The condominium bank account: obligation, holder and management

The condominium bank account is the account, held in the name of the condominium, through which all the sums of the management must pass: the instalments paid in by owners as income and the payments to suppliers as expenditure. It is not a matter of convenience for the administrator but a legal obligation introduced by the condominium reform. Its purpose is to keep the condominium's assets separate from the administrator's personal assets and to ensure that every movement can be traced. Let us look at what the rule requires, in whose name the account is held and what rights owners have.

The account obligation under article 1129 of the Civil Code

Article 1129 of the Italian Civil Code requires the administrator to route the sums received on any basis from owners or third parties, and those paid out on any basis on behalf of the condominium, through a specific current account, postal or bank, held in the name of the condominium. The obligation was introduced by the 2012 reform precisely to ensure transparency and separation between the condominium's finances and those of the administrator.

The account held exclusively by the condominium

The account must be held exclusively by the condominium, not by the administrator personally. This means the account bears the condominium's name and tax code, while the administrator has signing authority to operate it as the condominium's representative. The benefit is twofold: the condominium's funds are not mixed with the administrator's personal funds and, when the management changes, the account remains the condominium's and passes to the new administrator without the need to open a new one.

Which sums must pass through the account

All the movements of the management must pass through the condominium bank account, without exceptions. Income includes the ordinary and extraordinary instalments paid by owners, any contributions and refunds. Expenditure includes payments to suppliers, shared utilities, fees and taxes. Even small petty cash expenses should have an accounting counterpart, so that the account balance can always be reconciled with the condominium's books.

Owners' right of access

Article 1129 grants each owner the right to ask to inspect and to obtain a copy, at their own expense, of the periodic accounts, through the administrator. This right also includes the possibility of consulting the bank statements and the related documentation. It is a safeguard of transparency: the owner can check that the account movements correspond to the expenses approved and reported.

What happens if there is no account

Failing to open or to use the account held by the condominium is a serious irregularity in the management. Among the consequences provided by law is the possibility for owners to seek the administrator's removal, including through the courts. Mixing the condominium's assets with the administrator's personal assets is regarded as particularly dangerous, because it exposes the shared funds to the risk of being seized by the administrator's personal creditors.

Who can operate the account

The account held by the condominium is operated by the administrator as representative, with the signing powers needed for ordinary management: collecting instalments, paying suppliers, settling taxes. These powers are functional to the appointment and do not turn the account into a personal resource of the administrator. When the appointment ends the signatures must be updated in favour of the new administrator, while the account, belonging to the condominium, stays the same. This is a substantial difference from the past, when closing a personal account could complicate the takeover and the reconstruction of balances.

Keeping the account in order

Managing the condominium bank account correctly does not end with opening the relationship: it requires periodic reconciliation between the bank movements and the accounting records. Every payment received must be matched to the owner's instalment, every payment made to the supplier's invoice. This discipline makes checking the balance immediate, facilitates preparing the annual statement and allows arrears to be identified promptly. Reconciliation carried out regularly also prevents hard-to-explain discrepancies from emerging at year end, which undermine owners' trust and lengthen the time needed to approve the statement.

• Open an account held exclusively by the condominium, with the condominium's tax code.
• Route all income and all expenditure of the management through the account.
• Periodically reconcile bank movements with the accounts.
• Allow owners access to the bank statements and to the periodic accounts.
• Keep the bank documentation to support the annual statement.

Management software links the condominium bank account to the firm's accounting: bank reconciliation automatically matches payments received to instalments, payments to suppliers generate the related entries and owners can check their own position independently. AmministraPro manages multiple condominium accounts with integrated reconciliation and reporting: you can see how it works on the features page and compare the plans in the pricing section.