What a rent roll should show when a lender or buyer asks for one
A rent roll for a lender or buyer is a list of every unit as of one stated date, with the tenant, lease start and end, current monthly rent, deposit held, balance owed and status. It must agree with your bank deposits and your books for the same period. A roll that does not tie to the money is the first thing a careful reader questions.
Why outsiders read it differently from you
You keep a rent roll to run the building. A lender or buyer reads it to decide whether to trust your numbers. They do not know your tenants, so everything has to be on the page and nothing may depend on your memory. Our post on keeping and reading a rent roll covers the working version. This post covers the version you send out.
The columns to include
| Column | What it shows | Why the reader wants it |
|---|---|---|
| As-of date | One date for the whole roll, printed at the top | Rents and balances only mean something on a specific day |
| Unit and type | Number, bedrooms, bathrooms and, if you have it, square feet | Lets them compare rents across similar units |
| Tenant name | Name on the lease, or "vacant" | Shows what is occupied |
| Lease start and end | Dates from the signed lease | Shows how long the income is locked in and when units roll |
| Current monthly rent | What the tenant is charged now | The base for annual income |
| Concessions | Free months or discounts still running | Prevents overstating collected income |
| Deposit held | Amount actually held for that tenant | Shows the liability that moves with a sale |
| Balance owed | Unpaid rent and fees as of the date | Shows collection risk |
| Status | Current, month to month, notice given, in eviction, vacant | Shows risk and upcoming vacancy |
Add a total row: units, occupied units, total monthly rent and total deposits held. A reader checks the total first.
Prove it against the books
Three simple tests make a rent roll credible. Do them before you send it.
- Multiply it out. Total monthly rent times twelve is the potential annual rent. The rent actually collected over the past twelve months should be that figure less vacancy, concessions and unpaid rent.
- Match it to the bank. The deposits in the bank for the latest month should equal the rent roll's rents collected, plus other income such as fees, less any rent that was paid in advance or late.
- Match the deposit column to the balance sheet. The total deposits held should equal the security deposit liability in your books.
Advance rent is a common mismatch. The IRS says rent you receive in advance is generally income in the year you receive it, whatever period it covers (Publication 527), so a tenant who prepays three months shows up in the bank before it shows in a month-by-month rent roll. Note it on the roll so the reader can reconcile.
Example a made-up 10 unit building has 9 occupied units at $1,000 each and one vacant unit that would rent for $1,000. The roll shows $9,000 in monthly rent and $10,000 in potential rent. One tenant has a $500 free-rent concession this month, so rent actually due this month is $8,500. Nine deposits of $1,000 give $9,000 in deposits held, and the balance sheet's security deposit liability must also read $9,000. If it reads $8,000, a deposit is missing from the roll or the books, and the reader will see it.
Mistakes that slow a deal
- Mixing dates: rents as of one month, balances as of another.
- Listing market rent in the rent column. Market rent is a separate column, labeled, and only if you can support it.
- Leaving out month to month tenants or marking them as leased.
- Rounding rents. Use exact dollars and cents from the lease and ledger.
- Sending a spreadsheet that can be changed. Send a dated PDF, and keep the working file.
How DoorKeeping handles it
DoorKeeping keeps a live rent roll from the leases and the tenant ledgers: unit, tenant, lease dates, rent, deposit and balance, for every property and across your whole portfolio. Because rent is matched from your bank feed, the balance column reflects payments that have actually arrived. Ask Claude or ChatGPT for the rent roll as of last Friday, or "which leases end in the next 90 days?", and you get an answer from the same data your owner statements use. Rent and payments stay in your own bank accounts. DoorKeeping never holds your money and sends a payment only when you approve it. It costs $2 per unit a month, every feature included, no setup and no minimum.
Sources
- IRS, Publication 527, Residential Rental Property (advance rent), read Oct 30, 2026
Questions
- What should a rent roll include?
- An as-of date, each unit, the tenant, lease start and end, current monthly rent, any concessions, the deposit held, the balance owed and a status, with totals at the bottom.
- How often should I update a rent roll?
- Monthly for your own use, and again as of a fresh date whenever a lender or buyer asks for one.
- Should a rent roll show market rent?
- Only in a separate, labeled column, and only if you can support it. The rent column shows what the lease charges.