Finances & Strata Fees

Pastrata automates strata financial administration for owners, councils, and property managers. Unit owners can configure automated bank debits (PAD), view itemized payment histories, and download tax receipts. Councils and managers gain real-time arrears tracking, budget vs. actual analytics, and accounting software synchronization. For how vendor invoices fit into a project, from the council decision to the budget line, see Vendor Projects: From Council Decision to Paid Vendor.

Required Roles & Capabilities

Access to these features depends on your building role and assigned capabilities:

Quickstart (Getting Started)

1. Navigate to Finances or My Account > Finances.
2. View your current account balance, next due date, and monthly strata fee breakdown.
3. Select Enroll in Auto-Debit (PAD) to set up automated monthly bank payments.
4. Enter your Canadian banking institution number, transit number, and account number.
5. Review and electronically sign the Pre-Authorized Debit authorization agreement.

Step-by-Step Guides

How to Enroll in Pre-Authorized Debit (PAD Autopay)

Set up hassle-free automated monthly strata fee payments directly from your bank account.

1. If you own more than one unit, choose the unit at the top of the page: each unit is enrolled on its own.
2. Navigate to Finances > Payment Methods > Auto-Debit (PAD).
3. Enter your bank account details from your check: Transit (5 digits), Institution (3 digits), and Account Number.
4. Review the authorized withdrawal date (e.g. 1st of each month).
5. Read the Payments Canada Rule H1 Pre-Authorized Debit agreement.
6. Click Sign & Authorize PAD. Your monthly fee will be deducted automatically without manual effort.

Pro-Tip: You can download an official copy of your signed PAD agreement at any time for your records.

Pro-Tip: On the mobile app, tap Finances > Pre-authorized debit > Set up PAD. The secure web setup page opens inside the app. Once you finish and close it, the app shows your enrollment. You can check its status or cancel PAD right in the app.

How to Make a One-Time Payment for Special Levies or Fines

Pay unexpected charges, move-in fees, or approved special levies online.

1. If you own more than one unit, Finances shows each unit's balance and the total; click Pay now next to the unit you are paying for, or choose the unit at the top of the payment page.
2. Go to Finances > Make Payment.
3. Select the specific outstanding charge (e.g. Special Levy Installment #1).
4. Choose your payment method: Direct Bank Debit (PAD) or Credit/Debit Card.
5. Review transaction processing fees if paying by card.
6. Click Pay Now. An official receipt will be generated and saved to your payment history.

How to View Your Account Ledger & Download a Statement (Web)

See every charge, payment, and credit on your unit with the running balance after each, and save a PDF statement for your records.

1. Go to My Account > Finances and select Account ledger & statements.
2. Choose a period: This month, Year to date (the default), or Custom to pick your own from/to dates. Dates can't be later than today, and if you pick a start after the end, the end moves to match.
3. Review the summary — your opening balance, charges, payments & credits, and closing balance for the period — and the activity table below it, oldest first, with the balance after each entry.
4. Select Download statement (PDF). The statement for the same period downloads as a file named for your unit and the dates.

Pro-Tip: The ledger and statement are available to the unit's owner only. Tenants and other residents of the unit don't see them.

Pro-Tip: If council waives a charge, it stays on your ledger as the original charge, followed by a Credit for the waived amount on the day it was waived. Adjustments can raise or lower your balance (reductions show a minus sign), and a Reversal — for example, a returned payment — adds the amount back.

How to View Your Account Ledger & Download a Statement (Mobile App)

See every charge, payment, and credit on your unit with the running balance after each, and save a PDF statement for your records.

1. In the Pastrata mobile app, open the Finances tab and tap Account ledger & statements.
2. Choose a period: This month, Year to date (the default), or Custom to pick your own from/to dates.
3. Review the summary — your opening balance, charges, payments & credits, and closing balance for the period — and the activity list below it, oldest first.
4. Tap Download statement (PDF). Your phone's share sheet opens with the statement for the same period, so you can preview it, save it to Files, or send it to your accountant or lender.

Pro-Tip: The ledger and statement are available to the unit's owner only. Tenants and other residents of the unit don't see them.

Pro-Tip: If council waives a charge, it stays on your ledger as the original charge, followed by a Credit for the waived amount on the day it was waived. Adjustments can raise or lower your balance (reductions show a minus sign), and a Reversal — for example, a returned payment — adds the amount back.

How to Pay Fees, Request a Payment Plan, or Request a Deferral (Mobile App)

You can pay your fees, or ask the council for more time, without leaving the app.

1. In the Pastrata mobile app, open the Finances tab.
2. To pay, tap Pay now, choose the charges, review the total, and pay by card in the secure payment sheet.
3. To spread a balance over several months, tap Payment plans > Request Plan. Choose the charges, the number of monthly installments, the payment day, and your first payment date. Add a note if you like, then tap Submit request.
4. To push back one charge's due date, tap Deferral requests > Request Deferral. Choose the charge, pick the new due date (it starts 30 days after the original), explain why, and tap Submit request.

Pro-Tip: Plan and deferral requests go to your strata council for review. Until a request is approved, the original charges stay due, and late fees may still apply. Once a plan is approved, those charges show as moved to the plan, and you pay them only through its installments.

How to Ask eConcierge About Your Fees, or for a Payment Plan or Deferral

eConcierge can tell you what your unit owes and send the council a payment plan or deferral request for you. Nothing is sent until you confirm.

1. Open eConcierge and ask, for example, "How much do I owe?", "Ask the council to let me pay my overdue fees over 6 months starting December 1", "Ask the council to move my November strata fee to December 15, I'm on medical leave" or "Withdraw my deferral request".
2. eConcierge finds the charges on your unit and shows a confirmation card naming each charge with its amount and due date, and the plan's monthly installment and start date, or the new due date you are asking for.
3. Confirm to send the request. It goes to your strata council exactly as if you had used Finances yourself.

Pro-Tip: Only unit owners can request plans and deferrals, and only for their own unit. Until the council approves, the charges stay due and late fees may still apply.

Pro-Tip: eConcierge never takes payments or bank details. Paying fees, setting up or cancelling pre-authorized debit, and refunds stay in the app; eConcierge links you to the right screen.

How to Record Expenses and Set Financial Transparency with eConcierge (Strata Council & Property Managers)

Record building spending and choose what owners see of the finances by asking eConcierge. Requires the Manage PAD, payment plans capability.

1. Open eConcierge and ask, for example, "Record a $1,240 expense for the elevator repair by Otis, invoice OT-5521, dated October 14", "Change the Otis expense to $1,310", "Mark the Otis expense paid today by cheque" or "Let owners see vendor names on the financial overview".
2. eConcierge finds the expense or vendor and shows a confirmation card with the amount, date and vendor, and each change next to its current value.
3. Confirm to save it. Recording an expense or a payment only updates the building's books; no money is sent.

Pro-Tip: These stay in the app: fee schedules, charges and late fees, recording owner payments, approving payment plans and deferrals, demand notices, special levies, budgets, voiding or deleting an expense, and the accounting integration. eConcierge links you to the right screen.

How to Ask eConcierge Which Units Are in Arrears (Strata Council & Property Managers)

Get a quick read of who owes the building money without opening the report. Requires the Manage PAD, payment plans capability.

1. Open eConcierge and ask, for example, "Which units are in arrears?", "Who has owed more than $500 for over 90 days?" or "Is unit 304 on a payment plan?". With the capability, "Which units are in arrears?" is also one of the suggested questions in a new conversation.
2. eConcierge reads the arrears aging report and answers with each unit, its owners, how much is past due and for how long, and whether it is on a payment plan or deferral, plus the building total. It links to Finances > Arrears report for the full detail.

Pro-Tip: eConcierge only reads the report. Demand notices, arrears escalation and approving payment plans stay on the arrears and payment plan screens.

Pro-Tip: Owner email addresses are left out of what eConcierge reads; open the arrears report to contact an owner.

How to Issue a Manual Charge or Special Levy from the Mobile App (Strata Council & Property Managers)

Bill a one-time fee or a special levy from your phone. Requires the Manage PAD, payment plans capability.

1. Open Finances > Financial dashboard and tap Manual charges & special levies.
2. Tap New charge. Choose Special Levy, which goes to every unit by entitlement, or One-Time Charge, which goes to the units you pick. A one-time charge can be split by entitlement or charged as a flat amount per unit.
3. Enter a description, the amount, and the due date. To collect the amount in monthly installments, turn on Collect as monthly installments.
4. Tap Preview Distribution to see each unit's share, then tap Create Draft (or Issue Plan for installments).
5. Open the draft and tap Generate Charges to bill the units. You can also Cancel charge or Delete a draft. If your building requires a second approver for financial actions, generation waits until another manager approves it.

How to Propose a Special Levy and Record the Owners' Vote (Mobile App) (Strata Council & Property Managers)

Put a special levy to the owners, then record whether it passed, from your phone. Requires the Manage PAD, payment plans capability.

1. Open Finances > Financial dashboard and tap Special levies (owners' vote).
2. Tap Propose special levy. Enter the name, the purpose as it will appear in the resolution, the total amount and the due date, and choose how it is shared. To let owners pay in installments, turn on Let owners pay in installments and pick the number of installments. Tap Save proposal. Nothing is charged yet.
3. While a levy is proposed, the screen names the owners' vote it needs (for example, a 3/4 vote), with the citation.
4. After the vote, tap Record approval on the levy. Enter the date the resolution passed, change the amount or due date only if the meeting amended them, and tap Record approval to issue each lot's share.
5. If the owners voted it down or the council dropped it, tap Withdraw and confirm. Nothing has been charged, so nothing needs to be reversed.

Pro-Tip: Closing out a levy and allocating any surplus are done on the web, under Treasurer > Special Levies.

How to Set Up or Change a Fee Schedule (Strata Council & Property Managers)

List the recurring strata fees and levies your building bills, create a new one, or change or stop one. Requires the Manage PAD, payment plans capability.

1. Go to Management > Finances and open Fee Schedules. Active schedules are listed first, each with its frequency, amount, reserve fund share, and dates.
2. Click New fee schedule, or click Edit on a schedule to change it.
3. Choose the type (Strata Fee, Special Levy, or Other), enter a name, and pick how often it is billed: monthly, quarterly, twice a year, or annually.
4. Leave Split by unit entitlement on to enter the building total for each period, so each unit pays its share. Turn it off to charge every unit the same amount.
5. Enter the amount and the contingency reserve fund share as a percentage. The rest goes to the operating fund.
6. Keep Generate charges automatically on to bill every unit at the start of each period. Set the start date, and turn on Ends on a set date if the schedule should stop.
7. Click Create fee schedule or Save changes. To stop a schedule from billing, edit it and turn off Active.

Pro-Tip: Changes apply only to charges generated from then on. Charges already issued keep their original amounts.

Pro-Tip: The type of a schedule cannot be changed after it is created. Create a new schedule instead.

How to Set Up or Change a Fee Schedule from the Mobile App (Strata Council & Property Managers)

Create the recurring strata fee your building bills, or change one, from your phone. Requires the Manage PAD, payment plans capability.

1. Open Finances > Financial dashboard and tap Fee schedules. Active schedules are listed first.
2. Tap New fee schedule, or tap a schedule to change it.
3. Choose the type (Strata Fee, Special Levy, or Other), enter a name, and pick how often it is billed: monthly, quarterly, twice a year, or annually.
4. Leave Split by unit entitlement on to enter the building total for each period, so each unit pays its share. Turn it off to charge every unit the same amount.
5. Enter the amount and the contingency reserve fund share as a percentage. The rest goes to the operating fund.
6. Keep Generate charges automatically on to bill every unit at the start of each period. Set the start date, and an end date if the schedule should stop.
7. Tap Create fee schedule or Save changes. To stop a schedule from billing, open it and turn off Active.

Pro-Tip: Changes apply only to charges generated from then on. Charges already issued keep their original amounts.

Pro-Tip: The type of a schedule cannot be changed after it is created. Create a new schedule instead.

How to Review Financial Statements & Budgets (Council & PMs) (Strata Council & Property Managers)

Monitor operating funds, Contingency Reserve Fund (CRF) balances, and arrears.

1. Go to Management > Finances.
2. View the real-time financial health dashboard: Operating Account balance, CRF balance, and Total Outstanding Arrears.
3. Navigate to Reports > Budget vs. Actual to check performance across expenditure categories for the building's fiscal year, worked out from its fiscal year-end (January–December if none is set). Each report shows the fiscal year and the dates it covers, for example "FY2026–27 · Oct 1, 2026 – Sep 30, 2027", and opens on the current fiscal year.
4. Each budget line shows what was budgeted, what was spent on it, what is committed (work awarded but not yet invoiced) and what remains. Spending counts on the budget line it is coded to. Revenue lines such as strata fees are listed separately with what was collected.
5. Open the Uncoded row to see spending that isn't on a line of this year's budget, then choose Code to budget line next to each item to put it on the right line. A paid vendor invoice is coded one invoice line at a time. The totals always add up to all the spending recorded in the year, with special levy spending shown on its own.
6. Click Export to Excel / CSV to generate accounting packages for external audit or bookkeepers.

Pro-Tip: Set the fiscal year-end in Management > Setup. Until it is set, budget and spending reports cover January–December and say so. A fiscal year is named for the year it starts in: with a September 30 year-end, fiscal 2026 runs October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027.

Pro-Tip: Paying a vendor invoice records its spending automatically, dated on the payment date and counted on the budget line each invoice line is coded to (or, for a line left uncoded, the line matching its category), so you don't enter it again as an expense. Voiding the invoice or its payment removes that spending. An expense recorded from an invoice is changed from the invoice, not from Expenses.

Pro-Tip: The Arrears Aging report lists only the units that owe money, largest balance first. Choose Show all units to see every unit. In the mobile app, Finances > Financial dashboard also shows the operating and CRF fund balances, and your own unit's balance is shown separately, under Your unit.

Pro-Tip: New spending is put on the budget line with the same category (and subcategory) when exactly one line matches; otherwise it waits in Uncoded. When you create or import a year's budget, or add a line, that year's uncoded spending with a matching category is coded to it automatically. Renaming a line keeps its spending; deleting one moves its spending back to Uncoded.

How to Connect QuickBooks Online or Xero (Strata Council & Property Managers)

Send charges, payments, expenses and vendor bills to your accounting software automatically. Requires the Manage accounting integrations capability.

1. Go to Management > Finances > Accounting Integration and connect QuickBooks Online or Xero, then sign in and approve access.
2. Under Account Mappings, choose the account each fee type, expense category and payment goes to, and the bank account bills and expenses are paid from.
3. With QuickBooks Online, choose the product/service each fee type is sold as instead of an account. QuickBooks invoices every line as a product/service, and the income account comes from the product/service set up in QuickBooks.
4. Select Save Mappings. New charges, payments and expenses sync on their own from then on; use Historical sync to send earlier ones.

Pro-Tip: Each unit is invoiced to its primary owner, who is added to your accounting software as a customer the first time they are needed. A payment is applied to the invoice it pays.

Pro-Tip: Each unit gets one invoice per billing period, numbered by period and unit with the unit number shown on it. A charge added after that invoice was sent goes on a supplementary invoice for the period (numbered -2, -3, …).

Pro-Tip: If an owner's customer is deleted or archived in the accounting system, their next invoice finds or creates the customer again. A payment stays with the customer of the invoice it pays, so a payment on such an invoice fails with a message to restore that customer and retry.

Pro-Tip: An expense is sent once it is marked paid, as money paid out of the bank account you mapped, so map an actual bank account there. Voiding an expense that was already sent reverses it in your accounting software.

Pro-Tip: Anything with an unmapped fee type, category or product/service is skipped, not sent. Map it, then run a historical sync to send what was skipped.

How to Review, Approve and Pay Vendor Invoices (Strata Council & Property Managers)

Work through the invoices vendors send the building, from review to payment. Viewing needs the View vendor invoices capability; approving, rejecting, entering and voiding need Manage vendor invoices; recording or reversing a payment also needs Manage PAD, payment plans.

1. Go to Management > Finances > Vendor invoices (or Invoices in the management menu, which shows how many are waiting for review).
2. The cards at the top show what needs review, what is approved but unpaid (the amount you would pay now, after any holdback still retained), and what is overdue. Use the tabs to switch between Needs review, Approved, unpaid, Paid, Drafts, Rejected, Voided and All, and filter by vendor, due date, overdue, or invoice number and description.
3. Open an invoice to see its lines and totals, the original document, any holdback, and its full history: who entered or submitted it, approvals, rejections, payments and voids, with their reasons.
4. The Project card shows the vendor project the invoice is for. Until the invoice is approved, select Link a project or Change project to choose one of the open projects awarded to its vendor, or No project to unlink it. When the vendor has only one, it is suggested: select Link it. Linking also needs View vendor projects, and each change is kept in the history.
5. For a linked project with an award, the card shows the award, what has been approved against it so far, this invoice and what would remain. Other invoices for the project still under review are listed apart and count once approved. The award includes its approved change orders. If this invoice goes over the award, Approve asks for a reason, which is kept on the invoice and in its history; if you can propose change orders, Request change order proposes the difference instead (see Change a Project’s Award with a Change Order). The amounts show only to people who can manage quote requests; others see only that the invoice goes over.
6. Before paying, select Code lines to code each invoice line to a line of this fiscal year's budget (the reserve-fund line included) or to one of the building's proposed or active special levies. Uncoded lines start from a suggestion, the project's budget line, its special levy, or the vendor's last coding, which is saved only when you select Save coding. Lines can be coded until the invoice is paid; after that, recode the spending from Budget vs. Actual.
7. If the vendor has sent another invoice that may be the same bill (the same invoice number, ignoring case, spaces, punctuation and leading zeros, or the same total on the same date), the invoice lists it under Possible duplicates. Open each one to check. Approving then asks you to confirm the invoice is not a duplicate, and its history records which invoices you checked. If the bill is a duplicate, void or delete it instead.
8. Select Approve. If your building requires a second approver for financial actions, the invoice shows Waiting for a second approver with a link to the approval, and it takes effect once another manager approves it.
9. If your building has set approval tiers, the invoice says who must approve it at its total. An invoice in an officer tier waits for one of those officers, such as the Treasurer, and never for the person who proposed it. For an invoice in the council tier, Approve asks how council approves it: cite the passed written resolution or meeting motion that authorized the spending (another manager confirms the citation), or ask a council member to approve it. The approved invoice shows the decision it cites.
10. To send an invoice back, select Reject and give a reason. The vendor sees the reason in the vendor portal and by email, and can correct and resubmit it.
11. Once approved, select Record payment, choose the payment date (today by default), the method and a reference such as the cheque number, and confirm. The amount starts at what is still owed (after any holdback still retained); enter less to pay part of it. A part-paid invoice shows as Partially paid, with what is still owed, until it is paid in full. With dual approval on, a second manager approves the payment too.
12. To pay several approved invoices at once, tick them in the inbox and select Record payment run. Choose one date and method, then check each invoice's amount and reference (cheque number, transfer trace) and select Record payments. If the run is above your building's payment approval threshold, a second manager approves it first. A run counts as its total, or as what any one invoice will have been paid in all, so paying an invoice in parts doesn't avoid the second approver.
13. Each payment is listed on the invoice with its date, method, reference and who recorded it. Remittance sent means the vendor was told: they get a remittance advice by email and in the vendor portal for each payment. Cleared means bank reconciliation matched a bank transaction to it.
14. To undo a payment recorded in error, select Void payment beside it; to cancel an invoice, select Void invoice. Both need a reason, which is kept in the history. Voiding a payment makes that amount owed again, and the vendor is not notified again.
15. In the mobile app, open More > Management > Vendor invoices to see what needs review, approved, paid or all invoices. Open one to read its lines, totals, payments, history, original and how it stands against its project's award, then tap Approve (confirming it is not a duplicate when possible duplicates are listed, and with a reason if it goes over the award), Reject (with a reason for the vendor) or Record payment (in full or in part), under the same permissions and second-approver rule as on the web. Tapping the notification for a newly submitted invoice opens it. Entering, editing, payment runs and voiding are done on the web.

Pro-Tip: Paying an invoice records its spending on the budget lines its lines are coded to, so you don't enter it again as an expense. Each payment is recorded on its own date, so instalments land in the fiscal year each was paid in. Paid after the fiscal year-end, a line's spending goes to the new year's line with the same name; a line left uncoded goes to the line matching its category, or waits in Uncoded. With an accounting connection, each payment is its own bill payment, and voiding a payment reverses it there automatically; voiding an invoice whose bill was already sent tells you to reverse the bill by hand.

Pro-Tip: A line coded to a special levy is spent from that levy: paying counts it towards the levy's close-out and never on a budget line, and voiding the payment gives the levy back exactly that share. An invoice can be split, with some lines on budget lines and others on a levy. If the levy was withdrawn or closed out before the invoice is paid, the line's spending goes to the budget line matching its category, or waits in Uncoded.

Pro-Tip: A vendor's invoice appears here only once the vendor submits it. You are notified by email, in the app and by push notification when one arrives.

Pro-Tip: Vendors attach their original invoice (PDF, JPG or PNG) in the vendor portal. They can replace it only until they first submit the invoice; after that they can add one if it is missing, until the invoice is paid or voided, but never replace it. The history shows who attached it.

Pro-Tip: An invoice can't be approved, paid, edited or deleted while an approval or payment is waiting for a second manager. Rejecting or voiding it cancels the waiting approval.

How to Set Who Approves Spending by Amount (Strata Council & Property Managers)

Set your building's approval authority: who approves an award, a change order or a vendor invoice, by its total including tax. Requires the Manage PAD, payment plans capability.

1. Go to Management > Settings > Approval authority.
2. Until you set tiers, council approves every award and change order, and any manager with invoice permission approves invoices.
3. Select Start from an example (up to $2,500 any manager, up to $25,000 the President or Treasurer, above that council) or Set tiers, then adjust each tier's limit and who approves: any manager, council officers (choose the offices) or council.
4. Optionally set a Payment approval threshold: with dual approval on, recording a payment or payment run at or below it doesn't need a second manager. A payment that takes one invoice's total paid above it does. Leave it empty to have every payment approved.
5. Select Save approval authority. A change that gives anyone authority they didn't have, such as raising a limit, adding an office or going back to the defaults, is sent to council and takes effect once a council member other than you approves it.

Pro-Tip: The example is a starting point. Check it against the spending limits in your bylaws.

Pro-Tip: Officers come from the current council term. The card warns you when nobody holds the offices a tier names, because nobody could approve at that amount.

How to Require a Minimum Number of Quotes (Strata Council & Property Managers)

Require several quotes before a larger award, for example three quotes above $10,000. Setting it requires the Manage PAD, payment plans capability; it is off until you turn it on.

1. Go to Management > Settings > Minimum quotes and turn on Require a minimum number of quotes.
2. Enter how many quotes are required (2 to 10) and the amount above which the rule applies, tax included. Enter 0 to apply it to every award.
3. Select Save.
4. While a quote request is open, it shows how many quotes it has against the rule, such as 2 of 3 quotes, and says when the project’s estimate is below the amount, so the rule may not apply.
5. Awarding a quote above the amount with fewer quotes than required asks for a reason. The reason is recorded on the quote request, with who gave it and when, and shown with the award.

Pro-Tip: Every vendor with a quote that is submitted or accepted counts once, however it arrived, including late or expired quotes. Declines and withdrawn quotes don’t count.

Pro-Tip: The amount compared is the awarded quote’s total including tax.

Pro-Tip: Only someone with the Manage PAD, payment plans capability can change the rule, so it can’t be switched off from the general settings.

How to Enter a Paper or Emailed Vendor Invoice (Strata Council & Property Managers)

Record an invoice that reached the building by email or on paper, with its original attached. Requires the Manage vendor invoices capability.

1. When the vendor replied to a work-order email with the invoice attached, open the project and find the reply in its Vendor thread (or on the work order's messages). Select Record as invoice on that message: the invoice form opens with the vendor, the project and the attachment (PDF, JPG or PNG) already filled in as the original. If the reply came from an address other than the vendor's on file, or its sender couldn't be verified, the form warns you first: check it is really from the vendor. Continue from the vendor's details below.
2. For an invoice that reached your own inbox or came on paper, go to Management > Finances > Vendor invoices and select Enter invoice.
3. Choose the vendor and enter the invoice number, invoice date, optional due date and a description. If the vendor has open projects awarded to them, choose the Project the invoice is for (their only one is pre-selected), or link a work order instead.
4. Add a line for each item on the invoice with its amount and category, and choose the budget line or special levy each is coded to. It starts from the linked work order's project line (or the project's special levy), or the vendor's last coding, and you can change it. Enter any tax.
5. Turn on the statutory holdback if the work is subject to the BC Builders Lien Act.
6. Under Original document, attach the emailed PDF or a photo of the paper invoice (PDF, JPG or PNG, up to 10 MB).
7. Select Save & approve to approve it straight away, or Save draft to finish it later. A draft you entered can still be edited or deleted. A draft recorded from a vendor's email keeps that vendor, project and work order, and its original.

Pro-Tip: If you save without the original, Pastrata asks you to confirm and labels the invoice as having no original document. You can attach it later from the invoice page; once an invoice is approved its original can be added but not replaced.

Pro-Tip: The invoice shows that it was entered by you. The vendor sees it in the vendor portal once it is approved, read-only.

Pro-Tip: A message can be recorded as an invoice once. Afterwards it shows Recorded as invoice with the invoice number, linking to it. The invoice's source shows as Email, and its history notes the message it came from; in the mobile app it reads Recorded from email by you. An invoice recorded from a flagged reply keeps the warning on its page, on the web and in the mobile app, so whoever approves or pays it confirms it with the vendor first.

Pro-Tip: Only replies on the work order (after the award) can be recorded as invoices. A reply to a quote request is recorded as a quote instead (see Record Quotes Vendors Send by Email, on Paper or by Phone). Recording an invoice from an email is done on the web.

How to Prepare the Annual Budget for the AGM (Council & PMs) (Strata Council & Property Managers)

Pastrata guides budget preparation using your province's rules. Requires the Create and manage budgets capability. The guidance is advisory: it never stops you saving, sending, or approving a budget.

1. Go to Management > Finances > Budgets. The Budget preparation checklist shows whether your fiscal year-end is set, whether the proposed budget is drafted, whether last year's financial statements are uploaded, and whether the contingency reserve fund (CRF) contribution meets the statutory minimum.
2. Once an AGM is scheduled, a banner names the date the proposed budget must be ready by so it can go out with the AGM notice. Without an AGM, the banner names the AGM deadline and links to scheduling it. Managers and council members also get push and in-app reminders as that date approaches. The Management dashboard lists the same step with the building's other compliance deadlines.
3. Open the proposed budget. If the budgeted CRF contribution looks below the minimum (in BC, 10% of the budgeted operating-fund contribution, whatever the reserve balance), a warning shows the operating contribution, the minimum, your budgeted contribution and the shortfall, with the regulation it comes from. Select Adjust the CRF contribution to jump to the line items; the warning clears as soon as the contribution reaches the minimum.
4. To raise a special levy, go to Treasurer > Special Levies and select Propose special levy. Nothing is charged yet. While it is proposed, Treasurer shows which owners' vote it needs (for example, a 3/4 vote) and links to scheduling the meeting. After the vote, select Record approval to issue each lot's share, or Withdraw if it did not pass.
5. In the mobile app, the Management tab shows the same budget deadline and CRF shortfall, and Finances > Financial dashboard > Special levies (owners' vote) lets you propose a levy, record its approval, or withdraw it. Budgets are edited on the web.
6. Ask eConcierge "how much do we have to put into the reserve fund?" or "do we need a vote for this levy?" on the web or in the mobile app. It answers from your province's rules with the citation, and for members who manage budgets it adds the drafted budget's figures and any proposed special levies. Other members get the rule and citation, not the draft figures.

How to Apply Late Fees & Track Demand Notices (Strata Council & Property Managers)

Act on overdue accounts from the web or the mobile app. Requires the Manage PAD, payment plans capability.

1. On the web, go to Management > Finances > Late Fees. In the mobile app, open Finances > Financial Dashboard and tap Late Fees.
2. Review the building's late-fee settings (grace period, annual rate, maximum fee) and the overdue charges pending a late fee.
3. Tap Process late fees (web) or Apply late fees (mobile) and confirm the total. If your building requires a second approver, the run is queued for their review instead of applied straight away.
4. For demand notices, go to Management > Finances > Demand Notices on the web, or tap Demand Notices on the mobile Financial Dashboard. Each notice shows the unit, amount demanded, deadline, and days remaining; a Lien eligible badge appears once a delivered notice's deadline passes without payment.
5. Share the formatted notice PDF (Share PDF on mobile, the download icon on web), and tap Update status to record that a notice was delivered, paid, expired, or that a lien was registered. On mobile, marking a notice delivered records today as the delivery date.
6. To issue a new notice of demand, use the web: select Issue Notice of Demand, choose the unit in arrears, and set the amount, interest rate, delivery method, and notice period.

Pro-Tip: The notice period is counted from confirmed delivery, so record the delivery as soon as it happens.

Pro-Tip: Notices, statements and their PDFs are dated on your building's local calendar day, so a notice issued late in the evening is dated that day, not the next.

How to Manage Your Pastrata Subscription from the Mobile App (Strata Council & Property Managers)

Check your building's plan and update billing details without leaving the app. Requires the Manage subscription and billing capability.

1. Tap More > Billing.
2. Review your current plan, its status, the date the current billing period ends, and your registered unit count.
3. If a payment is past due, or your billing period ends within 7 days, a warning appears at the top of the screen.
4. Tap Manage subscription & payment method to open the secure Stripe portal, where you can update cards, download invoices, or cancel.
5. On the Free plan or after a plan expires, tap Upgrade to Prime (or Reactivate plan) to start the upgrade wizard.

How to Order Statutory Certificates Online (Conveyancers, Lawyers, Notaries & Realtors)

Conveyancers and agents can order Form B and Form F certificates online with automated fee computation and Stripe checkout. Owners request certificates from Documents > Certificates instead.

1. Open the public order page link shared by the building's strata council or property manager. No Pastrata account is needed.
2. Select the unit and choose the certificate (Form B Only or Form F Only).
3. Choose standard 7-day turnaround or 24-hour rush processing, and optionally include document attachments.
4. Review the statutory fee computation breakdown (statutory base fee, rush fee, and copy fees per page under BC Strata Property Regulation 4.2).
5. Pay securely via Stripe embedded checkout directly into the strata corporation’s Stripe Connect account.
6. Track live statutory fulfillment status and real-time countdown clock with your secure order access link.

Key Concepts & Building Policies

Operating Fund vs. Contingency Reserve Fund (CRF)

Strata fees are apportioned into two statutory funds: the Operating Fund (covering daily expenses like utilities, insurance, waste collection, and regular janitorial service) and the CRF / Reserve Fund (reserved for long-term capital replacements like elevators, roofing, and building envelope).

Unit Entitlement & Fee Calculation

Your monthly strata fee is determined by your unit’s registered Unit Entitlement as recorded on the strata plan filed with the Land Title Office, multiplied by the approved annual budget.

Builders Lien Act Statutory Holdbacks

For major trade improvements and capital expenditures, a mandatory 10% statutory holdback is retained from vendor disbursements under BC Builders Lien Act s. 4. Retained amounts are held until the 55-day statutory countdown expires from the Certificate of Completion date, safeguarding the strata corporation against subcontractor liens.

Frequently Asked Questions & Troubleshooting

Why don't I see Strata Property Act sections on finance screens?

Section numbers on demand notices, funds, special levy closeouts, unit entitlement and certificate orders are British Columbia law, so they appear only for buildings in BC. Buildings elsewhere see the same screens with neutral wording; check your own bylaws and statute for the rules that apply. Steps that exist only under BC law are offered only to BC buildings too: recording that a lien was registered, and flagging a demand notice as eligible for a lien. Elsewhere the arrears pipeline stops at the final demand.

What happens if a PAD payment fails due to insufficient funds?

You will receive an immediate notification. Building policy may apply an NSF administrative fee. You can settle the balance immediately via credit card or re-trigger the debit.

Can tenants view strata fee amounts?

No. Strata fees, special levies, and building budget allocations are strictly confidential to unit owners and council members.

Related Guides

• Vendor Projects: From Council Decision to Paid Vendor
• Owners & Landlords Hub
• Strata Council & Board Hub