OWNER WORKFLOW GUIDE

What belongs on a true commercial rent roll

Build a monthly and annual rent roll that reflects contractual rent, CAM, future steps, and lease dates.

7 min readUpdated August 29, 2026

A useful commercial rent roll is more than a list of tenants and current rent. It should explain today’s contractual income and show how that income changes over the lease term.

RENT ROLL TEMPLATE

Start with these fields—not a blank spreadsheet.

A true commercial rent roll separates the lease facts, current charges, future steps, and collection status. Use this as your setup checklist, then let TenantPoint keep it current.

Tenant & premisesLegal tenant · trade name · suite · square feet · lease status
Lease & revenueStart/end · base rent · CAM · other charges · annualized revenue
Future & evidenceRent steps · options · notices · source lease · review date
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Core tenant and premises fields

Include tenant legal name, trade name when relevant, suite, occupied square feet, property share, lease status, commencement date, expiration date, and any current holdover or month-to-month condition.

Separate charge components

Show base rent independently from CAM, taxes, insurance, utilities, percentage rent, storage, signage, and other recurring charges. Combining everything into one number makes lease comparison and future underwriting difficult.

Show monthly and annual views

Owners need the monthly billing amount for collections and the annualized amount for budgeting and valuation. The roll should make clear whether the annual figure represents current run rate or actual scheduled revenue for the calendar year.

Include the future rent schedule

List fixed steps, percentage increases, free-rent periods, abatements, option-period rent when exercised, and commencement contingencies. A buyer or lender should not have to reread the lease to understand next year’s rent.

  • Effective date
  • Monthly base rent
  • Annual base rent
  • Increase percentage
  • Source document

Reconcile the roll to tenant ledgers

The rent roll shows contractual charges; the tenant ledger shows what was billed, paid, waived, credited, or remains open. Keeping those concepts separate makes both reports more reliable.

Frequently asked questions

What is a commercial rent roll?

A commercial rent roll is a property-level schedule of tenants, premises, lease terms, current and future rent charges, recoveries, and key dates. It should show contractual income separately from what has actually been collected.

What should be on a commercial rent roll?

At minimum include the tenant and suite, square footage, lease start and end dates, base rent, CAM or other recoveries, monthly and annual amounts, future rent steps, and source document.

How is a rent roll different from a tenant ledger?

The rent roll summarizes contractual charges. A tenant ledger records billed amounts, payments, credits, fees, waivers, and the balance that remains open.

This educational material is not legal, accounting, tax, or investment advice. Review controlling lease language and consult qualified professionals when appropriate.

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