Practical guide
Checklist to review the statement before approving it
Receiving the statement a few days before the meeting and showing up without having read it is the owner's most common mistake. Approving the accounts means taking responsibility for those figures, and once approved, challenging them becomes much harder. An orderly check, with a short checklist, lets you read the statement in half an hour and arrive at the meeting prepared, distinguishing real doubts from impressions. This guide offers a sequence of practical checks, from the three mandatory documents to reconciling cash and allocation, designed for the owner who wants to approve with awareness or challenge with concrete arguments.
The checks to run before approving the statement
- Verify that all three documents are present: accounting register, financial summary and explanatory note.
- Compare the final-account items with the budget approved the previous year and note the significant deviations.
- Check that the accounting register reconciles with the statements of the condominium bank account.
- Verify that extraordinary expenses are covered by a meeting resolution.
- Request in advance the supporting documents for the highest-value items or those that grew from the year before.
- Recalculate your allocation share on at least one item, multiplying the expense by your thousandths divided by one thousand.
- Read in the explanatory note the ongoing relationships and pending matters, including arrears.
- Check that the manager's fee matches the one approved by the meeting.
First check: the completeness of the documents
The starting check is formal but decisive: the statement must contain all three documents provided for by Article 1130-bis of the Italian Civil Code, that is, the accounting register, the financial summary and the explanatory note. If even one is missing, the statement is incomplete and the resolution approving it can be challenged.
Also verify that you received the statement with reasonable notice before the meeting date, so that you can examine it. A last-minute delivery, leaving no real time for checking, compresses the right of verification: in such cases it is legitimate to ask the manager for the documents and the time needed before resolving.
Second check: the comparison with the budget
Place the final accounts side by side with the budget approved the previous year, item by item. Significant deviations are not a problem in themselves, but they must have an explanation in the explanatory note: a tariff increase, an unforeseen work, a change of supplier, a saving obtained.
Note the items that deviate a lot and for which you find no explanation: they will be the questions to raise at the meeting or, better, the requests for clarification to send the manager in writing beforehand. A systematic comparison with the budget turns a list of figures into a critical reading of the management.
Third check: reconciling the cash
The accounting register must reconcile with the statements of the condominium bank account. Compare the opening balance, the movements and the closing balance: every receipt and every payment in the register must match a bank entry. A difference between register and account is a signal to clarify, because the statement must mirror the real movements.
This check is within anyone's reach and requires no accounting skills: only consistency between two documents. Many disputes arise precisely from failed reconciliations, often due to clerical errors easily corrected, but which must be found before approving so as not to ratify a wrong figure.
Fourth check: resolutions, supporting documents and allocation
Check that extraordinary expenses are covered by a meeting resolution and request in advance the supporting documents for the most relevant items, which you have the right to inspect under Article 1130-bis. Then recalculate your share on at least one allocation item, multiplying the total expense by your thousandths and dividing by one thousand: the result must match the charged share.
Finally, read the explanatory note carefully, where you find ongoing relationships and pending matters such as lawsuits, arrears and open works, and verify that the manager's fee matches the one approved. These checks close the checklist and give you the full picture to decide your vote.
How to arrive at the meeting prepared
The best time to clear up doubts is not during the meeting, but in the days before it. Send the manager your requests for clarification and inspection of supporting documents in writing, so as to arrive at the meeting with the answers and not the questions. This reduces tension and makes approval, or any challenge, more solid.
A management platform like AmministraPro eases this path because it makes available to the owner, in the reserved area, the complete statement, the supporting documents linked to the expenses and their own allocation position, all consultable independently before the meeting. On /funzioni you can see how the statement, documents and allocation are linked, while /prezzi describes the plans. The checklist nonetheless remains the owner's tool, independent of the software the manager uses, to exercise their vote with awareness.
Frequently asked questions
How much notice must I have of the statement before the meeting?
The law does not fix an exact number of days identical for every case, but the statement must be made available with reasonable notice, enough to allow owners to examine it before resolving. A last-minute delivery compresses the right of verification recognised by Article 1130-bis. If you did not have the real time to check the documents, it is legitimate to ask the manager for the supporting documents and the time needed before approving.
What do I check first in the statement?
The completeness of the documents. The statement must contain all three documents provided for by Article 1130-bis: the accounting register, the financial summary and the explanatory note. If one is missing, the statement is incomplete and the resolution approving it can be challenged. Only after verifying the presence of the three documents does it make sense to move to the substantive checks, such as the comparison with the budget and the reconciliation of cash with the bank statements.
How do I reconcile the accounting register with the bank?
Compare the opening balance, the movements and the closing balance of the accounting register with the statements of the condominium bank account. Every recorded receipt and payment must match a bank entry, and vice versa. If the register's closing balance does not match the bank statement, there is a difference to clarify with the manager. This check requires no accounting skills, only consistency between two documents, and is among the most effective.
Should I request the supporting documents before or during the meeting?
Before. The right to inspect the supporting documents under Article 1130-bis is best exercised in the days before the meeting, asking the manager in writing for the documents of the most relevant items. Arriving at the meeting with the answers, and not the questions, makes approval or challenge more solid and reduces tension. Requesting the supporting documents during the meeting, instead, often leaves no time for a real check.
If I approve the statement can I still challenge it?
Challenging it after approval is much harder. Those who voted in favour generally have a narrower margin to challenge than those who were absent or dissenting, who can challenge the resolution before the court within thirty days. That is why the preventive check is essential: the checklist serves precisely to reach the vote with awareness, so as to approve only a verified statement or express dissent when unresolved doubts remain.
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