What is the difference between area-based and area×hours cost allocation?
The platform offers two formula-based allocation methods that look similar but produce very different results depending on your tenants' usage patterns.
By Area (by_area) splits costs purely by rented square metres. Each tenant's share is:
tenant area ÷ total tenant area × 100
Two stores of equal size always pay the same share, regardless of how much they actually use the building.
By Area × Hours (by_area_hours) multiplies each tenant's area by their weekly operating hours before calculating the share:
(tenant area × weekly hours) ÷ total (area × hours) × 100
This means a tenant that operates longer gets a larger share, even if their space is the same size as a neighbour's.
Practical example — two 200 m² retail stores
Store A is open 10 hours per week. Store B is open 45 hours per week.
With By Area: both pay 50 % each (200 ÷ 400).
With By Area × Hours:
- Store A: 200 × 10 = 2,000 area-hours → 2,000 ÷ 11,000 = 18.2 %
- Store B: 200 × 45 = 9,000 area-hours → 9,000 ÷ 11,000 = 81.8 %
Store B pays roughly 4.5 times more because they use the building 4.5 times longer. This reflects real-world energy usage — lights, heating, ventilation, and equipment run proportionally to opening hours.
Key difference: By Area assumes all tenants use energy equally per square metre. By Area × Hours recognises that a tenant open 45 hours consumes far more than one open 10 hours, even in the same space.
You can mix methods per cost type. For example, use By Area for insurance (area-based risk) and By Area × Hours for electricity and heating (usage-correlated costs).
Where to configure: Cost Allocation → select building → click the allocation method button (By Area or Area × Hours) at the top of the tenant list.