How to Keep Society Maintenance Accounts in Excel

To keep society maintenance accounts in Excel, you need four lists – members, charges, receipts and expenses – and two reports: what each flat owes and what came in and went out each month. Everything else, from the defaulters list to the AGM accounts, follows from those.

This guide is for treasurers and committee members of housing societies, apartment associations and RWAs who keep the books themselves. It covers working out charges, recording receipts and expenses, dues and interest, defaulters, GST and the monthly accounts.

Step 1: Work out each flat's monthly charge

Most societies charge maintenance either per sq ft (say ₹3 a sq ft of area a month) or as a fixed amount per flat. Add on what your general body has approved:

• Parking – per slot per month.
• Sinking fund – a reserve for major repairs, collected monthly and kept in a separate deposit.
• Non-occupancy charge – for flats let out to tenants, often a percentage of maintenance. Some states cap it; Maharashtra's model bye-laws allow up to 10% of service charges.
• One-off levies – painting, lift replacement or an event, billed once in the year.

Step 2: Record receipts and expenses as they happen

Every payment from a member goes in a receipts list with the date, receipt number, flat, amount, mode (UPI, NEFT, cheque or cash) and the UTR or cheque number. Every payment the society makes goes in an expenses list with a voucher number, the expense head – security, housekeeping, common electricity, water, lift AMC, repairs, gardening – the payee and the bill number.

Number receipts and vouchers in one continuous series for the year and keep the bills. Auditors check the sequence first.

Step 3: Work out what each flat owes

For each flat: outstanding = dues brought forward + charges billed this year − received this year. Divide by the monthly charge to see how many months it represents, and note the date of the last payment.

Example: Flat A-202 has a monthly charge of ₹4,000, ₹18,400 brought forward from last year, and has paid nothing since April. After seven months, it owes ₹18,400 + ₹28,000 = ₹46,400 – about 11.6 months of maintenance.

Step 4: Interest on late payment

Charge interest only if your bye-laws or general body allow it, and only at the approved rate; some states cap it (Maharashtra's model bye-laws allow up to 21% a year). A simple, defensible method is to charge interest each month on dues older than the current month. For Flat A-202 at 18% a year: (₹46,400 − ₹4,000) × 18% ÷ 12 = ₹636 for the month.

Step 5: The defaulters list

Decide what counts as a defaulter – three months' dues is common – and list those flats, largest amount first, with phone numbers and the last payment date. Send a polite reminder first; most members pay once they see the figure. If dues remain, the bye-laws usually allow interest, restriction of non-essential amenities and recovery through the Registrar or a court. A society cannot cut water or electricity to recover dues.

GST and income tax for societies

• GST does not apply if the society's turnover is up to ₹20 lakh a year, or if a member's contribution is up to ₹7,500 a month. Above both limits, 18% applies – on the whole amount in CBIC's view, though the Madras High Court has held only the excess is taxable. Take advice if you're near the limits.
• Income tax: members' contributions are not income under the principle of mutuality. Interest on the society's fixed deposits and income from outsiders, such as mobile tower rent or hall hire, is taxable.

Monthly accounts for members

Share a one-page receipts and payments statement every month: opening balance, collections, payments by head, surplus or deficit, and closing cash and bank. Add the collection rate (collected ÷ billed, including old dues). Members trust a committee that publishes figures regularly, and the AGM accounts become a matter of adding up twelve months.

Our free Society / RWA Maintenance Accounts template does all of this for up to 300 flats: charges per flat, receipts and expenses with automatic numbers, member-wise dues with interest, the defaulters list and monthly accounts with cash and bank balances. The Pro edition prints maintenance bills and receipts with the amount in words and writes WhatsApp reminders for defaulters. Families can track their own spending, maintenance included, with the household budget template.