About LseModTo learn more about LseMod select a link below About
LseModWhen was the last time you had to do a financial analysis before
leasing property? How many iterations did you do? How long did they take? Was
it easy? When you were done, did it look professional and could you present it
to senior management? LseMod's capabilities encompass virtually any scenario:
Lease Analysis, Total Project Cost Analysis, Space Programming, Budgeting, Assumptions,
Occupancy Scenario Analysis, Subleasing . . . and more. Whether you're an Excel
novice or a sophisticated Excel user, whether you do one lease a week, or one
a year, LseMod products will make your job easier. Unique to LseMod is the
inclusion of project infrastructure costs. From line item descriptions for construction,
furniture, voice and data, LseMod even takes into account depreciation, parking
costs and months of free parking. LseMod can do all that for you, and even more
. . . including comparing the cost to your budget. Do you really need all
the cost assumptions? Absolutely! Have you ever gone to the supermarket, selected
lots of stuff, and when the cost was totaled, found out you didn't have enough
money? Don't get caught short leasing space without a Total Cost Analysis. This
software is not just a spreadsheet template. It is an expert system that walks
you through the total cost of a project with a complete set of assumptions. LseMod
has virtually unlimited flexibility and can be easily customized and personalized
to meet your needs. (Please note LseMod is not a lease administration program,
it is a financial analysis tool.) LseMod focuses on the real estate analysis and
the TOTAL Project Cost before you lease property. AND . . . it's easy to
use too! In fact, if you know how to use Excel, you practically know how to use
LseMod. Each program comes with a Wizard to lead you through a simple analysis
. . . step by step. The Wizard takes you to a specific input section and explains
what is required. When you are done, click on the next Wizard button . . . nothing
could be easier!
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About
Written from a Corporate Point-of-ViewLseMod is primarily a Corporate
program. For instance, assume you want to move a Sales office, and the current
lease expires at the end of the 3rd quarter. The first question you hear is, "How
does that impact my budget?" LseMod reports show the partial budget year
impact, as well as the depreciation and the split between Capital and Expense. For
Sales offices, the occupancy costs are typically charged back to the Sales Manager's
budget. The P&L (Profit & Loss) report shows the costs that are charged
back, by budget year (the P&L Total Pre-Tax Impact). The Cash Flow report
shows the cost to the corporation since it takes into account Capital, the cost
of money (the net present value discount rate) and income taxes. Sometimes the
P&L and the Net Present Value After Taxes indicate different properties should
be selected based on cost alone - this is one of the challenges of life in corporate
real estate. Just as important, or maybe more important, the LseMod reports
are written the way a CFO likes to see them . . . P&L, Cash Flow, before tax,
after tax, net present value. Is cost an issue when considering relocation?
What if management keeps saying go to B buildings, stepping down from A-? Select
a B building, "the low cost alternative", and run an analysis. You can
quantify the difference in cost . . . management can then make an informed decision,
hopefully realizing that cost isn't the only issue, but a quantifiable issue thanks
to LseMod. Renewing a lease, but management wants justification. One technique
is to compare a renewal with relocating to a generic office in the market. Call
a local International to get costs such as rent, operating expenses, TI allowances
and then complete a LseMod analysis to relocate the office. Be sure to include
all the infrastructure costs such as wiring and moving the telephone switch. When
complete, use LseSum to compare this cost to renewing. The comparison report is
in a management review format. To see a sample, go to downloads
and select examples
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Why re-invent the wheelWhy re-invent the wheel? For those sophisticated
companies or users that already use a standard template for real estate lease
analysis, LseMod will take you to the next level. Written in Excel, let LseMod
become the foundation of your in-house template program. Feature-rich, LseMod
was designed to be easily customizable and user-friendly. If you already have
an in-house program, isn’t it time to update it? Start with a solid foundation,
start with LseMod! Can you leverage your time and have third parties do
the analysis for you using your in-house program? If you use brokers to do your
analyses, insist they standardize on LseMod for the most consistent professional
reports, domestically or internationally. Think of LseMod as the building's
foundation and walls, create the buildout and the custom interior yourself. When
Excel's Protection feature is disengaged, LseMod becomes an entirely open spreadsheet,
just like the ones you create yourself. If you are proficient in Excel or have
in-house resources, you can create an entirely unique custom template that serves
your unique needs. Easily customizable and user friendly, let the feature-rich
LseMod software family become the foundation of your lease analysis efforts. With
over 20,000 formulas . . . Why re-invent the wheel?
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About Written in ExcelLseMod
is an Excel template with pre-programmed formulas, over 20,000 of them, and with
pre-programmed macros, over 200 of them, that simplify learning and using the
program. There is no need to learn some new program such as Access. Flexibility
is a key feature in LseMod. No template can anticipate every possible scenario
. . . although we think LseMod covers 95% of them. Since first being developed
in 1989, the developer, in his previous day job, and his co-workers have been
able to tweak the template to meet every leasing scenario they have encountered! A
feature unique to LseMod is the ability to un-protect the spreadsheet. Most commercial
software is protected limiting the user to only what has been pre-programmed by
the developers. With LseMod, you can un-protect the program and tweak it as necessary.
Use the structure already built into LseMod and modify it. After all, it's an
Excel spreadsheet! There is no need to learn how to use a new program.
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About Written by a
UserFirst written in 1989 to develop budgets, the LseMod software family
has been expanded and enhanced over the years as much as to meet the needs of
the developer's previous "day job" as a corporate real estate manager
as well as based on suggestions from users. For over 18 years the developer
was a Fortune 500 Corporate Real Estate Manager leasing Sales, Service, and Field
offices throughout North America. He got tired of re-inventing the wheel each
time. LseMod began as a personal productivity tool to help him perform his job
in less time, more easily, and with greater success. Used by co-workers,
LseMod has become the standard analysis tool. In fact, when co-workers change
companies, one of the their first requests is for their new company to acquire
a copy of LseMod. We are real users who have created a great productivity
tool that we firmly believe will increase your productivity and make you a hero.
We constantly receive compliments from our end-users and the finance department
about the quality of the analyses we produce.
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About Road Warrior Tested
- A True StoryThis is a true story; however, since it is written by me,
the developer of LseMod, I may have an advantage. In late 1996 I went to
St. Louis to conduct a market survey and site search. The lease for our sales
office would terminate in June 1997 and we had a renewal option that needed to
be exercised by December 31, 1996. Prior to scheduling the trip I had developed
a SpacePro® analysis to identify how much space I needed. The first day I
looked at fifteen properties, of which 9 were deemed conditionally acceptable.
At the end of the day I adjourned to the bar. With my glass of red wine, in less
than 1 hour, using LseMod and LseSum, I completed a financial analysis for the
TOTAL Project Cost for each alternative and summarized the results on LseSum with
a graph showing the Total P&L Impact (important to my end-user because that
is the cost that will be charged to his P&L) and the Net Present Value After
Taxes (important to the corporation because it takes into account Cash Flow and
the cost of capital to fund the project). The next morning I met with the
end-user (my customer) for breakfast and showed him the graph of the preliminary
analysis on my laptop. After some discussion, we reduced the Space Requirement
by eliminating some of the support space (an extra conference room, etc.). I then
went out to look at our 9 semi-finalists again. In the second viewing of
the properties, several things happened: - 2 properties fell off the
list.
- The square footage to be leased was adjusted to reflect reality.
In most cases Landlords were not able to provide the exact square footage we needed
since demising walls cannot always be moved.
- Leasing agents provided,
in some cases, new base rent numbers
- I adjusted the construction cost
on a relative basis (all the alternatives were second generation space). In some
cases extensive demolition and new construction were required. In a few cases
only minor construction was required.
Returning to our office that afternoon,
in only 15 minutes, I changed the analyses to reflect the changed assumptions.
Meeting with the end-user again, I showed him the updated graph comparing all
the alternatives and . . . A decision was made on what strategy we would pursue. With
the right software and a laptop, you too can increase your productivity and wow
your customers!
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About
Informed DecisionsMaking an Informed Decision is the heart and soul of
LseMod. As a corporate real estate professional it is our job to identify the
alternative solutions available, negotiate the best deal possible, and present
senior management with an un-biased complete analysis detailing the costs and
assumptions for each alternative. Senior management can then make an informed
decision based on the total cost to the company. It's not just the rent! Intangibles
such as location, view, elevator presence, a B building versus an A building,
etc. are not "hard costs"; however, management can make an informed
decision based on the real cost. For instance, the low cost alternative
may be moving from an A building to a B or B- building. With LseMod, management
can be presented the costs associated with the each alternative and can make an
informed decision. Are the real savings outweighed by the intangibles? You don't
know unless you have a complete analysis that includes ALL the costs . . . let
the numbers do the talking!
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About ReportsA point of pride for us is the
quality and completeness of our reports. Presentation quality and easy to understand,
our reports are written in formats familiar to CFO's. Compare our reports to yours
or what you are getting from others.
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AssumptionsA financial analysis, in our experience, is valueless unless
you know what Assumptions were made when preparing it. LseMod is feature-rich
when it comes to Assumptions (over 500 variables) with easy-to-read printouts
listing the Assumptions. We have done all the work for you, including assumptions
you may not need daily, but will need at some time, such as landlord profit sharing
when subleasing, carrying over depreciation costs, etc.
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About BudgetsLseMod
was initially developed in 1989 to create budgets for moves and expansions for
field offices. Since that time its functionality has grown by leaps and bounds,
but its original function still remains. Use LseMod when creating your capital
and annual occupancy budget to ensure you have included all the costs associated
with a planned project. It may be months later that you really start the
project; however with LseMod you have printouts of all your assumptions. When
you run your analysis months later based on what you are really going to do, you
can fill in the project budget section and compare what you are really going to
do with what you budgeted! To see sample reports go to downloads and select examples.
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About
Field Office BudgetingA lease is expiring in the middle of next year,
how do you budget the costs NOW to include them in your annual operating budget? Problem:
You are doing your annual Facilities occupancy budgets, how do you budget for
new offices, or offices that are relocating, expanding or downsizing? How do you
document (or remember) the assumptions you made when you did your annual budget? How
do you budget for FUTURE field (sales) office actions if the activity starts when
your current lease expires, which is sometime after the start of your budget year? Want
to show your Value-Added? If you are a service provider you can help your corporate
clients with their annual operating budgets. Use LseMod to budget expense
and capital . . . it's not just the rent. Budget for Calendar Years or Fiscal
Years! LseMod was originally written as a budgeting tool to budget for field
office actions, only later did it become a comparative lease transaction tool. In
your annual facilities budget, if you need to budget the costs for these actions
- not just the rent, but the capital requirements for construction, furniture,
voice, data, etc. use LseMod. To see sample reports and read about a budgeting
process, go to downloads and select
examples.
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About
Protection
Protected Sheets make the products virtually bullet-proofWhat
is Protection? When Excel sheets are protected, only a limited number of cells
can be changed, all other cells are protected -- Excel will respond with the message
like "Locked cells cannot be changed." Each program has a Protection
feature that limits inputs to selected cells. However, since no template can predict
every scenario, the user has the ability to turn the Protection Off, customize
the program, and then turn the Protection back On so as to minimize the chances
of inadvertent mistakes. We believe the products encompass 95% of the leasing
scenarios typically encountered . . . to meet the other 5%, users can turn Protection
Off. With Protection Off, the templates are just like an ordinary spreadsheet
you create yourself.
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About
the WizardsWhat's the worst thing that can happen with a new software
program? You learn how to use it, and then don't use it for a month and forget
all you learned! Well, maybe not the very worst thing, but close, and a concern
to most users. All the LseMod products come with Wizards. The Wizards tell
you what to do and lead you to the appropriate section to do your inputting. Use
the Wizards and you can complete a basic analysis in minutes, the first time you
use the program! Once you become familiar with the programs you will find
it faster not to use the Wizards, but if you are learning the programs or using
them infrequently, the Wizards virtually eliminate the learning/re-learning time
typical of most software programs!
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About e-mailUnique to LseMod is our proprietary
e-mail program, Report Xtractor. There is no need to overwhelm your clients with
too much detail or require they have some special program to read the reports,
all they need is Excel! With our e-mail program you select whatever reports
or graphs you want to send and our program puts them in a new, small Excel file
which you can attach to an e-mail and send to your clients. It even includes a
Table of Contents. All the client needs is Excel! All you need to do is highlight
the report(s) and click a button, magic happens! FYI – you can mix &
match and combine reports from different LseMod programs in one file attachment.
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About
Comparing Multiple PropertiesEach LseMod file analyzes one (1) leasing
transaction. LseSum, a companion program, is used to link the different LseMod
files and create a one page comparative summary. Pre-programmed graphs can be
used to illustrate the comparison or you can create your own graph with the click
of a button. Up to 100 properties can be compared! LseSum is so automated, no
training is required.
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About the International ModuleLseMod users
have the ability to analyze international transactions in the local currency using
square feet, square meters, or whatever. Financial summaries are in U.S.$ and
local currency and all the assumptions are in the local currency.
LseMod Pro contains the International Module. LseSum, the companion product to LseMod,
includes the ability to compare different alternatives in the local currency as
well as in U.S. dollars.To see a sample report go to the
downloads
section and select examples.
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About Corporate Approval FormsMany companies
have a one page Approval Form summarizing key costs that is signed off by senior
management before a lease is executed. Sometimes the approval process includes
a preliminary budget summarized in a company specific format. LseMod (Corporate
and Pro versions) include a Funding Approval Form than can be easily customized
to include your Approval Form or preliminary budget form. Since LseMod is written
in Excel, you can write formulas similar to the existing formulas and save this
modified LseMod as your new template. That way, whenever a property is analyzed,
automatically generate your Approval Form for management approval. FYI –
the current Funding Approval Form will convert costs to US $ if you are doing
an international lease analysis.
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About Internal BenchmarksDesigned to be
customized, you get all the advantages of Excel without spending the time developing
your own template from scratch. The User's Guide even tells you how to change
the standard printouts. You can create your own custom template of LseMod incorporating
just what you want, or you can modify the template when appropriate.
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About the Space RequirementBefore
even starting a market survey or site search, the first question is, "How
much space do I need?"
SpacePro®, another product in the LseMod software
family, will provide an analytical report showing how much space is needed based
on current head count, changes in head count over the next 5 years (by year),
and support space such as conference rooms.
Save time, narrow your site
search and make the most productive use of your time! Determine your space requirement
before you start your site search.
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