To audit a property management fee schedule, match each charge to the agreement that applied, the service included and a completed eligible event. Reconcile the expected amount with posted charges, waivers, credits and collections. Then measure delivery cost and decide whether to collect, correct, reprice, redesign, retain or decline the charge.
We start with that sequence because a missing charge, an underpriced service and a duplicate bill need different fixes. A spreadsheet showing another $226 does not establish that we can bill it.
This guide is for owners of US residential property management companies. The complete example below is synthetic, in US dollars. Its prices, agreement terms and costs are assumptions for learning the method, not local market recommendations.
Start with one closed month and the documents that applied then
Choose a completed month for the first transaction audit. Also collect 12 months of event counts to estimate frequency. One unusually busy renewal month should not become the annual forecast simply because we multiply it by 12.
We need six sets of records:
- Executed management agreements, amendments and their effective dates.
- Leases, program terms and enrollment records where residents pay.
- The fee schedule and included-service matrix for each plan.
- Completed work records, such as signed renewals and inspection reports.
- Charges, waivers, credits, reversals and applied collections.
- Staff time, role costs and vendor expenses for the work performed.
Record the period and agreement cohort at the top of the audit. A fee introduced in September cannot automatically be applied to an August event. Two owners can receive the same service under different agreements with different separate charges.
Give each item an evidence reference. “Renewal R-106, signed August 20, PMA v3” is useful. “We usually charge this” is not enough to reconcile a bill.
This inventory is the first step in optimizing the whole fee structure. It often reveals a scope or collection issue before we need a new fee.
Separate company compensation from included work and client funds
A recurring fee pays for ongoing service. An event fee depends on an eligible completed event. A program has its own enrollment, delivery and cost rules. An included service has no separate charge under the applicable plan.
Money passing through our bank account is another category. In this example, owner rent and funds collected solely for a vendor are separate from the company's compensation. California's real estate regulator makes the underlying custody distinction explicit: trust funds belong to others. Its handling requirements are California-specific. California DRE, November 2025
For mixed arrangements, record who supplies the service, who receives the money and what the company retains. Have the accountant classify the actual arrangement. A reimbursement label alone does not settle every gross-versus-net accounting question.
We also check whether the work is already paid for. Onboarding that the agreement lists as included has an expected separate charge of $0. That is a scope exclusion, not a missed fee.
Use a fee audit table that follows the whole transaction
The free blank audit CSV includes these fields:
| Field group | What to record |
|---|---|
| Identity and authority | Period, fee ID, name, agreement version, effective date and plan |
| Service and parties | Fee type, payer, payee and included scope |
| Eligibility | Completed event, evidence reference, eligible count and applicable price |
| Billing | Expected amount, gross posted charges, waiver, credit/reversal and net billed |
| Outcome | Applied collections, delivery cost, decision, reason, reviewer and due date |
Use a consistent ledger convention. In our template, posted charges are gross before the adjustments listed separately:
Expected charge = eligible count × applicable price
Net billed = gross posted charges − waivers − credits/reversals
Remaining receivable = net billed − applied collections
If an export already reports charges net of credits, do not subtract those credits again. Keep refunds and the settlement of customer credits visible as well. A credit entered in software is not necessarily cash returned to someone already charged.
A missing agreement reference is unresolved. An expected $0 is a valid result when the plan includes the work. Preserve that difference.
Work through an eight-row fee audit
Our synthetic company manages 100 homes. The audit covers one month, with 95 eligible rent collections for its base fee. The following agreement and service conditions are assumed for this example; they are not claims of authority in any jurisdiction.
Establish the scope before looking at dollars
| ID | Item | Agreement, payer and eligible event |
|---|---|---|
| F01 | Base management | PMA v3; owner pays company $120 per eligible rent-collection month; 95 events |
| F02 | Lease renewal | PMA v3; owner pays company a flat $226 when a fixed-term renewal is signed; six signed renewals; month-to-month continuations are not eligible events |
| F03 | Coordination | PMA v3; owner pays company $30 per completed eligible order; 30 orders |
| F04 | Routine inspection | PMA v3, with the inspection interval the owner chose at signing; owner pays company $75 per report delivered; four reports |
| F05 | Resident benefits package | Program v2; 40 eligible resident enrollments pay company $42; one service failure receives a $42 credit |
| F06 | Screening vendor funds | Screening authorization v2; ten applicants' $38 payments are collected solely for the vendor |
| F07 | Included onboarding | PMA v4 includes onboarding; three owners were nevertheless charged $50 each |
| F08 | Proposed statement fee | Monthly statements remain included; no reviewed authority or eligible separate charge exists |
Reconcile the money and the work
Posted amounts below are gross. There are no separate waivers in this sample. The $42 program credit is already reflected in its collected amount; costs are not reduced by missed billing.
| ID | Expected | Posted | Credit before audit | Collected | Delivery cost | Finding |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F01 | $11,400 | $11,400 | $0 | $11,400 | $6,000 | Reconciles |
| F02 | $1,356 | $1,130 | $0 | $1,130 | $420 | One possible missed charge |
| F03 | $900 | $960 | $0 | $960 | $360 | Two $30 duplicates |
| F04 | $300 | $300 | $0 | $300 | $384 | Vendor cost exceeds fee |
| F05 | $1,680 | $1,680 | $42 | $1,638 | $1,025 | Correct credit; fulfillment review |
| F06 | $380 | $380 | $0 | $380 | $380 forwarded | Vendor funds reconcile |
| F07 | $0 | $150 | $0 | $150 | $90 | Three scope duplicates |
| F08 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 incremental | Decline proposed charge |
The filled audit CSV includes the agreement assumptions, evidence references and decisions alongside these figures.
There are four different outcomes here.
Investigate the $226 renewal exception. Six signed fixed-term renewals at $226 would produce $1,356, while only $1,130 was posted. Check the sixth event, the agreement, whether it was a month-to-month continuation, any prior waiver, the billing deadline and customer handling before deciding to collect it. The audit does not authorize retrospective billing.
Correct $210 of overcharges. Coordination has $60 in duplicate charges. Onboarding has $150 charged despite included scope. After completing the necessary reversals and refunds or customer-credit settlements, coordination receipts attributable to these orders should be $900 and separate onboarding revenue $0. The $90 onboarding cost still belongs in the included service's economics.
Fix the inspection that loses money. An outside vendor performs each routine inspection and invoices the company $96 per report. The owner pays $75:
Vendor cost per inspection = $96
Four inspections cost = 4 × $96 = $384
Current contribution = $300 − $384 = −$84
The audit shows the gap. It does not pick a new price. A fee of $96 only covers the vendor invoice, and nothing in these records tells us what owners will value or what the agreement allows. We could negotiate the vendor rate, lengthen the interval, cover a limited number of inspections in the base price, or propose a new amount by signed amendment. If the company keeps part of a vendor charge, disclose that to the owner.
Keep the resident's service failure in the economics. Program cost is $800 vendor expense, $120 staff time, $5 processing and $100 shared administration, totaling $1,025. After the actual $42 credit, $1,638 receipts leave $613 contribution before other company costs. This is a realized monthly example; we have not also deducted a hypothetical refund allowance.
The sample finds $226 to investigate and $210 to correct. Calling that a “net $16 opportunity” would hide the customer corrections and uncertainty about collectibility.
Use the full fee book and workbook to audit the rest of your schedule, compare costs and assign the rollout once this first sample is complete.
Review the rest of your fee schedule
Get all 90 fee and program entries, implementation guidance and the 12-sheet audit workbook with a complete 90-row fee checklist. Use your own costs, agreements and service scope to work through the next decision.
Buy the fee book and workbookChoose an action for the problem you found
| Action | When it fits | Evidence needed before acting |
|---|---|---|
| Collect | A charge was omitted from a confirmed eligible event | Agreement, timing, event record and review of any prior waiver |
| Correct | A duplicate, wrong payer or included service was charged | Original charge, reason and completed correction/settlement |
| Reprice | The service has value but its current price does not support delivery | Time and cost evidence, customer value and valid future terms |
| Redesign | The work is costly, unclear or duplicated | Revised service scope and delivery process |
| Retain | Scope, billing, cost and value are working | Ongoing collection and service monitoring |
| Decline | Authority, value or delivery is missing | A recorded reason and an alternative where appropriate |
Clear duplicates deserve attention before a new revenue initiative. A high projected contribution cannot compensate for missing authority or a service we cannot deliver.
Among suitable candidates, prioritize evidence quality, annual frequency, contribution, workload and transition burden. We can score these to organize a discussion, but a subjective score is not a forecast.
For the financial comparison, use revenue and contribution per door. It keeps recurring enrollments, event frequencies and costs in the same period.
Turn approved decisions into a usable fee schedule
A schedule communicates the agreed service and charge. It does not independently create contract authority. Keep current terms and proposed changes in separate fields.
| Fee | Work and trigger | Current amount | Not charged when | Proposed treatment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base management | Routine management; eligible rent collection | $120 per eligible month | None in this example | Retain; review included scope |
| Lease renewal | Signed fixed-term renewal by the tenant in place | $226 per signed renewal | The tenancy continues month to month | Investigate one missed event |
| Routine inspection | Inspection at the chosen interval; report delivered | $75 per report | The owner did not choose the service | Vendor cost is $96; price and scope under review; current amount remains $75 |
The blank fee schedule CSV also includes payer, retained payee, amount basis, frequency limit if applicable, agreement reference, effective date, waiver/refund route and operating owner.
Do not write a new inspection amount into the current schedule just because the cost comparison shows a gap. Use the fee implementation process to resolve the actual agreement process, customer communication and valid effective date.
Measure corrections, capture and contribution separately
Our monthly review tracks four things:
- Confirmed eligible charges that were correctly posted.
- Incorrect charges and whether corrections actually reached the customer.
- Collections and remaining valid receivables.
- Contribution after the costs of the service and its administration.
For a capture rate, compare correctly posted eligible gross charges with confirmed expected gross charges, showing approved waivers separately. Exclude included-plan events and events without authority. Do not count a duplicate as successful capture or a credit as lost operating performance.
Each finding needs an owner, due date and closing evidence. “Credit entered” and “refund settled” are different statuses. So are “agreement checked” and “fee collected.”
Use a trailing year of actual completed events for annual modeling. The free software fee reconciliation guide explains how to carry the same evidence chain into recurring checks.
Questions operators ask during a fee audit
Can we back-bill a fee we forgot?
That needs a separate review of the agreement, applicable deadlines and rules, event evidence and customer handling. An audit exception is the starting point, not permission to send a bill.
Should every costly activity become a separate fee?
No. A better base price, narrower scope, different delivery process or decision to retire a service can be more useful. Price the service the customer actually receives.
What if the service is already included in a package?
Its expected separate charge is usually $0 under that package's terms. Review any genuinely additional work against the exact scope before treating it as another billable event.
What should we audit first?
Start with recurring charges and completed events for which reliable records already exist. A closed month of renewals and work orders is more actionable than a long list of hypothetical fees.
Work through the rest of your fee schedule
The Property Management Fee Book includes a PDF covering 90 fees and programs in 12 sections (13 six-page program chapters and 77 two-page fee cards), plus a workbook for fee, scope and cost audits, scenarios and rollout planning. Its review checklist lets you record current treatment and next actions for each unit in the fee book. Lease renewal fee (owner), Property inspections and Resident benefits package each have their own unit, with the public sources listed on the last page.
Buy the full fee book and workbook to review the contents and purchase the package when you are ready to work through the wider company schedule.
Review the rest of your fee schedule
Get all 90 fee and program entries, implementation guidance and the 12-sheet audit workbook with a complete 90-row fee checklist. Use your own costs, agreements and service scope to work through the next decision.
Buy the fee book and workbook