Guide for managers and boards

The manager app is at app.hoams.pimsware.com. Company admins, managers, board members, gate supervisors and gate officers sign in there. What you see in the menu depends on your role and your plan.

Getting started

A new community opens on its Overview page with a Getting started checklist. Work down it; each item links to the right page and ticks itself off.

1. Add your homes. One at a time from Units & owners, or Import from spreadsheet (Excel or CSV). The import shows a preview first and never changes existing owners or deletes anything.
2. Add the owners. They can come in with the spreadsheet, or open a home and choose Add owner.
3. Invite your board so they can review requests, violations and the books.
4. Invite owners to the portal. Owners need an email address first.
5. Connect QuickBooks and link each home to its QuickBooks customer, so owners see their balance and can pay.
6. Post your documents: governing documents, rules and forms.
7. Set up violation types with your notice steps and fines.
8. Set up the gate if you have one, and invite your gate officers.

Gate Only accounts see a shorter list: homes, owners, inviting owners so they can add guests, and the gate.

Homes and owners

• Units & owners lists every home. Open one to see its owners, residents, vehicles, balance, violations, requests and guests.
• When a home sells, open it and choose Record a sale. The old owners' history stays with the home, and the new owners can be invited.
• Residents (tenants and family) and vehicles are kept per home. The gate uses them to find people quickly.

Inviting people

• To invite an owner or resident, open their home and choose Invite to portal next to their name. They get an email with a link that works for 14 days.
• To invite board members, managers or gate staff, use Invitations > Invite someone and pick the role. Members & roles shows who has access and lets you change or remove it.
• Everyone accepts the Terms of Service when they create their login. Email and text options start switched off; each person turns on what they want.

Announcements and alerts

• Announcements > New announcement: write a title and message, choose who it goes to, and whether to also send it by email or text. You can send now or schedule it, pin it, and set when it stops showing.
• Use Send an alert for urgent news (water off, gate down). Alerts are marked urgent and texts go out right away.
• The panel on the right shows how many people it will reach in the portal, by email and by text. Email and text only go to people who opted in.
• After sending, the announcement shows who it reached and any emails that bounced.

Violations

• First set up Settings > Violation types: each type has its notice steps (for example courtesy notice, second notice, fine notice, hearing) with the days to correct and any fine.
• Report a violation from a home's page (Report violation) or from Violations. Add photos. Nothing goes to the owner until you send a notice.
• Each notice is emailed to owners who opted in, posted in their portal, and can be printed as a letter (Print letter) for mailing.
• Owners can reply with a note or photos. You'll see it on the violation and get an email.

Maintenance requests

• Residents send requests from the portal, with photos. You get an email for each new one.
• Open a request to assign it, reply, and mark it resolved. The resident is told at each step. If they reply that it isn't fixed, it reopens.

Architectural requests

• Owners submit changes (a fence, paint, a deck) with plans and photos. You can ask for more information, or send it to the board to vote.
• When the vote is complete you record the decision (approved, approved with conditions, or denied) and the owner gets a letter they can print from the portal.

Events and meetings

• Create events in Events & meetings. Meetings get a notice with the time, place, online link and agenda; publishing sends the notice.
• Turn on Ask people to RSVP for headcounts. People who answer yes or maybe get a reminder the day before.
• After a meeting, add Minutes; they stay private until you choose Save and publish to homeowners.

Reservations

• Add the clubhouse, pool lanes or pavilion with Add amenity: days and hours open, shortest and longest booking, how far ahead people can book, a monthly limit per home, rules, any fee or deposit, and whether you approve each booking.
• Pimsware HOA doesn't collect amenity fees; bill them in QuickBooks.

Surveys, polls and elections

• Surveys & polls: one response per home. Homes that haven't answered can get a reminder.
• Elections: board seats and yes/no questions, one ballot per home. With a secret ballot, the system records that a home voted, never how. Owners can name a proxy.
• When voting closes, review the count and Certify results. Owners see the results after you certify them; certifying emails every owner.

The gate

• Settings > Gate: add your gates, the gate rules (for example, whether vendors need a plate), and the gate's phone number for calling residents. Add posts (guard booths) with post orders the guard sees when starting a shift.
• Shifts: schedule who works which post and when. You'll see who is on duty, each shift's log, and incidents. Supervisors and managers get an email for every incident.
• Visitor log shows every check-in and turn-away. Guests shows the guests residents have added. The Ban list flags a name or plate at the gate, with a reason and an optional end date.
• Guards photograph license plates only, never IDs. Guests that tenants add wait for the owner's approval.

QuickBooks

• Settings > QuickBooks connects your association's QuickBooks Online company. The connection is read-only: Pimsware HOA never creates or changes anything in QuickBooks.
• Link each home to its QuickBooks customer once; the app suggests matches by address and name. Owners then see their balance and invoices and pay on QuickBooks' own payment page.
• If the connection expires, managers and the treasurer get an email to reconnect. Nothing is lost.

Management and security companies

• Company admins see the Company menu: Communities (add, cancel, set a lead manager, download all data), Staff (invite managers, gate supervisors and officers, and choose their communities), and Company settings (your logo and contact details, shown on community emails).
• With a lead manager set, staff emails for that community (new requests, owner replies) go to that person instead of every manager.
• All communities and Search all work across every community you manage.

Your account

• Profile & messages (top right) has your name, phone, which emails and texts you get, and two-step sign-in with an authenticator app or email codes.
• To change your password, sign out and use Forgot password? on the sign-in page.
• New accounts start with a free trial. After it, Pimsware emails a monthly invoice based on active homes. See the HOA terms for details.