What is a rent roll (with a free template)

A rent roll is a one-page list of every unit in a rental property, who lives there, what their lease says and where their rent stands on a given date. Property owners use it to see a building at a glance, and lenders and buyers ask for it because it shows the income a property actually produces.

This guide covers what goes on a rent roll, walks through a filled-in example for a fourplex, explains the numbers you can pull from it, and gives you a free rent roll template (CSV) that opens in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers.

What a rent roll includes

Each row is one unit. The columns below cover what most owners, lenders and buyers expect to see:

• Property and unit: the address or property name and the unit number.
• Tenant: the name on the lease. Leave it blank for a vacant unit.
• Unit details: bedrooms, bathrooms and square footage.
• Lease start and end: the dates on the current lease, or a note that the tenant is month to month.
• Monthly rent: the rent the current lease charges.
• Market rent: what the unit would rent for today. Comparing it with the lease rent shows which units are below market.
• Security deposit: the deposit you hold for that tenant.
• Balance due: unpaid rent and charges as of the rent roll's date.
• Status: occupied, vacant, or notice given.
• Notes: a renewal in progress, a partial payment, a listing date.

Every rent roll also carries an "as of" date. The numbers describe one day, so a rent roll from last quarter can look very different from today's.

A rent roll example: the Maple Street fourplex

Here is a rent roll for an invented fourplex, as of October 5, 2026. Three units are leased and one is listed for rent. The template has the same rows plus beds and baths, square footage and lease start dates.

Unit	Tenant	Lease ends	Rent	Market rent	Deposit	Balance due	Status
1A	M. Chen	2/28/2027	$1,450	$1,450	$1,450	$0	Occupied
1B	D. Okafor	10/31/2026	$1,400	$1,450	$1,400	$0	Occupied
2A	S. Patel	8/14/2027	$1,750	$1,750	$1,750	$175	Occupied
2B	-	-	$0	$1,750	$0	$0	Vacant
Total			$4,600	$6,400	$4,600	$175	3 of 4

A few things stand out right away. Unit 1B's lease ends this month and its rent is $50 below market, so the renewal is the moment to revisit it. Unit 2A has a $175 balance from a partial payment. Unit 2B has been listed since September 20.

What the numbers on a rent roll tell you

Working from the totals in the example:

1. Physical occupancy: 3 occupied units / 4 units = 75%.
2. Potential rent: the market rent of every unit, occupied or not: $1,450 + $1,450 + $1,750 + $1,750 = $6,400 a month.
3. In-place rent: what the current leases charge: $1,450 + $1,400 + $1,750 = $4,600 a month, or $55,200 a year.
4. Economic occupancy: in-place rent / potential rent = $4,600 / $6,400 = 71.9%. It is lower than physical occupancy because it also counts the below-market lease on 1B.
5. Where the gap comes from: $6,400 - $4,600 = $1,800 a month, made up of $1,750 of vacancy (unit 2B) and $50 of loss to lease (unit 1B).
6. Collections: $4,600 billed - $175 unpaid = $4,425 collected, a 96.2% collection rate for October so far.
7. Deposits held: $4,600. Deposits are held on your tenants' behalf, so track them apart from rental income.

The in-place rent is the starting point for the property's income. Feed $55,200 a year into the rental property calculator, with your vacancy rate and expenses, to see cash flow, cap rate and cash on cash return, or use the NOI calculator and cap rate calculator for one number at a time.

Who uses a rent roll

• Property owners review it each month to spot vacancies, upcoming lease ends, below-market rents and unpaid balances before they grow.
• Lenders ask for a current rent roll when you refinance or finance another purchase, usually alongside a profit and loss statement for the same period.
• Buyers compare the seller's rent roll with the leases and bank deposits during due diligence. A rent roll that matches the leases and the deposits is one a buyer can rely on.
• Accountants and partners use it to check that the rent recorded in the books matches what the leases say.

How to make a rent roll

1. Download the template. The rent roll template (CSV) has every column above, the Maple Street example rows and blank rows for your units.
2. Start from the leases. Copy the tenant, dates, rent and deposit from each signed lease, one row per unit, vacant units included.
3. Add market rent. Use recent listings for similar units nearby.
4. Record balances as of one date. Pick the date, then fill in what each tenant owes on that day. If a tenant moved in mid-month, the prorated rent calculator works out the first month's charge.
5. Total the columns. Add up units, occupied units, monthly rent, market rent, deposits and balances.
6. Update it every month. A rent roll is only as current as its date. Refresh it after rent is due and whenever a lease starts, ends or changes.

Rent roll vs rent ledger

A rent roll is a snapshot of every unit on one date. A rent ledger is the running history for one tenant: each charge, each payment and the balance after each one. When the balance on the rent roll looks wrong, the tenant's ledger shows how it got there.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a rent roll and a profit and loss statement?

A rent roll lists units, leases and rent on a single date. A profit and loss statement covers a period, such as a month or a year, and shows all income and every expense. Lenders often ask for both because together they show what the leases promise and what the property earned.

How often should I update a rent roll?

Monthly, after rent is due, and whenever a lease starts, ends or changes. Always put the "as of" date at the top so anyone reading it knows which day it describes.

Should vacant units be on the rent roll?

Yes. List every unit, with its market rent and a vacant status. Leaving vacant units off overstates occupancy and hides the income the property could earn.

Does a rent roll include security deposits?

Most rent rolls do, in their own column. Deposits are held for tenants, so they are listed separately from rent and left out of income totals.

What is a certified rent roll?

It is a rent roll that the owner signs to confirm it is accurate, usually at a lender's or buyer's request. The lender or buyer sets the wording, so follow their form and check it against your leases before you sign.

Keep the numbers current

A spreadsheet rent roll works, and it is only as good as the last time you updated it. KeyRing records each tenant's lease, rent charges, payments and deposit as they happen, so the details a rent roll needs live in one place for every property you own. See what KeyRing does or how plans are priced.