Lease Audit & Accounting Team Manager

Make your next move an expert one.

At Colliers it’s not our success that sets us apart, it’s how we achieve it. Our people are passionate, take ownership and always do what’s right for our clients, people and communities.

Our enterprising environment needs your expertise to facilitate Colliers’ continued growth as an industry leader. Our nimble, decentralized culture can provide you with a wealth of opportunities to learn about our business and quickly gain experience to accelerate your career.

The Lease Audit & Accounting Team Manager oversees the Lease Administration Audit team and Lease Accounting Services and will have their CPA designation. This is a player/coach role requiring expert knowledge of commercial lease audit processes and best practices related to OPEX, CAM, RET, Insurance and Utilities. The successful candidate will support lease accounting processes under US GAAP (ASC 842) and IFRS 16, ensuring compliance and accuracy in financial reporting.

This role requires a strong understanding of lease terms, lease accounting standards, excellent analytical skills, and the ability to work collaboratively with cross‑functional teams.

• Provide quality control within the lease audit and administration databases to identify errors and inconsistencies relevant to their programs.
• Mentor and train Auditors and Lease Financial Analysts on key duties.
• Review and understand information provided by Landlords such as General Ledgers, Real Estate Tax bills, Insurance premiums/declaration pages, utility invoices, amortization schedules, monthly estimates/impounds.
• Perform detailed analysis of expenses charged using standardized checklists and year over year variance worksheets.
• Work closely with Lease Analysts who may be assigned to client accounts in communicating audit progress and, as needed, communicate directly with client on status of audits, findings and recommended course of action.
• Communicate effectively and in a sensitive manner with landlord representatives to request appropriate backup documentation to support the annual statements and to continue dialogue during any potential dispute of charges. Follow-up with landlords on a timely basis until any open audit and/or dispute resolution is completed to the satisfaction of client.
• Manage and maintain lease accounting records in accordance with US GAAP (ASC 842) and IFRS
  16 within lease management platforms.
• Work with clients to ensure system set up for Journal codes and related Cost Center and GL structure is in place to support reporting.
• Identify and implement process improvements to enhance efficiency and accuracy in both Audits and Lease Accounting.
• Maintain sales collateral, case studies, scope of work and pricing matrices for both the audit and lease accounting programs.

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, Accounting, Finance, Real Estate or related area.
• 7 years or more of relevant experience in the commercial real estate lease audit and/or accounting fields having worked in either (or both) the Landlord or Tenant sector.
• Active U.S. CPA license
• Proficient in commercial lease language and ability to interpret provisions related to landlord’s rights to pass through certain expenses to tenants.
• Understand and be able to apply concepts related to Proportionate Share’s, Management and Administrative fees, Base Years, Gross up provisions, CAP’s, amortization of capital expenditures, GLA, GLOA, Co‑Tenancy, among other lease provisions.
• Strong knowledge of pre‑audit reviews of all annual expense reconciliations to ensure accuracy and compliance with the lease terms (charges such as CAM, operating expenses, real estate taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance/repair, capital expenditures, etc.).
• Working experience with commercial real estate database applications such as Pro Lease, Harbor Flex or CoStar and accounting software such as MRI or Yardi or other lease management database systems preferred.
• Advanced competence in Microsoft Office Excel, PPT, Word and Outlook
• Driven to success in service delivery and highly effective in managing both people and tasks.
• Excellent communications and…