How to track rent in a house let room by room

The easiest way to track rent in a house let room by room is to treat every room as its own small account: one tenancy, one rent, one due date, and every payment recorded as it arrives. Once a month, compare what was due with what came in and follow up anything still owed. This post sets out what to record, how to spot a late payer early and a routine that takes about ten minutes for a house of 6 to 12 rooms.

Why a house of rooms is harder than one tenancy

With one tenancy for a whole house, you're waiting for one payment a month. With eight rooms, you're waiting for eight, often on eight different days. Tenants move in on the 3rd, the 17th and the 28th. One pays weekly. One pays half on payday and half a week later. A new tenant moves into room 5 while the old one is still settling up.

None of this is unusual, but it's why a single "paid / not paid" column per month stops working. You need to know, for each room, what was due, when, and what has actually arrived.

What to record for each room

Keep these details for every tenancy. You'll only type most of them once.

• The room and the tenant's name, plus an email or phone number so you can reach them.
• The rent and how often it's due, weekly or monthly.
• The start date. Rent is usually due on the same day each period, counting from the day the tenancy started, so this date sets the rhythm for that room.
• What they owed on the day you started tracking. If you're starting part way through a tenancy, write down the balance on that day, even if it's zero.

What to record for each payment

Every payment gets its own line, even if it's a part payment.

• The date the money arrived, not the date it was due.
• The amount, exactly as it appeared on your bank statement.
• How it was paid: bank transfer, cash or something else.
• The reference the tenant used. When two tenants have similar names, the reference is often the only way to tell their payments apart.

Recording payments one by one, rather than ticking a month as paid, is what makes part payments, early payments and catch-up payments easy to follow. The balance is simply everything that was due minus everything that came in.

How to spot late payers early

Most rent problems are easier to sort out in the first week than the sixth. A few habits help.

Look at due dates, not months

"Has room 3 paid for October?" is hard to answer when room 3's rent is due on the 19th. A better question is "whose rent was due before today and isn't covered yet?" That's what overdue really means: the due date has passed and the balance is still above zero.

Check the same day every week

Pick one day, say Monday morning, and compare your bank statement with what was due in the last seven days. Weekly checks catch a missed payment within days rather than at the end of the month.

Watch for patterns, not just gaps

A tenant who always paid on the 1st and now pays on the 6th, or who starts paying in two halves, may be heading for trouble. A friendly message at this point is usually welcome. Keep a short note of what was said and when.

Keep credits visible

If someone overpays or pays early, record it. A tenant in credit isn't late next month, and you don't want to chase someone who has already paid.

A simple monthly routine

This works with a spreadsheet or with Rentap. It takes about ten minutes for a house of 6 to 12 rooms once your rooms and tenancies are set up.

1. Open your bank statement for the month and the rent list side by side.
2. Record every payment that came in, with its date, amount, method and reference.
3. List who still owes, with how much and how many days it's been.
4. Contact anyone overdue in a friendly, factual way, and note the date.
5. Check for changes: anyone leaving, a new tenant moving in, a room standing empty.
6. Note the month's totals: rent due, rent received and what's still owed. Over a year, these numbers tell you how well the house is doing.

If you also handle bills, repairs and safety checks, our monthly checklist for landlords who let rooms puts the whole month on one page.

Doing it in a spreadsheet

A spreadsheet can work well for a small house. To keep it reliable:

• use one row per payment, not one cell per month;
• add a due dates tab for each tenancy, so you can see what fell due;
• write the balance formula once and copy it, rather than typing totals;
• keep a notes column for part payments and conversations; and
• back it up.

The weak spot is the overdue check. A sheet only knows what you typed, so someone has to compare it with today's date and the bank statement every time. Our comparison of Rentap and a spreadsheet looks at when a sheet is enough.

How Rentap does it

Rentap was built for exactly this job. Here's how the routine above looks in the app.

• Every room has its own tenancy, with its own rent, weekly or monthly, and its own start date. Rentap works out what's due for every rent period.
• Starting part way through? Tick that the tenancy started before you used Rentap, enter when the next rent is due and what they owe today. You don't need to type in old payments.
• The Rent page shows what was due this month, what came in and who still owes. Use Record received to enter several payments from your bank statement in one go. Rentap warns you if a payment looks like one you've already recorded today.
• Each tenancy has a balance and statement, so part payments, early payments, one-off charges and credits all add up in one place, and you can see why the balance is what it is.
• The Overdue list shows every tenant with money past its due date, with the amount and the number of days, longest first.
• Automatic reminders can go to tenants when a payment is overdue. You switch them on house by house, from the property page.
• The dashboard shows what you've collected this month and anything that needs your attention.

"Overdue" in Rentap simply means past the due date. It isn't a judgement about the tenant, and Rentap never takes or holds rent. Tenants pay you as they do today, and you record the payment.

Over time, the analytics page shows income, expenses and net by month, how much of the rent due was collected and how many rooms are let, without a single formula.

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 for the details.

To try the routine with your own house, moving from a spreadsheet to Rentap walks through the first 30 minutes, and rent tracking room by room shows each screen.