SOW Keys to Success: Data Services Parameters and Expectations

Data is the backbone and often the critical path for CINC implementations. Great benefits and efficiencies in CINC are dependent on high data quality and integrity standards. It is important to treat the data and respective extract, transformation, loading, and testing process with extreme care and a high sense of urgency.

The following table describes the data import options and parameters.

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Area/Module Additional Description Parameters
ASSOCIATIONS
Associations  

Client provides legal/tax info, accounting method, fiscal year for each association.

Client provides an association code of 3-4 alpha-numeric characters with no symbols or leading zeros for each association.

Association MISC Info Custom fields related to associations.  
HOMEOWNERS
Homeowners Owner names, property address, owner contact info, owner mailing address, ACH info, and billing groups/sections.

Required Control Totals: number of units. The CINC import format requires one row for each unit/property.

Client reviews the CINC data import file format for homeowner data. Only data columns included in this import file format will be imported.

Client provides a homeowner account number of less then 16 alpha-numeric characters with no symbols, beginning with the association code.

Additional Addresses Renters/tenants, emergency contacts, etc. Data columns included in the Additional Addresses import file format will be imported.
Homeowner ACH Routing and account numbers.

Three Options: 1) imported along with with homeowner data import (preferred), 2) separate import later, or 3) manually entered by homeowner.

Client must provide access to this unmasked data. Client should confirm access to this information early in the project.

Homeowner Fee Ratios  

Homeowner fee ratios are used to calculate billing percentages to calculate billed homeowner fees. These percentages may differ than the property ownership percentages.

Ownership percentages can be imported as Homeowner MISC Info.

Homeowner MISC Info Custom fields such as vehicle info, pool key numbers, pet info, etc.  
Board Members   Board member assignments are a customer responsibility.  Depending on source data, CINC may be able to further assist with this, subject to scoping and change control costs
ACCOUNTING
Banks Bank name and routing number Required for all banks used by the associations
Bank MISC Info Custom fields related to banks.  
Bank Accounts   Full, accurate account numbers are required for each bank account.
Bank Account MISC Info Custom fields related to bank accounts.  
Chart of Accounts  

Clients are encouraged to work with CINC’s accounting experts to plan recommended revisions to their existing charts of accounts.

Standard data conversion does not include an overhaul of the Client’s chart of accounts structure or change in accounting methods, which are subject to change control.

Client to provide timely approval of the revised chart of accounts, after which material changes may be subject to change control.

Budgets   Association budgets can be entered directly in CINC which includes several features to make this as efficient as possible. Alternatively, they may be imported by entering budget data into an Excel workbook that is generated by CINC, using the revised chart of accounts that was approved by Client. In both cases, CINC will train how to do this and will work through initial examples with the customer. At that point, it is a customer responsibility to enter budgets in CINC.  Depending on source data, CINC may be able to further assist with this, subject to scoping and change control costs.
Charge Lists (Assessments) Types of charges that can be applied to homeowner ledgers. CINC does not import charge lists (assessments).  CINC has a standard list of these by default. If a customer has assessment types that are not included in the standard list, they are manually entered into CINC.
Association fees Fee schedule for each association. Recurring, predictable charges for homeowners, such as assessments. Client must provide homeowner ratios if billing by percentage. If delinquent and interest parameters are not imported, Client is responsible for manually configuring these items later.
VENDORS/ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
Vendors  

Vendor list in CINC is global. Client must provide one vendor list.

Clients are encouraged to “clean up” their list of vendors by identifying only those vendors recently used. It is not recommended to import all vendors from prior software.

Vendor Insurance    
Vendor MISC Info Custom fields of information related to vendors.  
Service Providers List of preferred vendors for association. Assigns an existing vendor to an association as a preferred service provider.  
BEGINNING BALANCES
Homeowner AR Aging   Homeowner ledger transaction history will not be imported into CINC’s Homeowner ledgers at go live. Existing homeowners balances, by specific charge types, as of the day before go-live, are imported. It is CINC’s preferred method to use the actual charge date when to age balances.  However, our ability to do this is based on the legacy software’s ability to provide this level of detail. If the legacy software only provides 30-60-90-120 (or potentially longer) aging, CINC will calculate a date based on this.
Homeowner Prepaids   Homeowner ledger prepaid transactions history will not be imported into CINC’s Homeowner ledgers at go live. Prepaid Homeowner balances balances as of the day before go-live are imported.
GL  

GL transaction history will not be imported into the Associations’ General Ledgers. GL account balances, as of the day before go-live, are imported.

CINC requires timely access to the complete, balanced, and reconciled financial packages for each association dated, the day before go live, including balance sheet, YTD income statement, AP detail, AR and Prepaid aging detail (if accrual), bank statement balances, checkbook transactions, and bank reconciliation reports.

Bank Balances  

Bank Balances history will not be imported. Bank Balances, as of the day before go-live, are imported.

DATA HISTORY AND CUSTOM DATA OPTIONS

(Data history is not part of standard implementations. Current, open records such as violations, ARC requests, and work orders are a type of data history and are not imported as part of standard implementations (they are entered manually which also serves as a training exercise). Data History work is only to be performed according to special stipulations in the Order Form or an Amendment after required scoping call.  Standard rate for data history work is $150 per hour and tiered fixed pricing per data type is also available.)

Depending on the type of data, there may be different options for including data history in CINC:

Import Direct into CINC Modules This entails importing data into the actual CINC modules such that it will appear in CINC essentially as if it had been entered in CINC originally. Subject to source data completeness, this means it is integrated into CINC functionality and reporting. This is the most technically challenging, and hence most limited, option. This may be an option for Violations, Work Orders, and ARC Requests including open and/or closed records.  CINC can provide a specific format for this data and it is the customer’s responsibility to provide the data. Feasibility, time, and cost may vary significantly if data is not provided to CINC in the standard format. This option is very limited and not feasible for most modules.  For example, this is not an option for importing ledger histories or module set up configurations. Corresponding file attachments cannot be imported directly into CINC modules.
Import into History Module This entails importing data into a read only history module. Data in this module is completely separate so it is not subject to any CINC functionality or reporting. Data can be filtered and sorted in the CINC History Module. For several data types, CINC can provide a specific format for this data. In all cases, it is the customer’s responsibility to provide the data. Feasibility, time, and cost may vary significantly if data is not provided to CINC in the standard format. While there are standard layouts for certain types of common data, this module can be configured to store virtually anything.
     

File Attachments

File Attachments such as PDF, JPEG, PNG, Word, and Excel are distinct from “data” and are subject to both additional limitations and additional self-service tools. File attachments can be manually uploaded to correspondence records on Homeowners and Associations. Often, the most simple, cost effective option may be to extract these from the former system and place them on a portable drive for retention and reference purposes. In areas where CINC importing file attachments is an option, the customer must provide the file attachments in a CINC prescribed structure and/or provide a corresponding Excel file used for descriptive and mapping purposes.

The following table highlights which data history options may be available for each type of data.  The feasibility and best choice will be primarily dependent on data availability and format.  Any data types not listed in this parameters page are considered custom and subject to scoping for feasibility, time, and cost.

Data Type Direct in CINC History Module   Additional Information
Violations X X    
Violation Notes   X    
Violation Attachments   X    
Work Order X X   Work Orders for Homeowners and Associations are two distinct data sets
Work Order Notes   X    
Work Order Attachments   X    
ARC Request X X    
ARC Notes   X    
ARC Attachments   X    
         
Homeowner Transactions (Ledgers)   X    
Homeowner Notes   X    
         
Association GL Transactions   X    
Associations   X   Most notably to include former, inactive association lists
Association Notes   X    
Association Attachments   X    
FAQ X      
WebAxis Users X     This utilizes a data process whereby WebAxis users are registered for each email address associated with a homeowner record.  Users would need to reset their password upon first log in.
WebAxis Board Documents X     Subject to file attachment requirements (files and prescribed mapping documents must be provided)

 

General Requirements and Assumptions

  • CINC is happy to and will assist with all of the following Client responsibilities. CINC time spent may be subject to change control and respective hourly rates.
  • Data files are supplied by Client. If data files must be obtained from third party vendors such as banks, Client is responsible for obtaining them. CINC may be able to assist with obtaining data in which case Client is responsible for providing access.
  • Client is responsible for data quality, completeness, and clean up from source systems.
  • Client is responsible for final data review and approval. CINC will assist with formatting data and making review as easy as possible.
  • Unless specifically noted otherwise, CINC import file formats will be used to import data into CINC. Only data columns included in these import file formats will be imported. “CINC Import Templates with Requirements” Excel document is available for reference.
  • For all imports, any columns not populated at the time of import will not be imported later. If an update is required, Client is responsible for manually updating this information, or a change control may be created.
  • Data files must include file layouts or explanations of the contents of each data element.
  • Data files must be in ASCII or Excel format. CINC may be able to accept other formats but may be subject to change control.
  • Data must be provided to CINC using CINC prescribed data transfer mechanisms such as secure Sharepoint folders or SFTP transfers.
  • All homeowner data must be mapped to homeowner account numbers. All association data must be mapped to association codes. All vendor data must be mapped to unique vendor names.
  • Unless stated in the SOW Order Form, the assumption is one data source per data type. If there are multiple sources for common information, client must provide clear guidelines in regard to which system is the primary “system of truth” for each type of data in order to resolve conflicts (i.e. if homeowners are in more than one system). If combining or matching data from multiple sources (i.e. from multiple prior software systems such as homeowner information), there must be a “primary key” such as an account number in each source file and a key to map them if they are not the same in both systems.  It is not recommended to use non account number fields such as names or property addresses for this purpose because that will likely result in additional manual work or a change control for additional hours..
  • Unless noted in the SOW Order Form, all data imports will be approved by Client and imported into CINC once, after which Client is responsible for keeping the data updated. Once a data set is approved, a re-import or update of the data may trigger a change control.
  • An import is defined as a single file imported into CINC.  If multiple files are provided, each constitutes an import.  For example, Homeowner Miscellaneous data may be provided in multiple files due to timing, association differences, etc.  If three files are provided and imported separately, this is considered three imports and may be priced accordingly or trigger a change control.
  • Unless specifically noted in the SOW Order Form, CINC does not load historical records from legacy systems and if history loading is specified in the SOW Order Form, it is subject to the parameters in the “Data History Options” section in the table above.