What is a CAM reconciliation statement?

A CAM reconciliation statement is an annual document your landlord sends after the close of each lease year. It compares the estimated CAM payments you made throughout the year against the actual costs incurred. If actual costs exceeded estimates, you owe the difference. If estimates exceeded actual costs, you're owed a credit.

What is the typical deadline to dispute a CAM reconciliation?

Most commercial leases give tenants 30 to 90 days to dispute a reconciliation statement after receiving it. Missing this window can waive your audit rights for that year. CAMAudit's lease extraction flags this deadline if it appears in your lease.

What is included in CAM charges?

CAM charges typically include: maintenance and repair of common areas, landscaping, parking lot upkeep, utilities for shared spaces, property management fees, and building insurance. What's included and excluded depends on your lease's expense definition, which varies significantly across leases.

Why do CAM charges increase year over year?

CAM charges can increase due to actual cost increases, changes in occupancy that affect the gross-up calculation, new costs added to the expense pool, or billing errors. A large single-year increase (more than your lease's CAM cap allows) is a strong signal to audit.

January CAM Reconciliation Checklist

TL;DR: January is not special because the math changes. It is special because statement volume spikes, teams are distracted, and deadlines get missed. The checklist is about process discipline during peak reconciliation season.

January CAM reconciliation checklist: A seasonal first-pass review checklist used by tenants during the January reconciliation surge to organize deadlines, compare prior-year variances, and flag obvious CAM issues quickly.

Q1 is the practical high-volume season when many annual CAM reconciliations are delivered and reviewed (CAMAudit seasonal workflow, 2026)

40% of reconciliations contain material errors, which makes seasonal volume a real risk factor for missed findings (Tango Analytics, 2023)

"After testing reconciliation samples from published audit cases through CAMAudit, January problems are usually workflow problems first. The statement arrives during a noisy month, gets routed poorly, and the tenant loses time before anyone checks the lease language." — Angel Campa, Founder of CAMAudit

January checklist item	Why it matters
Log receipt date immediately	Seasonal volume makes timing fuzzy fast
Pull prior-year reconciliation	Variance is easier to see side by side
Review the dispute window	January distraction is not a legal defense
Flag large year-over-year jumps	Fastest way to prioritize review
Decide whether a deeper audit is needed	Prevents low-signal drifting

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does January need its own CAM checklist?

Because many tenants receive reconciliations during the same seasonal window, and deadline discipline gets weaker when multiple year-start tasks compete for attention.

What should a tenant check first in January?

Receipt date, prior-year comparison, dispute window, and any large fee or true-up jumps are the fastest first-pass checks.

Is January always the month CAM statements arrive?

No. It depends on the lease and the landlord's accounting cycle, but January and early Q1 are common enough that tenants should plan for the surge.

What makes January CAM reviews fail?

Routing delays, missing prior-year comparison, and weak calendar discipline are the most common failure points.

What should happen after the January checklist?

If the quick review shows meaningful risk, the next step is a deeper reconciliation review or a structured audit before the dispute window shrinks.