Free rent ledger template
A rent ledger is where a landlord keeps what a tenant has been charged and what they have paid, with the balance after every row. Fill in the maker below to get a ledger as a PDF, or download the blank rental ledger template to print or edit in Word.
Prefer paper or Word? Download the free rent ledger template (PDF or Word).
How to keep a rent ledger
- Add the landlord, the tenant and the property. One ledger covers one tenant at one address.
- Start with the balance brought forward if you are continuing an older ledger. Leave it empty for a new tenant.
- Add a row for each charge. Rent on the first of the month, a late fee, a utility share or a repair the lease says the tenant pays for. The button Add next month's rent copies the last charge to the following month.
- Add a row for each payment on the day it arrived, and say how: check number, money order, Zelle or cash.
- Download the PDF and keep it with the lease. Download a fresh one whenever the tenant asks for a statement.
What a rent ledger is for
A receipt tells a tenant that you received one payment. A ledger tells both of you where the account stands. When a tenant says they paid in August and you remember it differently, the ledger settles it with dates and amounts. It also shows you early when a tenant is slipping behind, and it gives you one clean page to hand to a new property manager, an accountant, or a tenant who asks what they owe.
Rent ledger or rent receipt?
Use both. Give the tenant a rent receipt each time they pay, especially when they pay in cash or by money order, and add the payment to the ledger the same day. The receipt is the tenant's proof; the ledger is your record. If you prefer to write receipts by hand, the rent receipt template has three receipts per page. A one-off deposit is not rent: give a security deposit receipt and keep the deposit off the rent balance.
Rental ledger template for several tenants
If you own more than one unit, keep one ledger per tenant, named with the tenant and the unit. The maker remembers the ledger you were working on and lists your recent ones under the preview. For a building, print one blank page per unit and file them together. Keeping them separate avoids the common mistake of applying one tenant's payment to another's balance.
Late fees, part payments and credits
Record what happened as it happened and let the balance do the arithmetic. A late fee is a charge with its own row and a description such as Late fee per lease. A part payment is a payment for less than the amount charged, and the balance carries the remainder. If a tenant pays ahead, the balance goes below zero and the ledger shows it as a credit on account. Late fee rules differ between states and are often set out in the lease, so follow your lease and your local law. This page is not legal advice.
Keep the ledger with the lease
Save each ledger as a PDF in the same folder as the lease, the move-in checklist and your receipts. If you are ever in a dispute or you are asked by your accountant for the rent you collected, you will have one dated record for the whole period. Ask a tax professional how long you should keep rental records.
Example rent ledger
A rent ledger for six months. Each month has a charge and a payment, August has a part payment and a late fee, and October is still partly unpaid, so the balance at the bottom is what the tenant owes.
- Landlord, tenant and property. Who is owed, who owes, and which rental the account is for.
- Date and description. Each row says what happened and when: rent for a month, a payment and how it arrived, or a late fee.
- Charge and payment. Rent and fees go in the Charge column. Money received goes in the Payment column.
- Balance. The running balance after each row. It goes up with a charge and down with a payment.
- Totals. Total charges, total payments and the balance due at the statement date.
- Notes. A short note, for example what the balance is made up of.
Free rental ledger template (PDF and Word)
A blank rent ledger on one full Letter page: landlord, tenant and property at the top, a statement date, a balance brought forward line, then 25 rows with columns for the date, a description, the charge, the payment and the balance. A balance due line sits at the bottom.
The PDF is for printing and filling in by hand. The Word version is editable, so you can type rows in Word, Google Docs or Pages and add a page when the ledger runs on. The maker above does the arithmetic for you.
Free. Made in your browser, nothing is uploaded.
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Questions people ask
What is a rent ledger?
A rent ledger is a running record of what a tenant has been charged and what they have paid, with the balance after every entry. It shows at a glance whether a tenant is paid up and, if not, how much is owed and since when.
Is there a free rent ledger template I can print?
Yes. The blank rent ledger on this page is a full Letter page with 25 rows for the date, a description, a charge, a payment and the balance, with the landlord, tenant and property at the top. It comes as a PDF to print and as a Word file you can edit. Or use the maker above, which works out the balance after each row for you.
What is the difference between a rent ledger and a rent receipt?
A rent receipt confirms one payment, and you give it to the tenant. A rent ledger is the landlord's record of every charge and payment over time, and it can be shown to the tenant when they ask what they owe. The two work together: a receipt for each payment, a ledger for the whole account.
What is the difference between a rent ledger and a rental ledger template?
Nothing important. Rent ledger, rental ledger and tenant ledger all mean the same running record for one tenant at one property. Some people also keep one sheet for a whole building; this page is set up for one tenant at a time.
How do I record a late fee or a part payment?
Add a row for each. A late fee is a charge, so it goes in the Charge column on the date it was added. A part payment goes in the Payment column on the date it arrived. The balance after each row updates on its own.
Should the security deposit be in the rent ledger?
Usually no. A deposit is held under the lease and the law and is not rent, so mixing it into the rent balance is confusing. Give the tenant a security deposit receipt and keep the deposit on a separate line or a separate sheet.
How do I carry a balance forward?
Enter it under Balance brought forward. It is shown as the first row and the later balances start from it. Use this when you begin a new ledger for a new year or a new lease and the tenant still owes, or has paid ahead.
Is my information uploaded?
No. The ledger is built in your browser and the PDF is made on your device. Your landlord details and the ledger you are working on are remembered on this device only, and you can turn that off with the tickbox in the first section.
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