Rental Ledger: Schedule E, depreciation and rent roll for small landlords

Log rent and expenses against each property and get Schedule E by property, 27.5-year depreciation with the mid-month rule, the $25,000 passive loss allowance and what is suspended, a month-by-month rent collection grid and the contractors who need a 1099-NEC. No account, no bank link, and nothing leaves your device.

Tax year and your situation

1. Properties

One row per rental. Purchase price and land value set the depreciable basis; the date placed in service is when it was first ready to rent. Edit any cell and it saves.

NamePrice $Closing costs $Land value $In serviceTarget rent / mo $Your share %Remove

2. Rent and expenses

Entries for the year

DatePropertyTypeLineAmountPayeeRemove

Import a CSV

Columns: date,property,type,category,amount,vendor,note. Date is YYYY-MM-DD, property must match a name above, type is rent, deposit, expense, improvement or principal, category is an expense line such as repairs or insurance.

3. Your numbers

Schedule E, Part I, by property

Rental loss rules (Form 8582, simple case)

Rent collected by month

Contractors to expect a 1099-NEC for

Unincorporated payees you paid $2,000 or more for services in the year. Payments to corporations and for materials usually do not need one; confirm before filing.

4. If you sell a property

Estimates the federal tax on a sale: depreciation you took is recaptured at up to 25%, the rest is long-term gain, and the 3.8% investment income tax applies over $200,000 ($250,000 joint) of MAGI. Uses the properties and improvements above and the MAGI and suspended losses from the top. Nothing here is filed or sent anywhere.

Back up, restore

What it does and does not do

Common questions

Is this rental ledger really free?

Yes. There is no account, no trial and no paywall. It runs in your browser, so it costs nothing to serve, and it stays free.

Is anything uploaded?

No. Your properties, rents and expenses are stored in your browser on this device and every sum is done there. There are no accounts, cookies or analytics vendors.

Is this a replacement for Stessa, Baselane or a spreadsheet?

It is a lighter, private alternative for a landlord with a handful of units who wants Schedule E by property without connecting a bank. There is no bank sync, no tenant portal and no rent collection. You enter or import rows, and it does the Schedule E, depreciation and passive-loss arithmetic.

How is depreciation calculated?

Residential rental property is depreciated straight line over 27.5 years with the mid-month convention: the month you place it in service counts as half. The basis is the price plus closing costs you add to basis, minus the land value, because land is never depreciated. Each improvement is depreciated separately from its own date.

What is the $25,000 rental loss allowance?

If you actively participate in managing your rental, you can deduct up to $25,000 of rental loss against other income. It shrinks by 50 cents for every dollar your modified adjusted gross income is over $100,000 and is gone at $150,000. Anything you cannot use is suspended and carried forward, which this page tracks.

Is a security deposit income?

Not when you receive it, if you will return it. Enter it as a deposit so it stays out of rent. It becomes income in the year you keep it for unpaid rent, and a deduction for damage you repair is a normal expense.

Is a new roof a repair?

Usually not. Work that betters, restores or adapts the property is an improvement that you depreciate, not a repair you deduct in one year. The page flags large repairs so you can decide, and items of $2,500 or less per invoice can often be expensed under the de minimis safe harbor if you elect it on your return.

Can I import from a spreadsheet or my bank?

Yes, from a CSV with the columns date, property, type, category, amount, vendor and note. Most banks let you export a CSV; add the property and type columns in a spreadsheet and import it. Rows that cannot be read are listed with the reason instead of being dropped silently.