How to import your rent roll by asking Claude or ChatGPT
If your units and tenants live in a spreadsheet, you can hand the file to your connected assistant and ask it to import the rent roll. It shows a preview with totals and any issues first and changes nothing. You fix what it flags, confirm, and the units, tenants, leases, rents, deposits and opening balances come in.
Get your spreadsheet ready
You do not need a perfect file, but a few minutes of cleanup removes most problems. One row per unit works best. Useful columns:
- Unit number or name.
- Tenant name, and email or phone if you have them.
- Lease start and end dates.
- Monthly rent.
- Security deposit held.
- Balance owed or credit as of a date you pick.
A CSV or an Excel file is fine. If the roll is a PDF from another system, ask the assistant to read it, but check the numbers more carefully because reading a PDF is where mistakes creep in. Background on the document is in how to keep and read a rent roll.
Ask for the import in plain words
Once your assistant is connected, a request can be as short as: "Import this rent roll for the Maple Street property" with the file attached. The import works in two steps. First it reads the file and returns a preview with totals and issues. It changes nothing at this point. Only after you approve the preview does it bring the data in.
Name the property if you have several, so the units land in the right place. If a building belongs to its own LLC, say so; each property keeps its own books.
Read the preview like an auditor
The preview is where you catch mistakes. Check these before saying yes:
| Check | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Unit count | Matches the number of units you own |
| Total monthly rent | Matches your own add-up of the rent column |
| Total deposits | Matches the deposit money you actually hold |
| Balances | Each is as of the date you chose, with the sign right (owed versus credit) |
| Flagged issues | Missing dates, duplicate units, rents of zero, odd characters |
Example a made-up building has 12 units at $1,000 each, so the rent column should total $12,000. The preview says $11,000 and flags one unit with no rent. You find the row where the cell was blank, add $1,000 and run the preview again until it reads $12,000.
After the import, check a few records by hand
- Open two or three tenants and compare the lease dates and rent with your paper lease.
- Ask the assistant for the rent roll and compare its total with the spreadsheet.
- Ask who is late. Anyone who looks wrong usually has an opening balance on the wrong sign or date.
If you keep books elsewhere too, pick one cutover date and do not enter the same payment twice. The wider move is covered in moving from a spreadsheet to property management software.
Keep sensitive columns out of the file
A rent roll does not need Social Security numbers, full bank account numbers or ID scans. Remove any such columns before you attach the file. The less sensitive data in the file, the less there is to leak if the file is shared or stored in a chat.
How DoorKeeping handles it
The rent roll import is a DoorKeeping tool your assistant can call: it takes the file as CSV text, a base64 CSV or Excel file or rows, returns a preview with totals and issues and changes nothing until you confirm. Rent stays in your own bank account, and anything involving money or a legal step waits for your approval. Opening balances come in as of the date you set, so your books begin from a number you checked.
Sources
- DoorKeeping: Connect Claude or ChatGPT (steps and tools list), read Oct 31, 2026
Questions
- What file types can I import?
- A CSV or Excel file works. A PDF can be read by the assistant but needs a closer check of the numbers.
- Does the import change anything before I confirm?
- No. The first step is a preview with totals and issues. Nothing is saved until you approve.
- What if my spreadsheet is messy?
- Send it anyway. The preview lists the issues, and you fix them in the file or tell the assistant what to change.
- Should I include Social Security numbers?
- No. A rent roll does not need them, so leave sensitive columns out.