Updated
- Owner portalDocuments, statements, invoice approvals
- Meetings and votingNotices, proxies, electronic votes
- MaintenanceWork orders and contractors
Start with what the law asks of you
Strata software isn’t a free choice. Each state sets rules for how you hold owners’ money, what records you keep and how fast you hand them over, and your systems have to meet them. Here are the four largest states.
| NSW | Victoria | Queensland | WA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manager licence | Strata managing agent licence | Registered with the Business Licensing Authority | None, but a code of conduct applies | None, but qualifications and checks apply |
| Owners' money | Trust account, reconciled monthly, trial balance within 21 days | Held on trust, a separate account per owners corporation | Accounts in the body corporate's own name, reconciled within 21 days | Separate or pooled trust accounts, able to account separately |
| Records kept | 7 years, electronically | 7 years | 6 or 2 years, by type | 7 years, some for 20 |
| Email counts as a record | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Owner asks to inspect records | Within 10 days | At any reasonable time | Within 7 days | Within 10 days |
| Set by | Property and Stock Agents Act 2002 | Owners Corporations Act 2006 | Body Corporate and Community Management (Standard Module) Regulation 2020 | Strata Titles Act 1985 |
NSW goes furthest. The Property and Stock Agents Regulation 2022 sets rules for trust accounting software itself: every change to client details is logged with the before and after values, journal numbers run in sequence, a recorded transaction can only be fixed by another transaction, and the records are backed up at least monthly. A cloud backup counts. Since 11 June 2024 the owners corporation’s records must be kept electronically, and since 1 July 2025 agents have reported to each owners corporation every six months.
When a building changes managers, the records have to follow it: within 14 days of notice in NSW, and within 28 days in Victoria and WA.
For the terms and Acts in every state and territory, see our guide to strata law, state by state.
The system of record
This is the platform your trust accounts, levy notices, arrears, budgets and building records live in. Changing it is a big job, because every building’s history is inside. The established Australian options:
- StrataMaxModules around its core BCMax system: banking, documents, tasks, an owners portal and voting.
- MRI Strata MasterElectronic banking, journaling and bank reconciliation, with client portals and a meetings app.
- Urbanise StrataLevy notices and debt recovery automated from the budget, beside a separate facilities platform.
- PropertyIQ StrataStatutory financial reporting, levy notices, meetings and a portal for owners and committees.
- IntellistrataAn all-in-one cloud system, with AI email composition built in.
- SMATACloud-based management, communication and accounting, with data stored in Australia.
When you compare them, look past the feature list to the parts that decide whether you stay compliant, and whether you can ever leave: trust accounting that meets your state’s rules, and every record for a building exportable inside the handover deadline.
Around it: portals, meetings and maintenance
Most firms add these, either as modules of the system of record or as separate tools.
- Owner portalsOwners download their own documents and levy statements, and committees approve invoices without an email chain.
- Meetings and votingMust follow your state's rules. In NSW, voting before a meeting needs a resolution approving it, and can't elect the committee.
- MaintenanceWork orders, contractor insurance and licences, and updates to owners while the repair happens.
The part no system of record handles: email
Here’s where the hours go. Nearly 60% of strata managers work more than a 38 hour week, and the Strata Community Association in WA has noted that a manager with up to 60 schemes can get over 300 emails a day. Macquarie’s 2026 report puts the average manager at 61 plans and 890 lots.
60 to 80% of the day goes on owner communication
Firms have noticed. The same Macquarie report found AI tools in 80% of strata businesses, used “primarily for communication drafting and templating”. The tools split into two camps: some read and send routine replies on their own, and others draft a reply and wait for a manager to approve it.
Whichever you choose, ask it to do five things:
- 1Works out which building and lot each email is about, and says when it isn't sure.
- 2Drafts from the building's own by-laws and minutes, and shows the passage it used.
- 3Puts a person in charge of what gets sent. A question about a leak or a levy can carry money or legal consequences.
- 4Sends from your own mailbox, in the same conversation, so the correspondence record stays whole.
- 5Sits beside your system of record instead of replacing it.
That’s the job Strata Inbox does, inside your firm’s Microsoft 365 mailbox. Your trust accounting stays exactly where it is.
A checklist for your next software review
- Does the trust accounting meet your state's rules, and can you prove it at audit?
- Can you export everything for one building within the handover deadline?
- Do the bank feeds and reconciliation fit your month-end deadline?
- Are records, including email, kept electronically and easy to search for the retention period?
- Can owners and committees help themselves to documents, statements and invoice approvals?
- Does electronic voting follow your state's meeting rules?
- Where is the data stored, and who can see it?
- Who decides what goes out in your firm's name: a person, or the software?
Sources
- Property and Stock Agents Regulation 2022 (NSW)
- Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW)
- NSW Government: record keeping requirements
- Owners Corporations Act 2006 (Vic)
- Body Corporate and Community Management (Standard Module) Regulation 2020 (Qld)
- Strata Titles Act 1985 (WA)
- MRI Software: Voice of the Strata Manager report, 2023
- Strata Community Association (WA): communicating with your strata manager
- Macquarie Business Banking: 2026 strata industry benchmarking report
- StrataMax: integrated modules
- MRI Software: strata management
- Urbanise Strata
- PropertyIQ Strata
