Online society repository era is a reality now

• 4
• 71

Offices across the world are going paperless. So, why not the offices of our Resident Welfare Societies. Gone are the days when voluminous store houses were required adjacent to the society offices to store valuable documents. Now almost every housing society is on its way to digitalisation. Some have even made life easier for the office bearers and also for the residents by availing the state-of-the-art cloud storage facilities for documents. 

Online society document repositories on virtual cloud platforms are a reality now and many management software providers are giving the facility free along with their services.  The system of storing documents on a dedicated virtual server is both easy and secure.  Green Clean India can help RWAs set up a dedicated society document repository and guide through the complete e-management of society documents. Before we discuss the e-management paradigm, it is important for us to know why it is necessary. 

Managing administrative responsibilities of hundreds of residents in a society is not a child’s play. It involves not just dedication but also sacrificing a huge amount of personal time.LAck of availability or safety of the documents is a risk always waiting to happen if the job is not done with some technical prowess. 

From collection of society’s dues from non paying members to keeping safe vital documents pertaining to flats,  managing common facilities to handling the complaints from housing society members, every bit of the society's work needs digitalisation at the earliest to ward off risks. Handling statutory reports and its updation without technical knowledge or expertise can even end up in penalties. Comprehensive society management software is available in the market now which can manage a variety of administrative tasks within the housing society in an effective manner. Green Clean India team has tried to compile some of the upfront advantages for a society management system to go completely digital. 

1. Data shall remain no more complex to handle. 

The most complex data of owners, tenants, vendors, staff, security guards, vehicles, visitor movements, common assets,  park and garden facilities, gym equipment, auditorium and common rooms can be managed at a matter of a click if it is centrally digitised and made available for the office bearers and staff to use. The long delays in permissions and redressal of grievances of the members can be avoided if the required data is available centrally. A lot of very good performing housing societies face trouble in times of crisis because the required information is not collated at one place which could be made usable and sorted with digital devices. 

Apart from the digitalisation of the assets and services, when the income and expenses and regularoty documents in a society get centrally saved in a server with due notifications for their deadlines and alerts things become easier. It leads to the era of ease of operation and leads to better service and satisfaction of the members. 

2. Transparency

Resident Welfare Societies are often accused of not sharing records. The trouble is not in the accusation, but it is a highly acceptable fact that lack of transparency is mostly not due to anyone’s intentions but plainly due to lack of bandwidth to do so. E-management of  

records help to retrieve a particular data out of the stacks in seconds. Society management softwares helps you to have a quick glance at the details of all units with ease. 

3. Reduced dependence on manual intervention. 

Dependency on the human work force solely has its own advantages but has its tremendous drawback of errors. To bank upon a tool that can effectively manage complex operations automatically is a safer bet. Society management softwares comes with all sorts of  features like automatic calculation of penalties, sending reminders, alerting dues, acknowledging receipts and many more features. It also ensures accountability. If a task is not completed by a responsible person then it escalates to his reporting officer automatically making work more smooth and effective by the staff. 

4. Automated Journal and Ledger Entries

Automating the process of ledger entries and providing a controlled system to create journal entries replaces major manual workflows. Centralised, privacy managed and automated journal and ledger entries using advanced softwares helps restore transparency as well confidence in the society members. Softwares not only allows hassle ledger entries, but it also stores them with all supporting descriptions including the reason for the entry as well as the date, all under one platform which is easily accessible on demand by the admin. 

Society management software 

The problem with selecting the right society management software is that they are available in plenty and come in all kinds of schemes and facilities often misrepresented. To select a cutting-edge residential society management software, which can handle operational tasks of residential societies efficiently is key. It has become a bit difficult to choose the one that suits the requirements of your society. Green Clean India lists here a few vital parameters which should be a guide to finalise any software provider or platform for the vital task of society management. 

1. Functionalities

Make sure that the functionalities of the software are on the top of your priority before even seeking a demo. It is important to understand the requirements of your society before evaluating the product. Check the modules and submodules in the introductory literature to match them with the requirements of your society. The software should also offer the office bearers and the staff enough post sale support in handling and getting used to the complex tasks performed by the software. The functionalities are intended to make life simpler for society management and not make it more complex in terms of daily handling. 

2. Easy Management 

The software should be user-friendly. Account management features must be thoroughly checked for its expertise in handling the complex finances and privacy features.  All modes of payments must be fool-proof of any online threats. Hassle-free calculation of outstanding liabilities of members, prepaid advance payments, and society expenditures are to be done in a way that is error free. 

3. Annual maintenance. 

Your society management software vendor should be able to handle the task of maintaining the software efficiently and should be able to automate annual maintenance services.The software should come with complete post sale support  and training features, if required. 

4. Easy user-interface

The user interface of the software should be easy to understand and not complex to use. Users should not get confused when handling the software. Staff and office bearers may change with time, the software should be easy for a new person to handle if he is informed about its controls. 

5. Updated software

Always go for the best and latest software if there is an option between an old version and a new one. Some older versions may come cheaper but it will have hassles beyond imagination. Specially, with regard to compliances and regulations, updated softwares takes care of things in a way that no errors are possible in the calculations. Improved software available with additional and advanced features must be opted. 

A fully featured apartment management and digital system can go a long way in managing the complexities of the apartment society handling. A cloud based and scalable solution enables one to control every aspect of property management. It also provides full mobility through access from any device. The benefits are infinite. 

Before we conclude, Green Clean India wishes to reiterate that the requirement of the kind software management system by a particular society may vary as per its size, location and many other factors which would be characteristic of that housing habitat. There is no one-size-fit-all. What could be best for one society may not be advisable for another. We advise that a thorough audit of the requirement before finalising the software and platform is necessary for optimising the digital paradigm in society management. For any further query or suggestion on this subject you may write to the Green Clean India team by mailing us at: editor@greencleanindia.com.