A monthly checklist keeps a house let room by room running smoothly: check the rent, deal with bills and meter readings, file the month's receipts, follow up repairs and look at the dates coming up. Doing it on the same day each month means small things get caught before they become big ones. Here is a checklist you can copy, with a note on how Rentap helps at each step.
Before you start
Choose a fixed day. A few days after most of your rent is due works well, so payments have had time to arrive. Put it in your calendar as a repeating appointment and give it an hour for one house of 6 to 12 rooms.
Have three things to hand: your bank statement for the month, your rent records and wherever you keep receipts.
1. Rent
- Record every payment that came in, with the date, amount, how it was paid and the reference.
- List who still owes, how much and for how many days.
- Contact anyone overdue. Keep it friendly and factual, and note the date you got in touch.
- Record any credits or overpayments, so nobody is chased for rent they've already paid.
- Note the totals: rent due, received and still owed.
Our guide to tracking rent in a house let room by room explains the routine in more detail.
In Rentap: the Rent page shows what was due this month, what came in and who still owes, and the Overdue list shows anyone past their due date, longest first. You can switch on automatic reminders to tenants when rent is overdue, house by house.
2. Bills and meter readings
- Take meter readings on the same day each month and write them down with the date. A photo of each meter on your phone is a good back-up.
- Check each bill that arrived against the readings and the previous month. A sudden jump is worth a call to the supplier.
- Note when fixed-price deals end. Broadband and other contracts often go up at the end of a deal.
- Work out any shares if you split a bill between rooms. Our post on splitting shared costs in a house of rooms has worked examples.
In Rentap: shared bills are on each house's page. Enter the bill, choose how to split it (equally between rooms, by room size or by number of people) and Rentap shows each room's share.
3. Expenses and receipts
- Gather every receipt from the month: shopping trips, trades, cleaners, online orders.
- Record each cost with the date, amount, who you paid and what it was for.
- Note which house or room it belongs to, or whether it's a business cost, like your phone or office costs.
- Keep the receipt with the record, not in a separate drawer. A photo is fine.
At the end of the year, your accountant will thank you. So will you.
In Rentap: add an expense with a photo or PDF of the receipt. It can belong to a house, a room or the business. Expenses can be downloaded as a CSV file for your accountant.
4. Repairs and issues
- Go through every open repair. Who's doing it, when, and is the tenant kept up to date?
- Chase anything that has stalled. If a job has been open for weeks, find out why.
- Close what's finished, with a note of what was done.
- Record what each repair cost, linked to the repair if you can, so you can see what a problem really cost you.
- Look for repeats. A second leak from the same place, or the same appliance failing again, is worth a proper fix.
In Rentap: each repair is an issue with a dated timeline of updates and photos. Tenants you've invited can report problems with photos themselves. You can add expenses to an issue, and resolved issues stay in the history.
5. Dates coming up
This step isn't about knowing the rules; it's about not missing the dates you already have.
- Look at the next 60 days. Which certificates, reports, tests or renewals fall due?
- Check the dates on your own certificates rather than relying on memory. The date that matters is the one written on the document.
- Book anything due soon. Trades get busy, so leave time.
- File new certificates as soon as they arrive, and note the next due date.
- Check other renewals too: insurance, licences, contracts and anything else with an end date.
If you're unsure which checks apply to your house, ask a qualified adviser.
In Rentap: each house has a compliance calendar. Rentap suggests common checks, and you change the intervals to match your certificates and advice. Record each check with the date it was done and upload the certificate; the next due date is filled in for you. Rentap reminds you before each due date, by default 60, 30 and 7 days before, and flags anything overdue. You can download a one-page PDF summary. The free compliance calendar tool lets you try it without an account.
6. Comings and goings
- Anyone leaving? Agree the move-out date and plan the end of tenancy inventory.
- Anyone moving in? Get the room ready, prepare the start of tenancy inventory and set up the new tenancy.
- Any empty rooms? Note how long they've been empty and what you're doing to fill them.
In Rentap: record notice on the tenancy, end it on the move-out date, and add a new tenancy to the room. Each room keeps its start and end of tenancy inventories with photos, and every past tenancy stays in the room's history.
7. A quick look round
If you can, visit the house, letting tenants know when you're coming. Look at the shared areas: kitchen, bathrooms, hallways and the garden. Check smoke alarms in the shared areas work, look for damp or leaks, and make sure bins and recycling are under control. Report anything you find as an issue so it doesn't get forgotten.
8. The month in numbers
Finish with five numbers for each house:
- rent due;
- rent received;
- still owed;
- money spent; and
- rooms let.
Written down every month, these tell you more about a house than any single month can.
In Rentap: the analytics page shows income, expenses and net by month, the collection rate and how many rooms are let, for each house or all of them.
Copy the checklist
- Rent recorded, overdue followed up
- Meter readings taken, bills checked
- Receipts recorded and filed
- Open repairs reviewed
- Dates for the next 60 days checked
- Move-ins, move-outs and empty rooms reviewed
- Shared areas looked at
- Month's numbers noted
What it costs
1 month free, no card needed. Add a card during your trial and get 1 more month free. Then £2 a room a month. You pay for the number of rooms you choose. See the pricing page, or everything Rentap does on the room rent management page.