decides how much to show, and for how long. And there is a record of who was invited and when the access ends.
What a CPA needs, and only that
A CPA preparing the year-end work needs the financial statements, the ledger, who owes what, bank reconciliation status and vendor payments. They do not need an owner’s email, phone number or address to do that.
In HomeownerHub the CPA role is read-only. The books are visible, owners appear by name only, and the CPA cannot post a payment or change a figure. The board still decides which numbers are right.
What an attorney needs, and only that
An association attorney is usually engaged for a particular matter: a delinquent account, a hard violation, a records request that needs care. Give them that matter, not the association.
The attorney role sees only the collections cases, violations and records requests the board assigns. Anything not assigned stays out of view. If you assign a second matter later, it appears then.
Why the attorney should see the notice trail
In Georgia, before an association may collect or be awarded attorney’s fees, the statute requires a written notice first. If the attorney is going to pick up a collection file, the first thing they will want to see is whether that notice went out and how.
This is the statute’s own text on the point. It is quoted from the SB 406 fixture, and your attorney should confirm how it applies to your account.
“Except under circumstances necessitated by emergency conditions involving public safety or the preservation of property by the association, before an association may collect or be awarded attorney’s fees, it shall provide:”
“An initial written notice by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery to the lot owner from the association or its agent identifying any outstanding fines or delinquent fees;”
Records the association must keep
Georgia’s new registration law requires an association to keep its assessment, fine, fee, lien and foreclosure records for a long time. Giving your professionals a live view makes it easier to know that the record they work from is the record you keep.
The same law gives owners their own right to inspect certain records on written demand. Professional access is separate from that right. It does not widen or narrow what an owner may ask for.
“An owners' association shall maintain for not less than ten years at an office located in this state or, if it has no office in this state, its principal office all records, including electronic records and records in any other format, relating to any assessments, fines, fees, liens, and foreclosures.”
“Inspect and obtain copies of owners' association records, accounting records, and other records of the owners' association upon written demand and in compliance with the laws of this state and the governing documents. Such accounting records shall be the finalized balance sheet, budget, profit and loss statements, and bank statements for the past three years;”
Set an end date and an owner of the relationship
Pick an end date that matches the engagement: the tax season, the collection matter, or at most a year. Name one board member who manages the relationship, usually the treasurer for a CPA and the president or secretary for an attorney.
Officer titles help here. If your board routes money approvals to the Treasurer, the professional can see the books while the Treasurer still approves the spending.
What to do next
- 1Decide what the professional needs: the books for a CPA, or named matters for an attorney.
- 2Open Settings → Professionals and send the invitation to the professional’s own email.
- 3Set an end date that matches the engagement and is no more than a year away.
- 4For an attorney, assign the collection cases, violations or records requests they are handling.
- 5Ask the professional to accept the single-use link within seven days.
- 6Set your officer titles, especially the Treasurer, so money approvals reach the right person.
- 7When the work ends, let the date pass or end the access early, and note it in the board minutes.
What HomeownerHub does about this
- Settings → Professionals: the board invites a CPA or an attorney by a signed, single-use link. Each invitation has an end date, at most a year out.
- A CPA sees the books read-only, with owner names only and no email, phone or address. An attorney sees only the collections cases, violations and records requests the board assigns.
- Officer titles (President, Treasurer, Secretary and others) can be set, and an optional amount above which two board members must approve a money item.
The board approves every draft. HomeownerHub prepares paperwork and cites the law; it does not file for you or give legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a CPA see owners’ contact details?
- No. The CPA role shows owners by name only, with no email, phone or address.
- Can an attorney see every owner’s account?
- No. An attorney sees only the collections cases, violations and records requests the board assigns to them.
- How long does access last?
- Every invitation carries an end date the board sets, at most a year out. The invitation link itself is single-use and works for seven days.
- Does giving access replace asking my attorney for advice?
- No. Access lets the professional see the record. What the law requires of your association is a question for your attorney.
- Can the CPA change entries in the books?
- No. The CPA role is read-only. Corrections stay with the board.
Keep reading
- GuideHOA treasurer duties: a plain-language checklistThe treasurer keeps the association’s money records honest: what came in, what went out, and what is owed.
- GuideGeorgia HOA attorney’s fee notice explainedBefore a Georgia association can collect or be awarded attorney’s fees, it must send an initial written notice by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery.
- Free toolGeorgia HOA collections notice template (printable)A checklist and a fill-in first notice for an owner who is behind, built on the SB 406 fee-notice text. Every amount is a blank.
- GuideGeorgia HOA records requests: how to respondFor an association incorporated as a Georgia nonprofit, a member’s right to inspect records comes from § 14-3-1602, which turns on written notice and a stated purpose for some records.