A folder in the general manager's office
The concession agreements are in a lever arch file. The aquatics concession's agreement is up for review next spring, though nobody is sure of the exact date. The farm shop has a sub-meter for its chillers, read when someone remembers. The furniture concession pays a share of the car park and security costs, recharged quarterly, except the last quarter was missed. The café concession at your second site pays a fixed licence fee, increased by an agreed method each year.
When the aquatics owner asks whether their terms can change, you open the file and try to work out what was agreed and when it ends. When the electricity bill jumps, you realise the chiller meter has not been read for months.
Why the details slip
Concession terms are signed once and then left alone. The dates and obligations inside them come round slowly, months or years apart, and nobody owns them day to day.
- Renewal, review and notice dates are written in agreements, not in a calendar.
- Sub-meter readings rely on someone remembering to walk round.
- Service charge shares and recharge methods differ by concession.
- Annual fee increases are applied late or not at all.
- Insurance certificates and other documents requested from concessions expire unnoticed.
What the missed dates cost
Unrecovered recharges come straight off your margin, and trying to recover several quarters at once creates friction with a concession you want to keep. Missed review dates mean terms roll on that you meant to revisit. Missed notice dates can limit your choices, and your own advisers are the people to say what an agreement actually allows.
The problem grows with each concession you add. A centre with two concessions can hold the details in one person's head. With six or eight, across more than one site, the obligations overlap: one concession's review falls in the same month as another's rent increase and a third's insurance renewal, and something always gets missed.
It also takes management time every time a question comes up, because the answer has to be dug out of paper.
A concession register that does the remembering
- We set up a register for each concession: agreement documents, key dates your team enters, fees, recharge methods and contacts.
- Reminders go to the right manager ahead of review, renewal and notice dates, with the agreement attached.
- Sub-meter readings are captured on a phone with a photo of the meter, on a schedule, with a reminder if one is missed.
- Utility recharges are calculated from readings and your unit costs, and service charge shares from your cost totals and the agreed method.
- Draft invoices are produced for approval and posted to Xero, Sage or QuickBooks, so recharges go out on time.
- Documents you require from concessions, such as insurance certificates, are logged with expiry dates and a reminder to request the new one.
| Item | Today | With the register |
|---|---|---|
| Review and renewal dates | In a lever arch file | Reminders ahead of time |
| Sub-meter readings | When remembered | Scheduled, with photos |
| Recharge invoices | Late or missed | Drafted on schedule |
| Annual fee changes | Applied late | Scheduled and flagged |
| Concession documents | Expire unnoticed | Tracked with expiry dates |
We record the dates and methods you tell us. We do not interpret agreements or advise on terms, which stay with you and your advisers.
Running concessions with the paperwork in hand
The general manager gets an email two months before the aquatics review date, with the agreement and the concession's recent sales summary attached. Meter readings arrive on schedule with photos, and the quarterly recharges go out as normal invoices.
When a concession owner asks a question about their terms or a charge, the answer is one screen away, and the conversation is about the business rather than about finding the paperwork.
Is your concession admin kept in a folder?
- You are not sure when each concession agreement is up for review.
- Sub-meter readings are irregular.
- Recharge invoices are late or have been missed.
- Annual fee increases have been forgotten.
- Concession insurance and documents are not tracked.