How does common area cost allocation work?

Common areas are shared spaces in a building (lobbies, hallways, elevators, parking, restrooms) that are used by all tenants. The costs of these areas need to be distributed fairly.

Common area allocation methods

Proportional to area (most common): Each tenant pays based on their rented area as a percentage of total rentable area. If you rent 20% of the building, you pay 20% of common area costs.
Equal split: Costs are divided equally among all tenants regardless of rented area. Fair when all tenants use common areas equally.
Custom percentages: You manually set what percentage each tenant pays. Useful for special agreements in lease contracts.

Common area meter handling

Meters with assignment_type = "common_area" track consumption in shared spaces. This consumption is:

Excluded from tenant-specific meter views (since it's shared)
Included in building-level totals
Distributed to tenants based on the chosen allocation method

Common area factor

Each building local can have a "common area factor" (0 to 1) that determines how much of the common area costs it bears. A factor of 0 means the local doesn't contribute to common area costs; a factor of 1 means it bears a full share.

Vacancy cost sharing

When a building has vacant units, the common area costs for those empty spaces need to go somewhere. The vacancy_cost_share_pct setting (0–100%) controls this:

0% = the building owner absorbs all vacancy-related common area costs
50% = costs are split evenly between owner and existing tenants
100% = existing tenants pay all common area costs, including the vacant portion

You set this with the slider on the Cost Allocation page. It only appears when occupancy is below 100%.

Where to configure: Cost Allocation → select building → the "Vacancy Cost Sharing" slider appears when there are vacant units. Advanced Settings shows common area allocation rules per cost type.