Lease Auditor Specialist

• Compensation: CAD 60,000 - CAD 80,000 - yearly

Company Description

Indigo is a physical and digital place inspired by and filled with books, ideas, beautifully designed lifestyle products, and the creative people who help make it all happen. We believe in real books, living life fully and generously, being kind to each other and to the environment, and that stories – big and little – connect us. Indigo is our customer's happy place – for joyful moments of discovery and to connect with people who share their passion for reading, their belief in ideas, and their commitment to making the world a better and more beautiful place.

Our Mission is to inspire reading and enrich the lives of booklovers. As such, we believe inthe power of people and their stories. We aim to attract top talent, nurture the potential ofour employees, and create space for everyone to thrive. Our Guiding Principles are thefew key ideas that are meant to influence everything we do, every day.

• We Will Hire, Inspire, Promote and Retain the Best
• We Will Be Entrepreneurial
• We Will Be Committed to Caring About Each Other, Our Communities, and Our Environment
• We Will Be Committed to True and Shared Value Creation
• We Will Be Systems Thinking, Data Driven and AI enabled

Job Description

The Specialist, Lease Auditor, is responsible for ensuring the accuracy of all billings for real estate taxes, common area maintenance charges, utilities, and operating expenses for the company's existing portfolio of store leases. This position will lead all aspects of the billing audit function and will work closely with the accounting and real estate teams and outside consultants to ensure the integrity of the billings and to proactively identify opportunities to reduce costs.

KEY DELIVERABLES

• Timely review and approval of all outstanding bills
• Timely resolution of billing disputes between the company and its landlords and property managers
• Pro-active identification of billing errors, unusual increases in tax assessed values, opportunities for fee recoveries
• Maintenance of appropriate tracking system of all billing audit activity
• Ability to effectively communicate and negotiate with landlords and property managers
• Ability to work with outside consultants on tax recoveries and assessment appeals
• Ability to work with internal teams and external auditors
• Ability to prioritize issues by metrics such as LL/$$ impact/lease timelines

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Functional

• Review all rent, CAM, tax, utilities and operating expense bills, year-end reconciliations to ensure they are per the terms of the lease agreement
• Approve all CAM, tax, utilities, and operating Expense payments to landlords and property managers
• Reconcile accounts with outstanding balances and effectively negotiate with landlords and/or property managers to resolve any disputes
• Build relationships with landlords and property managers
• Maintain detailed filing system to track the status and correspondence on all outstanding billings
• Prepare quarterly accrual report for accounting team showing disputed unpaid billings and expected recoveries
• Provide support as requested by external auditors for all accruals
• Prepare annual budget worksheets for specific retail store GL accounts as assigned – including review against prior year costs and forecasted increases
• Prepare annual budget worksheets for percentage rent estimates
• Work with outside consultants to appeal tax assessments and conduct business tax reviews
• Manage café and other subtenant administration, including annual budgets and rental advice notices, year-end reconciliations, percentage rent and other billings, hydro recharges, statements of account, café sales and rent reporting, and the receivables budget for Finance.
• Administer the collection of tenant allowances, including preparing and distributing checklists, coordinating required documentation with Store Development and Construction, arranging lien searches, following up on outstanding deliverables, and preparing and issuing invoices to landlords.
• Administer Lucernex lease data and reporting, including setting up and supporting users; uploading annual and additional rent, monthly sales, rolling 12-month sales and EBITDA information; and creating fiscal portfolio reports.
• Update the Statement of Values required for property insurance renewals.
• Act as an advocate for the customer by placing them at the forefront of all decision-making and design processes
• Proactively identify and anticipate customer expectations and needs
• Embrace and seek out technology that creates high tech and high touch solutions for Indigo'