How do we write a year-in-review report for our HOA owners?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 24, 2026

How an HOA board writes a year-in-review report for owners: what to include, spending against budget, what to leave out, sample wording, and a timeline.

Part of the HOA board handbook: residents and communication.

The short answer

A year-in-review report is a two to four page summary, in plain language, of what the board did with the owners' money and time over the past year. It lists the projects finished and what they cost against the budget, the decisions and rules the board adopted, the contracts it signed, what slipped and why, and what comes next. It goes out before the annual meeting or gets handed out there, and it gives the board's report at that meeting a script. It does not replace the financial report, budget or disclosures your state law or governing documents require. Think of it as the cover letter that makes those documents readable. Rules vary by state and by your governing documents, and this guide is general education, not legal advice.

Where it fits next to the reports the law requires

Know the required documents first, because the review should point to them and never contradict them. In Texas, Property Code section 209.014(a) requires the board to call an annual meeting of members regardless of what the dedicatory instruments say, and that meeting is the natural place to present the review. In Florida, section 720.303(7) requires the association to complete a financial report within 90 days after the fiscal year ends, or on the date the bylaws set, and then give each member a copy or a notice that a copy is free on request, within 21 days after it is final and no later than 120 days after year end. The type of report depends on revenue: a report of cash receipts and expenditures under $150,000, compiled statements from $150,000 to $299,999, reviewed statements from $300,000 to $499,999, and audited statements at $500,000 or more. In Colorado, section 38-33.3-209.4(2) requires the association, within 90 days after each fiscal year ends, to make available the operating budget, current assessments, annual financial statements including reserves, the latest audit or review, an insurance list, the governing documents and rules, the prior year's board and member minutes, and the responsible governance policies. A good review names each of these documents and says where an owner can get it.

What to put in it

Use the same headings every year so owners learn where to look. Start with the year in one paragraph: the two or three things that mattered most. Then money: total income, total spending, the budget for each, and the five largest expense lines with budget and actual side by side. Give the reserve balance at the start and end of the year and the amount the reserve study recommended contributing. Report delinquency as a total and as a share of annual assessments, never by household. Then projects: each one with its start and finish dates, final cost and original estimate. Then decisions: rules adopted or changed, contracts signed or renewed with the vendor and price, and insurance changes. Add a short section called 'What we did not finish' with a one-line reason for each item. Close with next year's goals, each with an owner and a target month, and a list of where to find the required documents. Two sentences thanking volunteers by name, with their permission, is plenty.

Build it from records you already keep

The treasurer should not write the review from memory. Pull the numbers from the year-end budget-to-actual report and the December bank reconciliations, and pull the reserve figures from the reserve study and the reserve account statements. For decisions, read the year's board minutes in order and list every motion that passed. That takes about an hour for a board that meets monthly. For projects, use the contracts, the final invoices and any change orders. If the financial report is not final when the review goes out, label the numbers 'unaudited, subject to the year-end review' or whatever fits your report type, and publish the corrected figures once the final report lands. If an item surprised the board, say so. A line such as 'We budgeted $6,000 for tree work and spent $11,400 after the February ice storm; the difference came from the operating surplus, not reserves' earns more trust than silence.

Sample wording the board can adapt

Short, factual sentences work best. For the opening: 'In 2026 the board finished the pool resurfacing, renewed the landscaping contract after three bids, and kept dues flat. We ended the year $4,200 under budget.' For a project: 'Pool resurfacing. Started March 3, finished April 18. Estimate $38,000; final cost $39,650 after a $1,650 change order for cracked coping. Paid from reserves as planned.' For a rule change: 'In June the board adopted a guest parking rule after notice and an open comment period. The full text is on the community website and in the rules binder.' For something that slipped: 'Entrance lighting upgrade. Postponed to spring 2027 because both bids came in above the $9,000 budget. The board will rebid in January.' For documents: 'The 2026 financial report, the 2027 budget and the insurance summary are available at [location or link]. Ask the secretary for a free copy.'

What to leave out

Leave out anything that names an owner in a collection, violation or dispute. Aggregate numbers tell the story without the privacy problem. Be careful with matters the board handled in closed session. Texas section 209.0051(c) lets a board meet in executive session on personnel, pending or threatened litigation, contract negotiations, enforcement actions, attorney communications and owner privacy matters, and then requires only a general summary in the minutes, including a general explanation of expenditures approved there. The review should match that level of detail: 'the association paid $3,100 in legal fees related to a collection matter' is fine, while the owner's name and the settlement terms are not. Leave out predictions about lawsuits and insurance claims too, since those belong with the association's attorney. And leave out spin. Owners notice when a report calls a $20,000 overrun a 'budget adjustment.' Say what happened and what the board changed because of it.

A timeline for a calendar-year association

Adjust these dates if your fiscal year or annual meeting falls elsewhere. Early January: the treasurer closes December, reconciles the accounts and runs the budget-to-actual report. Mid-January: the secretary lists every motion from the year's minutes, and the president drafts the project and goals sections. Late January: the board reads the draft, checks every number against the source, and approves it at a meeting or by the method your documents allow. Send the review with the annual meeting notice so owners read it before they arrive. At the meeting, the president walks through it in ten minutes and takes questions. If the final financial report changes any figure, send a one-paragraph correction with the report itself. Save the approved version with the association's records, next to the minutes. The next board will use it to see what was promised and what got done.

Mistakes boards make with year-end reports

The common one is a list of activity with no numbers: 'we worked hard on the pool project' tells an owner nothing. Put a dollar figure and a date on every item. The second is mixing up the review with the required financial report and skipping the latter. The review is optional, but in Florida and Colorado the underlying disclosures are not. Other mistakes: writing it at the last minute so the numbers are wrong, burying bad news on page four, including a year's worth of photos that make the file too large to email, and dropping the goals section, which is the part next year's owners will hold the board to. If the board ran a goal-setting session at the start of the term, as our guide on running an HOA board goal-setting session describes, grade those goals in the review. If you already publish a newsletter, send the review as its own document and link to it from the next issue, following the habits in our guide on writing an HOA newsletter.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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