Board Governance & Components

New Board Member? Your First 90 Days Financial Checklist

Congratulations — you're on the board. Now you're partly responsible for the financial health of a multi-million-dollar asset, probably with no training and a stack of documents nobody's explained. This checklist gets you oriented in your first 90 days, with the reserve and financial picture front and center.

Days 1–30: Gather and Read

You can't govern what you haven't seen. Request and review the core documents:

• The reserve study — the most important financial document you'll touch. Read the executive summary and the funding plan even if the rest is dense. (What a reserve study is and how to read it.)
• The last two years of financial statements — balance sheet, income/expense, and the reserve account balance
• The current budget — especially the reserve contribution line
• Recent meeting minutes — to understand pending decisions, projects, and disputes
• The governing documents — CC&Rs and bylaws, particularly any reserve, study, or dues-cap provisions
• The insurance policies — what's covered, the deductibles, recent premium history

Don't worry about mastering all of it. The goal in month one is simply to know what exists and where the community stands.

Days 1–30: Ask the Three Questions

By the end of your first month, you should be able to answer:

1. What's our percent funded? It's in the reserve study, and it's the single best summary of reserve health. (Percent funded explained.)
2. Is it trending up or down? Compare the last two studies. Direction matters more than the level.
3. Does the budget's reserve contribution match the study's recommendation? If it was quietly cut, that's the first thing to understand — and possibly fix.

These three answers tell you most of what you need to know about the financial health you've inherited.

Days 30–60: Understand the Mechanics

With the lay of the land clear, dig into how the money actually works:

• Operating vs. reserve funds — confirm they're held separately and understand what each covers
• Financial controls — who can access funds, who signs, whether there's appropriate separation of duties (this is your defense against errors and fraud)
• The reserve study cycle — when was the last one, when's the next, what level (study levels)
• Upcoming major projects — what's due in the next few years and whether reserves cover it (roof planning is often the big one)
• Delinquencies — what share of owners are behind, and the collection process

If anything here is murky — no current study, commingled funds, weak controls — you've found the priorities for your term.

Days 60–90: Engage and Plan

Now you're equipped to participate, not just observe:

• Weigh in on the budget with the reserve contribution as a required input, not a leftover
• Support adequate, gradual dues even when it's unpopular — flat dues are how communities drift into underfunding
• Understand your fiduciary duty and how to stay protected (fiduciary duty and reserves)
• Push for transparency — annual funded-status reporting to owners builds the trust that makes good decisions possible

A Few Mindset Notes for New Members

You don't need to be a finance expert. You need to read the study, ask good questions, and insist that reserves be funded from the study rather than from politics. That alone puts you ahead of most boards.

Popular and prudent aren't the same. The pressure to keep dues flat is constant and seductive. Resisting it — funding reserves properly even when owners grumble — is the core of the job and the heart of your fiduciary duty.

Lean on the professionals. A good reserve study, a competent manager or accountant, and reserve software exist to make this manageable for volunteers. Use them.

The first 90 days are about orientation, not heroics. Get the documents, answer the three questions, understand the mechanics, and start participating from an informed position. For the full scope of the board's reserve role, see The Board Member's Guide to Reserve Planning.