Landlord accounting software
- Property profit before finance costs
- £10,570
- Total property income
- £13,800
- Allowable expenses
- £3,230
Every figure on this page is computed from the inputs you enter, by the method stated below it. The only constants are the Income Tax rates and bands and the basic-rate restriction on finance-cost relief, taken from GOV.UK and dated on the page. RentRollDesk publishes no market yields and quotes no survey: the defaults are a worked example to replace with your own.
Landlord accounting software is not a general ledger with a property tag on it. It is the rent roll, first: rent due and rent received per tenancy, so voids and arrears are visible the month they happen; then the costs against each property in the categories the self-assessment property pages ask for; then the finance costs kept apart from the other expenses, because since 2020 they are relieved at the basic rate rather than deducted. This guide is about what the software has to keep, and the free landlord accounting tool on this site works the year-end figures with no account.
Try the free yield calculator Free to use. No account, no card, no sign-up.
Keep the rent roll per tenancy, not per bank line
The bank shows money arriving; the rent roll shows which tenancy it was for, whether it was the full amount and whether it was on time. Software that reconciles from the bank alone cannot tell a late payment from a void, and the difference is the whole of the arrears conversation. Every payment should land against a tenancy with a due date.
Categorise costs the way the property pages do
Agent fees, repairs and maintenance, insurance, service charges and ground rent, safety certificates, and the rest, kept per property and totalled per year, are what the return asks for and what an accountant will re-key if the software does not provide them. A single 'expenses' total is a spreadsheet, not accounts.
Hold finance costs apart, because the relief is different
Mortgage interest and other finance costs on a residential let are no longer deducted from rental income; they earn a tax reduction at the basic rate instead (GOV.UK). Software that lumps them in with repairs overstates the deductible expenses and understates the tax. The tool on this site keeps them on their own line for exactly that reason.
Landlord accounting software: common questions
What should landlord accounting software include?
A rent roll per tenancy with due dates, voids and arrears; costs per property in the categories the self-assessment property pages use; finance costs kept apart and relieved at the basic rate; the yield per property; and a year-end export an accountant can use without re-keying. Tenant referencing and rent collection are lettings services, not accounting, and this product does not pretend to be either.
Is there a free landlord accounting tool?
The landlord accounting tool on this site is free and needs no account: enter the year's rent, the costs by category and the finance costs, and it totals the income, the allowable expenses, the property profit before finance costs and the cash left. Print it as it stands. RentRollDesk Pro adds the rent roll behind it, your properties and tenancies, and the year-end export.
Can I just use a spreadsheet?
For one property, honestly, yes, and many landlords do for years. It stops working when there are several tenancies paying on different days, when a void or an arrear has to be explained a year later, and when the finance costs have to be separated for the relief. The tool on this site replaces the year-end tab of that spreadsheet; the paid plan replaces the rest.
Will it do what you need for Landlord accounting software?
Tell us what your portfolio needs and we will tell you straight whether RentRollDesk Pro does it today, whether it is coming, or whether you are better off with something else. A person reads these and replies.