Creating Your HOA — Fourplex Help

What information do I need to create an HOA?

You'll need:

HOA name — the name of your homeowners association
Mailing address — the address associated with your HOA
Number of units — how many units are in your community

You'll enter these during the initial sign-up flow. The person who creates the HOA automatically becomes the President. Additional details like formation date and fiscal year start can be added later in Settings.

How do I create a new HOA?

When you sign up for Fourplex for the first time, you'll be guided through a short creation flow:

Enter your HOA's name, mailing address, and number of units.
Confirm. Your account is created as the President.
You'll land on the dashboard with access to the full app.

After creation, you'll see the Onboarding Center — a checklist that guides you through the remaining setup steps.

What is the Onboarding Center?

The Onboarding Center is a checklist on the dashboard that tracks your HOA's setup progress. Board members can see it.

It has five steps:

Set up your HOA email — configure an email address for your HOA (e.g., my-hoa@hoamail.app). This is the address the Inbox uses to receive and send mail.
Invite your board members — bring in your Treasurer, Secretary, and any other board members.
Invite your homeowners — invite the remaining unit owners and residents.
Set up billing — connect a Stripe bank account to enable online dues collection. This step is optional and can be done later.
Complete your HOA profile — add formation date, fiscal year start, and any other details in Settings.

Each step shows as complete once the relevant action is taken.

Do I need to complete all the onboarding steps before using Fourplex?

No. The full dashboard is available immediately after creating your HOA. You can use the Inbox, Documents, Calendar, and other features before finishing the checklist.

The onboarding steps are not a gate — they're a guide. The exception is the email setup: until you configure your HOA email slug, the Inbox won't have an address and won't receive external mail.

Why do I need to set up an HOA email address?

Your HOA's Fourplex email address (like clover-densmore@hoamail.app) is how external mail reaches your Inbox. Homeowners and vendors can email that address, and it appears in the Inbox for board members to read and respond to.

If you skip this step, the Inbox will still work for internal communication, but you won't have an address to share externally.

To set it up: go to the Onboarding Center and click Set up your HOA email, or go to Settings → Email.

When should I set up billing?

Set up billing (connecting a Stripe bank account) when you're ready to collect dues online. It's not required to do during initial setup — you can invite members, manage documents, and use other features without it.

If your HOA currently collects dues by check and you're not ready to switch to online payments, skip the billing step for now and return to it later from Billing → Setup.

Can I change my HOA's name, address, or unit count after creating it?

Yes. Go to Settings in the sidebar to update any of these fields. Only the President can make changes in Settings.

How do I find the Onboarding Center?

The Onboarding Center appears on the main dashboard after your HOA is created. If you've dismissed it or navigated away, look for an Onboarding or Setup link in the sidebar or at the top of the dashboard. It remains visible until all steps are marked complete.

What happens after all onboarding steps are complete?

The Onboarding Center is marked complete and stops showing prominently on the dashboard. Your HOA is fully set up: email is configured, members are invited, and billing is ready if you enabled it. From this point, the dashboard shows your regular activity — Inbox, meetings, documents, and finances.