How to track rent payments

A clear record of rent tells you at any moment what each tenant owes. It settles disagreements about who paid what, it is the basis of your income figures for tax, and at the end of a tenancy it decides what can be taken from the deposit. Without one, a single missed or doubled payment can go unnoticed for months.

• The date the money arrived, not the date the tenant says they sent it.
• The amount, and its currency if you rent out homes in more than one.
• Who paid it, and for which home.
• The period or invoice it pays for, such as the October rent.
• How it was paid: bank transfer, cash, cheque, card or otherwise.
• A reference you can find again, such as the bank transaction or a receipt number.

1. Before the rent is due, send each tenant what they owe: an invoice, or at least a message with the amount and the period. The rent invoice generator makes one for free.
2. When the due date passes, go through your bank statement and match each payment to the rent it pays.
3. Record every payment the same day you match it.
4. Follow up anything missing or short straight away, while it is still small.
5. Give a receipt for every payment, and always for cash. The rent receipt generator makes one for free.

• Part payments. Record what arrived against the month it was meant for, and keep the balance visible until it is cleared.
• Overpayments. Record them as paid towards the next month, and tell the tenant, so that nobody remembers it differently later.
• Cash. Count it in front of the tenant, record it the same day, and hand over a signed receipt.
• Deposits. Keep the deposit out of your rent figures. It is the tenant's money until the tenancy is settled, as the guide to security deposit deductions explains.

When rent is late, say so on the day after it was due, in writing and without heat: the amount, the period and when you expect it. Most late rent is a forgotten transfer, and a prompt, factual message settles it.

If the lease sets a late fee, apply it the way the lease says, whether a flat amount or a percentage for each day late, and only after the days of grace it allows. Record the fee as a line of its own rather than adding it to the rent, so the rent figure stays true. Some places cap late fees or forbid them, so check the local rule before charging one.

Ask every tenant to put the same reference on each transfer, such as the unit and the month: 4-OCT. Match each account on its own, then bring the matches together in the one record. Where you can, keep rent and deposits in separate accounts, and both apart from your own money.

With one or two homes a spreadsheet works well. Keep one row per payment, with these columns, or download the rent ledger template as a CSV file that opens in any spreadsheet.

A spreadsheet starts to strain when there are more homes, rents that change, extra charges and tenants who come and go. Rental management software keeps the same record without the copying. In Crestlet, each lease drafts its own invoices, each payment is recorded against the invoice it settles, and the tenant sees the same figures in their portal.

It depends on where you pay tax. In the US, the IRS asks for records to be kept for at least three years after you file, and records about the property itself until the time limit runs out for the year you sell it. In the UK, HMRC lists rent, invoices, receipts and bank statements among the records a landlord keeps. Check the rule of the tax authority where you pay, and keep the rent record for at least as long.

• Recording payments from memory at the end of the month instead of from the bank statement.
• Mixing rent with deposits, or with your own money, in the same column.
• Letting a small shortfall roll over without telling the tenant.
• Taking cash without giving a receipt.
• Keeping the only copy of the record in one place, with no backup.

What is a rent ledger?

A record of every rent charge and payment for a tenancy, in date order, with the balance after each one. The table above is a simple one.

Should I give a receipt for a bank transfer?

It is not usually required, since the bank statement shows the payment, but a receipt for every payment keeps your record and the tenant’s the same. For cash, always give one.

What if a tenant pays two months at once?

Record it against both months, and tell the tenant which months it covers, so that nobody counts it differently later.

Can I track rent in more than one currency?

Yes. Keep each tenancy in the currency its rent is paid in, and never add different currencies together in one column.