A rent roll is a list of every unit you own, one row each, showing who lives there, what the lease says they pay, and whether they have paid it. That is all. It is a snapshot of the rental business on one date.
Most small landlords first make one because somebody asked for it. The better reason to keep one is that it tells you, in about five minutes, how the month is going.
The columns
Here is a small rent roll for three buildings and five units, dated in September. The rows are the fictional samples from the rent roll template, trimmed to fit.
| Property | Unit | Tenant | Lease end | Rent | Deposit | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maple Duplex | A | Jordan Example | 2026-09-30 | 1,450 | 1,450 | paid | Renewal offer sent |
| Maple Duplex | B | Sam Placeholder | 2027-02-28 | 1,475 | 1,475 | paid | |
| Birch Fourplex | 1 | Riley Sample | (month to month) | 1,100 | 1,100 | late | September not in |
| Birch Fourplex | 2 | (vacant) | 1,350 | 0 | vacant | Asking rent, listed 9/10 | |
| Cedar Condo | 3B | Casey Test | 2027-01-14 | 1,900 | 1,900 | partial | Paid 1,200 of 1,900 |
The template also carries lease start and last payment date. Those matter too. The ones people leave off and regret are these:
A row for every unit, vacant ones included. A rent roll that only lists occupied units hides the most expensive fact in it. For a vacant unit, the rent column holds the asking rent.
Lease end. It turns the roll into a renewal calendar. Sort by it and the next three months of decisions line up at the top.
Deposit held. That money is owed back to tenants at move-out, less any lawful deductions, so a buyer or a partner will read this column closely.
Status in plain words. Paid, late, partial, vacant. Not colors, which do not survive a printout or a PDF.
Who will ask for one
A lender, when you refinance or buy another rental with a loan. A buyer, when you sell, who will want to check the roll against the leases. An insurer, sometimes, to confirm how many units are occupied. A partner or co-owner, every month if they are paying attention.
Each of them wants the same thing: the roll as of a specific date, matching the leases and the bank deposits. That is easy to produce if you keep one every month. It is an unpleasant weekend if you build it from scratch the week the lender asks.
Reading vacancy off it
There are two ways to measure vacancy, and the sample shows why you want both.
By units. One unit vacant out of five is 20% of units.
By rent. The vacant unit’s asking rent is $1,350. The total scheduled rent across all five units is $7,275. So 18.6% of the rent the property could bring in is not coming in. When your cheapest unit is the empty one, the rent measure looks better than the unit count. When your most expensive unit is empty, it looks worse, and the rent measure is the one that pays the mortgage.
Reading late rent off it
The occupied units owe $5,925 this month. Birch 1 has paid nothing, so $1,100 is outstanding. Cedar 3B is short $700. That is $1,800 outstanding, a little over 30% of what was billed.
One month of that is a phone call and a late-fee notice. The same tenant late three months in a row is a pattern, and you will only see it if you save each month’s roll. Name the file with the date, keep them in one folder, and put this month’s next to last month’s before you read it.
A monthly routine
- Pick a day after rent is due and your grace period has ended, and use it every month.
- Update status and last payment date for each row from the actual deposits.
- Work out vacancy by units and by rent, and outstanding rent as a share of what was billed.
- Sort by lease end and act on anything expiring within your notice period.
- Save the file with the date in the name.
A rent roll shows income. It says nothing about what the units cost you to run, so read it next to your expenses. What one rental unit costs to run is a good check on whether the rent in that column covers the costs behind it.
When the roll keeps itself
A spreadsheet rent roll is only as current as the last time you typed into it. In LeaseRooster, the reporting dashboard shows occupancy across every unit and rent collected against rent outstanding from the payment records, with no file to update. Reporting is on the Business plan. The template above needs no account at all, and it is a solid place to start.
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules change and local ordinances vary. Confirm current requirements with your city, county, or an attorney before you act.