Practical guide
How to set up a new condominium in the software
Setting up a new condominium in property management software is the moment that determines how solid all future work will be: budgets, expense allocations, communications with owners. A mistake made at the start, such as an incorrectly loaded ownership share table or a generic chart of accounts, follows the building for years and forces complicated retroactive corrections. This guide walks through the essential steps in logical order: building and owner registry, ownership share tables consistent with Italian condominium law, a tailored chart of accounts, and connecting the mandatory condominium bank account. It applies whether you are digitizing a building already under management or starting a brand new engagement.
Building and owner registry: the data that actually matters
The first condominium creation screen asks for data that may look bureaucratic but directly affects meeting notices, minutes and expense allocations: the condominium tax code, full address, number of buildings and stairwells (relevant for complex condominiums or building complexes with shared common parts), and the year of construction when known. Software such as AmministraPro allows leaving the construction year unspecified when the information is not available, instead of forcing a fabricated date that would later appear in technical reports or insurance filings.
The owner registry needs name, tax code, ownership share and contact details for the statutory notices required for meeting convocation with adequate advance notice. It is also worth importing tenant data right away when a unit is leased, because some ordinary management expenses are legally charged to the tenant rather than the owner: setting this distinction up from the start avoids redoing calculations later.
Ownership share tables: the foundation of every future allocation
Ownership share tables are not a secondary detail, they are the legal basis for every expense allocation under Italian condominium law: general ownership, stairs, elevator, heating, and any special tables for services that do not affect all owners equally. In the software these should be loaded as distinct tables, not a single column, because each expense must be linked to the correct table at allocation time.
A check worth running immediately after loading is that the shares in each table add up to the total declared in the condominium bylaws. Software that flags a discrepancy before the first allocation avoids the most common and most annoying error to fix afterward: an approved budget with slightly wrong amounts for every unit.
If the condominium spans multiple buildings or stairwells, it is worth activating per building or per stairwell tables from the start when the bylaws call for them, so allocations already performed do not need to be reworked later.
Chart of accounts: customize it now, not after the first budget
A generic chart of accounts is fine to get started, but a condominium with specific systems (elevator, water pump, central heating, green areas) benefits from dedicated expense categories from the first fiscal year. This is because the UNI 10801 technical standard, the reference for condominium management in Italy, calls for transparent and traceable reporting by individual expense item: grouping everything into overly broad categories makes the final statement hard to read for the assembly and complicates comparing budget to actual figures.
It is worth distinguishing ordinary from extraordinary expenses from the outset, since they follow different allocation and approval rules and, in the event of a unit sale, fall on different parties: the seller for extraordinary works already resolved, the buyer for ongoing ordinary costs.
Condominium bank account and first operational steps
Italian condominium law requires the property manager to open a bank account in the condominium's name, separate from their own assets and from those of other buildings under management. In the software this translates into linking the condominium bank account IBAN to the newly created file, so that every installment collected and every supplier payment is tracked against the correct account from the very first entry.
A final step before treating the condominium as operational: verify that registry, ownership share tables and chart of accounts are consistent with each other, for example that every owner has a share in all relevant tables. AmministraPro flags the most common inconsistencies at this stage, the best moment to fix them since no budget has been issued yet.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if the ownership share tables do not add up correctly?
If the shares in a table do not add up to the total set out in the condominium bylaws, every allocation calculated from that table will be proportionally wrong for every owner. This must be corrected before issuing the first budget or final statement, because once the assembly approves it the allocation would need to be redone and recommunicated. Good software flags the discrepancy at loading time, so the manager can check the original documents such as deeds and bylaws before proceeding.
Is a separate bank account mandatory for every condominium under management?
Yes, Italian condominium law expressly requires it: the manager must channel all sums received from owners or third parties, and all sums paid out, through a specific bank account in the condominium's own name. A pooled account collecting funds from multiple condominiums managed by the same professional is not allowed. In the software this means linking a dedicated IBAN to each condominium file from the moment it is created.
How should the construction year be handled if it is not known precisely?
Many older buildings do not have a certain construction date, especially without historical documentation. In AmministraPro the field can be left unspecified instead of being forced to an approximate date: this avoids a fabricated date later showing up in technical reports, insurance filings or official communications where the inaccuracy would matter.
Is a customized chart of accounts worthwhile even for a small condominium?
Yes, even a small condominium benefits from distinguishing at least the main expense categories such as cleaning, common area electricity, routine maintenance and any elevator costs, instead of using a handful of generic categories. The UNI 10801 standard calls for traceable reporting by individual item, and an overly aggregated statement makes it hard for the assembly to see where funds went, increasing the risk of disputes when the budget is approved.
What changes when setting up a building complex instead of a single condominium?
A building complex under Italian condominium law brings together several distinct buildings that share common parts, such as a shared heating system or a green area used by multiple blocks. In the software this requires ownership share tables dedicated to the shared common parts, separate from those of each individual condominium, plus a registry that links every real condominium, each with its own tax code, to the overarching structure. In AmministraPro this is handled through a dedicated setup wizard.
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Accounting, thousandths-based cost splitting, meetings, communications and artificial intelligence in a single Italian software, compliant with UNI 10801 and GDPR.