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Budget Builder

Annual Budget Builder

From spreadsheet chaos to board-adopted budget — with per-unit dues, reserve integration, and statute-tracked notice deadlines

Every association builds an annual budget. Most do it in Excel, miss the statutory notice deadline (Florida requires 14 days for condos under § 718.112(2)(e)), and discover the reserve contribution number only after the meeting — when it's too late to adjust the dues.

The Common Elements Budget Builder is the missing workflow between your accountant's spreadsheet and your board meeting. Enter last year's actuals, project this year's expenses, propose next year's numbers. The reserve contribution line auto-pulls from your current adopted Reserve Study. Per-unit dues derive automatically. When the board approves, the tool generates the owner notice and starts the statutory clock.

Start with the free Annual Budget Estimator if you want rough numbers before committing. When you're ready to make it the official adopted budget, sign in.

Annual Budget Builder

Sign in to build your association's official annual budget — with three-column line editing, per-unit dues calculation, reserve contribution auto-pull, and statute-tracked notice deadlines.

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Statutes referenced

For reference only. Not legal advice. Confirm current statute text with counsel or via our statute reference library.

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between this and the free Budget Estimator?
The free Annual Budget Estimator produces a rough operating cost estimate using Florida market benchmarks — useful for a sanity check or board discussion. The Budget Builder is authenticated and org-bound: it stores your actual line items, derives per-unit dues from your real unit count, pulls the reserve contribution from your adopted Reserve Study, tracks the statutory notice deadline, and records the adoption vote. The estimator is for modeling; the builder is for governance.
What is the notice deadline for a Florida condo budget?
Under F.S. § 718.112(2)(e), a Florida condominium association must provide unit owners with a proposed budget at least 14 days before the budget adoption meeting. The Common Elements Budget Builder tracks this deadline automatically and shows you the latest date you can distribute the notice while still meeting the requirement.
How does the reserve contribution line work?
If your association has an adopted Reserve Study on Common Elements, the Budget Builder automatically reads the current year's required contribution and populates the reserve line. You can override it with a warning — but the system will note that the override departs from the adopted study, which matters for SIRS compliance. If there's no adopted study, the line is a manual entry.
How is the per-unit monthly assessment calculated?
Per-unit monthly assessment = total proposed budget ÷ number of units ÷ 12. The Budget Builder supports equal-share, square-footage-weighted, and fractional-ownership allocation methods. Most Florida associations use equal share; check your governing documents for the method specified.
Can the budget be shared with owners before the meeting?
Yes. Once the budget reaches 'Owner notice sent' status, Common Elements generates a plain-language owner notice with a summary and the full schedule. The notice goes out through the platform's messaging module and is stored permanently as part of the budget record.