Portfolio data you can trust

Start with a decision, then a dataset

Choose a question management asks repeatedly: which assets miss budget, which leases need attention, or which suppliers deserve a review. List the records needed to answer it. A large migration with no defined decision often produces a polished database that nobody trusts.

For a first implementation, choose five to ten representative assets. Include more than your best-managed property: an asset with missing records is useful for discovering how your operating process handles uncertainty.

• Give the asset, lease and supplier records stable IDs.
• Record source system, source date, currency and payment period.
• Assign one person to reconcile each source with the register.

Make units and periods explicit

A rent of 30 is ambiguous. EUR 30 per square metre per month is useful. Keep rent, service charges, incentives and tax in separate fields where the source permits it. Distinguish invoiced revenue, accrued revenue and collected cash before comparing their totals.

Write a short data dictionary. Define lettable area, occupied area, annual revenue, property operating costs and the budget version. Apply the same period to actuals and budget. A forecast is a separate scenario, not a replacement for the original budget.

Reconcile before you automate

Compare the imported rent roll with the approved source. Check missing asset IDs, duplicate leases, impossible dates and monthly-versus-annual conversions. Investigate differences rather than forcing the totals to match.

Keep a record of accepted exceptions. A vacant unit, a late payment and an unknown field are different conditions. Use an explicit unknown value rather than making an absence look like zero.

• Reconcile at asset level before combining the portfolio.
• Check area and rent against the latest signed amendment.
• Keep corrected imports and their source versions traceable.

Keep two useful occupancy measures apart

Area-weighted occupancy measures the occupied share of floor area: occupied area divided by lettable area. It should not be confused with rental-value vacancy. EPRA's vacancy methodology uses estimated rental value for vacant space against portfolio estimated rental value; the two measures answer different questions.

For a control tower, show the formula beside the metric and preserve the underlying areas. A simple average of building percentages can overstate occupancy when smaller assets are fully occupied and a large building is not.

Set a repeatable monthly close

Agree a source cut-off, a reconciliation owner and a review date. Publish a snapshot only when exceptions are visible and material differences have been explained. Keep the previous snapshot so management can tell a changed asset from a changed definition.

The next step is a small, repeatable import into Data Hub. Bring the source evidence with the numbers; connect further systems once the pilot answers its first decision reliably.