Is a large true-up charge always a sign of overcharges?

Not necessarily. A large true-up can reflect genuinely rising costs. But it can also reflect improperly included expenses, denominator errors, or cap violations. The true-up amount is the trigger; the CAM audit determines whether the underlying pool is legitimate.

Does CAMAudit verify the true-up math?

Yes. CAMAudit's year-end reconciliation check checks that the estimated payment total and the true-up balance were computed correctly per the lease terms. Math errors in the true-up itself, independent of overcharges in the pool, are flagged as a separate finding.

Calculations & Formulas

True-Up

Last updated: May 2026

The year-end reconciliation payment or credit that results from comparing the tenant's estimated monthly CAM payments against actual annual CAM costs. A positive true-up means the tenant owes more; a negative true-up means the tenant is due a refund.

Firm Impact

True-up charges are what trigger most client inquiries to a CPA or accounting firm. A large true-up is the moment a tenant realizes their monthly estimates were significantly off. When your firm audits the true-up, you often find the estimates were set using inflated projections, creating the appearance of a large balance.

How This Gets Abused

A landlord set monthly estimated CAM at $2,800 but actual CAM, including improperly included CapEx, totaled $3,900 per month annually. The $13,200 true-up invoice arrived with no itemization. The underlying overcharges were buried in the CAM pool rather than the estimate vs. actual gap.

Practitioner Note

CAMAudit includes a year-end reconciliation check that checks whether the estimated payment total and the true-up calculation match the lease's reconciliation math. Errors in the true-up calculation itself, separate from overcharges in the pool, are a distinct finding category.