Rent ledger software does one job: it tells you, per tenant, what rent was due, what was paid and what is late, without you reconciling a spreadsheet against the bank at 11pm. For a landlord with 1 to 5 units, there are three ways to keep a rent ledger: a spreadsheet, a rent-collection platform, or your bookkeeping. We think the third is the right home for it, and this page shows why, including where ClaryBook falls short today.
We make ClaryBook, so read this as a vendor's view, written to be checked. Every ClaryBook feature named below is in the product today, and the gaps are named too.
What a rent ledger has to record
A tenant ledger is not a list of deposits. A deposit tells you money arrived. A ledger tells you whether it was the right money, from the right tenant, for the right month. For each tenant and each period, it needs these fields:
| Field | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Tenant and unit | Rent from Unit B is Unit B's income on Schedule E, not the building's. |
| Amount due and due date | Without the due side, you cannot see a missed month. You only see the months that were paid. |
| Grace period | Most leases give a few days. Late means late after the grace period, not on the 2nd. |
| Amount and date received | Partial payments are where disputes start. $1,600 against $1,850 is not "paid". |
| Status | Expected, received, partial, overdue or waived. A waived month is a decision, so write it down. |
| Running balance | What the tenant owes today, which is what a court or a new property manager will ask for. |
A rent roll is the same data turned sideways: every tenant in rows, every month in columns, with totals and a collection rate. The ledger is for the dispute. The rent roll is for you, and for whoever buys the building one day.
Option 1: a rent ledger spreadsheet
A spreadsheet is free and fine for one or two units with tenants who pay by the 1st. One tab per tenant, one row per month, columns for due, received, date and balance. Most landlords start here, and they should.
It stops working for three reasons, and they all show up around unit three:
- A missed month is invisible. A spreadsheet only knows what you typed. If nobody types October, October does not look late. It looks blank.
- It drifts from the bank. The tenant says they paid on the 3rd, the sheet says the 5th, the bank says the 4th. You end up reconciling three sources.
- It is separate from your books. The rent in the sheet and the rental income on your Schedule E are typed twice. Twice is where the $1,850 becomes $18,50 or goes missing in March.
Our guide to tracking rental property expenses covers the expense side of the same problem.
Option 2: a rent-collection platform
Baselane, Stessa, TurboTenant, Avail and RentRedi all offer some form of online rent collection, often free or low cost for the landlord, with fees on some payment methods (as of 2026, verify current pricing and which plan includes it). If your tenants pay through the platform, the ledger fills itself: the platform knows who paid, how much and when, and it can chase late payers for you.
The catch for a small landlord is coverage. The ledger only knows about rent that flows through the platform. The tenant who pays by Zelle, the one who hands you a check, the month you agreed to take half: those live outside it, and the ledger is wrong in exactly the cases where you need it. And a rent-collection tool is not your books. The repairs, the insurance, the mortgage interest and the depreciation still live somewhere else, so Schedule E is still assembled by hand. We compare two of these in detail in ClaryBook vs Baselane and ClaryBook vs Stessa.
Our view: collect rent wherever your tenants find it easiest. Keep the ledger where your books are.
Option 3: the rent ledger inside your bookkeeping
When the ledger lives in your bookkeeping, a rent payment is recorded once. It is the tenant's ledger line, the property's income and the Schedule E figure at the same time. Here is how that works in ClaryBook, step by step.
1. Set up the rent you expect, per tenant
In the web app or the mobile app (iOS and Android), add a recurring income line for each tenant: the payer, the amount, monthly, quarterly or annual, the day it is due and a grace period (5 days unless you change it). Or say it in the chat: "J. Smith pays $1,850 rent on the 1st" sets it up.
2. Generate the month's expected rent
For each month, ClaryBook creates one expected row per tenant, with the due date and the amount. Today you press Generate for the month (or ask the chat to do it); it does not yet happen on its own on the 1st. That is a known gap, and it is on our list.
3. Log the rent when it arrives
Log the payment on the web, in the mobile app or in the chat: "got $1,850 rent from J. Smith for Elm St". When the payer matches the tenant and the amount is within 5% of what was due, ClaryBook marks that month received, with the date and the amount. $1,700 against $1,850 is more than 5% short, so it stays open, which is what you want: you decide whether it is partial or a mistake. In the chat you can mark a month received, partial or waived.
One honest gap: rent that you book from a bank feed transaction does not tick the expected row yet. If you work from the bank feed, mark the month received in the chat or link it on the web. And tag the property when you log rent, so it counts in that property's P&L and its Schedule E lines.
Set up your tenants once, then see who is late. Add each tenant's rent, due day and grace period, log rent as it comes in, and ClaryBook shows which months are received and which are overdue. First month free, then $6.50 a month. See pricing.
Start free4. Late rent shows up on its own
Once a row is past due by more than its grace period, it shows as overdue. October rent due on the 1st with 5 days of grace is overdue from October 7. A missed month is no longer a blank cell. It is a red one.
5. The rent roll is built for you
On the web app, the rent roll shows the year per tenant: each month's expected and received amount, and your collection rate. Twelve of twelve months received is 100%. This is the page to screenshot for a lender, or to read before you decide whether to renew a lease.
Spreadsheet vs rent platform vs bookkeeping: side by side
| Spreadsheet | Rent-collection platform | ClaryBook | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost for 1 to 5 units | Free | Often free or low cost, payment fees vary (verify) | First month free, then $6.50 a month |
| Collects rent from tenants | No | Yes | No |
| Expected rent per tenant, due day, grace period | Only if you build it | Yes, for rent paid through it | Yes |
| Flags late rent | No | Yes, for rent paid through it | Yes, after the grace period |
| Rent paid by check, Zelle or cash | Typed by hand | Usually typed by hand | Logged by message or in the app, matched to the tenant |
| Rent roll with collection rate | If you build it | Varies by platform | Yes, on the web |
| Expenses, depreciation, mortgage interest | Another tab, by hand | Some, varies | Yes, in the same books |
| Schedule E per property | By hand | Varies | Yes, mapped per property |
Competitor details are general and change often; check each vendor's current plans.
Which one fits your portfolio
- One unit, a tenant who pays on the 1st, every time: a spreadsheet is enough. Put a reminder on the 6th to check it.
- Several units and most tenants pay online: use a rent-collection platform to collect, and keep your books somewhere that also does expenses and Schedule E.
- 2 to 5 units, mixed payment methods, and you do your own books: keep the ledger in your bookkeeping. One entry per payment, late rent flagged, and the rent is already on Schedule E when April comes.
- More than 10 units, or you manage for other owners: you need property management software with trust accounting and owner statements. ClaryBook is not that, and our rental property accounting software roundup covers what is.
What the IRS cares about in your rent records
The IRS does not ask for a rent ledger by name. It asks you to report all rental income, by property, on Schedule E, and to keep records that support it. A ledger is the cleanest support there is, because it shows the expected side too: a gap between rent due and rent reported is the first thing an examiner would look at.
Three details landlords get wrong:
- Advance rent is income when you receive it. January's rent paid on December 28 is this year's income, whatever month it covers.
- A refundable security deposit is not income. It becomes income in the year you keep it for unpaid rent or damage.
- Waived rent is not income. If you waive a month in exchange for the tenant's work, the value of the work is rental income. Write down which it was.
Our Schedule E guide for landlords walks through every line, and the rental property tax deductions checklist covers the expense side.
Frequently asked questions
What is a rent ledger?
A rent ledger is a running record, per tenant, of the rent that was due and the rent that was paid: the due date, the amount due, the date and amount received, the payment method and the balance. It is how a landlord proves who paid, who is late and how much rental income to report.
What is the difference between a rent ledger and a rent roll?
A rent ledger follows one tenant over time, payment by payment. A rent roll is the summary across all tenants for a period: each unit, the rent due, what was received and what is outstanding. Small landlords need both, and good software builds the rent roll from the ledger.
Is a spreadsheet good enough as a rent ledger?
For one or two units with tenants who pay on time, yes. It breaks when a payment is partial, when a month is skipped and nobody notices, or when the spreadsheet and the bank stop agreeing. From three units, or the first late payer, a tool that flags late rent saves more than it costs.
Does ClaryBook collect rent from tenants?
No. ClaryBook does not collect rent, screen tenants or hold leases. It keeps the books: you set up the rent you expect per tenant, ClaryBook shows what is received and what is late, and the rent lands in your income for Schedule E. If you collect rent through Baselane, a bank transfer or Zelle, ClaryBook is where you record it.
How long should a landlord keep rent records?
Keep rent records at least three years after you file the return they support, which is the IRS general rule, and longer for anything tied to a property you still own, since the purchase and depreciation records matter until you sell.
Is a security deposit rental income?
Not when you receive it, if you plan to return it. A refundable deposit is a liability you owe back. It becomes income if you keep it for unpaid rent or damage, in the year you keep it. A deposit that is really last month's rent is income when received.
The bottom line
A rent ledger earns its keep in the month a tenant pays $200 short or not at all. A spreadsheet will not tell you. A rent platform will, but only for rent that went through it. A ledger inside your books tells you, and the same entry is your Schedule E income. For a landlord with a handful of units, that is the one we would pick, and it is why we built expected rent and the rent roll into ClaryBook.
Your rent ledger and your Schedule E, from one entry. Add your tenants, log rent by message or in the app, and see who is late after the grace period. Expenses, depreciation and Schedule E per property live in the same books. First month free, then $6.50 a month.
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