Buildings & HOAs
The right building management software for Lebanon handles USD and LBP together, works in Arabic and English, and issues arrears notices that reference Joint-Ownership Law No. 88/1983. Most global tools do none of these, which is why a spreadsheet often wins by default.
If you run a building, an HOA or a syndic, you already know the job: collect fees, chase late payers, keep clean accounts, and answer to owners at the annual assembly. The software market is full of tools for this, but almost all of them were built for a single currency, in English, for American or European rules. In Lebanon, that gap is exactly where the pain lives.
Why global tools fall short here
- One currency. Tools like the big US platforms assume everything is in one currency. Lebanese buildings live in two, USD and LBP, with a rate that moves.
- No Arabic. Owners expect receipts and notices in Arabic as well as English, properly right-to-left, not a machine translation.
- No local legal notices. Arrears escalation in Lebanon runs through Joint-Ownership Law No. 88/1983. Foreign tools have never heard of it.
- Wrong assumptions. They are priced, supported and designed for markets that do not match how a Lebanese committee actually operates.
What to look for instead
A tool built for buildings here should cover:
- Dual currency, USD and LBP, on every fee, payment and receipt, with an exchange rate you set and control.
- Full bilingual output, English and Arabic, including a real right-to-left interface.
- Per-share fees from a budget, so the annual budget turns into per-unit invoices in one step.
- Arrears tracking and staged legal notices worded for Law 88/1983.
- Proper accounting and reports, double-entry, with export to Excel whenever you want.
- Branded receipts and your building's own name, logo and colours on documents.
- Roles and permissions so the committee, treasurer and residents each see only what they should.
- Clearance certificates for owners selling a unit.
- Browser-based, so there is nothing to install and it works on any phone or laptop.
Questions to ask any vendor
- Can I export all my data to Excel at any time, and is it truly mine?
- Is each building's data isolated so no one else can see it?
- Do documents and support work in Arabic as well as English?
- Can you help me move my existing spreadsheet in?
Spreadsheet vs software
A spreadsheet is free and familiar, but it lives on one person's laptop, has no audit trail, and collapses at handover to the next committee. Purpose-built software keeps a clean, shared record that survives people leaving, and turns hours of monthly admin into a few clicks. For a building that is more than a handful of units, that trade is usually worth it.
This is exactly the gap Orbit's property tools were built to close: made for buildings, HOAs and syndics in the Levant, bilingual and dual-currency, with Law 88/1983 notices built in.
Frequently asked
Can building management software handle both USD and LBP?
It should. In Lebanon, fees, payments and receipts need to be tracked in both US Dollars and Lebanese Lira using an exchange rate the committee sets and controls. Software built only for a single currency, like most global tools, cannot do this cleanly.
Does the software need to work in Arabic?
For most Lebanese buildings, yes. Residents and committees expect documents and interface in both Arabic (right-to-left) and English. Bilingual output should be built in, not a bolt-on translation.
Is my building's data private and exportable?
Good software isolates each building's data so no one else can see it, encrypts it in transit, and lets you export a full backup to Excel at any time. Your records should always remain yours.
Run your building like a pro, not a spreadsheet.
Orbit handles fees, payments, arrears with legal notices, accounting and reports, in English and Arabic, in USD and LBP. See how it works, or talk to our team about your building.
Explore Orbit for property →