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Rental property spreadsheet: how to set one up (Excel & Google Sheets)
A good landlord spreadsheet does two jobs: it shows your cash flow during the year, and at tax time it gives you Schedule E totals without a weekend of digging through receipts.
Updated October 2026. General information for US landlords, not tax or legal advice.
The 5 tabs every rental spreadsheet needs
- Properties: address, purchase date and price, land value, loan details. You'll need these for depreciation and Schedule E line 1.
- Income & expense log: one row per transaction. Columns: date, property, category, amount, payee, payment method, receipt reference.
- Mileage log: date, from/to, purpose, miles. IRS rules require a record made at or near the time of the trip (Pub 463).
- Rent ledger: rent due vs. received for each unit and month, so late or partial payments are obvious.
- Summary: totals by Schedule E line for the tax year, plus cash flow (which includes principal and capital improvements but no depreciation).
Use categories that match Schedule E
If every expense category maps to a Schedule E line, tax time is a copy-and-paste job. Use the rental property expense categories checklist as your category list. Add a few tracked-but-excluded categories (mortgage principal, capital improvements, security deposits) so your bank account reconciles without inflating your deductions.
The one formula that does most of the work
With dates in column A, categories in B and amounts in C, this totals one category for one tax year (the year is in cell F1):
=SUMIFS(C:C, B:B, "Repairs", A:A, ">="&DATE($F$1,1,1), A:A, "<="&DATE($F$1,12,31))
It works the same in Excel and Google Sheets. Add a property criterion (, D:D, "Oak St") once you have more than one rental.
Excel or Google Sheets?
| Excel | Google Sheets | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Microsoft 365 or a one-time license | Free with a Google account |
| Works offline | Yes | Limited (offline mode) |
| Share with a spouse, partner or CPA | Via OneDrive | Easy, real-time |
| Phone entry | Good app | Good app |
| Same formulas (SUMIFS, INDEX/MATCH, PMT) | Yes | Yes |
Both are fine. A well-built .xlsx without macros opens in either one.
Three ways to get one
- Free: our rental income & expense template, for 1 property and 1 year, with a mileage log and a Schedule E summary.
- $19: the Rental Property Tracker, for up to 10 properties. It adds a rent ledger, leases, IRS mileage rates by trip date, 27.5-year depreciation with improvements, and a line-by-line Schedule E for every property.
- Build your own from the structure above. It's a good project if you like spreadsheets. Budget a few evenings to build it and test the totals.
Prefer automatic bank feeds to a spreadsheet? Free apps such as Stessa or Baselane do that. The trade-off is that your data lives in their system.
Analyzing a purchase rather than tracking one? See how to analyze a rental property.
FAQ
Is there a free rental property spreadsheet?
Yes. Our free rental income and expense template (.xlsx) works in Excel and Google Sheets. It covers one property and one tax year.
Can I use a spreadsheet instead of accounting software for my rentals?
Yes. The IRS doesn't require any particular system, only records that support the income and expenses you report (Pub 583). Many small landlords use spreadsheets.
What should a landlord track in a spreadsheet?
Rent and other income, every expense by category, mileage, security deposits (separately), mortgage interest vs. principal, capital improvements, and the purchase details you need for depreciation.