Practical guide
Checking the accounts received from the outgoing manager
When a new manager takes over, the accounts handed over by the predecessor must not be accepted blindly. Before carrying balances into the new financial year, the incoming manager has to verify that the figures match reality: cash and bank balances, the position of each owner, accrued reserves, and amounts owed to suppliers. Article 1130-bis of the Italian Civil Code requires supporting vouchers to be kept for ten years, so every line of the year-end statement must be backed by a document. This check protects the new manager from liability for someone else's mistakes and allows the mandate to open on clean, reconstructable data.
Checks on the accounts received
- Reconcile the cash and bank balance against the latest available statement
- Compare each owner's individual balance with the allocation in the last approved year-end statement
- Verify the list of arrears and the related titles (injunctions, reminders)
- Check the consistency of reserves: operating fund, contingency reserve, special works fund
- Match every entry in the accounting register to its supporting voucher
- Identify amounts owed to suppliers not yet paid and invoices still to be received
- Verify withholding taxes paid and the condominium's position as withholding agent
- Note in writing any discrepancy between documents and declared balances
Start from the last approved statement
The benchmark for the check is the last year-end statement approved by the owners' meeting. It provides the individual balances, the consistency of reserves and the financial position that should match what was handed over. Under Article 1130-bis of the Italian Civil Code, the condominium statement consists of the accounting register, the financial summary and the explanatory note: the three documents must be read together.
If time has passed between the last statement and the handover date, the intervening period must also be reviewed, since it has usually not yet been approved. This partial year is the most delicate part, because no one has validated it and the new manager inherits it together with any errors.
Reconcile cash and bank
Article 1129 of the Italian Civil Code requires the condominium's funds to pass through a bank account in the condominium's name. The first reconciliation therefore compares the declared book balance with the bank statement at the same date. An unexplained difference is a warning sign: it may hide unrecorded receipts, unrecorded payments or advances made by the manager.
If a petty cash exists, it must be counted and reconciled separately. Traceable, bank-routed movements are the rule, so a significant undocumented cash balance calls for an explanation. Every discrepancy must be recorded in the handover minutes, so as not to inherit liability for movements that never occurred under one's own mandate.
Check arrears and receivables
The list of owners in arrears must be consistent with the individual balances and with the status of ongoing recoveries. For each debtor you verify the amount, the age of the receivable and the existence of titles: reminders, formal demands, injunctions obtained under Article 63 of the implementing provisions of the Italian Civil Code.
It is important to distinguish receivables still collectible from those at risk of limitation or already lost. A receivable recorded in the accounts but no longer recoverable distorts the financial position and must be flagged to the owners' meeting. A new manager taking over recovery actions must know the exact status of each case so as not to interrupt actions already started.
Verify reserves and amounts owed to suppliers
Accrued reserves (operating fund, contingency reserve, any special fund for extraordinary works resolved under Article 1135 of the Italian Civil Code) must have real cover in the account. A reserve recorded in the books without corresponding availability indicates the funds were used for something else and needs clarification.
On the liabilities side, you reconstruct amounts owed to suppliers: invoices received but not yet paid, contracts in progress, accrued fees. Invoices still to be received for services already rendered must also be included. This review prevents costs belonging to the old management from falling by mistake on the new financial year.
Document discrepancies and carry over balances
Every difference between the documents and the declared balances must be noted in a verification document attached to the handover minutes. It is not for the new manager to correct the predecessor's errors on their own initiative, but to flag them precisely, quantify them and inform the committee and the owners' meeting. Only verified and reconciled balances are carried over as opening data for the new financial year.
Management software makes this check much faster: by importing owner records, balances and movements you reconcile cash and bank, highlight discrepancies and generate a balancing statement. With AmministraPro the incoming manager imports historical data, checks balance consistency and opens the first year on clean figures. The features are described on the /funzioni page and the plans on the /prezzi page.
Frequently asked questions
Is the new manager liable for the predecessor's accounting errors?
No, liability for the previous management stays with whoever carried it out. The incoming manager must, however, verify the data received and flag discrepancies in writing: if they carry over incorrect balances uncritically and fail to detect them, negligence in verification may be attributed to them. Documenting the checks is therefore their main protection.
What if the bank balance does not match the book balance?
You reconstruct the difference movement by movement, comparing the bank statement with the accounting register. Typical causes are unrecorded receipts or payments, bank charges and manager advances. Until the difference is explained, the balance should not be carried over as final and the discrepancy must be minuted in the handover document.
How long must supporting vouchers be kept?
Article 1130-bis of the Italian Civil Code requires spending vouchers to be kept for ten years from registration. At handover the new manager must receive these vouchers together with the rest of the documentation, because without them the lines of the statement cannot be verified and owners cannot exercise their right to inspect.
How are receivables from insolvent owners that are no longer recoverable treated?
They must be identified during the check and flagged to the owners' meeting, which decides on any write-down or write-off. Recording receivables that are now uncollectible artificially inflates the financial position. For receivables still collectible, the new manager continues the recovery actions started, stepping into the titles already obtained.
Do you need software to check the accounts received?
It is not mandatory, but it speeds up the work considerably. Management software imports balances and movements, reconciles cash and bank, highlights arrears and produces a balancing statement. With AmministraPro the check becomes a repeatable, traceable process, reducing the risk of adopting unreconciled data.
Try AmministraPro
Accounting, thousandths-based cost splitting, meetings, communications and artificial intelligence in a single Italian software, compliant with UNI 10801 and GDPR.