Settings

Configure system preferences, financial settings, and organisational details to match how your body corporate operates.


Edit settings

You can edit settings by clicking the gear icon on the top right corner:

Edit settings.png

You will be able to change the following:

Financial year start

The Financial Year Start setting defines the day and month when your organisation’s financial year begins.

This setting affects how years are displayed in your maintenance plan, ensuring the plan aligns with your financial reporting periods.

How it works

When viewing your maintenance plan, each column represents a financial year.
The way those years are labelled depends on your selected start date:

Summary

Start Date Example Display Format Example Label
1 January 2025 YYYY 2025
1 April 2025 YYYY/YY 2025/26
1 October 2025 YYYY/YY 2025/26

Note:
This setting does not affect calculations or financial values — it only changes how years are displayed in your maintenance plan.

Inflation rate

The Inflation Rate setting defines the annual percentage increase applied to future expenses in your maintenance plan.

It helps you account for the rising cost of materials, labour, and services over time — ensuring your forecasts remain realistic and accurate.

How it works

When an expense recurs periodically (for example, every 2, 5, or 10 years), its cost increases by the inflation rate for each year that passes between occurrences.

Example:

Year Calculation Adjusted Cost
2025 Base year $1,000.00
2027 $1,000 × (1.01)² $1,020.10
2029 $1,000 × (1.01)⁴ $1,040.60
2031 $1,000 × (1.01)⁶ $1,061.52
... and so on ...

Each new occurrence uses compound inflation, meaning the increase applies cumulatively over time.

Updating the inflation rate

You can update the inflation rate at any time.
However, changes only affect future values — any amounts already approved or recorded for past years remain unchanged.

This allows you to adjust your plan annually (or whenever needed) to better reflect real-world economic conditions.

Summary

Contingency allowance

The Contingency Allowance is a percentage added to your total projected expenses to cover unforeseen or unexpected costs.

It provides a financial buffer in your maintenance plan, helping you stay on budget even when actual costs are higher than estimated.

How it works

how it works

Once all tasks and costs are calculated, the contingency allowance applies as a percentage on top of the total.

For example:

This additional amount does not correspond to a specific task — it represents a reserve to handle unplanned events such as:

Adjusting the allowance

You can update the contingency percentage at any time to reflect your organisation’s risk tolerance or financial strategy.

Updating the contingency allowance automatically recalculates your overall projected cost to include the revised buffer.

Summary

Interest rate on funds

The Interest Rate on Funds represents the annual return (in percentage) earned on your maintenance fund balance.

It reflects the interest your organisation receives from the bank or financial institution where your maintenance fund is held.

How it works

Each year, your maintenance fund earns interest based on the closing balance of the previous year and the interest rate you specify.

This interest is added to the fund, helping to offset future expenses and keep the plan sustainable over time.

Example:

Over time, this compounding effect can significantly improve the fund’s long-term health, especially for large or multi-year maintenance plans.

Updating the interest rate

You can update the interest rate at any time to reflect changes in your bank account or investment terms.
Adjusting the rate recalculates future balances but does not alter past years that have already been approved or finalised.

Keeping this rate up to date ensures that the closing balance displayed in your maintenance plan remains accurate and aligned with real-world financial conditions.

Summary

Corporate tax rate

The Corporate Tax Rate represents the percentage of tax your organisation pays on the interest earned from your maintenance fund.

This setting ensures that your maintenance plan reflects the net growth of the fund after tax deductions, providing a more accurate closing balance projection.

How it works

Each year, the system calculates interest on your maintenance fund using the Interest Rate on Funds.
The Corporate Tax Rate is then applied to that interest amount to determine how much tax is deducted before it’s added to your balance.

Example:

This ensures that the growth of your maintenance fund matches what you would actually expect after taxes are paid.

Updating the tax rate

You can update the corporate tax rate at any time to reflect your organisation’s current tax obligations.
As with other financial settings, any change affects future calculations only — past years that have already been approved remain unchanged.

Keeping this rate accurate ensures that your plan’s closing balance and fund growth projections remain realistic.

Summary

Forecast opening balance

The Forecast Opening Balance represents the projected starting balance of your maintenance fund at the beginning of a financial year.

Because a maintenance plan is a forecast, it cannot perfectly predict the future. Actual balances may differ from what was originally planned. This setting allows you to update the plan to match the real opening balance at the start of the financial year.

How it works

At the start of a new financial year, you can enter the actual opening balance of the maintenance fund.

This updated balance becomes the starting point for:

Example:

By updating the forecast opening balance to $52,000, all calculations for 2025 and subsequent years will use this actual figure, ensuring that your plan reflects reality as closely as possible.

Key points

Summary

Minimum balance

The Minimum Balance represents the lowest amount you want to keep in your maintenance fund account at any time.

It helps you visualise a safe financial buffer and plan your cash flow accordingly.

How it works

Currently, this setting does not affect calculations or prevent spending below the amount set.

Example:

Future functionality

In future releases, the Minimum Balance setting will be used to actively prevent the fund from going below the set amount, helping you maintain a safer financial position automatically.

Summary