How to make a rental property spreadsheet
What to put in a rental property spreadsheet, how to lay it out, and a worked example you can copy.
Updated October 30, 2026
See the Rental Property Spreadsheet
What a rental property spreadsheet is
A rental property spreadsheet is a record of every dollar that comes in from a rental and every dollar that goes out, laid out so the totals add themselves up. One row per payment. Rent in, the plumber out, insurance out, a late fee in.
The rows are the boring part. The useful part is what you build on top: totals by month, by property and by category for the year. Those are the numbers you need when you file your taxes, talk to a lender, or decide whether a property is worth keeping.
Why it is worth an hour
Most landlords with a few properties do not need accounting software. They need three things a shoebox of receipts cannot give them:
- A year-end total for each category, ready before tax season instead of during it.
- A clear net income for each property, so you know which one is carrying the others.
- A monthly view, so a missing rent payment or a jump in repairs shows up the month it happens.
A spreadsheet does all three, costs nothing to run, and stays yours.
How to set it up
Use three kinds of tab. Keeping them apart is what makes the file easy to trust.
- Settings. The tax year, a list of your properties, and a list of categories. Each category gets a type: income or expense. Every other tab reads from these lists.
- Transactions. One long table. Never put totals in it; it is only rows.
- Summaries. Tabs that only hold formulas: by month, by property, and a year-end summary for taxes.
In Transactions, turn the property and category columns into drop-down lists that point at Settings (Data > Data validation in Excel and Google Sheets). That one step stops most spelling mistakes, and spelling mistakes are what break totals.
Each summary cell is a single SUMIFS: add up the amount column where the category matches, the property matches, and the date falls inside the period. For the Repairs total of one property in 2025 it looks like this:
=SUMIFS(Amount, Category, "Repairs", Property, "12 Maple St", Date, ">="&DATE(2025,1,1), Date, "<"&DATE(2026,1,1))
Point the year at the cell in Settings instead of typing 2025, and the whole file moves to next year when you change one number.
See the Rental Property Spreadsheet
What to record
Five columns are enough: date, property, category, description, amount. Add a notes column if you like to write down a check number or where the receipt is.
Enter every amount as a positive number. Let the category decide whether it is income or an expense. Mixing plus and minus signs by hand is the second most common way these files go wrong.
A starting list of categories that fits most landlords:
- Income: rent, late fees, other income.
- Expenses: advertising, travel, cleaning and maintenance, commissions, insurance, legal and professional fees, management fees, mortgage interest, other interest, repairs, supplies, property taxes, utilities, HOA fees, depreciation, other expenses.
Record the mortgage interest, not the whole payment. The part of the payment that pays down the loan is not an expense; it is you buying more of your own property.
One property or several
With one property you can skip the property column, but add it anyway. The day you buy a second one you will be glad every old row already says which property it belongs to.
With several, add a "by property" tab: categories down the side, one column per property. If a cost is shared, such as one insurance policy for two houses, split it into two rows so each property carries its own share.
Outside the US the same layout works. Tax forms in the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand group expenses differently, so keep your categories general and add a column in Settings where you note the line on your own country's form.
Worked example
Two properties, one year. These are the sample numbers that come with the Reamwise template, so you can check them against the file.
| 2025 | 12 Maple St | 40 Oak Ave, Unit 3 | Both |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent | 17,400.00 | 13,200.00 | 30,600.00 |
| Late fees | 50.00 | – | 50.00 |
| Total income | 17,450.00 | 13,200.00 | 30,650.00 |
| Mortgage interest | 7,240.18 | – | 7,240.18 |
| Property taxes | 5,720.00 | 1,980.00 | 7,700.00 |
| Insurance | 1,020.00 | 540.00 | 1,560.00 |
| HOA fees | – | 1,140.00 | 1,140.00 |
| Management fees | – | 1,056.00 | 1,056.00 |
| Repairs | 385.00 | 220.00 | 605.00 |
| Utilities | – | 410.00 | 410.00 |
| Cleaning and maintenance | 160.00 | – | 160.00 |
| Advertising | 45.00 | – | 45.00 |
| Supplies | – | 37.50 | 37.50 |
| Total expenses | 14,570.18 | 5,383.50 | 19,953.68 |
| Net income | 2,879.82 | 7,816.50 | 10,696.32 |
The ledger also holds a $120 repair dated December 28, 2024. It is left out of every 2025 total because its date is outside the year, which is exactly what the date conditions in SUMIFS are for.
The example shows why a by-property view matters: the condo with no mortgage earns more than twice as much as the house, even though the house brings in more rent.
Common mistakes
- Typing totals by hand. If a number in a summary tab is not a formula, it will be wrong the first time you add a row.
- Free-typed categories. "Repair", "Repairs" and "repairs " are three different categories to a formula. Use drop-down lists.
- Recording the whole mortgage payment. Only the interest is an expense.
- One tab per month. Twelve tabs means twelve places to fix a formula. One transactions table with dates is simpler.
- No check that everything was counted. Compare the sum of all amounts for the year with income plus expenses. If they differ, some row has a blank or misspelled property or category.
Questions
Should I use Excel or Google Sheets?
Either works. Everything in this guide uses functions both have: SUMIFS, SUMIF, DATE and data validation. Google Sheets is easier to share with a partner; Excel is easier to use offline.
How many rows will I need?
A typical rental has 20 to 40 payments a year: twelve rents plus bills. Ten properties for five years still fits in 2,000 rows.
Do I need a separate file each year?
No. Keep one transactions table and point the summaries at a year cell. Changing the year changes every total.
Where do security deposits go?
Many landlords keep deposits out of the income categories while they plan to return them, and record the part they keep as income. How deposits are taxed depends on where you live, so check your local rules.
Should I record depreciation here?
You can add one yearly row for it once you or your accountant have worked it out. The spreadsheet does not calculate it, because the rules differ by country and by property.
Can I just download a free template?
Yes, and many are fine. Before you rely on one, test it: type in a few rows you can add up on paper and check the totals match.
Summary
Keep settings, transactions and summaries on separate tabs. Record five columns, positive amounts, and categories from a drop-down list. Build every total with SUMIFS pointed at a year cell, and add one check that every row was counted. If you would rather start from a file that already does this and comes with a worked example, the Rental Property Spreadsheet is built exactly this way.
Disclaimer. For general information only. Not tax, legal or financial advice. Check the rules for your country or ask a qualified adviser. Read the full disclaimer.