Glossary

A

Association: A homeowners association (HOA) or similar community organization that manages common areas and enforces community rules.

Association GL Account: Association-specific general ledger account that provides local account codes and names while mapping to corporate GL accounts. Stored in the association_gl_accounts table.

Association ID: Unique identifier for each association in the TownSq system.

Assessment: Monthly or annual fee charged to property owners for association services and maintenance.

B

Business Rules: Logic that governs how data should be transformed, validated, or processed during onboarding.

Business Stakeholder: Person responsible for business decisions and requirements during the onboarding process.

C

Chart of Accounts (COA): Structured list of general ledger accounts used for financial reporting and accounting. See also Corporate GL Account and Standard GL Account.

COA Mapping: Process of mapping an organization's legacy GL accounts (Corporate GL Accounts) to Associa's standardized chart of accounts (Standard GL Accounts).

Corporate GL Account: Organization-level general ledger account from legacy systems that maps to Standard GL Accounts. Stored in the corporate_gl_accounts table.

CSV: Comma-Separated Values file format used for data exchange.

Cutover: The process of switching from old systems to the new TownSq system.

D

Data Assessment: Initial evaluation of source system data quality and completeness.

Data Availability Status: Indicator of whether a field can be populated from source data. Values include: Available (can provide), Quasi-Available (partial or conditional), Not Available (cannot provide), Unknown (needs investigation).

Data Validation: Process of checking data accuracy, completeness, and compliance with business rules.

Delinquency Configuration: Settings that control late fee and late interest calculations, including methods, amounts, cutoff days, and intervals. Part of operational setup.

Direct Debit: Automated payment method that withdraws funds directly from bank accounts.

E

EIN: Employer Identification Number, federal tax ID for associations.

Emergency Contact: Person designated to be contacted in case of property-related emergencies.

F

FDIC: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, provides bank deposit insurance.

Field Mapping: Process of matching source system fields to TownSq system requirements.

Field Mapping Notes: Documentation of data availability status and implementation details for specific entity fields. Tracks what data can be provided and any special considerations.

Fiscal Settings: Configuration of fiscal year parameters including fiscal month end and fiscal year start month. Part of operational setup.

Fiscal Year: 12-month accounting period used by the association for financial reporting.

G

Global Settings: Organization-level operational configuration that serves as the default template for all associations. Also called Organization Settings.

Go-Live: The date when the new system becomes operational for end users.

H

HOA: Homeowners Association, organization that manages residential communities.

Homeowner: Property owner within an association, responsible for assessments and compliance. In the system, homeowners are represented as Members with the OWNER role.

I

Implementation Wave: A named group of associations organized for phased rollout during migration. Includes name, description, go-live date, and status.

ISO 8601: International standard for date formatting (YYYY-MM-DD).

L

Lease: Legal agreement between property owner and tenant for rental occupancy.

Lien: Legal claim against property for unpaid assessments or fees.

M

Member: Person associated with an account in the system. Members can have one or more roles: OWNER (property owner), TENANT (renter), or OCCUPANT (resident). This consolidated entity replaces the separate Owner and Tenant entities.

Migration: Process of moving data from source systems to TownSq platform.

Milestone: Key deliverable or checkpoint in the onboarding process.

O

Operational Setup: JSON configuration stored in the wave_associations table containing delinquency config, billing config, fiscal settings, and custom charts of accounts.

Operations User: Person responsible for coordinating and managing onboarding workflows.

Ownership Percentage: Portion of property owned by each individual (must total 100% per property).

P

Primary Contact: Main person for communication regarding a property or account.

Property Address: Physical street address of the residential unit or property.

R

Referential Integrity: Ensures that relationships between data records are valid and consistent.

Routing Number: Nine-digit code identifying the financial institution for bank transactions.

S

Signatory: Person authorized to sign checks or conduct banking transactions for the association.

Stakeholder: Person with interest in or responsibility for the onboarding project success.

Standard GL Account: Associa's reference chart of accounts used for consistent reporting across all associations. Corporate GL Accounts map to Standard GL Accounts.

Standard Vendor Type: Associa's reference vendor classifications used for consistent vendor categorization and 1099 reporting. Organization vendor types map to Standard Vendor Types.

Standardization: Process of mapping organization-specific data (GL accounts, vendor types) to Associa's standard reference data for consistent portfolio-wide reporting.

T

Technical User: Person responsible for data extraction, transformation, and technical validation.

Tenant: Person renting a property from the owner. In the system, tenants are represented as Members with the TENANT role.

TownSq: The target platform for HOA management and community services.

U

UAT: User Acceptance Testing, final validation by business users before go-live.

UTF-8: Character encoding standard that supports international characters.

V

Validation Rules: Automated checks that ensure data meets format and business requirements.

Validation Error: Issue identified during automated data checking that must be resolved.

Vendor: Service provider or contractor who works with the organization or associations. Examples include landscapers, plumbers, attorneys, and maintenance companies.

Vendor Type: Organization-specific vendor classification that maps to Standard Vendor Types. Used for categorizing vendors and determining 1099 requirements.

Vendor Type Mapping: The relationship between an organization's vendor type and Associa's Standard Vendor Type, enabling consistent vendor classification across the portfolio.

W

Wave Association: Record linking an association to an implementation wave and storing its operational setup. Stored in the wave_associations table in the onboarding schema.

Data Types

String: Text data type with specified maximum length.

Date: Date value in YYYY-MM-DD format.

DateTime: Date and time value in YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS format.

Boolean: True/false value (lowercase).

Decimal: Numeric value with decimal places (e.g., currency amounts).

Integer: Whole number without decimal places.