Reserve study goals and typically different than accounting goals and are typically used for different purposes. 

What is a reserve account for common interest communites like condominiums, PUD and HOA. 

Comparing reserve account balances is not appropriate but there is a measurement known as Percent Funded which is helpful. 

An Associating will usually have several options to consider when facing common area expenses related to poor installs other factors which have diminished the useful life of the component. 

Providing building plans to the reserve analyst before or at the site inspection is a time saving and money saving option that many property managers can do with minimal effort. The Board will be impressed the reserve study will be more accurate and typically require less time to complete.