Humans as a race are headed towards a society that is designed to evolve with a highly concentrated blend of cyberspace and physical reality. It’s called Society 5.0. We’ve all been familiarised with robot home assistants, mixed reality home entertainment, on-demand home services, and self-driving cars. How does the current landscape of self-governed gated communities fare against the rising tide of AI? Can technology help day-to-day society problems like gatekeeping, security, maintenance bill collection, and accounting? The answer is a resounding yes. It’s important to first understand how societies conventionally function and where technology can step in to make a difference.
Disadvantages of the traditional finance management system
Societies are still using legacy systems of payment collection and billing/accounting.
- Door-to-door collection of maintenance bills
- Physical ledgers, registers
- Paper invoicing, billing, record keeping
There are several drawbacks in doing things the old way:
- Misplacing, losing, soiling important documents
- Excessive amounts of time to sift through mounds of paperwork
- Loss, theft, embezzlement of dues collection made in cash
- Manual accounting errors and delays
Going paperless is the obvious choice that societies have warmed up to. But it’s not enough to pick and choose disparate tools to leverage tech. A real-life example is societies using email/SMS reminders for maintenance collection, which the residents pay using mobile banking apps, the records of which are maintained on an Excel Spreadsheet. For complex accounting such as GST and operational budgets, societies might even use ready-to-use software (like Tally, ZohoBooks, etc.). Great as they are, the better choice is to invest in an end-to-end accounting toolkit specially designed for residential societies‘ specific accounting needs.
Here’s how the MyGate Enterprise Resource Planning App can manage all finance-related tasks of your community.
Residents can pay maintenance and other dues with multiple payment options and even UPI.
The managing committee can create auto-reminders for maintenance collection, raise invoicing for groups or individuals, configure payments/penalties based on the size of the flat
Residents can download real-time receipts of payment. Admin users (MC/RWA) can work on a single dashboard for payments, bills & reports.
MC can get easy access to pre-built templates and auto calculation of GST, discount, arrears, advance payment, and other charges as well as downloadable account-wise reports and reconciliation.
Why is digital financial management necessary for residential societies?
Because nobody has the time in their busy lives to track hundreds of monthly maintenance bills and manual calculations lead to accounting errors. MyGate is a comprehensive accounting toolkit that can not only get core tasks done ten times faster but can also regulate timely payments. Case studies have shown that societies that use digital technology and society ERP software like MyGate to manage finances have seen up to 90% maintenance collection on the due date. Need more convincing? Societies can get ERP software and related tools at low prices that fit their budget based on different pricing models.
Besides, this app-based approach is not just limited to finances. Technology can take care of every need or priority of a gated community, the main one being security.
Limitations of traditional security systems
Security guards equipped with only a register and the intercom are required to monitor and record hundreds of visitors that might enter a gated society. This leaves the gate wide open for intruders, lurkers, and even hooligans and thieves.
CCTV is used as an afterthought in case of theft or any other untoward incident. Access control systems, biometric attendance, and other security gadgets/systems require considerable financial investments and need maintenance/upgrades.
It’s not possible to uniformly authenticate every individual, vehicle, domestic staff movement using the above solutions.
The benefits of intelligent app-based technology for society gatekeeping far outweigh those that have been in use until now.
Passcode-based automation of visitor entry/exit and authentication, no need for registers at the main gate.
No heavy investment needed due to pay-as-you-go pricing structures, easy to use for guards and residents.
Safe delivery workflows with the ‘leave at gate’ option to have the package picked up later with passcode verification.
Real-time gate monitoring for residents even when they’re not at home (with options to accept or deny entry).
Face Recognition Technology for guard attendance
Domestic help tracking, panic alert workflows, vendor overstay alert, child safety feature
How safe is safe technology?
Security and privacy are ensured at multiple levels by using intelligent society management apps. The data of residents and financial information stays safe in the private cloud and is protected using advanced encryption best practices. These are based on Behavioural Intelligence Augmented Authentication (BIAA) which are essentially patented algorithms that control visitor entry to prevent threats and risks.
Society ERP apps can also track vehicular movement, using technology to identify number plates of resident vehicles, triggering the main gate to open when needed. They come equipped with a feature to contact vehicle owners in case of parking issues.
With the rise in multifamily living, gated communities need to instill an environment of safety while streamlining financial management on smart, contemporary, cloud-based apps, technology, and tools. Not only can they accomplish tasks efficiently, but also save hours of manual labour. They have the potential of radically altering the experience of gated community living which by design should offer optimum privacy, the safety of every resident, and modernized financial management… all with the click of a few buttons on the phone.
Infographic created by DFIN, a financial compliance software company
