Getting started with Rentlark

Record-keeping tool only, not tax, legal, or accounting advice. Landlord-tenant and tax rules vary by state and city; consult a licensed attorney or CPA.

1. Pick your app

• Google Sheets: download Rentlark v1.0 (Sample) or Rentlark v1.0 (Blank) (Microsoft Excel files) from your Gumroad library, upload the file to Google Drive, and open it with Google Sheets. If you see a green .XLSX label next to the file name, click File > Save as Google Sheets and work in that copy. See the note in step 2 below.
• Microsoft Excel 2016 or later: download the .xlsx file from your Gumroad library.
• Not supported: Apple Numbers, and currencies other than US dollars.
• Phone: Rentlark is built for a computer and hasn't been tested on phones, so please download, upload and open your file on a computer.

2. Make your own copy (Google Sheets)

Opening Rentlark in Google Sheets. Download Rentlark v1.0 (Sample) or Rentlark v1.0 (Blank) (Microsoft Excel files) from your Gumroad library, upload the file to Google Drive, and open it with Google Sheets. If you see a green .XLSX label next to the file name, click File > Save as Google Sheets and work in that copy. An uploaded copy doesn't include the edit warnings that protect the formula cells, so type only in the input cells, and some layout details may look different. Something look off? Email rentlark@mail.grokbot.com.

1. Sign in to your Google account.
2. Download Rentlark v1.0 (Sample) or Rentlark v1.0 (Blank) (Microsoft Excel files) from your Gumroad library, upload the file to Google Drive, and open it with Google Sheets (see the note above).
3. Your copy lives in your own Google account, or on your own computer or Microsoft account. Use only that copy. We can't see it and will never ask you to share it.

If you see Request access, don't click it. See Troubleshooting.

3. Open the Microsoft Excel file

Microsoft Excel may open the file in Protected View. Click Enable Editing in the yellow bar. The file has no macros, so you won't be asked to enable any.

4. Sample or Blank?

• Sample is full of made-up example data, so you can see how everything works. To use it for real, delete the example rows (yellow cells only) on Properties & Units, Tenants & Leases, Payments, Expenses and Repairs, then delete the yellow EXAMPLE DATA banners.
• Blank starts empty.

5. Set it up (follow the Start Here tab)

1. Settings: pick the year to show, the rent due day, grace days and the late-fee rule (None by default). Leave As of date blank to use today. The due day is one setting for the whole file. You can't set a different due day for each lease.
2. Properties & Units: one row per unit, up to 10. Unit IDs must be unique.
3. Tenants & Leases: one row per lease, with its own Lease ID (pick the unit from the dropdown). A rent change or a new tenant means a new lease row.
4. Payments: one row per payment. Pick the Lease ID the payment belongs to (payments are logged by lease, not by unit). Each row has a Type of Rent, Late fee, Deposit or Other. A blank Type counts as Rent. For a partial payment, just enter a smaller Rent row. A refund or bounced payment is a negative row, dated the day the money went back.
5. Expenses: one row per expense, with a category. "Other" needs a Description. Mark big improvements Capital item = Y: they're listed separately, not as yearly expenses (improvements may need to be depreciated). Ask your tax preparer.
6. Repairs: log requests and jobs. Enter what you paid on Expenses (category Repairs) so it's counted once.
7. Read Rent Status, Annual Summary and Dashboard.

In Microsoft Excel, every tab except Payments, Expenses and Repairs is protected (no password), so formulas don't get typed over. Type only in the input cells. Payments, Expenses and Repairs aren't protected and have filter buttons, so you can sort and filter them: select the whole table before sorting, never just one column, and remember filters only hide rows (every total still counts all rows). In Google Sheets, use the filter buttons on the header row, or select the whole table and use Data > Sort range. The hidden helper tabs (Lists, Engine) hold calculations; don't edit them.

6. How rent status works

Statuses are judged at the Settings As of date:

• Paid: paid in full by the due day plus grace.
• Paid late: paid in full, but after that.
• Partial: something paid, but less than was due.
• Unpaid: nothing paid, but not yet past the due day plus grace.
• Late: nothing paid, and past the due day plus grace.
• Credit: the rent balance is below zero (overpaid).
• Vacant: no lease covers the unit that month.
• – (dash): not due yet as of that date.

Rent payments pay off the oldest month first. Late fees have their own balance and never change a rent status. Deposits aren't counted as income (a deposit you keep, or use as rent, may be income; confirm with your tax preparer).

7. More than one year

Keep adding rows in the same file, and pick the year to show in Settings. Balances and credit carry over from December into January on their own.

About the expense categories

Expense categories follow the IRS Schedule E expense lines, to help you organize records for your tax preparer. Not tax advice. Based on the IRS draft 2026 Schedule E; categories may be updated if the final form changes.