You’ve tried counting sheep, but that didn’t work. You’ve taken natural, sleep-enhancing supplements, but you still wake up just a couple hours into the night. Heck, you even cut back on your (admittedly excessive) coffee intake, but it’s had no effect. You simply can’t sleep at night these days.
Your mind is racing with the potential errors infesting your lease portfolio. Did you store that lease proposal document in the right folder? Do you have any expirations, termination or renewal options coming up that you didn’t know about? Are your rent projections for the next quarter on track, or did you input the wrong information in your spreadsheet?
Human error can’t be avoided by even the sharpest minds in the commercial real estate (CRE) industry. In fact, without the use of CRE software with lease auditing capabilities, there’s probably a error-ridden lease in your portfolio. Fortunately, lease auditing software can help. Read on to discover why it will help you sleep better at night.
Data Entry Error Rates
There are two main types of errors humans can make with data entry: mechanical (spelling, grammar, typos, etc.) and logical (human mistakes). According to the Klemmer and Snyder study at the University of Hawaii, a “good general figure for mechanical error rates appears to be about 0.5%.” As for logical errors, the rate is even higher, “about 5%.” This means that for every 200 actions you take, you’ll make one mechanical error and 10 logical errors. Of course, the above study was based on people whose job consisted entirely of data entry, so it’s likely even higher for commercial real estate professionals.
Human Error and Commercial Real Estate
Whether you’re a broker, landlord or corporate CRE pro, the opportunities for human error in your lease administration are abundant. From juggling lease documents and scheduling appointments to reconciling tax records and building reports, there are several clerical tasks that make up a portion of a commercial real estate professional’s day. Here are a few examples where it would be easy to make a mistake that could seriously impact your CRE portfolio:
- When you’re running a profitability analysis for a potential new lease
- When you’re evaluating an existing lease for renewal
- When you’re identifying market trends that could affect your current or future leases
- When you’re reconciling tax information in light of new FASB changes
- When you’re scheduling date reminders for your rent schedule, renewal or termination rights
- When you’re determining budget for tenant improvements
When you’re recording rent obligations and occupancy costs for reporting
What do all of these situations have in common? They involve CRE pros manually inputting data, which, as illustrated in the section above, will result in some errors. Fortunately, CRE software with lease auditing can help.
The Benefits of CRE Software with Lease Auditing
Lease administration involves a lot of moving parts.In order to ensure that you’re recording everything exactly the way it should be, you need to be monitoring and analyzing your data constantly. As a CRE pro, though, lease administration is just part of your day. You need time to focus on building your portfolio, right? CRE software with lease auditing solves this problem, as it systematically examines your expenses, billing and other lease metrics to ensure there are no potential errors. Here are a few other benefits of CRE software with lease auditing:
- Information management: CRE software takes the guesswork out of managing all of your lease information by securely storing and maintaining lease and sublease data. The best part? All of your important lease data is easily searchable with the click of a button.
- Mistake identification: CRE software doesn’t just reduce mistakes,it bypasses them completely by working behind the scenes to identify and correct know issues, or notifying you when there are potential issues with your leases.
- Financial monitoring: Rent schedules. Expenses. Occupancy costs. CRE software can help you monitor all of them to ensure they’re in good shape for both the present and future.
- Critical date reminders: Have you ever missed a critical date because you misplaced the notepad where you wrote it down (or you wrote down the wrong information in the first place)? CRE software lets you createcustomizable alerts about lease expirations, renewal options, rent bumps, insurance coverage and more — and it’s all stored on the cloud.
- Secure document storage: Crucial for lease audits, document storage is as secure as can be with CRE software, especially if it has cloud-based storage with state-of-the-art data encryption.
Finally, the biggest benefit to CRE software with lease auditing isn’t related to avoiding mistakes at all. It’s actually a way to proactively save money and cut costs. According to the CCIM Institute, lease auditing has resulted in $100 million in savings over the last decade for commercial tenants. That fact alone makes CRE software with lease auditing potentially worth the investment.
Don’t Forget the Team Behind the Software!
Of course, commercial real estate software with lease auditing is a nice feature, but in itself doesn’t reach the potential of CRE software with additional support. That’s why companies like Quarem are more than just a platform; their primary goal is to help you utilize the application to its full potential. Here are some of the ways Quarem accomplishes this with its services:
- Lease abstraction: Develop a powerful lease administration plan by abstracting all current and new leases. The Quarem team will work through this time-consuming and complex process with you, organizing your data and gathering details crucial to your lease portfolio efficiency.
- Application training: Worried about the learning curve for CRE software? All Quarem users receive personalized implementation training (both onsite and online) to maximize your use of the application — we cover software instruction and best practices, as well as answer any questions you may have.
- Continued support: Quarem doesn’t just provide initial training, however; the team prides itself on continued support and guidance. Enjoy a dedicated account managerwho wants nothing more than to establish a relationship with your team and help you with your growth and education.
- Data migration: Have an existing lease information database or system you need to migrate and clean up? That’s no problem with Quarem. Our team can facilitate your data transfer into the Quarem system, easily translating terms and labels found in your prior system.
- Data and process advisory: The team will also review your workflow processes and build a plan that supports the effective use of Quarem technology. This means you can potentially see some of the savings other companies see with lease audits.
- Management support: The Quarem team is basically an extension of your organization, which is why we’ll help organize and manage your lease administration, as well as review and develop a CRE strategy that fits your growth projections and business model.
When it comes to lease auditing, commercial real estate software like Quarem can help you sleep better at night. To see how, schedule a demo of Quarem today.
