The Trainer

February 2, 2012

PROVIDING GOOD MANAGEMENT REPORTS; OFFERING RESIDENT SERVICE STIPENDS

In this month's feature, we discussed what you should put in a periodic management report to keep the owner informed of the site's fiscal health. Too little information won't allow the owner to make good decisions, and too much information may annoy and frustrate the owner.

PROVIDING GOOD MANAGEMENT REPORTS; OFFERING RESIDENT SERVICE STIPENDS

In this month's feature, we discussed what you should put in a periodic management report to keep the owner informed of the site's fiscal health. Too little information won't allow the owner to make good decisions, and too much information may annoy and frustrate the owner.

In our article about offering resident service stipends at your site, we gave you three rules to follow to make sure you can exclude the stipend from the resident's household income. You need to make sure that the service qualifies for a stipend that can be excluded and doesn't go over a certain amount of money per month.

 

TRAINER'S QUIZ

INSTRUCTIONS: Each of the questions below has only one correct answer. On a separate sheet of paper, write down the number of each question, followed by the answer you have chosen—for example, (1) b, (2) a, and so on. The correct answers (with explanations) follow the quiz. Good luck!

QUESTION #1

The first part of a good management report should list income and expense items, and state the net operating income for the period. True or false?

  1. True.

  2. False.

QUESTION #2

The economic vacancy rate is the same as the market vacancy rate. True or false?

  1. True.

  2. False.

QUESTION #3

Which of the following should be included in the narrative section of a good management report?

  1. The status of HAP contract expirations.

  2. Results of any recent audits.

  3. Upcoming REAC inspections.

  4. Any recent acts of vandalism.

  5. All of the above.

QUESTION #4

You should attach a traffic summary report to the occupancy report section of your management report. True or false?

  1. True.

  2. False.

QUESTION #5

You pay a resident $250 a month to perform certain groundskeeping services. You should exclude $200 of that amount from his household income, and count $50 toward his household income. True or false?

  1. True.

  2. False.

QUESTION #6

Which of the following services doesn't qualify for a resident services stipend that can be excluded from household income?

  1. Servicing laundry rooms.

  2. Watering plants at the off-site management office.

  3. Cleaning vacant units.

  4. Coordinating resident initiatives.

QUESTION #7

You may pay stipends to several members of the same household, but may not pay more than one stipend to any one resident, for the stipends to be excludable. True or false?

  1. True.

  2. False.

Click To Show/Hide The Quiz Answers

 

ANSWERS and EXPLANATIONS

QUESTION #1

Correct answer: a

True. You arrive at the net operating income by subtracting the site's total operating expenses from its total gross income.

QUESTION #2

Correct answer: b

False. The market vacancy rate is a measure of performance regarding filling available units. On the other hand, the economic vacancy rate is a measure of dollar loss against ideal financial performance. You calculate the economic vacancy rate by dividing the site's actual income by its potential income. This formula is more useful in determining the vacancy rate than is dividing the number of occupied units by the number of total units at the site.

QUESTION #3

Correct answer: e

All of the above. The narrative section of the management report is your opportunity to explain not only the reasons behind any changes in income and expenses, but also to report on other aspects of the site and its operation that don't fit into the other three sections.

QUESTION #4

Correct answer: b

False. You should attach a traffic summary report to the marketing section of your management report. The traffic summary should include the number of telephone calls, emails, and visits; the telephone, email, and walk-in conversion ratios; and the advertising sources that produced those calls, emails, and visits.

QUESTION #5

Correct answer: b

False. According to the Handbook, if you pay a resident more than $200 a month as a resident service stipend, you must include the entire amount—in this case, the entire $250—in household income. You can't exclude the first $200 of the total stipend.

QUESTION #6

Correct answer: b

Stipends paid for non-site-related tasks, such as working at the management office or helping out at another site, aren't eligible. You can't exclude these stipends from household income.

QUESTION #7

Correct answer: a

True. HUD rules say that a resident can't exclude more than one stipend a month from household income. But you may pay stipends to several members of the same household, as long as each member gets only one stipend a month.

See The Lesson For This Quiz

Inform Owner of Site's Fiscal Health with Periodic Management Reports
Follow Three Rules When Offering Resident Service Stipends

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