Most committees start comparing body corporate managers by lining up annual fees. That's usually the wrong starting point. A low headline price that excludes extra general meetings, income tax filing or other additional services can end up costing more than a higher quote that actually covers what your complex needs.
This comes up often in conversations with committees, according to Omair Adil, Business Development Manager at Crockers Body Corporate. As he puts it: "The biggest mistake that committees make is focusing on the price rather than the needs."
Do You Need a Body Corporate Manager?
Whether you need a body corporate manager largely comes down to the size of your complex. Bodies corporate of large unit title developments, where there are 10 or more principal units, must appoint a body corporate manager. A body corporate can opt out of this requirement by special resolution, something many committees deal with at their AGM, which requires at least 75 per cent of those who vote on the resolution to vote in favour, not a simple majority.
A body corporate manager is a person engaged by a body corporate, either directly or through its committee, to provide or manage one or more services: administration and record keeping, financial handling, and regulatory compliance including statutory disclosures. A manager doesn't need to cover all three categories to meet the legal definition, though most full-service providers do.
For complexes under 10 principal units, appointing a manager is a choice rather than a legal requirement. Many smaller bodies corporate still choose one, because the administrative and compliance workload rarely shrinks in proportion to the number of units.
It helps to be clear about who's actually responsible for what, since confusion here is a common source of committee frustration.
RESPONSIBILITY | BODY CORPORATE MANAGER | COMMITTEE (WHERE DELEGATED) | OWNERS (BODY CORPORATE) |
Levies and financial records | Administers transactions and keeps records | May approve minor items within delegated limits | Approve the annual budget and set levies at the AGM |
Financial statements and independent assurance | Coordinates the audit, review or verification process with the appointed accountant | Not applicable; this is an owners' decision | Arrange an audit or accountant's review, or approve specific verification procedures by special resolution at a general meeting. The body corporate may instead opt out for that year by special resolution at its AGM |
Maintenance | Obtains quotes and coordinates approved contractors | Requests maintenance quotes when work is required and approves quotes for general maintenance | Approve the long-term maintenance plan and major works |
Meetings | Prepares agendas, sends notices, records minutes | Decides matters within its delegated authority | Elect the chairperson and vote on resolutions |
Compliance | Advises on obligations and submits required documents | Monitors compliance within delegated functions | Remain ultimately responsible, even where a manager is engaged |
Appointing a manager doesn't affect your rights as a unit owner, and the principle runs the other way too: engaging a manager doesn't transfer the body corporate's own legal responsibilities away from its owners.
Residents societies sit outside the Unit Titles Act, so the thresholds above don't automatically apply to them. If your society is comparing managers, the same practical tests, fee scope, reporting, responsiveness and accountability, still apply. Check your constitution or rules for who actually holds authority to appoint or change a manager.
Matching the Manager's Scope to What Your Complex Actually Needs
A reasonable service scope covers meeting administration, financial record keeping, levy collection, insurance coordination, obtaining maintenance quotes and coordinating approved contractors, compliance advice and communication with owners. Where committees get caught out isn't usually the big headline items, it's what sits just outside them.
A body corporate manager's role is administration, record keeping, financial management and regulatory compliance, not acting as an on-site caretaker or facilities manager. Routine site visits, caretaking duties and after-hours maintenance callouts are usually a separate building management arrangement, and shouldn't be assumed to sit inside a body corporate manager's fee. If your complex has that kind of on-site role, cost it separately so you're comparing the right thing.
Omair has seen this repeatedly when committees compare proposals: a manager's base fee looks competitive, but extra general meetings, additional committee meetings, AGM travel, or specific compliance and tax-related tasks get billed separately. That isn't necessarily a problem, it's only an issue when it isn't disclosed clearly enough for the committee to compare proposals on the same basis.
Most body corporate management companies handle administration, record keeping and financial management together, under one roof. Outsourcing the accounting function to a separate external accountant is less common, but it does happen, and it can come with additional handling fees. It's worth asking any manager you're comparing: who actually looks after your money and records day to day, is it the same company you've engaged, and if any part is outsourced, what that costs.
Before comparing fees, work out what your complex actually needs this year: the annual AGM and how many committee meetings you're likely to hold, and whether attendance at each is expected in person or can be handled virtually. Needs can shift from year to year. A complex dealing with a major repair project or an ownership dispute may need extra general meetings (EGMs) or additional committee meetings beyond the usual run, so it's worth checking a fee proposal against what you actually expect to use, not just last year's figure.
Management Fees: What to Compare Beyond the Headline Number
Ask for the total expected annual cost, not just the base administration fee. Request a full list of what's included, what's charged as an extra, and whether the manager earns any commission or referral fee from insurers, contractors or other suppliers connected to your complex. Extra general meetings legitimately take more time to administer, so it's reasonable for these to be billed separately; the key is knowing the cost upfront and comparing the same inclusions and exclusions across every proposal.
Some body corporate managers receive commissions or referral fees from insurers, contractors or other suppliers. That isn't automatically a problem: a manager with established supplier relationships can sometimes secure better negotiated terms than a body corporate could arrange on its own. What matters is disclosure. Ask whether any commission or referral arrangement exists, who it benefits, and whether your committee is still free to choose a different supplier without that arrangement if you'd rather. The choice of supplier should sit with the body corporate, not be shaped by what's most profitable for the manager.
Bodies corporate also have income tax obligations, separate from GST. Because a body corporate typically earns interest on its operating account and any long-term maintenance fund, most need to file an annual income tax return to account for that interest income, regardless of whether they're GST registered. Ask whether preparing and filing the income tax return is included in the base fee or charged as a separate task.
Unit title bodies corporate can generally choose whether to register for GST. Member levies do not count towards the $60,000 compulsory registration threshold, although taxable supplies to third parties do. A body corporate that is registered must file GST returns and account for GST under the rules applying to both member and third-party transactions. Because registration can have wider tax consequences, committees should get accounting advice rather than treating it as only a filing question. If your body corporate is GST registered, ask whether preparing and filing those returns sits inside the base fee or is charged separately, alongside the income tax return and other accounting work.
Ask specifically whether your management company retains interest credited on the body corporate's day-to-day operating account, or passes all of it on in full. Some companies keep this interest themselves, then charge a fee each time funds are moved out to a separate interest-bearing account or term deposit, and again when funds are moved back. That combination, retaining operating account interest while charging to shift money elsewhere, can leave a body corporate with little or no net benefit even where the arrangement looks reasonable on paper. Ask two things: whether operating account interest is kept by the manager or passed on to the body corporate, and whether any fee applies each time funds are transferred, so you can judge the actual net return rather than taking a quoted arrangement at face value.
COST ITEM | ASK THIS | WHY IT MATTERS |
Base annual fee | What exactly does this include? | Avoids assuming coverage that isn't there |
AGM and committee meetings included | Is the annual AGM included, how many committee meetings are included each year, and is attendance expected in person or can it be done virtually? | Meeting needs vary year to year, and format can affect cost |
Extra general meetings (EGMs) | Is each one charged separately, and how much? | Complexes with disputes or active projects often need more general meetings |
AGM attendance and travel | Is attending the AGM included in the base fee, and are travel costs charged separately? | Some agreements treat AGM attendance as standard, others don't |
Income tax return | Is preparing and filing our annual income tax return included in the base fee? | Bodies corporate earn interest and usually need to file, regardless of GST status |
GST registration and returns | If our body corporate is GST registered, is preparing and filing returns included or extra? | GST compliance is a distinct task from day-to-day administration |
Accounting and bookkeeping | Are accounts prepared in-house, or outsourced to an external accountant, and is this charged separately? | Outsourcing is uncommon but does happen, and can add handling fees |
Interest on operating account funds | Does the management company retain any interest credited on our operating account, or is all of it passed on to the body corporate? | Some managers keep this interest rather than crediting it to the body corporate, which affects the real cost of the service |
Moving funds into interest-bearing accounts | Is there a fee each time funds move into or out of a term deposit or separate interest-bearing account? | Transfer fees can offset or exceed any benefit of chasing a higher rate |
Insurance and contractor commissions | Does the manager receive any commission or referral fee, and can we choose a different supplier without it? | You're entitled to know if third-party relationships affect pricing, and to retain supplier choice |
The fee structure, and what counts as additional work, should be pinned down in the written agreement itself rather than left to a verbal understanding.
Financial Transparency: How to Tell If Your Money is Being Looked After
Owners are entitled to a clear, itemised picture of where their levies go, not just a total balance. As Omair explains: "It is important for the committees and the owners to really understand where the money is being spent."
There's a real difference between a report that groups spending under broad headings, such as "maintenance" or "utilities" for the year, and a full itemised ledger showing every receipt and payment individually: twelve separate monthly power bills rather than one annual figure, each showing the payee, the amount and the date paid. A summary tells you roughly where the money went. An itemised ledger lets you check specific categories, maintenance, insurance, legal costs, tax and accounting charges, and confirm each payment was approved and within the right spending limit.
A committee should be able to request this level of transaction detail at any time, not just once a year, and owners should have access to appropriately detailed reporting too, including at the AGM when reviewing the year's accounts. If a manager can't or won't provide that detail when it's reasonably requested, treat it as a significant concern worth pursuing, though on its own it doesn't prove anything has gone wrong.
Beyond that, ask how often you can see transaction-level detail, whether it's available on demand or only at the AGM, and whether delegated spending limits for contractors and suppliers are ever used to cover the manager's own additional charges, such as tax-filing fees, outside the agreed fee schedule. Delegations exist so a manager can pay approved third-party invoices without referring every item back to committee, not to let a manager add its own extra charges without specific agreement.
Reviewing transaction-level detail regularly is a different exercise from an annual audit, though the two can inform each other. A body corporate's legal minimum for independent assurance each year is set out in the Unit Titles Act (see the table above and the FAQs below for the detail), and committees can choose a more thorough option if they want one. Keeping a close eye on transactions through the year can help a committee decide whether to recommend a fuller independent audit beyond that minimum: audits can be costly, and if regular transaction reviews haven't raised any concerns, that can reasonably factor into the decision, provided whatever legal minimum applies to your body corporate is still met.
Crockers, for example, gives every body corporate its own bank account and reconciles transactions daily, providing real-time financial reporting. It also takes the additional step, not required by law, of engaging BDO each year at its own cost to audit the systems and controls it uses to manage body corporate funds, separately from any audit, review or verification work arranged for an individual body corporate's own financial statements.
The right question to keep coming back to is simple: can you get a clear, itemised answer to "what was this levy spent on" without having to chase it?
Warning Signs Worth Investigating
None of the following proves a manager is doing anything wrong on their own, but each is worth asking about directly:
Unexplained or vague fees on invoices, especially charges that don't match the services and rates in the written agreement, that don't get a straight answer when queried.
Requests for itemised, transaction-level detail being delayed, avoided, or met with inconsistent answers. A one-off delay happens; a repeated pattern is worth raising.
A complex changing managers repeatedly in a short period. Sometimes that reflects a difficult building, sometimes a service problem, and it's reasonable to ask which.
Outdated systems, such as paper-only records with no online access to accounts or minutes, that make it harder for owners to check anything themselves.
The point of these checks isn't to catch a manager out. It's to make an informed choice rather than an assumption.
Systems, Support and Continuity
The number of complexes a manager looks after doesn't tell you much on its own. Unit counts and complexity vary hugely between buildings, so comparing raw numbers between providers isn't a reliable measure of whether they can handle yours well. A more useful question is what sits behind your day-to-day contact.
Ask whether your dedicated contact is backed by a wider team covering finance, compliance and maintenance, and what happens to your service if that person is on leave, moves to another role, or is simply flat out. Body corporate work is seasonal: AGMs cluster heavily in the April to May period for many complexes, and a manager without enough depth behind the frontline contact can struggle to keep response times steady exactly when committees need them most.
Online portal access matters too. Being able to see levy payments, meeting minutes, insurance documents and maintenance requests without waiting for an email reply saves real time for busy committee members, particularly chairpersons juggling the role alongside work and family.
Questions to Ask Before You Appoint a Body Corporate Manager
What's included in the base fee, and what's charged as an extra, including AGM attendance, travel, GST and income tax filing?
Is the annual AGM included, how many committee meetings are included each year, is attendance in person or virtual, and what does an additional general meeting cost?
Do you handle our accounts and records in-house, or is any part of this outsourced to an external accountant?
Does the management company retain any interest credited on our operating account, or is it passed on to the body corporate in full, and are there fees each time funds move into or out of a separate interest-bearing account?
Can we see itemised, transaction-level financial reporting, not just summary headings, and can we request it at any time?
Is our body corporate's money held in its own account, or pooled with others?
Do you receive any commission or referral fee from insurers or contractors connected to our complex, and can we choose a different supplier without it?
How are maintenance decisions handled: do you obtain quotes for the committee to request and approve for general maintenance, with major works and the long-term maintenance plan going to the full body corporate?
What's your average response time for owner enquiries?
What support does our dedicated contact have, and how do you maintain service levels during busy periods such as AGM season or when someone is on leave?
What's your process when something goes wrong or a mistake is made?
What does your written agreement say about termination and notice periods?
How to Appoint or Change a Body Corporate Manager in New Zealand
Start by checking who has authority to make the decision. A body corporate manager can be engaged by the body corporate itself or through its committee, so the right process depends on your complex's existing delegations and current agreement, not a single fixed rule.
The written agreement must cover the manager's reporting requirements, code compliance, performance reviews and measures, termination grounds and process, role at general meetings, and the return of the body corporate's records, funds and other property when the engagement ends.
Under the code of conduct, managers must act in the body corporate's best interests and in good faith, exercise due care and diligence, disclose conflicts of interest, comply with applicable legal requirements and keep required records.
In practice, switching managers generally involves:
Confirming whether the committee can appoint or terminate a manager, or whether it needs a general meeting.
Reviewing your current agreement's notice and termination terms.
Getting proposals based on your complex's actual needs, not a generic quote.
Giving formal notice to the outgoing manager under the existing agreement.
Handing over financial records, minutes, contracts, insurance documents and access codes.
Signing a written agreement with the new manager covering the terms above.
Because contract terms vary, it's worth having your specific agreement checked before giving notice, particularly around notice periods and handover.
The Crockers Difference
Crockers has more than 70 dedicated staff in its Body Corporate team, supporting over 1,100 communities nationwide, from small residential blocks to large, mixed-use developments, with a dedicated account manager for each client backed by specialist finance, compliance and maintenance support. When maintenance work is needed, Crockers obtains quotes from contractors and brings them to the committee, which requests quotes when work is required and approves them for general maintenance, with larger decisions and the long-term maintenance plan going to the full body corporate. Crockers also keeps its accounting function in-house rather than outsourcing it to a separate business. Full detail on these proof points, including its Gallagher insurance arrangement and BDO audit of its own systems, sits on the page explaining What Makes Crockers Body Corporate Different.
Mistakes happen in any business managing money and property on behalf of others. What matters is how they're handled. Omair is direct about this: "Everybody makes mistakes. When we do make mistakes, we own them and we try to rectify them rather than covering them up."
Owners and committees can view levy accounts, minutes, insurance documents and financial reports at any time through Crockers' MyCommunity portal. Developers setting up a new complex can also explore Crockers' body corporate developer services before appointing a manager.
Compare Your Options
Comparing your current body corporate manager against another option? Request a free, no-obligation proposal from Crockers Body Corporate
About this article: prepared by the Crockers Body Corporate team, drawing on first-hand observations from Business Development Manager Omair Adil and current New Zealand unit titles legislation.
