If you work in community association management, chances are you’re feeling the pressure. Costs are rising across every category — insurance, landscaping, utilities, repairs — while boards are reluctant to raise association fees. The result is that finance teams are being asked to “do more with less.”
In AvidXchange’s 2026 Trends survey (conducted in September 2025), 80% of finance teams across industries said they’re being asked to “do more with less” due to labor market challenges, up from 58% just five months earlier.
These pressures are felt hard in community association management, where finance teams juggle dozens of communities, hundreds of suppliers, and the expectations of both board members and residents. Every invoice, payment, and approval represents someone’s home, and that adds an extra layer of scrutiny.
Below are practical ways community association finance leaders can realistically get ahead in 2026 without burning out staff or breaking their budgets.
1. Bring Financial Transparency to Board Conversations
In 2026, community association boards are under pressure from homeowners to keep annual membership fees flat, while your operating costs—from insurance to supplier contracts—keep climbing. Boards may control the budget, but it’s your team that lives with the fallout when funds run short or payments get delayed.
Instead of focusing the conversation on what you need, reframe it around the board’s priorities: financial stability, resident satisfaction, and risk management. Use clear reporting to show exactly how cost increases are impacting the association’s bottom line and what trade-offs come with holding fees steady.
This is where financial transparency becomes a competitive advantage. Automated reporting and digital audit trails make it easy to show real-time numbers, such as vendor costs, reserve fund trends, and overdue invoices. Many platforms even allow role-based access, so board members can log in and view the data themselves without waiting for monthly reports or email updates. Boards that see the full picture are more likely to trust your guidance and approve budgets that actually work.
2. Cross-Train for Resilience, Not Just Coverage
According to our 2026 Trends survey, 55% of finance teams are cross-training employees to handle multiple roles. For community association management companies, this can help smaller teams stay resilient.
When a staff accountant or community manager leaves, it can take months to replace them, and institutional knowledge often walks out the door with them. Rotate responsibilities periodically so staff understand the full lifecycle of your financial processes, from invoice entry to board reporting. This approach keeps operations running smoothly even when someone’s out sick or on vacation, and it reduces your dependence on a single person for critical tasks.
Cross-training also benefits employee satisfaction and retention. When team members gain new skills and visibility into different parts of the business, their roles feel more engaging and strategic.
Pair that with automation wherever possible. For example, invoice and payment automation can handle routine tasks in the background, so cross-trained employees can focus on exceptions and approvals instead of data entry.
3. Standardize Supplier Relationships Across Communities
Most community association management companies manage dozens or even hundreds of properties, each with its own set of suppliers or vendors. Without consistent processes, things take more time and effort to manage. Each supplier might have different payment terms, invoice formats, and contact points across communities.
Consolidating supplier relationships can make things much more efficient. Standardize contracts and terms wherever possible, and establish preferred supplier programs to streamline negotiations.
Not sure how to get started? AP (accounts payable) automation supports supplier standardization by consolidating payments in one platform and giving suppliers self-service visibility into their invoices.
And beyond self-service, a partner like AvidXchange can manage supplier relationships on your behalf: maintaining payment preferences, fielding payment inquiries, and ensuring each supplier gets paid the way they want.
Instead of calling or emailing your office to ask when they’ll be paid, suppliers can log in anytime to check invoice status, confirm approvals, and track payment dates. It gives suppliers the experience of personalized service—clear communication, reliable payments, and flexible options—without adding extra work for your team.
4. Treat Burnout as a Financial Risk
In AvidXchange’s 2023 survey with the Community Associations Institute (CAI), 47% of community association management professionals said managing burnout was one of their company’s top challenges. It’s easy to see why: community association managers often feel chained to their desks, expected to be available 24/7 to keep their small but mighty teams running. And it can feel impossible to step away, especially when financial processes depend on paper checks, in-person approvals, or manual reconciliations.
That pressure leads to unused PTO. Our 2025 AP Career Satisfaction Survey with IOFM found that 61% of AP professionals took less than 75% of their allotted time off in 2024. The top reasons? Fear of work piling up (30%), no one to cover their responsibilities (16%), and fear of hurting promotion chances or job security (27% combined).
Top reasons why AP professionals didn’t use allotted paid time off in 2024:
And unused PTO leads to burnout. The real danger isn’t just losing staff. The only thing worse than replacing a longtime employee with institutional knowledge? It’s keeping disengaged employees who stay but stop caring about financial accuracy, supplier relationships, or the long-term health of your communities. After all, you can’t help others until you put the oxygen mask on yourself first.
Technology can make a meaningful impact when it comes to battling burnout. According to IOFM, those who “strongly agree” they have a healthy work/life balance are far more likely to work in fully or largely automated environments.
Of respondents who “strongly agree” they have a healthy work/life balance:
AP automation reduces the need for community association finance teams to be physically present for every task. Invoices still move forward, payments still go out, and suppliers still get what they need, even when your team takes a real break.
5. Reassess What ‘Growth’ Really Means
Growth has been top of mind for community association management companies heading into 2026. According to Buildium’s 2025 Community Association Management Industry Report, 92% of respondents said they planned to expand their portfolios in 2025 and 2026.
But that ambition comes at a time when teams are already stretched thin. The challenge is figuring out how to scale without overwhelming the people and systems that keep your business running.
Rapid expansion won’t solve operational bottlenecks or staffing constraints. Without the right technology in place, or a plan to grow your team alongside your portfolio, new contracts can quickly turn into new pressure points: more invoices to process, more suppliers to manage, and more board relationships to maintain with the same limited resources.
Sustainable growth starts with stability. Strengthen your processes and invest in the tools that give your team more bandwidth before you take on more communities. Growth is only an advantage if your foundation can support it.
The Bottom Line: Technology Helps Community Associations Do More With Less
The pressure to operate leaner and more efficiently is rising across every industry. Cross-training your staff, implementing the right technology, and addressing burnout proactively will be key to staying resilient in the year ahead.
With the right systems in place, efficiency doesn’t have to mean exhaustion. It means giving your team the tools to work smarter, faster, and more sustainably—even in a challenging 2026.
At AvidXchange, we help community association management companies strengthen their financial operations through automated invoice and payment workflows. This means your team can focus less on paperwork and more on the people and properties you serve.
Want to explore how the right tools can help your company operate more efficiently? Download our free eBook, AI vs. Automation in Community Association Management, to learn how leading teams are using technology to balance cost, control, and growth.