Rental charges statement: a complete guide for landlords

Each month, your tenant pays a provision for charges on top of the rent. Once a year, you must compare those provisions to what the charges actually cost: this is the charges statement. Depending on the result, you refund the tenant or claim an additional payment. Here's how to draw it up correctly.

Provisions, actual charges, reconciliation: the basics

• The provisions: the fixed amounts the tenant pays each month in advance, on top of the rent.
• The actual charges: what you actually spent over the year (water, heating, common areas, maintenance…).
• The reconciliation: the difference between the two, settled at year-end.

Which charges are recoverable?

• Recoverable charges: water consumption, collective heating, common-area electricity, routine maintenance, waste collection, etc.
• Non-recoverable charges: major works, structural repairs, management fees, which remain the landlord's responsibility.

Drawing up the statement, step by step

1. Gather your invoices for the year. Water, heating, co-ownership charges, maintenance… Keep every receipt.

2. Separate recoverable from non-recoverable. Only re-bill what is legally recoverable.

3. Calculate the total provisions paid. Multiply the monthly provision by the number of rental months in the year.

4. Compare and reconcile. Provisions minus actual charges = balance.

A concrete example

Here, the tenant paid €1,200 in provisions for €998 of actual charges. You therefore refund €202. If the ratio were reversed, you would claim the difference.

How often should you reconcile?

The charges statement is done at least once a year. Many landlords do it at the start of the calendar year for the previous year, once all invoices are received.

Automating the charges statement

Keeping track of invoices, calculating provisions paid month by month, drawing up the reconciliation: it's precise but time-consuming. A tool like Domavix centralises your charge invoices by category, automatically calculates provisions from the payments received, and generates the annual statement to send to the tenant.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Rules on recoverable charges vary by country and region; check the regulations applicable to your situation.