CAM Reconciliation Checklist: 35 Steps for a Clean Year-End Close
A phase-by-phase checklist for property accounting teams completing annual CAM reconciliations. Use this to catch errors before statements reach tenants — not after.
By Angel Campa, Founder, CapVeri · Updated April 2026
What This Checklist Covers
A CAM reconciliation requires verifying data from 5 sources — GL, leases, prior-year reconciliation, vendor invoices, and tax/insurance bills — and checking 35 specific items before statements go out. The checklist is organized into 5 phases: GL Preparation (items 1–7), Expense Classification (8–14), Calculation Review (15–21), Statement Generation (22–28), and Delivery and Collection (29–35).
5 Data Sources You Need Before Starting
Full-year GL export
From Yardi, MRI, or your PMS — all property expense accounts
Executed leases
Including all amendments — verify the latest executed version
Prior-year reconciliation
Cap bank balances, prior estimates, and any carryforward credits
Vendor invoices
Original invoices for all material items ($5,000+) for audit support
Tax bills and insurance policies
Source documents — not just GL entries — for the reconciliation year
The 35-Item CAM Reconciliation Checklist
1Phase 1 — GL Preparation
1. Verify the GL date range exactly matches the reconciliation period (e.g., Jan 1–Dec 31). A single day off creates an unbridgeable gap.
2. Confirm all expected vendor invoices are present — check landscaping, janitorial, utilities, and property tax against your vendor roster.
3. Run a duplicate-entry check on the full GL export. Voided and re-entered invoices in Yardi and MRI can appear twice.
4. Confirm the management fee line is present and calculated at the correct contracted rate on the correct base.
5. Verify property tax and insurance lines are fully booked for the entire year, not just the payment dates.
6. Check that all December accruals are posted — late-arriving December invoices are the most common source of GL incompleteness.
7. Confirm there are no corporate-level allocations or inter-company transfers in the property GL.
2Phase 2 — Expense Classification
8. Apply all non-recoverable exclusions per each tenant's lease — confirm these are documented with lease section references.
9. Remove capital items from the recoverable pool. Flag every line above your capital threshold ($5,000–$10,000) and verify it is operating expense, not CapEx.
10. Cap the management fee at the per-lease maximum — verify each tenant's lease for management fee cap language.
11. Split controllable and non-controllable expenses if any lease uses a controllable CAM cap structure.
12. Apply lease-specific exclusions beyond standard non-recoverables (e.g., some leases exclude parking lot maintenance; others exclude roofing).
13. For expense-stop leases, identify the base year expense amount against which the tenant's obligations are measured.
14. Remove excluded anchor tenant expenses from the shared pool if any leases contain anchor exclusion provisions.
3Phase 3 — Calculation Review
15. Confirm gross-up was applied at the correct occupancy threshold (typically 90–95%) if actual occupancy fell below the threshold.
16. Verify the variable/fixed expense split used in the gross-up is consistent with lease language — fixed expenses (taxes, insurance) are not grossed up.
17. Confirm the pro-rata denominator matches the definition in each tenant's lease — this varies: some leases use total building RSF, others use occupied RSF, others exclude anchors.
18. Verify the CAM cap type (cumulative vs. non-cumulative) for each capped tenant and apply the correct calculation method.
19. For cumulative caps, use the correct prior-year cap bank balance — verify it matches the prior-year reconciliation file.
20. Confirm all tenant-specific lease amendments are reflected in the calculation — amendments often change exclusions, cap bases, or denominators.
21. Cross-check all per-tenant calculations for arithmetic consistency — the sum of all tenant shares should equal 100% of the allocated pool.
4Phase 4 — Statement Generation
22. Attach the full supporting schedule showing expenses by recoverable category to each tenant statement.
23. Clearly show the prior-year estimates collected and reconcile to the tenant ledger — the amount shown must match what was actually billed and collected.
24. Confirm all tenants are included — verify the statement count against the active tenant roster as of year-end.
25. Include a calculation audit trail (gross-up workbook, cap calculation, management fee calc) as an exhibit to each statement.
26. Show the management fee calculation explicitly — management fee disputes are the second most common audit trigger after capital items.
27. Clearly state the net true-up amount as owed-by-tenant or credit-due-to-tenant — ambiguous statement formats drive unnecessary inquiries.
28. Include a due date on every true-up invoice — statements without a due date routinely go unpaid.
5Phase 5 — Delivery and Collection
29. Send statements by the lease-mandated deadline. Confirm the exact date per each lease — deadlines range from 60 to 120 days post-year-end.
30. Obtain delivery confirmation for each tenant (certified mail receipt, email read receipt, or tenant portal confirmation).
31. Schedule payment reminder outreach for 25 days after delivery — before the typical 30-day payment deadline.
32. Open a dispute tracking log on the day statements go out — log every tenant inquiry with date, question, and response.
33. For tenants receiving credits, apply the credit against the next monthly estimate payment per the lease provisions.
34. Respond to all tenant questions within the SLA specified in your lease (typically 15–30 business days).
35. Archive the complete reconciliation file — GL export, calculations, statements, delivery confirmations, and all correspondence — for the minimum period required by your leases (typically 3–5 years).
What Can Go Wrong
Skipping the amendment review
Lease amendments frequently change CAM exclusions, cap structures, or pro-rata definitions. Teams that pull the original lease without checking for amendments apply the wrong rules — and face disputes the moment a tenant's attorney compares the statement to the amended lease.
Using the wrong prior-year estimate balance
The prior-year estimate amount on the reconciliation must match what was actually billed and collected — not what was budgeted. Teams that pull the budgeted estimate instead of the actual collected amount produce a statement that disagrees with the tenant's own payment records, which triggers immediate disputes.
Statements without a due date
True-up invoices that omit a payment due date create collection ambiguity. Tenants routinely delay payment when no deadline is stated, and the landlord loses the ability to claim a default without first issuing a separate demand letter — adding 30–45 days to the collection cycle.
Frequently Asked Questions
What data sources are needed before starting a CAM reconciliation?
You need five sources: the full-year GL, executed lease agreements (including amendments), the prior-year reconciliation file, original vendor invoices for material items, and the annual property tax bills and insurance policies.
How many items should a CAM reconciliation checklist have?
A comprehensive checklist covers 30–40 items across five phases. Fewer than 25 typically means key steps are being combined in ways that create blind spots — especially in calculation review and cap verification.
What is the most commonly missed item in a CAM reconciliation?
The pro-rata denominator verification and the cap bank balance carry-forward. Most teams verify expense totals carefully but forget to confirm the denominator matches the lease definition — especially when a new tenant was added mid-year or an anchor exclusion applies.
Who should review the CAM reconciliation before statements go out?
At minimum: the property accountant who prepared it and a senior property manager or controller. For high-value tenants or tenants with complex cap structures, add a third reviewer with lease administration expertise.
Related Resources
CAM Reconciliation Process Guide
The 7-phase process from year-end close to audit defense.
CAM Close Checklist
Monthly and year-end close procedures for property controllers.
Pre-Send Packet Checklist
The final 20-item review before statements go out to tenants.
CAM Reconciliation Software
How CapVeri automates the 35-step reconciliation process.
Run the Checklist Automatically
CapVeri runs all 35 checklist items automatically against your Yardi or MRI export — flagging errors before they become tenant disputes. Free to start, no integration required.
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