Reading a CAM reconciliation against your lease
The annual statement is the landlord's math. The lease is the rulebook. Here's what to line up between them.
Each year many landlords send a reconciliation of operating expenses, often called CAM: what the center actually cost to run, your share, what you paid in monthly estimates, and the balance. The lease sets the rules for every line of it.
Your share
The lease says how your share is calculated, often your square footage divided by the center's. Check which number the statement used and whether the lease says anything about excluding large tenants or vacant space.
Caps
Some leases cap how much certain expenses can rise each year. A cap can apply to all expenses or only "controllable" ones, and it can be cumulative, where unused room carries forward, or non-cumulative. The wording matters.
Fees and exclusions
Look for an administrative or management fee and what it's charged on. Many leases also list costs that can't be passed through, such as capital repairs or the landlord's own financing costs.
Timing
The lease may say when the landlord must deliver the statement and how long you have to review or audit it after you receive it. Those deadlines can be short.
Where NoticeDay fits
NoticeDay records your share, caps, fees, exclusions and review window from the lease, with the section for each. When you enter a statement, it shows the billed numbers next to the lease's terms and adds the review deadline to your calendar.
It shows the numbers side by side. It doesn't decide whether a charge is allowed. That's for your team and your advisors.
This article is general information about how commercial leases are often written. It isn't legal advice. Every lease is different, so read your own lease and talk to your attorney about your situation.