Tenant ledger template

One sheet per tenancy. Every charge gets its own line, every payment gets its own line, and the balance column shows where things stand after each one. When a tenant says they paid, this is the page you both look at.

Tenant ledger columns

The tenant-ledger-template.csv file has these columns, in this order.

  • date
  • description
  • charge
  • payment
  • balance
  • method
  • reference

What each column is for

date is when the charge came due or the payment arrived, not the day you wrote it down. description says what the line is: July rent, late fee, partial payment, returned check fee. charge and payment are separate columns, so a line is never both; leave the other blank. balance is the running total: the last balance, plus the charge, minus the payment. In the sample, the tenant pays $1,000 of August rent on the 5th, which leaves $450. The $50 late fee on the 6th brings it to $500, and the money order on the 20th clears it. method is how the money came in. reference is the check or receipt number, which is the first thing anyone asks for when a payment is disputed.

A ledger is not a rent roll

A rent roll is a snapshot of every unit on one day. A ledger is the full history of one tenancy. When a tenant says "I paid in June," the rent roll cannot help you and the ledger can. Keep both. The rent roll template is linked at the bottom of this page.

The mistake that makes a ledger useless

Netting things out. One line that says "August, 1,500 paid" hides the $1,450 rent, the $50 fee, and the fact that the tenant paid in two pieces. One event, one line. The other mistake is charging a late fee the lease does not provide for, or one above your state's limit. The ledger records a fee. It does not make the fee allowed. Check your lease and your state's rules before you add that line.

Cash payments

If a tenant pays cash, write a receipt, hand them a copy, and put the receipt number in reference. Some states require a written receipt for cash rent; check yours. Without a receipt, a cash payment is your word against theirs.

IRS Publication 527, Residential Rental Property

Pub. 527 (2025), chapter 1, "When To Report" and "Uncollected rent"; IRS, "How long should I keep records?". Under the cash method, you report rent as income in the year you actually or constructively receive it. Under that method you cannot deduct rent you never collected, because it was never counted as income. A ledger that shows the date each payment arrived is the record behind those numbers. The IRS generally says to keep records for 3 years, and longer in some situations. Consult a licensed attorney or tax professional for advice on your specific situation.

Let the ledger write itself

Collect rent in LeaseRooster on the Solo plan and up, and every charge and payment posts to the ledger with a receipt to the tenant.