How to Set Up Assessment Rules

Learn how to set up and edit assessment rules for an association.

If you need to set up a new assessment with rules, see the "How to Setup a New Charge or Assessment" article and then return here to set up rules.

To edit an assessment and set up billing rules:

1. Navigate to Association > Assessments.  
   The Assessments screen displays all active assessments.
2. (Optional) To display only assessments that are marked inactive for this association, select Inactive Assessments (1).
   
   
    
3. (Optional) You can change the assessment itself by clicking:
   • Edit: Opens the Edit Assessment screen where you can change the information. For more information about this screen, see the "How to Setup a New Charge or Assessment" article.
   • Copy: Opens the Copy Assessment screen where you can make a copy of the assessment (with or without the current rules) for use in another association.
   • Mark inactive: Marks the assessment as inactive but maintains the historical transactions. This button only appears when you view active assessments.
   • Mark active: Marks the assessment as active. This button only appears when you view inactive assessments.
4. To add or change rules for the assessment, click the caret (1) next to the name of the assessment you would like to change.
   The Assessment opens to show its current settings and allow for changes.
   
   
    
5. Click New Rule (1) or Rules (2) to open the Edit Assessment Rules screen and add or change a rule respectively.
   
   
   
    
6. In the Edit Assessment Rules screen, provide the following information:
   
   
   • Start Date and End Date: Enter, select, or change the desired dates for the charge. Leave the End Date blank if you want this assessment to continue each year. If the assessment will change annually, enter an end date before the change so you can then update it with the new information.
   • Frequency: Select how often the charge should take place.
   • Type: Select the type of charge.
   • Charge Dates: Click New Date to add a row to the table and then specify when the assessment should post (some associations choose non-standard quarterly dates). If the rate applies to all owners in the association, leave Tag blank. If the rate only applies to a group of owners (e.g., Single Family Rate vs Townhouse Rate), see the "Importing Homeowner Charge Tags and Troubleshooting Tips" article for more information and instructions.
7. Click Update to save the new rule or update with your changes.
8. Click the Generations (1) tab, and then click Generate (2) next to the desired charge date to post the charges.
   
   
    

How to Accelerate Prepaid Assessments

To accelerate a charge on an owner’s ledger, the associated rule must be active.
Ensure the rule’s Start Date is set to a date prior to the current date so the rule is active and eligible to accelerate charges.

For information about billing owners based on percentage, see the "How to Setup Percentage of Ownership Assessment Billing" article.

For information about charging homeowners based on a specified value, see the "Specified Value Import" article.

FAQ

Q: An association changed the amount being billed on an assessment. Next month's charge reflects the correct amount, but how do I correct last month's charge?

A: To correct the previous month's charge:

1. Navigate to Association > Assessments
2. Locate the assessment in question
3. Click the caret to the left of the assessment name
4. Select the Generations tab
5. Locate the previous month's charge and click Delete
6. Click Generate to create the charge with the new amount
7. Click Post to apply the updated amount to eligible owner accounts

Q: An association will be changing the assessment amount in a few months. How do I ensure that the new amount is charged automatically?

A: To automatically charge a new assessment amount, you need to end the current rule and create a new one:

1. Set an End Date on the current assessment Rule for the last day of the month before the increase takes effect. For example, if the new amount starts in March, set the End Date to the last day of February.
2. Duplicate the current rule and update it with:
   • A Start Date of the first day of the new month (e.g., March 1st)
   • The new assessment amount

Once saved, the system will automatically charge owners the new amount starting on the effective date.