How to read your TMI statement like an auditor
A reconciliation statement can look like a wall of numbers, but it is really only a few parts. Once you know what each one is for, you can check it in an afternoon.
The four parts every statement should have
A complete statement shows the total operating pool for the year, your share percentage, your share in dollars, and the estimates you already paid. The last line is the true-up: your share minus what you paid, which you either owe or get back. If any of these four is missing, ask for it before you pay.
The pool, line by line
The pool is the building’s shared costs. Read down it and sort each line into three buckets. First, clearly shared services: cleaning, snow removal, landscaping, common-area utilities. Second, taxes and insurance, which are usually passed through but often sit outside the management-fee base. Third, anything that looks like a one-time or structural cost: a new roof, a repaved lot, a replaced HVAC unit. That third bucket is where most lease exclusions live.
Fees and taxes
Find the management or admin fee and check what it is charged on. Your lease names the base, and it usually does not include taxes and insurance. Then find the HST. In Ontario, Additional Rent carries 13% HST, and recovered property taxes and insurance become taxable when they are re-billed to you.
What to compare against the lease
Three checks catch most problems. Does your share percentage match the lease? Is the management fee on the base the lease specifies? Is anything in the pool named in your exclusions clause? If a line fails one of these, note the clause and the amount.
Red flags
Watch for a pool with no detail behind it, a share percentage that changed from last year with no explanation, a fee that grew faster than the pool, or a true-up bill with no reconciliation attached. Any of these is a fair reason to ask questions.
If you would rather have it read for you, upload your lease and statement for a free check, or start with the increase calculator if you only have the totals.
Upload your lease and statement. The free check flags every charge that does not reconcile, each tied to your exact lease clause.
Check my TMI, free →TMI Proof checks your lease and statement; it is not a law firm and nothing here is legal or tax advice. Figures and rules are general, and your lease and Ontario law govern. Confirm each finding with your accountant or a commercial-lease lawyer before acting.