Service Charge Budget and Apportionment Spreadsheet

Who this is for

The year's communal costs, split across the flats. List each cost heading against last year's actual spend, set this year's budget, then enter each flat's share from its lease to see the annual charge and the instalment it pays.

Directors of residents' management companies, small freeholders and volunteer block representatives who set the service charge budget themselves rather than through a managing agent.

What this helps you track

• Each cost heading with last year's actual and this year's budget
• The change on every heading, so increases can be explained
• Each flat's share as the lease sets it, and a check that the shares add up
• The annual charge and the instalment for every flat

How to use it

1. Fill in the building, the service charge year, the number of flats and who prepared the budget.
2. List the cost headings you use, such as cleaning, insurance, repairs and management, with last year's actual spend beside each one.
3. Set this year's budget for each heading and note why any figure has moved; the change column is worked out in the browser and the workbook.
4. Copy the total budget into the header, with how many instalments a year your leases set, then enter each flat's share percentage exactly as its lease gives it.
5. Check the shares total 100 before sending out demands; on paper, work each charge as budget times share divided by 100.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Where do the flat shares come from?

From each lease. Leases set the proportion or method for each flat, sometimes by floor area, rateable value or a fixed fraction. Enter what the lease says rather than an equal split unless the leases say that.

What if the shares do not add up to 100?

The summary shows the shares entered so a gap is obvious. A shortfall can come from a mistyped figure, a flat left off or leases drafted inconsistently. Check the leases before charging, and take advice if they genuinely do not add up.

Can different cost headings be split differently?

Some leases split, say, lift costs only across upper floors. Make a copy of the apportionment table for each schedule with its own budget total and shares, and add each flat's charges together.

Are there rules about how service charges are set?

In many places there are rules on consultation, demands and what can be charged, and they differ by country. Check the rules where you are and what your leases allow before the budget is issued.