Chartered accountant for co-ownership property managers: accounting for the owners' association, the five statutory annexes, separate account, works fund and support for volunteer managers.
The accounting of a French co-ownership (copropriété) has almost nothing in common with company accounting. It does not measure a profit; it allocates charges among co-owners, financial year by financial year, based on ownership shares (tantièmes). The owners' association (syndicat des copropriétaires) is non-profit, yet it has specific, regulated and scrutinised accounting obligations. This is exactly why many property managers, especially volunteer or cooperative ones, struggle with bookkeeping and with producing the well-known five annexes.
Cabinet Hayot Expertise (Paris 8th district, registered with the Île-de-France Order of Chartered Accountants) supports property managers and councils on this precise ground: keeping or reviewing the association's accounts, presenting the accounts at the general meeting, securing the separate account and the works fund, recovering unpaid charges and registering with the national register. Our view: co-ownership is a world where formal rigour is decisive, because every co-owner has a right of inspection and litigation is easy to trigger.
No, the law does not require a property manager to use a chartered accountant, but co-ownership accounting is a regime of its own. Decree no. 2005-240 of 14 March 2005 requires double-entry bookkeeping, kept by financial year, per-co-owner tracking and five statutory annexes approved at the general meeting. For a volunteer or cooperative manager, delegating this to the firm secures the voted accounts.
The framework is set by Law no. 65-557 of 10 July 1965 on co-ownership of built properties and its implementing Decree no. 67-223 of 17 March 1967. The accounting rules come from Decree no. 2005-240 of 14 March 2005 and the order of the same date. They require double-entry bookkeeping, kept by financial year, with tracking for each co-owner.
In practice, three differences change everything compared with company accounting:
This logic of allocation by ownership shares, with no profit aim, brings the owners' association close to other entities such as ASLs and AFULs (free syndicate associations, with separate accounting). If you also run a non-profit structure, our accountant for associations page sets out this approach in accrual accounting.
In the files we take over, the most frequent mistake is not a posting error. It is reasoning in cash terms ("there is money left in the account, so all is well") whereas co-ownership accounting reasons in allocated charges and called provisions. A positive bank balance can hide significant unpaid charges or an under-provisioned works fund. This is exactly what the presentation of accounts at the general meeting must make clear.
The association must hold a separate bank account opened in its own name. The obligation appears in article 18 of the 1965 law and was reinforced by the ALUR law of 27 March 2014. The exemption that remained for some small co-ownerships was definitively abolished by the 2019 co-ownership ordinance, applicable from 31 December 2020.
The consequences are serious and too often ignored:
Our advice: check this point as soon as the mandate begins, even before the first general meeting is convened. A poorly opened separate account, or one held in an ineligible institution, weakens the whole mandate. This is the first point we check when taking over a co-ownership: an account opened under the wrong name or with an ineligible institution is more common than people think.
The works fund falls under article 14-2 of the 1965 law. It is a mandatory contribution, paid into a separate interest-bearing account, intended to finance the building's future works. In accounting terms, this fund must be isolated and tracked separately from current operations: it is not the same as the provisional budget, nor as cash advances.
Handling third-party funds requires a discipline that we check systematically: regular bank reconciliation, traceability of calls and payments, re-billing of disbursements to the exact euro. Any mixing of the manager's cash with the association's cash is a serious fault.
The order of 14 March 2005 sets out the five accounting documents that every association must produce for the general meeting approving the accounts. Here they are, in order:
| Annex | Content | What the co-owner should read |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Financial statement after allocation | The association's cash and asset position at closing |
| 2 | General management account for the closed year and provisional budget | Actual against voted, plus next year's budget |
| 3 | Management account for current operations and budgets | The detail of current charges by item |
| 4 | Statement of article 14-2 works and exceptional operations | Works and operations outside the current budget |
| 5 | Statement of debts and receivables | Co-owners' unpaid charges and supplier debts |
In practice, annex 5 is the one that reveals the real health of the co-ownership. It is where unpaid charges appear, the most sensitive subject at the general meeting and the main cause of cash-flow tension.
Two roles must be distinguished. The manager administers the co-ownership, convenes the general meeting, implements decisions and holds the mandate. The chartered accountant secures the accounting and financial dimension: keeping or reviewing the accounts, producing and checking the five annexes, presenting the accounts clearly at the general meeting, and management auditing.
It is for the volunteer or cooperative manager that this support makes the most sense. A co-owner who runs the mandate voluntarily knows the building but rarely the 2005 decree, the meeting majorities (articles 24, 25, 25-1 and 26) or registration with the national co-ownership register (RNC) kept by ANAH. Our typical trade-off: leave the volunteer manager what they do well (closeness, decisions, relationship with co-owners) and outsource to the firm the bookkeeping, the annexes and the reliability of the accounts submitted to the vote.
A cooperative manager of a co-ownership of around 22 lots wanted to leave its professional manager for a cooperative one, to reduce fees. The obstacle was accounting: no one on the council felt able to produce the five annexes or to keep the separate account properly. We set up delegated bookkeeping: compliant opening of the separate account and the works fund account, a tailored chart of accounts, quarterly charge calls, and annexes ready for the meeting. The council kept control of decisions and of the relationship with co-owners; the firm secured the accounting side and the RNC registration. Operational result: accounts voted without dispute and cash flow finally readable item by item.
Co-ownership also touches the wider real-estate ecosystem. If you also manage property directly or through a dedicated structure, our real-estate agency and real-estate sector pages set out our other areas of intervention.
A co-ownership, a mandate question or a change of manager to secure? Let us discuss your situation: we scope the mission according to the size of the co-ownership, the type of manager and the state of the accounts taken over.
Updated 19 June 2026. Informative content reviewed by a chartered accountant registered with the Île-de-France Chartered Accountants Board. A decision specific to your situation requires a review of your documents and the regulations in force.
Co-ownership forms an accounting ecosystem of its own: a non-profit owners' association, charges allocated by ownership shares, a provisional budget voted at the general meeting, and a duty of transparency towards every co-owner. The legal framework combines the 1965 law and its 1967 decree for the status, and the 2005 decree for the accounting rules. Players range from the professional manager to the volunteer manager, including neighbouring structures such as ASLs and AFULs. Our role is to make the accounting and financial dimension reliable, whatever the type of manager.
Check that the separate account is opened in the association's name with an eligible credit institution (neobanks excluded). This step conditions the very validity of the manager's mandate: failing that, it becomes null and void as of right after three months. In parallel, open the interest-bearing account for the article 14-2 works fund.
The accounts must be kept in double-entry, by financial year, with an account per co-owner. A properly configured co-ownership chart of accounts separates current operations, article 14-2 works and exceptional operations, and naturally prepares the five annexes.
Based on the provisional budget voted at the general meeting, issue quarterly charge calls, then reconcile actual charges at year-end. Rigour on this cycle avoids unexplained gaps and eases the approval of the accounts by the majority of article 24.
The statement of debts and receivables (annex 5) reflects the real health of the co-ownership. Handle unpaid charges continuously, not only as the meeting approaches: reminders, payment plans and, if needed, recovery. A positive bank balance does not guarantee the absence of arrears.
Prepare the five statutory annexes and present them clearly to co-owners. Also check registration and data updates with the national co-ownership register. Readable, compliant accounts strongly reduce the risk of dispute at the vote.
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No, the law does not require a chartered accountant to keep a co-ownership's accounts. However, Decree no. 2005-240 of 14 March 2005 requires double-entry accounting, kept by financial year, and the production of five statutory annexes. For a volunteer or cooperative manager, delegating this part to the firm secures the accounts voted at the general meeting.
The order of 14 March 2005 sets out: (1) the financial statement after allocation, (2) the general management account for the closed year and the provisional budget, (3) the management account for current operations and budgets, (4) the statement of article 14-2 works and exceptional operations, (5) the statement of debts and receivables. These five documents accompany the approval of the accounts at the general meeting.
Yes. Article 18 of the 1965 law, reinforced by the ALUR law of 27 March 2014, requires a separate account in the association's name. Any exemption was definitively abolished by the 2019 co-ownership ordinance, applicable from 31 December 2020. If no account is opened, the manager's mandate is null and void as of right at the end of a three-month period following appointment. Only traditional credit institutions are eligible.
Yes, this is one of our focuses. We handle keeping or reviewing the association's accounts, producing the five annexes, securing the separate account and the works fund, registering with the national co-ownership register, and clearly presenting the accounts at the general meeting. The volunteer manager keeps control of decisions and of the relationship with co-owners.
The sums collected belong to the association: they are third-party funds, never the manager's revenue. Disbursements, such as third-party fees or insurance premiums, are re-billed to co-owners without any margin. Any mixing of the manager's cash with the association's cash is a serious fault, which we monitor through regular bank reconciliations.
The works fund falls under article 14-2 of the 1965 law. It is a mandatory contribution, paid into a separate interest-bearing account, intended to finance the building's future works. In accounting terms, it must remain isolated from current operations and cash advances, and be tracked separately in the annexes.
If no separate bank account is opened in the association's name, the manager's mandate is null and void as of right at the end of a three-month period following appointment (article 18 of the 1965 law, reinforced by the ALUR law). Only traditional credit institutions are eligible: neobanks are excluded.
No. Only traditional credit institutions may hold the association's separate bank account; neobanks are excluded. An account opened with an ineligible institution weakens the manager's whole mandate.
Chartered Accountant, registered with the Institute of Chartered Accountants.
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