What should an HOA board do when the treasurer will be out for months?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 19, 2026

What an HOA board does when the treasurer is out for months: an acting treasurer motion, bank signers, who reconciles, and tax and state deadlines.

Part of the HOA board handbook: treasurer and money.

The short answer

A treasurer who is out for surgery, chemo, a family crisis or a long work posting has not left the office. The seat is not vacant, nobody needs to resign, and the board does not have to hold an election. What the board does need is someone with clear authority doing the treasurer's work until they come back. In practice that means four things, done within the first two weeks. Read what the bylaws say about officer absences. Pass a motion naming an acting treasurer and saying what that person may and may not do. Make sure at least two people besides the absent treasurer can sign and see the bank accounts. Put every hard deadline for the next six months on one list with a name next to it. The usual failure is not fraud. It is a missed 1099 or three months of unreconciled statements, because everyone assumed someone else had it. This guide is general education, not legal advice. Your bylaws and your state's law control, and both differ from community to community.

Start with the bylaws and state law

Open the bylaws to the officers article. Many say who performs an officer's duties during an absence, often a vice president or an assistant treasurer. If yours name someone, that person steps in and the board's motion just confirms it and sets the limits. If the bylaws are silent, state nonprofit law lets the board decide. In Texas, Business Organizations Code section 3.103(b) says an officer has the duties and authority the governing documents or the board give them, and section 22.231(a) allows assistant officers and lets one person hold two offices other than president and secretary. In Florida, section 617.0840(2) lets a duly appointed officer appoint assistant officers if the bylaws or the board authorize it, and 617.0840(4) allows one person to hold more than one office. Colorado's C.R.S. 7-128-301(2) has the same assistant officer rule, and 7-128-302 says each officer performs the duties the bylaws or the board prescribe. The short version for all three states is that the board can assign the work by vote. Do it by vote, in a noticed meeting, so the authority is in the minutes.

Name an acting treasurer by motion

Pick a director who reads a bank statement without flinching, and who is not the only other check signer if you can avoid it. The motion should give the job a start date, an end condition and a list of duties, so nobody argues later about what the acting treasurer was allowed to do. You can adapt this: "I move that the board appoint [name] as acting treasurer, effective today, while [treasurer's name] is on leave. The acting treasurer will pay approved bills, record deposits, prepare the monthly financial report and file required tax and state forms. The acting treasurer may not open or close accounts, move reserve funds or sign contracts without a board vote. This appointment ends when [treasurer's name] tells the board in writing that they are ready to return, or at the board's first meeting after [date 90 days out], whichever comes first." The end date matters. It forces a check-in instead of letting a temporary arrangement drift for a year. The absent treasurer can still answer questions, but should not keep doing half the job from a hospital bed, because then nobody owns it.

Keep the money moving without sharing a login

Call the bank in the first week. Most banks will add a signer with a board resolution naming the authorized signers and a certified copy of the minutes, and the new signer usually has to visit a branch or verify identity online. Give the acting treasurer their own online banking login with the permissions the motion allows. Do not have the acting treasurer sign in as the absent treasurer, even with permission. Shared credentials break the bank's agreement, wreck the audit trail and leave the absent treasurer's name on transactions they never made. If the bills are paid through bill pay, check which scheduled payments are already queued so nothing gets paid twice. Then check the insurance. Florida section 720.3033(5) requires an HOA to carry insurance or a fidelity bond for everyone who controls or disburses association funds, including anyone authorized to sign checks, in an amount that covers the most money the association holds at any time. In Colorado, C.R.S. 38-33.3-313(10) requires fidelity insurance, to the extent reasonably available, when an owner or employee of an association with 30 or more units controls or disburses its funds, and sets the floor at two months of current assessments plus reserves. Texas has no general HOA fidelity requirement, but many declarations do. Email the agent, name the acting treasurer, and ask in writing whether the crime policy covers them as a volunteer officer. Our guide on HOA fidelity bonds and embezzlement protection explains what those policies cover.

Split the work so one person is not alone with it

A treasurer who leaves suddenly often takes the second set of eyes with them, because they were the one checking. Rebuild that check on purpose. The acting treasurer pays bills and records deposits. A different director reconciles the bank statement each month against the ledger and initials it. The president reviews the monthly report before it goes in the board packet. Keep the reconciliation going even if it feels pointless. Three months of skipped reconciliations is how a returning treasurer finds a bounced dues payment that was never reversed, or a vendor that was paid twice. Our treasurer monthly checklist lists the routine tasks, and you can hand it to the acting treasurer as their job description.

The deadlines that do not wait

Write down every date in the next six months. For most self-managed HOAs the federal ones are the income tax return and 1099s. Form 1120-H for a calendar-year association is due April 15, the 15th day of the 4th month after year end, according to the IRS instructions. Form 7004 gets an automatic extension, generally six months, but it does not extend the time to pay any tax owed. The IRS lets the president, vice president, treasurer, assistant treasurer or another authorized officer sign, so the acting treasurer or the president can sign if the treasurer is out. Form 1099-NEC is due to the IRS and to each contractor by January 31, and for payments made in 2026 the threshold is $2,000 per payee. State filings vary. A Florida nonprofit files its annual report between January 1 and May 1 under section 617.1622, and section 617.1420(1)(a) lets the state dissolve a corporation that fails to file and pay. Florida HOAs must also prepare the annual financial report within 90 days after the fiscal year ends, and get it or a notice of it to owners within 120 days, under section 720.303(7). Colorado associations must register with the Division of Real Estate every year under C.R.S. 38-33.3-401, and a lapsed registration suspends the association's right to impose or enforce an assessment lien until it registers again. Texas does not require an annual report from a nonprofit unless the Secretary of State asks for one, but check your own management certificate and any county filings.

What to tell owners, and what to leave out

Owners need to know who to contact about payments. They do not need to know why the treasurer is away. Ask the treasurer what they are comfortable sharing, and if in doubt say nothing about the reason. A short notice works: "[Name], our treasurer, is on leave for the next few months. While they are away, [acting treasurer's name] is handling association finances as acting treasurer. Dues are still due on the usual dates, and payment instructions have not changed. Questions about your account can go to [role email or phone]." If the treasurer's personal email was the address owners used for payment questions, set up a role-based address now and forward it. That fixes this absence and the next one.

A sample 90-day plan

Week 1: the president checks in with the treasurer about what they can and cannot do, and collects the list of logins, recurring payments and open items, without asking for passwords. Week 2: noticed board meeting, acting treasurer motion, bank resolution, insurance email, owner notice. Week 3: acting treasurer has their own bank access and has reviewed queued bill payments. Month 1 end: first reconciliation by a second director, first monthly report in the board packet. Month 2 end: second reconciliation, review of any deadline falling in the next 90 days. Day 90: the board talks to the treasurer about whether they expect to return. If they are coming back, extend the motion for a set period and plan a handoff meeting. If they are not, or cannot say, the board can ask whether they would prefer to resign, and then fill the office through the normal process. Our guide on filling an HOA board vacancy covers that step. When the treasurer does return, sit down together with the acting treasurer, walk through every transaction since they left, and update the bank signers again.

Mistakes boards make

Letting the president take over the books with no vote, so one person approves, pays and reports. Sharing the absent treasurer's login instead of adding a signer. Removing the treasurer as a bank signer without telling them, which reads as an accusation even when it is just tidying up. Skipping reconciliations for the duration. Forgetting that the January 1099s and the spring tax return still come due while the treasurer recovers. Posting medical details in the owner newsletter. Leaving the acting arrangement open-ended. And treating a temporary absence as a resignation. Unless the treasurer resigns in writing or the bylaws say a long absence creates a vacancy, they still hold the office. Pushing them out while they are sick loses a good volunteer.

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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