Compliance Corner with Janel Ganim

Transcription

1 IPM Software INTEGRATED PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE December 15, 2012 Compliance Corner with Janel Ganim Compliance Corner TRACS D Voucher Changes This month, we will look at upcoming voucher changes that are part of TRACS D. Miscellaneous Accounting Requests Inside this issue: From Compliance Corner: TRACS D Voucher Changes Holiday Hours: Christmas and New Years 1 1 HUD has added new Miscellaneous Accounting Request codes in order to provide more detail when entering or reviewing miscellaneous accounting requests. SERV = Service Coordinators DRUG = Drug related expenses FORQ = Field Office initiated accounting adjustment OARQ = Owner/Agent initiated accounting adjustment RGRC = Adjustment for a Retroactive GRC that includes a UA decrease that drives a requirement to provide a 30-day notice to affected residents. This code can only be used for 75 days from the approval date of the schedule. UUTL = Unclaimed utility check RSPC = Recouped special claims funds CEAD = Contract expiration adjustment EIVP = EIV penalty. 5% of the voucher is subtracted to cover EIV noncompliance when applicable. Important Note: The amount of the EIV penalty is to be calculated based on the total voucher amount before calculating the penalty and before applying any RESR transaction that may be needed. RESR = Residual receipts. Used to offset part of the voucher billing. (Awaiting instructions from HUD if this code should still be used in D.) INTA = Interest adjustment submitted by PBCA. This is only valid when submitted by a PBCA to report the amount of interest earned on the specific project account to HUD. ADMN = Amount of admin fee for a contract. This is only valid when submitted by a CA to request an admin fee payment. (continued page 2, see TRACS D) To give our employees additional time to enjoy the holidays with friends and families, the offices of IPM Software will : From Training: Year End Reminders - Period End, Year End and Backing Up From Client Care: Meet Our New Client Care Team Members Reminder: Update to CornerStone v From Sales: Get those iphones Ready! Work Order integration is coming soon. Coming in January: 5 Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. - Benjamin Franklin Close at 12:00 CST: Monday, December 24th Monday, December 31st Be Closed All Day: Tuesday, December 25th Tuesday, January 1st

2 Page 2 Now available at: CornerStone v HUDControl v RHSControl Pro 2011 v IPM-Software would like to welcome our new business. To all of our current clients, thank you for your continued support. Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start. - Nido Qubein Continued from pg 1 - TRACS D Repayment Agreements IPM Software Currently, repayment agreements are accounted for on the voucher through OARQ miscellaneous accounting requests. Starting with TRACS D, these transactions will be reported on a new A, part 6 voucher form and sent to TRACS in a new MAT30, Section 7 record. Utility Reimbursements and MO Adjustments HUD rules in the , Paragraph 9-13B say If the utility reimbursement is not disbursed to the tenant or utility provider (e.g. tenant never picks up the check, tenant never cashes the check or tenant moves out), the funds must be returned to HUD. When addressing accounting requirements for these situations, it is important to remember that a move-out adjustment for a unit with negative rent will automatically return some of the utility reimbursement to HUD. If this is not what is called for under the rules, the O/A may want to recapture the proper amount with a miscellaneous accounting request on the voucher. Voucher Detail and Adjustments Added to the MAT30 TRACS D defines and activates long proposed MAT30 records (Section 3 Detail and Section 4 Adjustments) to allow the exchange of voucher detail and adjustment information between O/As and CAs and from O/As and CAs to HUD. With the inclusion of these records, the full HAP voucher can be transmitted to a CA from an O/A eliminating the need for sending paper or ed copies of printed vouchers. The site will continue to maintain a printed and signed voucher in its files. In addition to the new Section 3 and 4 records, two fields have been added to each of the Section 5 and Section 6 records: 1. The amount paid 2. A field to hold software vendor submitted data Transmission of vouchers to HUD will include these new records and TRACS will both process and store them. For the CA, the advantage of the full electronic voucher is that it permits an automated comparison between the O/A voucher and the one generated by CA software. This comparison should be faster, more accurate and more complete than the current manual comparison. The CA is required to send a final approved voucher to the O/A for use in reconciliation activities at the property. In addition, the CA may optionally send a preliminary voucher to the O/A if the CA allows changes to the current voucher before closing it out. Janel Ganim Janel Ganim she has over 15 years of experience in the property management industry and specializes in HUD, Tax Credit, and Rural Housing regulatory experience, property management operations, project management, product management and marketing. Additionally, Janel currently serves as the cochairperson of the HUD 202D Voucher Working Group.

3 Newsletter December 2012 Notes from the Training Department Page 3 Year End Reminders Period End, Year End, and Backup Calendar year end is also the fiscal year end for many of our users. This is a good time to cover some of the questions that frequently occur this time of year. Period End Processing: Period End Processing within the Rent module can complete three different processes: post rent journal entries, generate recurring charges for the next period and advance the rent fiscal period. This processing is done on a monthly basis to enable users to enter rent payments for the next month. However, at some point you may get a message that the fiscal period is not set up. In that case you will need to add another year to set up a new fiscal period. Adding a year is done in Tools / Financial Customization / Fiscal Period / Add More Years. Click on that button and you will open a screen that lets you select the period to add. Click on Set up fiscal year and the new year (or years) will be set up. Year End Processing: There are a variety of reports to run and reconcile in order to complete the year end processing. Once the reports are run and verifications are complete, the Automatic Update of Fiscal Year can be run. While in Ledger, click on Utilities / Automatic Update of Fiscal Year. Notes from the Client Care Department Meet Our New Client Care Team Members The Client Care team has grown. (continued page 2, see Year End Reminders) IPM Software welcomes Alisa Anders and Ragan Cain to the Client Care Team. While they have different work backgrounds, one strong in customer service and the other strong in education, we find both types of experience are valuable assets when working in a software support position. They are working closely with the other Client Care team members to provide you with the type of support you expect from IPM Software. Both Ragan and Alisa are standing by and eager to assist you with CornerStone!

4 Page 4 Continued from pg 3 - Year End Reminders IPM Software To streamline the year end processing, Automatic Update of Fiscal Year End Period has been added to the Corner- Stone Ledger module under Utilities. The automatic processing does the following: adds new fiscal period records, advances the Open Transaction Period, and forwards beginning balances. You can select all three actions or only the ones you want to per- form. As always, you should always make a back up before making changes in the program. Restoring the data to a point prior to making a change is much faster than having to ask Client Care to do a data fix. Always make a back up after doing a lot of work in the program. Having to re-enter one move out is not as time consuming as having to re-enter twenty recertifications, fifty payments, or twenty invoices. If you have ever lost all your data, then remember what it took in time and cost to recreate it. Carefully consider if you can afford to lose your data. The time it takes to run a backup is minimal compared to re-doing data entry for your lost work. Make a Backup - Do this at scheduled times as well as anytime you make a lot of database changes Know the location of your backup files If you always backup to your hard drive, also occasionally copy those files to a removable media (flash drive, external hard drive, or burn to a cd). If you have a hardware failure or otherwise lose the computer, all your data is not lost if your backups are not on the computer. Put those backup files away some place safe. Keep some of the backup file copies off site. Verify that your backups are valid: A. Verify the files are on the media B. Verify the size of the file is similar to prior backups C. Restore the backup IPM Software recommends restoring data periodically. Make a full back up and restore that back up immediately before any new work is entered. The restore process verifies you have a valid back up and includes processes that indexes your database. Pam Busing As Office Manager her primary responsibilities are handling client invoices and vendor payables, but she also assists when needed with Client Care, testing, and documentation. Reminder: Update to CornerStone version If you have not updated to CornerStone version , please consider doing it for the new year. Client Care is calling properties to see if they need assistance in updating to the new version of CornerStone. They are happy to assist you in updating and will set an appointment to work with you at your convenience.

5 Page 5 Volume 4, Issue IPM Software Vista Rd., Ste C250 Pasadena, Texas Phone: Phone: Notes from the Sales Department Get Those iphones Ready! Work Order integration is coming soon. iwork Orders completely automates the work order process from receiving maintenance requests, scheduling, completing with notes, photos of damage and tenant bill back. All from an iphone App. We are on the Web! Contact us at: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Or through Live Chat at Fix Window Pane A201 Practice Plaza > Board, Bill Replace Light Switch B119 Practice Plaza > Power, Flower Unclog Toilet A201 Practice Plaza > Board, Bill Replace Bathroom Fixtures A210 Practice Plaza > Twain, R R Contact Your IPM-Software Sales Representative at (800) search for ipm-software.net Karen Stevenson ext [email protected] Rue Fox ext [email protected] Our Mission Statement Our continuing mission and commitment is to profitably offer the most accurate property management and compliance software to the Affordable Multi-Family Housing Industry and to provide our customers the best possible service and support. Coming in January: From Client Care - Start the new year right: Reconcile Rent before each month end close From Sales - Watch for our 2013 Schedule IPM Software extends our sincere thanks for your business. We wish you a Happy Holiday Season and a New Year full of Peace, Prosperity, and Happiness. If you would like more information on any topic in this or have questions, or comments, please us at [email protected]