By Sohail Hamirani, CFO Mohr Partners, Inc.
For years, lease administration lived in the background. It was necessary, but rarely seen as strategic. That era is over. As we head into 2026, lease administration has become one of the clearest signals of how well an organization truly operates. The quality of lease data now affects financial confidence, audit outcomes, cost recovery, and real estate decisions. When lease administration works, leaders trust the numbers. When it does not, everything slows down. Below are my thoughts on how I see the lease administration industry evolving as expectations rise and the function moves closer to the center of the enterprise.
From Compliance to Confidence
The rush to implement ASC 842 is behind us. What remains is the harder work of living with it. Missed amendments, unclear assumptions, and outdated abstracts no longer show up once. They show up every quarter, every audit, every leadership review. Lease administration is no longer about meeting a standard. It is about earning confidence in the data that drives decisions.
Data Has Become Active
Lease data used to sit quietly in systems. Today, it moves the business. Organizations are realizing that technology alone does not create clarity. Clean data does. Ownership does. Discipline does. The teams pulling ahead treat lease data the same way finance treats the general ledger. Maintained continuously. Reviewed regularly and trusted instinctively.
AI Is Raising the Bar
Artificial intelligence is changing how lease work gets done, but not by removing people. It is accelerating first drafts, highlighting risk, and freeing professionals to focus on judgment. The future is not automation for its own sake. It is smarter teams making better decisions faster.
Cost Recovery Is No Longer Routine
Operating expenses have changed the conversation. CAM charges are through the roof across markets. In some portfolios, we are now seeing CAM expenses exceed base rent. What used to be a routine reconciliation has become a critical margin issue that leadership cannot afford to ignore. We work with clients who have recovered significant savings simply because something foundational was wrong. A base year was captured incorrectly. Property taxes were calculated using the wrong methodology. Annual caps were missed or never applied. These are not aggressive positions. They are contractual rights that were overlooked because the lease data was incomplete, outdated, or scattered across systems. When lease administration is strong, these issues are identified early. When it is not, companies overpay quietly year after year. In a cost environment this volatile, lease data is no longer passive. It is a lever.
Change Is Constant
Portfolios are in motion. Renewals, amendments, exits, and restructurings are the norm, not the exception. Static databases cannot keep up. The strongest teams heading into 2026 expect change and capture it in real time. Speed and accuracy are no longer competing goals. They are both required.
What Leadership Looks Like in 2026
The leaders in lease administration will not be defined by systems or headcount. They will be defined by trust.
- Trust in the data
- Trust in the process
- Trust across finance, accounting, and real estate
Lease administration is no longer about storing leases. It is about enabling clarity and confidence at the moments that matter most.
Those who recognize this shift will not just keep up. They will lead.
