Archive for August, 2010

Updates to Income Tracker and Admin Reports

Aug 31st, 10 / 0 Comments

Dear Adda Treasurers,

We have released a few updates which are bound to make you happy!

1. Open Invoices with Line items in Reminder Emails

In the reminder Emails for Dues, only the total Due Amount was displayed. Henceforth, all the Open Invoice/Demand Note line items will be displayed in the email. Also, if any part payment was done, it will be displayed.

2. Bulk printing of Invoices & Receipts

We have released two new Admin Reports for printing all the Open Invoices/Demand Notes and Receipts by Flat. For Receipts, you can choose the Receipt range.

3. Auto Send Invoices & Receipts by Email

Now you have an option so that, whenever an Invoice gets posted ( automatically or manually) an email goes to the Primary Contact of the flat about the new Due. Also, whenever a Receipt is generated for a flat, an email is sent automatically to the Primary Contact. This can be configured individually for Invoices and Receipts in Admin’s Dashboard > Income Tracker > Setup > Other.

4. Filter Defaulters list

Now you can shortlist the defaulters list by the “Age” of the Due,  the Amount and the Category. E.g., if you only want to send reminders to Defaulters who have not paid the last term’s due, or those who have an outstanding Due above a certain amount, , or only the 3BHK apartments etc. you can do that easily now. With a single click you can send Emails and SMS reminders to the list that you have shortlisted.

Enjoy the extra time that just got added back to your Weekends! ApartmentAdda will stay on the lookout to save you more!

1197379_joyful_springsummer_background

Yours sincerely,
ApartmentAdda Team


ApartmentADDA is India’s #1 web-based Housing Society Accounting Software with complete integration to Online Payment Gateway, Society Communication and Facility Management . We empower Cooperative Housing Societies (CHS), Resident Welfare Associations (RWA), Apartment Owners Associations etc. with online tools to manage their Apartment or Villa Complex effectively.

Please sign up for a LIVE Online demo to know more about the product here : Register for Demo. Start your ADDA (Complete Communication Package), right now, FREE of cost here: Create my ADDA.

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Buzzar for Associations

Aug 25th, 10 / 3 Comments

Dear Association / Management Committee members,

Shopping for facility management services was never so easy before! We are happy to announce the launch of marketplace known as Buzzar. You can use Buzzar to shop for facility management related services and products for your apartment community.

Earlier this year, ApartmentAdda conducted a survey for Associations in Bangalore, to find the issues faced by them while shopping for Facility Management vendors.

According to the survey, majority of the Associations felt that enough information is not available on

1)      The existing and reliable vendors who provide service

2)      The Apartments the vendors are serving/have served

3)      The experience of other association owners about the vendor’s quality of service

4)      Availability of Quotes in standard formats, and in a central space where all MC members can review and act upon.

More than 60% of respondents felt that information about existing property management providers and the apartments they are servicing, the feedback provided by association owners will help them in choosing the best possible vendor.

More than 60% of respondents felt that information about existing Facility Management vendors, information on customers they are servicing, and the feedback provided by other Associations will help them in choosing the best possible vendor.

Buzzar addresses the issues mentioned above and aims to reduce the time taken for evaluating facility management vendors by

1)      Sharing exhaustive list of VERIFIED vendors who provide wide range of services related to facility management.

2)      Providing DETAILED information of vendors , the gated communities they have serviced

3)      Sharing of experience of vendor service between Associations

4)      Pre-populating the Apartment Profile (e.g. no. of Units, Address etc.) that is stored in your Adda

5)      Making the Quotes sent by Vendors available in ‘Admin Files’ of your Adda.

Buzzar provides the following features for Associations

1)       Shop for facility management related services/products

2)       Provide/View feedback on existing vendors

3)       Refer a vendor

Buzzar allows you to request for quote for variety of services which are generally used in gated communities. Those are Housekeeping , Security, Pest control, Upgrade/AMC/Repair for Sewage treatment plant , Swimming Pool , Generator , Transformers, Bore well/Pumps , Gym equipments.  Buzzar will be expanding to more categories under facility management and we look forward to your active contribution towards this.

You can even earn reward points for your Association for utilizing the Buzzar services. These reward points can be encashed for premium SMS , Free Add Ons or substantial discount for Premium Adda subscription.

Buzzar Screenshot

Buzzar Screenshot

Get Started!

Yours Sincerely,

Jagannath Balachandran

ApartmentAdda Team

Note:

1. Jagannath Balachandran is an IIMB student and an ex-Thoughtworker. He can also be reached at jagannath@apartmentadda.com

2. Interests to list on the Buzzar or any queries can be sent to buzzar@apartmentadda.com.


ApartmentADDA is India’s #1 web-based Housing Society Accounting Software with complete integration to Online Payment Gateway, Society Communication and Facility Management . We empower Cooperative Housing Societies (CHS), Resident Welfare Associations (RWA), Apartment Owners Associations etc. with online tools to manage their Apartment or Villa Complex effectively.

Please sign up for a LIVE Online demo to know more about the product here : Register for Demo. Start your ADDA (Complete Communication Package), right now, FREE of cost here: Create my ADDA.

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Instant Poll Enhanced

Aug 22nd, 10 / 0 Comments

Dear ApartmentAdda Users,

Wish you a very happy Onam!

We are happy to announce a major enhancement to your favorite Instant Poll Application.

Here is the gist :

1. You can now create a poll that will be open to everyone, or only to Owners or only to Association Committee members. So Committee members can now have a quick poll among themselves to gather feedback (eg. Select a date for an AGM or the next meeting time ).

2. You can restrict votes to One vote per flat. The second user from the flat, will be able to view the vote that is cast, but will not be able to add or change the vote.

3. You can also make a poll as “Anonymous” – to gather feedback on sensitive issues.

4. Also we have built a workflow while setting up the poll – so you can create the poll, view it, edit it and only when you are satisfied publish it to your Adda.

You can check these out, when you go to create a poll. The following “Poll Settings” section will now appear.

Screenshot-1

Poll Settings Section

Enjoy!

Yours sincerely,
ApartmentAdda Team


ApartmentADDA is India’s #1 web-based Housing Society Accounting Software with complete integration to Online Payment Gateway, Society Communication and Facility Management . We empower Cooperative Housing Societies (CHS), Resident Welfare Associations (RWA), Apartment Owners Associations etc. with online tools to manage their Apartment or Villa Complex effectively.

Please sign up for a LIVE Online demo to know more about the product here : Register for Demo. Start your ADDA (Complete Communication Package), right now, FREE of cost here: Create my ADDA.

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Testimonial- Redstone Akshaya ADDA

Aug 20th, 10 / 0 Comments

Ravi goyal,President,Redstone Akshaya ADDA says,

“A product that makes a thankless job of managing home owners associations fun and easy”

Thank you building a product that makes a thankless job of managing home owners associations a wee bit of fun and easy.

Thank you Mr.Goyal.

For more visit Testimonials Page .


ApartmentADDA is India’s #1 web-based Housing Society Accounting Software with complete integration to Online Payment Gateway, Society Communication and Facility Management . We empower Cooperative Housing Societies (CHS), Resident Welfare Associations (RWA), Apartment Owners Associations etc. with online tools to manage their Apartment or Villa Complex effectively.

Please sign up for a LIVE Online demo to know more about the product here : Register for Demo. Start your ADDA (Complete Communication Package), right now, FREE of cost here: Create my ADDA.

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Buzz

Events & Facility Booking Released!

Aug 17th, 10 / 4 Comments

Are you sitting in US, wanting to plan up the Birthday Party for your kid next month? And you wish you could check the availability of your Community Party Hall and book it right away? Now you can!

Announcing the release of a much requested feature – Events & Facility Booking. With this all the hassle of booking your facility like community hall, tennis/badminton court etc. – becomes very easy. These bookings are also integrated with the ApartmentAdda Online Payment Gateway –  now when you book a facility, you can immediately make a payment online, and get the booking confirmed right then and there.

Screenshot of Resident's View

Screenshot of Resident's View

As an Admin, you can set up all your facilities, tie the facility booking to the relevant Income Account ( you will have to create one in Income Tracker Setup, if you have not created already ), set the auto-cancellation term for each facility, set the flat rate or rate per hour for each facility and provide instructions on Facility usage.

We have also provided 2 useful reports : Facility Uitlitzation History and Future Utilization – to see how well your facilities are being utilized and the revenue they are generating for the Association.

Go ahead! Throw a party!

Yours sincerely,
ApartmentAdda Team

Note 1: For all our existing Premium PRO Customers, we are making Events & Facility Booking immediately available – Free of Cost.
Note 2 : As an introductory offer, Events & Facility Booking Add-on will be bundled free of cost with ApartmentAdda Online Payment Gateway.


ApartmentADDA is India’s #1 web-based Housing Society Accounting Software with complete integration to Online Payment Gateway, Society Communication and Facility Management . We empower Cooperative Housing Societies (CHS), Resident Welfare Associations (RWA), Apartment Owners Associations etc. with online tools to manage their Apartment or Villa Complex effectively.

Please sign up for a LIVE Online demo to know more about the product here : Register for Demo. Start your ADDA (Complete Communication Package), right now, FREE of cost here: Create my ADDA.

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FAQ for Payment Gateway

Aug 13th, 10 / 0 Comments

FAQs on the ApartmentADDA Payment Gateway

Q1. Does ApartmentADDA have access to or store the Bank/Credit Card details of the Payer

A. No. Once the Payer enters the Payment Gateway, he is on Citibank’s page.  ApartmentADDA does not have any access to the data being provided by him. ApartmentADDA only receives a Success/Failure input from the Payment Gateway, based on which it generates the Receipt.

Q2. Will the money be transferred from the Resident directly to the Society’s bank by the Gateway?

A. No. The gateway transfers money from multiple sources (Residents) to one target (a designated bank account, NOT controlled by ApartmentADDA – per RBI guidelines). This Designated Bank then transfers respective Amounts to the Association Banks, per pre-configured & regular instructions.

Q3. What is the charge for utilizing the Payment Gateway

A. The Society pays a small one-time fee for the Payment Gateway setup. There are no other charges for the Society.

The resident while utilizing the Payment Gateway pays a nominal convenience charge per transaction.

Q4. After making the payment when will the Resident get the confirmation/Receipt

A. Once the Resident’s online transaction successfully completes, an instant e-receipt will be generated right on his ADDA. This will be viewable by the Resident on the last screen, as well as will be sent to him via email. A confirmation will be sent via SMS. The Receipt will be available on his Account Statement in his ADDA.

Q5. How will the Transaction show up on the Credit Card Statement of the Payer (Resident)?

A. The transaction will show the following in the Narration “3Five8 Technologies” or “3Five8 Tech”

Q6. How will the Treasurer/MC members know when a Payment Gateway transaction is made?

A. You (the ADDA Admins) can view all Payment Gateway transactions that have happened in your ADDA, right under the Bank & Cash application. You view these the same way that you view the Cheques entered in the system, just that the Instrument Bank will be “ApartmentADDA Payment Gateway” and the Instrument Type will be “Online Payment”.

Q7. How will the Amount Transferred by the Payment Gateway to the Society Bank, show up on the Society Bank statement?

A. A. The transaction will show the following in the Narration “3Five8 Technologies” or “3Five8 Tech”


ApartmentADDA is India’s #1 web-based Housing Society Accounting Software with complete integration to Online Payment Gateway, Society Communication and Facility Management . We empower Cooperative Housing Societies (CHS), Resident Welfare Associations (RWA), Apartment Owners Associations etc. with online tools to manage their Apartment or Villa Complex effectively.

Please sign up for a LIVE Online demo to know more about the product here : Register for Demo. Start your ADDA (Complete Communication Package), right now, FREE of cost here: Create my ADDA.

Society Accounting

ApartmentADDA Payment Gateway Integration

Aug 13th, 10 / 13 Comments

ApartmentADDA is thrilled to announce the integration of Citibank Payment Gateway with its Income Tracker! This will enable the Associations using ApartmentADDA to collect payments from Residents via Credit Card, Debit Card and NetBanking!

This makes ApartmentADDA India’s FIRST & ONLY Online Payment Aggregator for Housing Societies! The ApartmentADDA Payment Gateway will now be an additional payment option for Residents.

Before you read on, we would like to thank YOU, our discerning customer, for pushing us higher!

Advantages of Online Payment Gateway

1) The Resident gets instant confirmation that her/his payment has reached the Association

2) The Treasurer does not have to enter the collection in the system, as in case of Cheque collection

3) The Treasurer does not have to spend long hours & endless communication reconciling Online Transfers, wherein very frequently the Flat information gets missed out in the bank statement

4) Collecting small-ticket items such as festival contributions, facility booking, Move-In/Out charges etc. becomes much easier as the hassle of collection & receipting is avoided!

5) The lead time for collections can reduce drastically as Residents would prefer to pay by credit card (instant gratification, delayed outgo)

6) Collection of electricity/water charges from in-house vendors – such as Grocery shop, Daycare, Parlor etc. – will  now be free of manual intervention

We are sure our enterprising customers will see many more advantages and applications of this gateway. We are excited about working with you on the many possibilities it presents.

How does it work

Here is the workflow of ApartmentAdda Payment Gateway integration:

Behind the Scenes

ApartmentADDA is utilizing Citibank’s Online Payment Gateway Infrastructure – one of the most reliable and technologically advanced Payment Gateway in the World. Participating Associations will authorize ApartmentAdda to act as their online Payment Gateway Aggregator – necessary documents will be collected and vetted as per RBI’s Regulations.

Payments made by the Residents will be collected in an RBI Regulated and Audited Bank from where the money will be channeled to each Association’s Bank Account. A detailed Flat-wise/Transaction-wise statement will automatically show up in the Income Tracker for each Transfer to the Association bank Account. The Treasurer can reconcile these as per his or her convenience.

Periodically we run vulnerability scans on our Servers and Hosting Infrastructure and also get the process and transactions audited as per RBI regulations.

How to get Started

Interested Associations can Contact Us. We shall work with you to get you started. The estimated setup time is 1 work week.

More Questions? Please view the FAQs on ApartmentADDA Payment Gateway integration.


ApartmentADDA is India’s #1 web-based Housing Society Accounting Software with complete integration to Online Payment Gateway, Society Communication and Facility Management . We empower Cooperative Housing Societies (CHS), Resident Welfare Associations (RWA), Apartment Owners Associations etc. with online tools to manage their Apartment or Villa Complex effectively.

Please sign up for a LIVE Online demo to know more about the product here : Register for Demo. Start your ADDA (Complete Communication Package), right now, FREE of cost here: Create my ADDA.

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Diamond District & Commercialization within Residential Complexes

Aug 8th, 10 / 0 Comments

What should be the extent of commercial activity inside a  Residential Complex? Should it be decided by the Builder who is managing the complex, or the Owners Association? The Diamond District Apartment Owners Welfare Assocprint_image.phpiation is quite clear about its stand.

On Saturday when a 150 strong movie crew descended on the lawns of Diamond District, the Residents had to bring in the Police to get the crew out!

Times of India reports the incident:

Chaos reigned at the Diamond District apartment complex on Old Airport Road after a 150-member film crew landed at the plush complex to shoot for ‘Prema Purana’.

Diamond District was chosen as one of the locations for shooting the Kannada film starring Nithin, Radhika Gandhi, Shraddha Dey and others. Producers Gajanana Film hadn’t obtained police permission for shooting in the complex.

The war of words between residents and the film crew came to halt only after police intervened and chased away the crew.

Diamond District residents, who have been opposing commercialization of serviced apartments, claimed that frequent film shoots in the vicinity were disturbing their peace. The shoot for this movie had been on in a serviced apartment for about a week now. But on Saturday, the scene shifted to the lawn, drawing the ire of residents.

THE GROUSE
Diamond District occupants complained that no permission was obtained from the Diamond District Apartment Owners Welfare Association (DDAOWA) and police before the shoot.

Reacting to the charges, movie director Shivakumar R said: “We have a permission letter from Century Galaxy Developers Ltd (CDGL) for shooting on this premises and we have been paying charges too. We must get a refund.”

During heated arguments between police and crew, Old Airport police station inspector Venkatashetty sought to know from the CDGL spokesperson as to why the film crew didn’t seek permission from residents.

“Movie-makers have now been allowed to come and shoot films here. The maintenance managers behave as if they are absolute owners of Diamond District. They earn Rs 30,000 per day to give permission for such activities. This is nothing but intrusion on our privacy,” said Raja Nambiar, president of DDAOWA.

Residents have now lodged a complaint in the Old Airport police station. “We don’t allow any commercial activity on our premises. We are the owners of the apartment. Why should the CDGL give permission to film makers without our consent?” questioned apartment dwellers. “With over 400 workers employed in the 230-odd serviced apartments here, we have been facing security threats of sorts. It’s unsafe for women and children,” they said.

LOOKING UP TO LOKAYUKTA
DDAOWA members recently met higher education minister Aravind Limbavali and BBMP commissioner Siddaiah against commercialization of residential apartment complexes. “We’ll ask the Lokayukta to come to our rescue. We want him to intervene and get us sale deeds for our apartments, ” Nambiar said.

What is your opinion?  While almost all will agree that the Owners Association must have the final say on any commercial activity inside the gates, to what extent should commercialization be allowed?


ApartmentADDA is India’s #1 web-based Housing Society Accounting Software with complete integration to Online Payment Gateway, Society Communication and Facility Management . We empower Cooperative Housing Societies (CHS), Resident Welfare Associations (RWA), Apartment Owners Associations etc. with online tools to manage their Apartment or Villa Complex effectively.

Please sign up for a LIVE Online demo to know more about the product here : Register for Demo. Start your ADDA (Complete Communication Package), right now, FREE of cost here: Create my ADDA.

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Home Owners, Society Accounting

Document Storage got further organized!

Aug 6th, 10 / 0 Comments

Dear ApartmentAdda Users,

We have released a much requested upgrade to both the Resident and Admin Document Repositories. Now you can create new folders, move files between folders and keep your Adda documents organized, neat and tidy. Your existing files have all been moved to the respective folders based on their current category.

Here is a screenshot of the new Document Repository.

Online Document Repository

Online Document Repository

Our thanks to the IT sub-committee of Mantri Paradise for raising the tempo on the need for this upgrade!

Yours sincerely,
ApartmentAdda Team


ApartmentADDA is India’s #1 web-based Housing Society Accounting Software with complete integration to Online Payment Gateway, Society Communication and Facility Management . We empower Cooperative Housing Societies (CHS), Resident Welfare Associations (RWA), Apartment Owners Associations etc. with online tools to manage their Apartment or Villa Complex effectively.

Please sign up for a LIVE Online demo to know more about the product here : Register for Demo. Start your ADDA (Complete Communication Package), right now, FREE of cost here: Create my ADDA.

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Service Tax for Apartment Purchase

Aug 2nd, 10 / 0 Comments

From the Govt. Circular dated July 2010, there is sufficient clarity that:

Payments received by a Builder of a Residential Complex from the Purchaser on and from 1st July, 2010 onwards is subject to Service Tax.

All payments made to the Builder by the Purchaser, before 1st July 2010, is exempt from Service Tax.

No Service Tax is applicable (irrespective of date of Payment),  when the Purchase is made AFTER the issuance of the ‘Completion Certificate’ of the Residential Complex.

Relevant Links for Referrence:

http://bit.ly/ij8swH

http://bit.ly/h7eU0z

Related Articles:

http://apartmentadda.com/blog/2010/07/04/finmin-refuses-to-remove-service-tax/

http://apartmentadda.com/blog/2011/01/19/should-societies-collect-service-tax-from-members/


ApartmentADDA is India’s #1 web-based Housing Society Accounting Software with complete integration to Online Payment Gateway, Society Communication and Facility Management . We empower Cooperative Housing Societies (CHS), Resident Welfare Associations (RWA), Apartment Owners Associations etc. with online tools to manage their Apartment or Villa Complex effectively.

Please sign up for a LIVE Online demo to know more about the product here : Register for Demo. Start your ADDA (Complete Communication Package), right now, FREE of cost here: Create my ADDA.

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