How much does a CAM audit cost? 2026 pricing guide
A CAM audit costs $199 to $699 with CAMAudit. Traditional audit firms charge $2,000 to $5,000 upfront plus 25-33% of recoveries. Here's when each option makes sense.
How much does a CAM audit cost? 2026 pricing guide
A CAM audit with CAMAudit costs $199 for a single lease. Traditional audit firms charge $2,000 to $5,000 as an upfront retainer before contingency fees, and contingency fees on recovered amounts run 25 to 33%. Which option makes financial sense depends entirely on your annual CAM bill and what size overcharge you are looking for.
This guide breaks down all three pricing models, shows the math for different tenant scenarios, and gives specific guidance on when each option is worth it.
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Run the audit before you decide whether this applies to your lease.
Contingency fee (percentage of recovery). Boutique tenant representation firms charge no upfront fee but take 25 to 33% of any overcharges recovered from the landlord. The firm earns nothing unless money comes back. For tenants with very large overcharges, this aligns incentives. For smaller overcharges, the math often does not work: a $5,000 recovery costs $1,650 in contingency fees, and the firm may not prioritize small findings.
Hourly flat fee (traditional CPA or consulting). Big Four accounting firms and some boutique consultants charge $400 to $700 per hour with no contingency component. A thorough audit runs 40 to 80 hours. Total cost: $16,000 to $56,000. These engagements produce signed opinion letters and involve on-site access to the landlord's general ledger, which is necessary for certain institutional or regulatory purposes.
Flat fee per audit (software). CAMAudit charges a fixed amount per audit regardless of how much is recovered. Upload the lease and reconciliation, receive findings in under 5 minutes. No contingency, no hourly meter, no minimum CAM bill to qualify.
40%of commercial CAM reconciliations contain material billing errors
The math changes significantly based on your CAM spend. Here is what each option costs and what it returns across three scenarios.
Scenario A: small tenant, 5,000 SF, $15,000 annual CAM
At 40% error prevalence and a 15% recovery rate when errors exist, the expected overcharge is approximately $2,250.
Provider
Audit cost
Expected recovery
Net to tenant
Big Four CPA firm
$20,000+
$2,250
-$17,750 (loss)
Boutique contingency (33%)
$0 upfront + 33%
$2,250
$1,508
CAMAudit
$199 flat
$2,250
$2,051
For this tenant, a Big Four engagement does not pencil. A contingency firm may not accept an engagement at this CAM level (many require a minimum suspected overcharge of $10,000 to $15,000). CAMAudit is the only economically viable option.
Scenario B: medium tenant, 15,000 SF, $60,000 annual CAM
Expected overcharge: approximately $9,000 at a 15% recovery rate.
Provider
Audit cost
Expected recovery
Net to tenant
Big Four CPA firm
$20,000+
$9,000
-$11,000 (loss)
Boutique contingency (33%)
$0 upfront + 33%
$9,000
$6,030
CAMAudit
$199 flat
$9,000
$8,801
A contingency firm works here because the expected recovery clears the minimum. The difference in net recovery between a contingency firm ($6,030) and CAMAudit ($8,801) is $2,771. Over a 3-year lookback, that gap compounds significantly.
Scenario C: large tenant, 50,000 SF, $200,000 annual CAM
Expected overcharge: approximately $30,000 at a 15% recovery rate.
Provider
Audit cost
Expected recovery
Net to tenant
Big Four CPA firm
$25,000
$30,000
$5,000
Boutique contingency (33%)
$0 upfront + 33%
$30,000
$20,100
CAMAudit
$199 flat
$30,000
$29,801
At this level, all three options produce a positive return. The Big Four option provides a signed opinion letter and on-site landlord access, which may be necessary if the dispute proceeds to litigation. For discovery-only purposes, CAMAudit returns $9,701 more than the contingency option on this scenario alone.
What factors affect CAM audit cost
Lease complexity. Simple NNN leases with clear provisions process faster and flag fewer ambiguous findings. Leases with complex gross-up definitions, multi-tier management fee structures, or unusual base year arrangements require more review time when working with traditional firms. Software tools process all lease types for the same flat fee.
Number of audit years. Most leases permit tenants to look back 2 to 3 prior years. Auditing multiple years catches systematic errors that compounded over time. Traditional firms charge additional hours for each additional year. CAMAudit charges per reconciliation statement, so auditing 3 years costs $499 (3-audit pack) rather than $199 times three.
Number of locations. Multi-location tenants auditing several leases simultaneously benefit from volume pricing. CAMAudit's 5-audit pack at $699 works out to $139.80 per audit. Traditional firms discount less predictably.
On-site access requirements. If the audit requires inspecting the landlord's general ledger, vendor invoices, or occupancy records at the property management office, only traditional firms can do this work. Software tools analyze what is in the uploaded documents. For tenants who need on-site access (typically for large disputes or institutional purposes), a traditional firm is the only option.
Contingency auditor restrictions. Many institutional leases prohibit contingency-fee auditors, requiring that any tenant-initiated audit be performed by an independent CPA not compensated on a results basis. If your lease has this clause, boutique contingency firms cannot participate at contingency rates. That changes the economics significantly.
When contingency makes sense vs. flat fee
Flat fee wins when:
Annual CAM is under $100,000
You want a fast first-pass analysis before committing to a traditional engagement
You want to audit multiple years and control total cost
Your lease prohibits contingency auditors
You want results within a week rather than months
Contingency makes sense when:
Annual CAM is $100,000+ and there is a suspected large overcharge
You want the firm to manage the landlord relationship and negotiate the recovery
Your lease permits contingency auditors
The suspected overcharge is well above the threshold that makes the 33% fee worthwhile
Hourly Big Four makes sense when:
Annual CAM is $500,000+ and you need a formal audit opinion
The dispute may proceed to litigation and you need expert testimony
The audit is connected to financial statement compliance work
You need on-site access to the landlord's complete records
CAMAudit pricing breakdown
CAMAudit uses a credit-pack model with no subscription and no hidden fees.
Pack
Price
Per audit
Savings vs. single
1 audit
$199
$199
-
3 audits
$499
$166
$98
5 audits
$699
$140
$296
Credits do not expire. The 30-day money-back guarantee applies if the audit finds no significant billing issues.
The free scan runs the full detection pipeline and shows which error categories were flagged. It does not show dollar amounts or the specific lease provisions involved. That level of detail requires a paid credit.
ROI calculation: is the audit worth it?
The expected value calculation for a CAM audit is straightforward:
These are expected values, not guarantees. Not every audit finds errors. The 40% error prevalence means 60% of reconciliations are clean. For the 40% with errors, the recovery justifies the cost at any CAM level above roughly $1,327 per year.
The 30-day money-back guarantee at CAMAudit is relevant here: if the audit finds nothing significant, the financial risk is effectively zero.
