Chainbow meets Best Practice!

Chainbow seeks to continually ensure we are ahead of the game by following the correct procedures for all our owners and residents. We recently became members of ARMA, and as a result 3 members of our accounts team attended the “Effective Service Charge Accounting” training course.

We are delighted to highlight that Chainbow complies with both ARMA and RICS best practice management code rules.

Here are just a few of the things we do:

  • On receipt of a new property, the lease is read by a qualified person such as a Property Manager or a Surveyor to obtain the relevant key information to correctly look after the development.
  • Budgets are prepared well in advance to be signed off by our Clients before issuing the new service charge demands.
  • Service charge demands are issued on the basis of a budget in proportions (percentage) as set out in the individual lease.
  • Demands are accompanied with a full budget and a summary of the Tenants Rights and Obligations (printed on the back of the demand).
  • Section 20 consultation is sent out where the proportion of any item of expenditure on major works exceeds £250 for any one leaseholder.
  • Although there is no legal requirement to open separate bank accounts for every scheme unless the relevant lease requires, the government has put in a proposal to do so in the forthcoming months. Chainbow already holds all residents monies in separate interest bearing bank accounts clearing marked "Client Account"
  • We keep clear accounting records with receipts banked within a day of receipt.
  • Any monies obtained outside the service charge are clearly identified and kept separately.
  • Issue Section 20b letters where year end accounts may be delayed for any reason.
  • Property Managers receive and code all expenditure items and follow up on any queries.
  • Property Managers and Property Accountants compare, on a quarterly basis, all the expenditure to date against budget and investigate any discrepancies.
  • At year end a draft income and expenditure, based on an accruals and prepayments basis, is issued and checked by both Property Manager and Accountant before issuing to an external auditor.
  • We keep our service charge accounts separately from our limited company accounts.