What Is a Rent Roll? A Commercial Example, Worked Out
What goes on a commercial rent roll, and a four-unit building worked to the cent: rent per square foot, occupancy, free rent, lease expirations and WALT.
A rent roll is a list, as of one date, of every unit in a property and the lease on it: the tenant, the area, the rent, the lease dates and what changes next, with vacant units on their own lines. On a commercial building it is one of the first documents a lender, buyer or appraiser asks for, because it ties the income to the leases behind it.
It is the most visible output of what commercial lease administration covers.
What a commercial rent roll contains
A residential rent roll is mostly units and monthly rents. A commercial one adds area, rent per square foot per year, recoveries, escalations, options and deposits, because every lease is different.
| Column | What it holds | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Unit(s) | The suites the lease covers | A unit no lease covers is vacant |
| Tenant | The legal name, as on the lease | The entity that owes the rent |
| Area (sq ft) | As the lease defines it | Every per-square-foot figure divides by it |
| Lease start / end | The term in force | Expirations; whether the lease is in force |
| Rent commencement | When rent starts, if later | A tenant can occupy before it pays |
| Monthly base rent | Contract rent on the date | The income line |
| Rent per sq ft per year | Monthly × 12 ÷ area | How commercial rent is compared |
| CAM / recovery estimate | Monthly estimate on top of rent | The rest of what the tenant pays |
| Next rent change | Date and amount | What the income will be |
| Free rent or abatement | Percentage and end date | Rent that is not being billed |
| Deposit held | What is held on the date | Security a buyer will ask about |
| Tenant balance | Owed, or owed back, on the date | Rent on paper versus rent collected |
| Options | Renewal, expansion, termination | Can change when the income ends |
The NYC Department of Finance's Commercial Rent Roll Column Definitions, used for its annual RPIE income and expense filings, asks for much the same: the unit, its occupancy status, the tenant's name as stated on the lease, the net rentable area "as defined in the lease," the base rent, the next escalation date, free rent, the lease start and term, and the tenant's CAM share. It is one city's filing form, not a national standard, and it adds columns for percentage rent and real estate tax escalations.
Rent roll example: a four-unit commercial building
What does a rent roll look like? Maple Commons is a worked case, not a customer's rent roll: four units, 101 (1,200 sq ft), 102 (800), 103 (2,000) and 104 (1,000), for 5,000 sq ft in all. Lease A takes 101 and 102 at $5,000.00 a month; lease B takes 103 at $4,250.00; 104 is vacant. The roll is as of August 15, 2026.
| Lease | Units | Sq ft | Monthly | $/sq ft/yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 101, 102 | 2,000 | $5,000.00 | $30.00 |
| B | 103 | 2,000 | $4,250.00 | $25.50 |
| Vacant | 104 | 1,000 | — | — |
| Leased | 4,000 | $9,250.00 | $27.75 |
Rent per square foot per year is monthly rent × 12 ÷ area. Lease A: 5,000.00 × 12 ÷ 2,000 = $30.00. Lease B: 4,250.00 × 12 ÷ 2,000 = $25.50.
The average is the annual rent of the leased lines divided by their area, not an average of the two rates: (60,000 + 51,000) ÷ 4,000 = $27.75. It equals the simple average here only because the two leases have the same area.
Occupancy has two honest answers for the same building. By area: 4,000 ÷ 5,000 = 80.0%. By units: 3 of 4 = 75.0%. A roll should print both, or say which one it uses.
The area of a lease line is the sum of its units' areas as the leases define them. The area behind a tenant's share of operating costs can be defined differently, with its own denominator: that is how a tenant's share is measured.
Rounding happens once, at the end. A lease of 1,234 sq ft at $2,345.67 a month: 2,345.67 × 12 = 28,148.04; ÷ 1,234 = 22.8104…, printed as $22.81. Round the monthly figure per square foot first ($1.90) and multiply by 12, and you get $22.80.
Free rent, vacancies and other lines that need a note
These eight lines need a note, each shown on Maple Commons.
Free rent on the date
Lease B is 100% abated through December 31, 2026. The line still shows $4,250.00, with the note "100% abated through Dec 31, 2026." The total stays $9,250.00, and a separate line says "Not charged on Aug 15, 2026: $4,250.00." At 50% abatement, that line would read $2,125.00. The roll states the contract; what is not being billed is said beside it, not hidden in the total.
Rent not yet commenced
Suppose lease E took unit 104 on August 1, 2026, with rent from October 1, 2026 at $3,000.00 a month. On August 15, unit 104 is occupied, so occupancy is 100.0% by area and by units. The line shows $3,000.00 and "Rent starts Oct 1, 2026." The contractual total is $12,250.00, the average is (60,000 + 51,000 + 36,000) ÷ 5,000 = $29.40, and "Not charged on Aug 15, 2026" is $3,000.00.
A rent awaiting its CPI
Suppose instead lease D on 104 was indexed on July 1, 2026 to April 2026's index, and April's index value has not been entered yet. The line says "Awaiting index (2026-04)" and shows no figure, never a guess. Lease D counts in occupancy (100.0% by area and by units) but not in the rent totals, which stay at $9,250.00 and $27.75 on 4,000 sq ft, and the footer says one lease is left out. The escalation side of this is what happens when the index is missing.
Vacant today, leased tomorrow
Unit 104 is vacant on August 15 with a lease signed from November 1, 2026. The line reads "Vacant, leased from Nov 1, 2026," and the unit counts as vacant: occupancy stays at 80.0%.
A lease that ended yesterday, or ends today
If lease B ended on August 14, unit 103 is vacant on August 15. If it ends on August 15, it is still in force that day.
The next change
Lease A steps from $5,000.00 to $5,150.00 on October 1, 2026. A roll dated September 30 shows $5,000.00 with "Next change: Oct 1, 2026 → $5,150.00." A roll dated October 1 shows $5,150.00.
Deposits
Lease A has a $10,000.00 cash deposit received January 1 and a $25,000.00 letter of credit that expired June 30, 2026. The deposit held on August 15 is $10,000.00, with the note "Letter of credit expired Jun 30, 2026."
Tenant balances
Three tenants have balances of $1,250.50, −$300.00 and none. The roll shows $1,250.50 due and, apart, $300.00 of credits. Netting them to $950.50 hides both.
From rent roll to lender: expiry schedule and WALT
The next question is when the income ends. Same building, same date: lease A ends December 31, 2028, lease B ends June 30, 2027. Annual rent is 60,000.00 + 51,000.00 = $111,000.00.
The lease expiry schedule
| Expires | Leases | Sq ft (% of 5,000) | Annual rent | % of rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vacant | — | 1,000 (20.0%) | — | — |
| 2027 | 1 | 2,000 (40.0%) | $51,000.00 | 45.9% |
| 2028 | 1 | 2,000 (40.0%) | $60,000.00 | 54.1% |
51,000 ÷ 111,000 = 0.45946, or 45.9%; 60,000 ÷ 111,000 = 0.54054, or 54.1%. Cumulative shares (80.0% of the area and 100.0% of the rent by 2028) are computed on cumulative sums, never by adding rounded percentages.
WALT, the weighted average lease term remaining
WALT says how long, on average, the income has left to run. For each lease, take the days remaining to its end and multiply by its weight; add those up; divide by the sum of the weights × 365.
From August 15, 2026, lease B has 319 days left (to June 30, 2027) and lease A 869 days (to December 31, 2028, counting February 2028 as 29 days).
- By rent: (319 × 51,000 + 869 × 60,000) ÷ (111,000 × 365) = 68,409,000 ÷ 40,515,000 = 1.6885, or 1.69 years.
- By area: (319 × 2,000 + 869 × 2,000) ÷ (4,000 × 365) = 2,376,000 ÷ 1,460,000 = 1.6274, or 1.63 years.
They differ because the longer lease pays more per square foot, so weighting by rent leans toward it. Some sources state WALT in months, or by rent only; either is fine if the page says which.
A lease with no end date cannot be weighted by time remaining. Suppose lease C takes 104 at $2,000.00 a month with no end date: the schedule gets a "No end date" row (1 lease, 1,000 sq ft, 20.0%, $24,000.00), WALT stays at 1.69 and 1.63 years, and the page says one lease is left out of it.
Concentration asks how much of the rent depends on one tenant. Lease A is 54.1% of the rent and B 45.9%. With lease C added, A is 60,000 ÷ 135,000 = 44.4%, B 37.8% and C 17.8%.
Rent roll analysis: how to check a rent roll
- Every line ties to a lease or an amendment: area, dates, rent and the next step.
- Annual rent on the roll against what was billed in the last twelve months. A gap needs an explanation: free rent, a rent not yet started, a vacancy, a credit.
- Abatements and rents not yet commenced are visible, not buried in the total.
- Expired letters of credit and lapsed tenant certificates of insurance are flagged.
- Expirations and option notice dates in the next 12 to 24 months are listed.
- Balances due are shown apart from credits.
- The roll is dated, and signed if it is certified. A certified rent roll is one the owner or manager signs as accurate as of its date, typically for a loan or a sale; what it must say is the lender's or buyer's to set. Tenant estoppel certificates are one way they confirm the roll with the tenants themselves.
Rent roll columns, in order
Paste these columns into a spreadsheet in this order, or download the free commercial rent roll template (Excel), which has them, with every figure a formula and Maple Commons loaded.
| Column | Format | Example from the cases |
|---|---|---|
| Unit(s) | Text, comma-separated | 101, 102 |
| Tenant | Legal name, as on the lease | Tenant A, LLC (legal name) |
| Sq ft | Number | 2,000 |
| Lease start | Date (MM/DD/YYYY in the US) | 08/01/2026 (lease E) |
| Lease end | Date (MM/DD/YYYY in the US), or "No end date" | 12/31/2028 |
| Rent commencement | Date (MM/DD/YYYY in the US) | 10/01/2026 (lease E) |
| Monthly base rent | $, before any abatement | $5,000.00 |
| $/sq ft/yr | = monthly × 12 ÷ sq ft | $30.00 |
| Recovery estimate | $ per month in force on the date | Blank if none is set |
| Next change | Date → amount | 10/01/2026 → $5,150.00 |
| Abatement note | % and end date | 100% abated through 12/31/2026 |
| Deposit held | $, with a note on any letter of credit | $10,000.00 (letter of credit expired 06/30/2026) |
| Balance due | $ owed, or credit shown as a credit | $1,250.50 |
Under the lines, three totals rows (leased area and rent, occupancy by area and by units, not charged on the date), a footer for anything left out of the totals, and the date at the top.
Where ChargeRecoveries fits
On the Pro plan, ChargeRecoveries produces a rent roll on any date from the leases themselves: one line per lease in force and per vacant unit, free rent noted beside the line, a rent awaiting its index left out of the totals, with the missing month on its line and a count in the footer, occupancy by area and by units, printed under your letterhead or exported as CSV. The lender pack, also Pro, adds the expiry schedule by year, WALT by rent and by area, the five largest leases and the last twelve months' NOI. Maple Commons is one of the product's own test cases. On every plan, an existing rent roll imports from a CSV whose separators and date format you declare (units, tenants, areas and dates); each lease's rent is then entered on the lease. See the Pro plan, or open the demo building.
Frequently asked questions
What is a rent roll? A dated list of every unit in a property and the lease on it: the tenant, the area, the rent, the lease dates and what changes next, with vacant units on their own lines. Sometimes called a rent roll report.
What does a commercial rent roll include? Unit, tenant, area, lease dates, monthly base rent, rent per square foot per year, the recovery estimate, the next escalation, abatements, deposits and tenant balances, and often options.
What is the difference between a commercial and a residential rent roll? A commercial roll is measured in square feet and carries each lease's escalations, recoveries and options. A residential roll is mostly units and monthly rents.
How do you calculate occupancy on a rent roll? Leased area ÷ total area (80.0% in the example), or leased units ÷ all units (75.0%). Say which one you used.
How do you calculate rent per square foot from a rent roll? Monthly rent × 12 ÷ area: $5,000.00 × 12 ÷ 2,000 = $30.00 a year.
What is WALT in commercial real estate? The weighted average lease term remaining, weighted by rent or by area: 1.69 years by rent and 1.63 years by area in the example.
What is a certified rent roll? A rent roll the owner or manager signs as accurate as of its date, usually for a lender or a buyer.
What is the difference between a rent roll and a T-12? A rent roll is the leases on one date: the contract rent going forward. A T-12 (trailing twelve months) is the income and expenses actually recorded over the last twelve months. A buyer or lender reads them side by side; the gap between the two is what the checklist above asks you to explain.
How often should a rent roll be updated? Whenever it is asked for: it is produced as of a date, from the leases as they stand that day.