Product Info
Alpha Office Escalations (AOE) is a flexible, cloud-based application that simplifies calculating expense gross ups and escalations for commercial office and industrial properties of all sizes.
Escalations are sometimes called “additional rent” and have been an important part of commercial leases since the 1950s. Basically, escalation lease language establishes a process for distributing operating expenses evenly to each square foot in a commercial building and to tenants according to their specific lease terms, even if a building is partially occupied.
But leases don’t define how to do this, so it can be confusing for tenants and a challenge for even seasoned property managers to get the math right.
The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) has approved industry-standard methodology for these calculations, but they are complex and different for every lease. In-house spreadsheets are often created to do the calculations.That’s fine, but what happens when a simple formula change or error results in incorrect billing? What happens when the person who created the spreadsheet leaves the company? And in the event of an audit or tax appeal, can you easily find the info you need? AOE eliminates all these problems.
ALPHA Office Escalations (AOE) is the ONLY software product that incorporates BOMA-approved methodology, used by thousands of real estate professionals.
Key Features
AOE makes escalations automatic, accurate, accessible, and fair.
Automatic
Enter lease specifics for each tenant into AOE’s profile template. AOE can handle virtually any escalation term or unique requirement. Calculations are instant and automatic.
- Saves time and hassle.
- The powerful dashboard shows a current snapshot for the entire building. Easily see year-over-year comparisons, escalation income, or unrecovered operating expenses (leakage). These tools allow you to manage the process effectively and intelligently.
- All lease data is carried forward until expiration.
Accurate
As many as half of all escalation invoices have errors, which creates confusion and distrust among tenants. Errors can cost you or tenants real money. AOE dramatically reduces human or mathematical error.
- Profile templates make it simple to capture required information. Just follow the input steps.
- BOMA-approved methodology is based on nearly 30 years of research and refinement, as outlined in The Escalation Handbook for Office Buildings, which was written by AOE’s creators.
- Standardized methodology means you can defend your accounting in the event of a dispute, tenant audit or lawsuit.
Fair
Gross-ups and methodology that adhere to each lease’s requirements make escalations fair to both parties in a commercial lease. AOE’s clean reporting and transparent methodology helps property owners and managers explain the process and show the math.
- Simple, clean reports and invoices build trust and transparency with tenants. (See sample reports for management and tenants.)
- Ensures recovery of approved expenses to maximize escalation income.
Flexible
AOE is the most flexible product in the industry. Easily import or enter any chart of accounts and customize it to your needs. Add unlimited expense pools, expense caps, capital-expense jobs, and an unlimited number of leases.
- AOE handles virtually all specific lease terms, no matter how unique.
- Maintain property- or tenant-specific notes and comments.
- Select either Total Cost or Percentage Adjustment gross-up methodology (as explained in The Escalation Handbook for Office Buildings©).
- Import or export common file formats (PDF, Word, Excel, .csv, .txt)
Cloud-based
Historical data is all stored on secure (SSL) cloud servers. Easily find what you need, when you need it, on any connected device. There’s no software to load or disruptive implementation process.
- Historical data is free to transfer to a new owner and is stored indefinitely.
- No need for local backups.
- Responsive design works on desktops, laptops, or tablets.
- Protect, or securely share, sensitive information.
- AOE doesn’t share your information; it’s yours.
- Your designated admin controls exactly who has access to your data and with what privileges (read and edit, or read only).
Supported
Clients enjoy US-based technical support from the people who literally wrote the book on escalations. We’re proud of our product and care deeply about your satisfaction.
- Free technical support during setup and ongoing software support, including semiannual training webinars.
- Get help from someone who knows the industry.
- We stand behind our product.
Geeky Additional Features
Click below to request a live, no-obligation demo.
- Maintain a monthly occupancy schedule for both economic (leased) and physical occupancy.
- Accruals entered in the current year are automatically reversed the following year.
- One-time adjustments and comments can be entered for any account.
- Amortized capital improvements carry forward until fully amortized.
- Annual or cumulative expense caps are automatically calculated for each year.
- Easily track and re-calculate pre-bills and back-charged amounts.