The Specialist, Lease Auditor, is responsible for ensuring the accuracy of all billings for real estate taxes, common area maintenance charges, utilities, and operating expenses for the company’s existing portfolio of store leases. This position will lead all aspects of the billing audit function and will work closely with the accounting and real estate teams and outside consultants to ensure the integrity of the billings and to proactively identify opportunities to reduce costs.
KEY DELIVERABLES
- Timely review and approval of all outstanding bills
- Timely resolution of billing disputes between the company and its landlords and property managers
- Pro-active identification of billing errors, unusual increases in tax assessed values, opportunities for fee recoveries
- Maintenance of appropriate tracking system of all billing audit activity
- Ability to effectively communicate and negotiate with landlords and property managers
- Ability to work with outside consultants on tax recoveries and assessment appeals
- Ability to work with internal teams and external auditors
- Ability to prioritize issues by metrics such as LL/$$ impact/lease timelines
KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES
Functional
- Review all rent, CAM, tax, utilities and operating expense bills, year-end reconciliations to ensure they are per the terms of the lease agreement
- Approve all CAM, tax, utilities, and operating Expense payments to landlords and property managers
- Reconcile accounts with outstanding balances and effectively negotiate with landlords and/or property managers to resolve any disputes
- Build relationships with landlords and property managers
- Maintain detailed filing system to track the status and correspondence on all outstanding billings
- Prepare quarterly accrual report for accounting team showing disputed unpaid billings and expected recoveries
- Provide support as requested by external auditors for all accruals
- Prepare annual budget worksheets for specific retail store GL accounts as assigned – including review against prior year costs and forecasted increases
- Prepare annual budget worksheets for percentage rent estimates
- Work with outside consultants to appeal tax assessments and conduct business tax reviews
- Manage café and other subtenant administration, including annual budgets and rental advice notices, year-end reconciliations, percentage rent and other billings, hydro recharges, statements of account, café sales and rent reporting, and the receivables budget for Finance.
- Administer the collection of tenant allowances, including preparing and distributing checklists, coordinating required documentation with Store Development and Construction, arranging lien searches, following up on outstanding deliverables, and preparing and issuing invoices to landlords.
- Administer Lucernex lease data and reporting, including setting up and supporting users; uploading annual and additional rent, monthly sales, rolling 12-month sales and EBITDA information; and creating fiscal portfolio reports.
- Update the Statement of Values required for property insurance renewals.
- Act as an advocate for the customer by placing them at the forefront of all decision-making and design processes
- Proactively identify and anticipate customer expectations and needs
- Embrace and seek out technology that creates high tech and high touch solutions for Indigo’s customers
- Challenge the status quo by consistently identifying areas for improvement, diagnosing issues and working to resolve them
People
- Collaborate with others to drive flexible and iterative solutions, quickly and easily
- Share technical knowledge with others and actively seek to learn from those more knowledgeable than yourself
- Help others see the impacts of their efforts and proactively engage other functions to get input
- Encourage others to freely share their point of view and be open to feedback
Cultural
- Model Indigo’s beliefs and convey a positive image in everything you do
- Celebrate diversity of thought and have an open mindset
- Take an active role in fostering a culture of continual learning, taking risks without the fear of making mistakes
- Embrace, champion and influence change through your team and/or the organization
SCOPE
Reports to: SVP, Real Estate
Manager once Removed (MOR): Chief financial officer
KEY RELATIONSHIPS
Internal:
- Accounting
- Real Estate
- Legal
External:
- External consultants
- External auditors
- Landlords and property managers
Qualifications
Work Experience / Education / Certifications
- University degree in Accounting, Finance, Real Estate, or Business
- Minimum of 7 years of relevant experience in commercial real estate lease administration and billing audit ideally including previous experience working for both tenants and landlords
- Solid understanding of commercial real estate leases; invoices for taxes, CAMS, utilities, and business taxes; and the tax assessment/appeal process across Canada
Competencies / Skills / Attributes
- Outstanding negotiation skills. Ability to clearly articulate your argument and support it with the facts
- Ability to build relationships and gain respect to effectively negotiate with landlords and property managers
- Ability to work independently and to effectively prioritize and manage daily workflow
- Demonstrated analytical, problem solving and business judgment skills
- Exceptional written and oral communication skills
- Ability to work with people at all levels of the organization
- Excellent skills in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint
- Prior experience working with a leasing software database
Other (travel, Bilingual, etc.)
- Competency in French is an asset, but not a requirement
