Rent roll versus rental cash records

Scheduled rent, collected cash and deposits held answer different questions. Keep the unit snapshot and the cash record consistent without treating them as the same ledger.

Scheduled rent is an obligation for the modelled period

The template’s occupied units have a full monthly amount due. A vacant unit contributes potential rent but no scheduled due. This is a simplified full-month snapshot: partial leases, concessions and historical arrears require additional source records. The snapshot date alone does not calculate a prorated amount.

Use one stable property/unit pair per active row. A repeated key can double-count the same unit even if the names look reasonable. The template exposes such duplicates rather than counting both rows as independent properties. When a row is unused, its numeric amounts must be zero.

A total can hide different unit outcomes

The invented example has $3,600 due and $3,600 collected. One unit is $50 short while another has $50 above due. The matched portfolio total therefore does not establish that each account paid its own full amount. Inspect shortfalls and amounts above due separately.

A current-month shortfall is not automatically a cumulative arrears balance. Collections above scheduled rent might need additional explanation. Reconcile those amounts with the applicable rent ledger and payment evidence instead of inferring a legal debt or advance-payment classification from a single cell.

Keep refundable deposits distinct

A refundable deposit held is a stock balance with a separate purpose from monthly rent collections. Moving its amount into operating rent would change the meaning of both records. The template retains it separately and does not determine the treatment of retained, applied or non-refundable amounts.

Record actual cash on its own basis

The income/expense workbook asks what arrived and was paid during each month. Rent actually collected already reflects absent receipts. It should not then be reduced by another vacancy assumption. Forecast potential rent belongs in the property-analysis workbook, where vacancy and credit loss are separate visible drivers.

Save dated snapshots, retain supporting statements and use zero only when an absence of activity is known. A missing collection is incomplete information. The templates leave affected results unavailable rather than turning that gap into a tidy zero.

Inspect the rent roll · Open the cash record

Sources and definition boundaries

Fannie Mae Form 4254.DEF distinguishes rental operating income, operating costs and reserve-related measures. Its underwriting and reporting conventions are more detailed than this original model. The IRS rental-income overview explains the distinction between rent and refundable deposits, among other tax topics. These files do not determine tax treatment, prepare a tax return or certify lender coverage. Layouts and all numerical examples are original AllMarkets material.