Written by Angel Campa, Founder
CAMExcel

Lease Audit Workbook

A structured Excel workbook for conducting a commercial lease audit — verifying CAM charges, operating expense allocations, pro-rata share calculations, and management fee caps against executed lease terms. The workbook includes built-in formulas for cap calculations, gross-up adjustments, and year-over-year overbilling summaries, making it the fastest path from raw landlord statements to a defensible dispute notice.

By Angel Campa, Founder · Updated March 2026

Who Uses This & When

Used by lease auditors, tenant representatives, and sophisticated tenants when auditing 1–5 years of CAM statements. Particularly valuable for multi-year audits where cumulative overbillings and base year errors compound across periods.

Checklist Items (12)

  1. 1Enter lease-extracted values: pro-rata share, CAM cap, management fee cap, base year, and audit rights window
  2. 2Import landlord general ledger line items for each audit year
  3. 3Flag each expense line as permitted, excluded, or disputed per the lease exclusion list
  4. 4Auto-calculate management fee overages against the contractual cap percentage
  5. 5Apply cumulative or non-cumulative CAM cap logic to controllable expense subtotals
  6. 6Identify capital expenditure line items incorrectly included as operating expenses
  7. 7Verify gross-up calculation for years when building occupancy was below the lease threshold
  8. 8Check for duplicate line items across expense categories in the general ledger
  9. 9Calculate overcharge amount per year and cumulative overcharge across the full audit period
  10. 10Generate a summary dispute table formatted for inclusion in an audit findings letter
  11. 11Track audit rights expiration date and flag if the audit window is within 60 days of closing
  12. 12Document all supporting documentation received and outstanding documentation requests

Related Lease Fields

Lextract automatically extracts these fields from your lease PDF — eliminating the manual data collection underlying this checklist.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many years should I audit?

Most leases allow a 12–36 month audit window from the date each CAM reconciliation statement is delivered. Audit all years still within the window — cumulative overbillings often compound year over year, so the full audit period produces meaningfully higher recoveries than a single year. The workbook covers up to 5 audit years.

Do I need the landlord's general ledger to use this workbook?

Yes. The audit is only as thorough as the documentation received. Start by requesting the general ledger, vendor invoices for major line items, management agreements, payroll records, and insurance certificates. Many landlords resist providing the full GL — your lease audit rights provision typically compels disclosure. The workbook includes a documentation request tracker to manage this process.

What is the most common overbilling identified in lease audits?

Management fee overages are the most common finding — landlords frequently charge management fees on gross revenue or total operating expenses rather than the contractually defined base. The second most common overbilling is capital expenditures included as operating expense line items without the amortization treatment required by the lease.

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Lease Audit Workbook

A structured Excel workbook for conducting a commercial lease audit — verifying CAM charges, operating expense allocations, pro-rata share calculations, and management fee caps against executed lease terms. The workbook includes built-in formulas for cap calculations, gross-up adjustments, and year-over-year overbilling summaries, making it the fastest path from raw landlord statements to a defensible dispute notice.

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