What a landlord spreadsheet template should include (1 to 10 units)

A good landlord spreadsheet isn't the one with the most tabs. It's the one where every payment, every expense and every repair has exactly one place to go, so a month of records takes minutes and a year-end total is just a sum. This page walks through what a template for 1 to 10 units should contain, column by column, and how the parts connect. It works whether you build your own or start from someone else's. Near the end, this page describes Rentlark, the spreadsheets sold on this site, so you can judge whether it fits.

For the full record-keeping routine, see the guide: How to track rent and expenses in a spreadsheet.

The four tabs

1. Units and leases. One row per lease: unit, tenant name, start and end dates, monthly rent, due day, deposit held. Keep only what you need about tenants to run the tenancy, and never base decisions on protected traits such as race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status or disability (states and cities add more).
2. Rent payments. One row per payment received: date received, unit, tenant, amount, method (check number or transfer reference), the month the payment is for, and a short note.
3. Expenses. One row per cost: date, property, unit (blank if it covers the whole building), category, payee, amount and a receipt reference such as the file name.
4. Repairs. One row per job: date opened, unit, issue, vendor, status, date closed and cost. The cost here is for reference; the money itself is entered once, in the expense tab.

If you own more than one building, add a short Properties list (one row per property) and use it as a dropdown in every other tab, so "Oak St" is never also typed as "Oak Street".

How the tabs connect

• Give every unit a short, fixed ID (for example OAK-1, OAK-2). Use the same ID in leases, payments, expenses and repairs. Totals by unit and by property then work with simple formulas.
• Total with SUMIFS, not by hand. For example, rent received for unit OAK-1 for October 2026, where column B is the unit and column F is the month the payment is for: =SUMIFS(Payments!D:D, Payments!B:B, "OAK-1", Payments!F:F, "2026-10") SUMIFS and COUNTIFS work in Google Sheets and in Microsoft Excel 2016 or later.
• Keep summaries on their own tab. A monthly summary (rent due, rent received, expenses by category) reads from the logs and is never typed into. If a summary cell needs a manual fix, the log is wrong, so fix the log.

Rules that keep a template usable

• Log, don't overwrite. Add a new row for each payment or cost. Typing over an old number erases the history you may need later.
• Use dropdowns for anything you'll total by: unit, property, category, payment method, repair status.
• Store dates as real dates and months in one format (for example 2026-10), so sorting and SUMIFS behave.
• Fix mistakes with a correcting row and a note, rather than deleting the original.
• Keep deposits out of rent. Track security deposits in their own section or tab. Some states and cities have rules on where deposits are held and on interest, so check yours.

A monthly routine

Once a month: check each unit's rent (due against received), match bank deposits to the payment log, enter the month's expenses and file receipts, update open repairs, and look at leases ending in the next 60 days. The free one-page checklist covers the same routine: Download the Small landlord monthly record-keeping checklist (PDF).

If you'd rather not build it yourself: Rentlark

Rentlark is a set of rent and expense tracking spreadsheets for owners of 1 to 10 units and house hackers, made by AI agents. It uses a similar layout, with one difference: Rentlark applies each payment to the oldest unpaid month first, and its "For month" column is for your reference only. What it includes:

• Tracks rent per unit and per lease. Designed for Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel 2016 or later.
• A Rent Status tab shows each lease month by month with statuses such as Paid, Paid late, Partial, Unpaid, Late, Credit and Vacant.
• Rent Status carries partial payments and credit forward to the next month for each lease.
• An Expenses tab where each cost is logged once.
• A Repairs tab with opened date, unit, issue, priority, vendor, status, closed date and cost.
• An Annual Summary that totals rent and expenses by property, a records summary for your tax preparer.
• 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.

What it isn't: it tracks the rent you record; payments don't run through it, and it has no bank connections. It has no leases, notices or screening forms.

Price: the price on our Gumroad page. One-time purchase, no subscription. Free updates within version 1.x. 30-day refund through Gumroad. You must be 18 or older to buy. Gumroad may add sales tax or VAT at checkout.

See Rentlark on Gumroad

FAQ

How many tabs does a landlord spreadsheet need? For 1 to 10 units, four logs (leases, rent payments, expenses, repairs) plus a summary tab is enough for most owners.

Should I use one file per property? One file with a property column is usually easier: totals across properties are a single formula, and there's only one place to look.

Will a template work in both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel 2016 or later? If it sticks to common functions such as SUMIFS, COUNTIFS and IF, yes. Newer functions such as XLOOKUP or FILTER are not available in every version, so leave them out.

Does Rentlark take rent payments from tenants? No. Rentlark tracks the rent you record. Payments don't run through it.

Which spreadsheet apps is Rentlark designed for? For Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel 2016 or later.

Who makes Rentlark? Rentlark is made by AI agents for seller Tomer Avni. Questions: rentlark@mail.grokbot.com.

Made by AI agents. Seller: Tomer Avni. Support: rentlark@mail.grokbot.com. Not tax or legal advice.

How this was made: this page was researched and written by AI agents for seller Tomer Avni.

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