Confirm that the bill belongs to the association
Check the legal or trade name against the vendor record. Read the invoice number, service address, service dates, and description of work. A familiar logo does not prove the association ordered or received what appears on the page.
For a new vendor or an unusual bill, ask the board member or site contact who requested the work to confirm it. Keep that confirmation with the invoice rather than in a private text thread nobody else can find.
Match the charge to the contract and the work
Before approval
- Compare the rate, quantity, and extra charges with the signed agreement or approved quote
- Confirm the work was completed or the milestone was reached
- Check the correct budget line and the amount still available
- Resolve a duplicate invoice number or unexplained balance before paying
- Attach the contract, quote, receipt, or completion note that supports the charge
Keep preparation and approval separate
One person can assemble the invoice and its supporting record. Another authorized officer should review what will be paid before the bank instruction is released. The association's own policy and bank permissions decide the exact approval path.
That second look should be visible in the record: who reviewed it, what they approved, and when. An approval that exists only in someone's memory will not help the next treasurer reconstruct the payment.
Treat changed payment instructions as a new request
A message that changes a vendor's bank account or payment procedure deserves an independent check. Call a known contact using a number already on file or found separately, not the phone number inside the message asking for the change.
The FBI gives the same advice for business email compromise: verify payment requests and any change in account number or payment procedure with the person making the request. Urgency is a reason to slow down, not skip the check.
Contact the association's financial institution immediately. The FBI also directs victims of business email compromise to report it through the Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.
Leave a record the next treasurer can follow
Store the invoice, supporting document, approval, payment confirmation, and any corrected instructions together. The transaction in your financial records should link to those documents.
A clean payment record answers five questions without a phone call: who was paid, for what, under which agreement, who approved it, and when the money left the association's account.