How to move from Excel or Google Sheets to property management software

Step 1: make one clean rent roll sheet

Most owners who run on spreadsheets have several: one for rent, one for expenses, one for each year. Software needs a single list of units and tenants, so start there. Make one sheet with one row per unit and these columns: property, unit, tenant name, email, phone, monthly rent, lease start, lease end, deposit held, and balance owed or prepaid on the cutover date.

• Remove blank rows, totals rows and merged cells.
• Put dates in one format (for example 2026-12-01).
• Write rent as a plain number, with no dollar sign or text.
• List vacant units too, with an empty tenant, so the unit count matches.
• Save a copy as CSV or XLSX; DoorKeeping reads both.

Step 2: save the files you will need later

In Excel, Save As lets you choose CSV or a regular workbook; in Google Sheets, File, Download offers .xlsx and .csv. Download a copy of every year's sheets and keep them with your bank statements. The IRS page How long should I keep records? says to keep records connected with property until the period of limitations expires for the year you dispose of the property.

Step 3: work out opening balances

From your rent sheet, work out what each tenant owes or has prepaid on the last day of the month you cut over. Deposits are not income: they belong to the tenant until you return them, so list them separately from rent.

Example a made-up 6 unit house set. Total monthly rent is $7,200. Deposits held add up to $7,200. One tenant is $300 behind and one has prepaid $100. The sheet therefore shows $300 owed, $100 prepaid and $7,200 held, and the bank balance in your books must reconcile to your statement.

Your bank statement is the check. If the books and the statement differ, find the open items (checks not yet cleared, deposits in transit) before you move.

How long does it take?

For a few units, an afternoon or two. For a few dozen units with years of sheets, a week. The slow part is cleaning inconsistent data, not loading it. Do the cleanup while the sheets still run your business, then cut over at a month end.

Cutover and what to tell tenants

There is no vendor, so there are no autopay or portal arrangements to unwind, but tenants may be used to a particular way of paying you, such as a check, Zelle or a transfer. Tell them the date, exactly how to pay from then on, and that the lease does not change. Send a reminder a few days before the first rent date, and match the first payments by hand against the sheet.

Keep the old sheets read-only for a couple of months. Do not keep updating them in parallel: two systems that both claim to be right is how mismatches begin.

How DoorKeeping handles it

Because you are starting from a sheet, the import is the main step: add each property with its LLC, import the cleaned rent roll, then confirm the units, tenants and leases it reads.

In DoorKeeping you add each property with the LLC that owns it, import your rent roll from a CSV or XLSX file, and confirm the units, tenants and leases it reads. Each property has its own books, and tenants keep paying your own bank, by bank transfer or Zelle where your bank supports it, with a memo like 12B SMITH and an exact amount with its own cents. The price is $2 per unit per month with every feature included, no setup cost and no minimum. The general version of this plan is in the switching checklist.

Sources

1. IRS, How long should I keep records?, read Oct 30, 2026

Questions

Can I import an Excel or Google Sheets file into DoorKeeping?

Yes. Save your rent roll as CSV or XLSX, import it, and confirm the units, tenants and leases it reads.

What columns should my rent roll sheet have?

Property, unit, tenant name, email, phone, monthly rent, lease start and end dates, deposit held and balance on the cutover date.

Do I need to enter years of old rent payments?

No. Load current leases and opening balances, and keep the old sheets as files for your records.