Service charge statement: the Excel template that does the maths – and what never belongs on it
Every spring it lands in the letterbox, often with a balance to pay. Before you pay, look at every line: an item that does not belong there, such as repairs, property management or building insurance, is not owed. Here is the free template to draw up a clean statement yourself in minutes, plus the check that tells you, item by item, whether your service charge statement is watertight or contestable.
💡 The question that decides everything: chargeable or not?
Your landlord may introduce new service charges in the middle of a running lease. The Federal Supreme Court allows it for residential and commercial premises, but only on the official form, with reasons, and you can challenge it (BGE 121 III 460, Art. 269d para. 3 CO). Until then: in Switzerland, service charges are not owed automatically. They only belong on your statement if they are expressly and separately listed in the tenancy agreement (Art. 257a CO). A blanket clause such as «including service charges» is not enough, generic descriptions are struck out by the conciliation authority. Whatever is not in the agreement is included in the rent, full stop.
The second hurdle: even agreed items must be genuine operating costs, that is, ongoing expenses for the use of the property. Repairs, maintenance, property management, building insurance, mortgage interest and value-enhancing investments are the owner's responsibility and may never be passed on, even if they were in the agreement. And finally, under Art. 257b CO: only the costs actually incurred may be billed, whether as advance payments or a flat rate.
The same heating bill is sometimes owed, sometimes not. It comes down to three things:
📊 Excel & Word template: the statement that does the maths
Are you a landlord who has to draw up the statement yourself? The Excel template below works out the share, total and balance by itself, the formulas are built in. The same statement comes as a Word file and a PDF, together with the allocation table for the whole building, the heating cost checklist and the objection letter for tenants. Prefer to do it online? The generator just below builds the statement right in your browser. Important: list every item separately, lump sums make the statement open to challenge.
🧰 5 templates: Excel that does the maths, plus Word and PDF
The statement for landlords, a fully worked example, the allocation table for the whole building, the heating cost checklist and the objection letter for tenants. Each in the format it needs.
Nine cost items, allocation key, advance payments and balance — the Excel version calculates itself
Landlord: [Landlord] Tenant: [Tenant] Rented property: [Address, flat] Accounting period: [DD.MM.YYYY – DD.MM.YYYY] Allocation key under the lease: ☐ floor area (m²) ☐ value quota ☐ persons ☐ consumption (meter) Cost item (only if listed in the lease) · Building costs CHF · Key, total · Key, this flat · Share of this flat CHF Heating and hot water (VMWG Art. 5) · · · · Water and waste water · · · · Common-area electricity (stairwell, laundry room) · · · · Caretaking and cleaning · · · · Lift: service and maintenance · · · · Refuse and disposal · · · · Garden upkeep and snow clearing · · · · Radio, TV, cable · · · · Administration of this statement (VMWG Art. 4(3)) · · · · Total service charges · · · · Advance payments in the period (deduct) · · · · Balance: + amount due, − credit · · · · Share = costs × key for this flat ÷ total key (calculated in the Excel sheet, by hand in Word/PDF). Only items the lease specifically lists may appear on the statement (Code of Obligations Art. 257a para. 2). Repairing or renewing the heating system, and interest on or depreciation of it, can never be charged (VMWG Art. 6). The tenant may inspect the supporting documents (Code of Obligations Art. 257b para. 2) and ask for the fuel stock at the start and end of the heating period (VMWG Art. 8 para. 2). Payable by: ___.___.______ to IBAN: ________________________________ Place, date: ________________ Landlord's signature: ________________
In Excel, share, total and balance calculate themselves, the formulas are built in · The Word file can be filled in, replace the fields in square brackets · The PDF is A4 and ready to print
⚖️ ConvivaPlus's own templates, not legal advice. In a dispute, the conciliation authority is free of charge (Civil Procedure Code Art. 113).
🛠️ Service charge statement generator
Enter the items + advance payments → ready statement with automatic balance as PDF or to copy. Free, no registration.
🚦 Validity check: is your statement valid?
This is where the real value of this page lies: no other portal tells you so directly whether you have to pay the balance or not. The ConvivaPlus validity check asks you four questions about your specific statement and tells you in a second whether it is watertight, whether you should merely ask for clarification or whether it is contestable, and what you can do then.
🚦 ConvivaPlus validity check
Four questions about your service charge statement, and you know whether it is valid or contestable.
Are the service charges expressly and separately listed in your tenancy agreement?
Does the statement list each item separately with its amount (no lump-sum items)?
Are only operating costs shown, with no repairs, property management or insurance?
Is the statement drawn up at least once a year based on actual costs, with inspection of the documents granted?
How the ConvivaPlus validity check judges: if the costs are not separately agreed in the contract or a never-chargeable item appears (repair, property management, insurance), the statement is contestable (red). If inspection of documents is missing or an item is unclear, it pays to ask (amber). Only if all four conditions are met is it formally valid (green). This classification is the reading according to ConvivaPlus, derived from Art. 257a and 257b CO.
🧮 Allocation-key calculator: how much of the total is really yours?
The heating costs for the whole building come to 24,000 francs, and suddenly 1,800 appear on your statement. Is that right? It depends on the allocation key: by floor area (m²), by number of people, by value quota (condominium) or in equal shares. The ConvivaPlus allocation-key calculator does the maths for you: enter the total cost of an item and your share, and you see at once what is mathematically yours.
🧮 ConvivaPlus allocation-key calculator
Enter the total costs + the allocation key → your calculated share. Check whether the figure on your statement is right.
Guide value. The allocation key agreed in the tenancy agreement or regulations is decisive.
Methodology: the calculator allocates the total costs linearly according to the chosen key, according to ConvivaPlus following the usual practice in Switzerland (floor area, people, value quota or equal shares). Which key applies is set out in the tenancy agreement or the regulations. For consumption-based heating and hot water billing, measured consumption counts instead of floor area.
🔥 Heating costs: 9 items you pay, 2 never
You can be charged for insuring the heating system, never for insuring the building. VMWG Art. 5 para. 2 let. h counts insurance premiums that relate solely to the heating system as heating costs, while building insurance is covered by the rent. The same line runs through the whole ordinance: it lists 9 items that may appear on the heating statement and only 2 that never may. The ConvivaPlus Heating Cost Matrix shows all 11. Put your statement next to it, line by line.
| Item | VMWG | Do you pay? |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel and energy consumed | VMWG Art. 5 para. 2 let. a | ✓ yes |
| Electricity for burners and pumps | VMWG Art. 5 para. 2 let. b | ✓ yes |
| Operating costs of alternative energy | VMWG Art. 5 para. 2 let. c | ✓ yes |
| Cleaning of the system and chimney | VMWG Art. 5 para. 2 let. d | ✓ yes |
| Periodic servicing incl. oil tank, descaling | VMWG Art. 5 para. 2 let. e | ✓ yes |
| Metering and billing service | VMWG Art. 5 para. 2 let. f | ✓ yes |
| Maintenance | VMWG Art. 5 para. 2 let. g | ✓ yes |
| Insurance for the heating system only | VMWG Art. 5 para. 2 let. h | ✓ yes |
| Administrative work for the heating | VMWG Art. 5 para. 2 let. i | ✓ yes |
| Repair and renewal of the system | VMWG Art. 6 let. a | ✗ never |
| Interest and depreciation of the system | VMWG Art. 6 let. b | ✗ never |
There is no official English version of Swiss federal law: the item names describe the German, French and Italian texts of the VMWG (SR 221.213.11, as at 1 October 2025), they do not quote them.
Method: the ConvivaPlus Heating Cost Matrix counts what the ordinance itself lists, VMWG Art. 5 para. 2 let. a–i and Art. 6 let. a–b (as at 1 Oct 2025). No estimate, no average, no survey. Until September 2026 a regional service charge index stood here. We withdrew it because its per-region values could not be traced to any source.
📋 Cost catalogue A–Z: what may be included, what never?
The service of your oil tank may go on the statement, the repair of the heating never. Art. 5 para. 2 let. e VMWG lists the periodic service of the heating system including the oil tank as a chargeable cost, while Art. 6 let. a excludes repair and renewal of the installations (There is no official English version of the VMWG; wording paraphrased by ConvivaPlus.) Same heating, two invoices, two worlds. The table shows for each typical item whether it is chargeable (and under what condition) or whether it never belongs on the statement.
| Type of cost | Chargeable? | Basis / condition |
|---|---|---|
| Heating & hot water | ✓ if agreed | By consumption in newer buildings. Largest item, check it first. |
| Water & waste water (consumption) | ✓ if agreed | Consumption share yes; fixed basic charges are partly the landlord's responsibility. |
| Common-area electricity (stairwell, laundry) | ✓ if agreed | Art. 257a CO, genuine operating costs. |
| Caretaker & cleaning | ✓ if agreed | Only ongoing operation, not repairs or replacement. |
| Lift: servicing & maintenance | ✓ if agreed | Maintenance contract yes, repair and replacement no. |
| Refuse & disposal | ✓ if agreed | Operating costs; municipal basic charges are sometimes disputed. |
| Service charge administration | ✓ if agreed | Only the effort to draw up the service charge statement (usually around 3 %), not property management. |
| Repairs & maintenance | ✗ never | Landlord's responsibility (Art. 256 CO), covered by the rent. |
| Property management | ✗ never | Owner's costs, part of the rent. |
| Building insurance & mortgage interest | ✗ never | Owner's costs, not passable on. |
| Property taxes & value-enhancing investments | ✗ never | Owner's matter, never on the service charge statement. |
📅 Deadlines, right to inspect and contestation
You may ask how much heating oil was in the tank on the first day of the heating period. Art. 8 para. 2 VMWG entitles you to inspect the original documents and to ask about the stock of heating fuel at the start and end of the heating period (There is no official English version of the VMWG; wording paraphrased by ConvivaPlus.) Opening stock plus purchases minus closing stock is the consumption you pay for. And you have more time than most people think: a claim only lapses after five years, and conciliation costs you nothing. The key dates at a glance:
The law sets no fixed deadline, but the statement must be drawn up at least once a year, usually within around six months after the end of the billing period. If the landlord draws up no statement, you can reclaim the advance payments made.
You are entitled to inspect the original documents. You must exercise this at the landlord's premises; he need neither hand over the originals nor provide free copies, but must grant inspection.
There is no statutory objection period, but check promptly and object in writing (guide value: within around 30 days). If you have already paid a statement and later find items that were not owed, you reclaim them under the rules on unjust enrichment (Federal Supreme Court 4A_433/2020): within three years of finding out, and no later than ten years after payment (Code of Obligations Art. 67).
A landlord's claim lapses five years after the statement is drawn up (Art. 128 CO). You no longer have to pay older balances.
The conciliation procedure in tenancy matters is free of charge. If you get nowhere, turn to the conciliation authority, with no risk of lawyer's or court costs for the procedure.
If you have agreed a flat rate, there is no statement and no claim. The landlord may not demand more even if the actual costs were higher; the flat rate must be based on the average of three years (Art. 4 para. 2 VMWG).
⚠️ The 5 costliest mistakes with the service charge statement
If a flat in the building stands empty, the landlord heats it, not you. Under Art. 7 para. 1 VMWG, heating costs for unlet residential and commercial premises are borne by the landlord (There is no official English version of the VMWG; wording paraphrased by ConvivaPlus.) If the vacancy is not shown in the allocation key, you are paying for it. Four of these five mistakes cost you money, one costs you your good right. Read them once, and you will not pay a franc too much.
Paying the balance blindly. The most common and costliest mistake. Many transfer the money without comparing the statement with the tenancy agreement and the documents. Yet many statements contain at least one item that does not belong there. First the validity check above, then pay.
Accepting costs that were not agreed. What is not expressly and separately in the tenancy agreement is included in the rent and not owed (Art. 257a CO). A blanket «incl. service charges» clause is not enough. Compare every item with your agreement.
Letting repairs and management slip through. Repairs, maintenance, property management, building insurance and mortgage interest are never chargeable. If they appear, you can have them struck out, the cost catalogue above shows what applies.
Waiving inspection of the documents. Under Art. 257b para. 2 CO you have the right to inspect the original documents. Waiving it means checking blind. Demand the documents in writing before paying any balance.
Not checking the allocation key. Whether allocation is by m², people or value quota quickly makes a few hundred francs on the heating. If the agreement states a different key from the statement, something is wrong, recalculate with the allocation-key calculator.
With service charges, it is not what the landlord writes down that decides, but what is in the tenancy agreement and what the law allows.
✅ Check the service charge statement in 5 steps
If your heating invoice comes without the breakdown, it must tell you expressly that you can demand it. That is Art. 8 para. 1 VMWG. Five steps separate you from certainty that the statement is correct, and none takes longer than a coffee break.
The trick almost nobody knows: ask for the statements from previous years and compare. If an item jumps by more than 20 per cent without explanation, or a new line suddenly appears, that is your strongest argument in a dispute, because the landlord must justify every item with documents. The same care pays off with every template, for example the sublease agreement, where a forgotten sentence about the service charge share is just as costly.
What is your situation?
One click – anonymous, no sign-up required.
❓ Frequently asked questions about the service charge statement
The questions that buzz around every spring at billing time, answered briefly and honestly.
People also ask
Related questions from our magazine
Only the small effort to draw up the service charge statement itself (usually around 3 %), never the management of the whole property. That is included in the rent.
To the cost catalogue →According to the allocation key agreed in the contract, usually by m² or by consumption. The allocation-key calculator shows your calculated share of the total.
To the calculator →If the landlord does not bill at least annually, you can reclaim the advance payments made. Request the statement in writing and set a deadline.
To the deadlines →All information without guarantee. Found an error? → support@conviva-plus.ch
In Switzerland, service charges are only owed if they are separately agreed in the tenancy agreement (Art. 257a CO). Repairs, property management, building insurance and mortgage interest are never chargeable. A claim lapses after 5 years, inspection of the documents is your right (Art. 257b para. 2 CO).
This goes with it
More in tenancy law and templates
Discussion
8 voices from the community
Genau der Check, den ich gebraucht habe. Auf meiner Abrechnung stand eine Position «Verwaltung» mit 480 Franken. Dank dem Katalog wusste ich, dass nur die NK-Verwaltung erlaubt ist, nicht die ganze Liegenschaft. Beanstandet, 400 Franken gutgeschrieben.
Stark, Andrea, genau so funktioniert es. Die Verwaltung der Liegenschaft ist im Mietzins drin, nur der kleine Aufwand für die NK-Abrechnung selbst darf rein. Schön, dass du nicht blind bezahlt hast.
Den Verteilschlüssel-Rechner habe ich dreimal gebraucht, bis ichs geglaubt habe. Bei uns wird nach Personen verteilt, nicht nach m², und ich wohne allein in einer grossen Wohnung. Macht bei der Heizung fast 300 Franken Unterschied im Jahr.
Wichtig fand ich den Hinweis mit der Einsicht in die Belege. Habe schriftlich verlangt, die Verwaltung hat zuerst gemauert, aber nach dem Hinweis auf Art. 257b war die Akte plötzlich da. Eine Position war doppelt verrechnet.
Merci fürs Teilen, Fatima. Genau, das Einsichtsrecht ist gesetzlich, da muss niemand mauern. Gut, dass du drangeblieben bist, doppelt verrechnete Posten sind häufiger als man denkt.
Als Vermieter von zwei Wohnungen rechne ich jetzt mit dem Generator ab. Sauber jede Position einzeln, Saldo automatisch, als PDF verschickt. Vorher hatte ich alles in einem Excel zusammengeschustert, das gab immer Rückfragen.
Han zersch dänkt, ich müess eifach zahle. Aber näi, churz prüeft und gmerkt: d Gebäudeversicherig het uf de Abrächnig nüt z sueche. Sehr fair erklärt, ohni Juriste-Chauderwälsch.
Merci Sandra, genau dä Punkt. D Gebäudeversicherig isch Eigentümersach und ghört nie uf d Nebenkoschte. Schön, dass es klick gmacht het.
ConvivaPlus Editor · Law & Housing
Writes about tenancy, contract and everyday law – legal texts turned into vetted templates.
- Tenancy law
- Contract law
- Templates
- Housing
Found an error or have feedback? Let us know or write to us directly.