Preparing a condominium provisional budget
Every year, the provisional budget has to be prepared, presented, then voted at the general meeting. It is the foundation of the whole operation: it sets the charges, frames the spending, and serves as the basis for fund calls. A sloppy budget, and the whole year drifts.
This article shows how to prepare that budget without spending your evenings on it. What you gather, what the tool calculates, and what you keep under control. The goal is simple: an accurate, clear document, ready to vote.
In this article
- What the provisional budget must cover
- Start from actuals, not a rough guess
- Track the gaps during the year
- Present a budget that passes the vote
- The time you get back
What the provisional budget must cover
The provisional budget gathers the recurring expenses of the building: maintenance, contracts, insurance, fees, small repairs. It does not cover major works, which fall under a separate budget and often under the ALUR works fund.
The hard part is not listing the items. It is costing them right, without underestimating a contract that has gone up or padding a line out of caution. Too tight a budget creates charge top-ups. Too loose, it weighs on owners' cash.
Start from actuals, not a rough guess
The best starting point is the history. What the building actually spent over the last two or three years, line by line. From there you adjust: a renegotiated contract, a known insurance rise, a one-off charge that will not return.
Automation pulls this accounting data and prepares a first costed draft. Each item is tied to its history, you see where the figure comes from. You correct what needs correcting, you do not start from a blank page.
It is the same logic as for service charge allocation: start from the existing figures rather than re-key everything.
Track the gaps during the year
A budget is only useful if it is tracked. During the year, expenses land, and the gap with the plan widens or narrows. Spotted late, an overrun becomes an unpleasant charge top-up for everyone.
A gap seen in March can be corrected. The same gap found in December just has to be swallowed.
The tool continuously matches actuals to the voted budget and surfaces significant gaps. You know where you stand at any moment, without pulling statements by hand.
Present a budget that passes the vote
A budget challenged at the meeting is often a budget poorly explained. Owners want to understand why a line goes up. When each item is justified by its history and its trend, the discussion is shorter and calmer.
Automation produces a readable document: amount per item, comparison with last year, reason for the changes. You arrive at the meeting with figures that hold, which also helps preparing the general meeting.
| Item | Basis | Watch point |
|---|---|---|
| Routine maintenance | Average of past years | Indexed contracts |
| Insurance | Last known premium | Annual rise |
| Fees | Current contract | Renewal |
| One-off charges | Case by case | Do not carry over |
The time you get back
Preparing a budget by hand means pulling the accounts, copying amounts, recalculating. On a portfolio of several buildings at closing time, that runs into full days. Automation brings this work down to checking and adjusting.
The real gain is not only time. It is a more accurate budget, tracked all year, that avoids top-ups and bad surprises.
Frequently asked questions
Does the provisional budget cover major works?
No. Recurring expenses go through the provisional budget. Major works get a separate vote and separate funding, often via the works fund. Mixing them distorts both.
Do I need a particular accounting package?
No. Automation plugs into your existing accounting. It reads the spending history where it lives and prepares the plan from that data.
How do I handle an unexpected expense during the year?
It shows up in the gap tracking as soon as it is entered. You see its impact on the voted budget and decide how to absorb it, before it becomes a top-up at year end.
Who decides the final amounts?
You, then the meeting. The tool proposes a costed base from actuals. You adjust each item, and the vote stays sovereign. Nothing is settled automatically.
Conclusion
A good provisional budget is built on real figures, tracked all year, and explained in two minutes at the meeting. Automation gives you that base and that tracking, without the re-keying evenings.
To see what it would do across your buildings, let's talk during a free 30-minute audit. No commitment, and no jargon.
Je conçois et déploie des outils IA pour les gestionnaires immobiliers. J'ai mis en production le logiciel qui fait tourner un des plus gros gestionnaires de France.