Compared with
Self-manage with Board Butler, or hire a property manager.
This is the honest page. Some buildings should hire a manager, and Board Butler's own readiness score will tell you if yours is one of them.
Comparison record
What a manager does that software does not
Answers the phone at 2 am.
Walks the building.
Negotiates in person.
Holds the licence where one is required.
Carries the relationship with the trades.
Comparison record
What software does that a manager does not
Keeps the record the manager never hands over.
Enforces the decision link on every payment.
Makes the board's own compliance calendar.
Shows owners the scorecard.
Stays when the manager's contract ends.
Comparison record
Cost shape
A management contract is typically a monthly fee per unit plus the manager's time, set by the market in your city, and usually a one-year term.
Board Butler is per unit per month with no term.
No dollar comparison is printed here, because management fees vary by city. Put your unit count into the calculator and compare it with a quote from your own market.
A fair comparison
When hiring a manager could be the right call
When no director has two hours a week. When the building has staff to supervise. When the board cannot fill its seats. When the corporation is in litigation or receivership. When the readiness score says so.
Board Butler's self-managed readiness score names the gaps and lists the options, including fractional help for one task and a full management contract.
We would rather you hire a manager and keep the record in Board Butler than burn out a treasurer.
There is a middle path as well: a bookkeeper or fractional manager as a delegate inside Board Butler, with a dollar limit, for the tasks the board does not want.
Questions
Questions boards ask
Can a manager use Board Butler with us?
Yes, as a delegate with scoped permissions. The board stays the owner of the record.
Does Board Butler replace the licence a manager holds?
No. Where your jurisdiction licenses managers, self-managing boards are exempt from that licence because no one is being paid to manage. Verify for your jurisdiction.
Try it with your building's numbers
Put your unit count into the calculator, or set up your corporation and look around.