Most landlords start with a spreadsheet. A column for the property, a column for the tenant, a column for the date, a column for the amount. It works, more or less, until it doesn't.
The spreadsheet doesn't remind your tenant that rent is due. It doesn't flag when someone is 5 days late. It doesn't send you a summary at the end of the year. You have to do all of that manually — and when life gets busy, things slip.
Here's a better way.
The problem with spreadsheet rent tracking
The spreadsheet itself isn't the problem. The problem is everything the spreadsheet can't do.
It can't send reminders. You have to remember to message your tenant before rent is due. Every month. For every property. If you forget, they often forget too.
It can't tell you something's wrong. A spreadsheet doesn't know that rent was due 8 days ago and hasn't been marked as paid. You have to notice that yourself.
It doesn't scale cleanly. One property, one tenant — fine. Three properties, different due dates, some paying on the 1st, some on the 15th — suddenly you're cross-referencing tabs and hoping you haven't missed anything.
Tax time is painful. Every year, you reconstruct the year from memory and bank statements instead of just exporting a report.
What good rental payment tracking looks like
The goal isn't a better spreadsheet. The goal is to not have to think about it.
Good rental payment tracking means:
- Your tenant gets reminded automatically — before the due date, not after you've noticed they're late
- You can see at a glance who has paid this month and who hasn't across all your properties
- Late payments are flagged without you having to check
- Everything is in one place — amounts, dates, receipts, history — without hunting through emails or bank statements
- Tax season takes minutes, not hours — because the data is already organised
How to set it up with Leasily
Leasily is a property management tool built for independent landlords. Setting up payment tracking takes about 3 minutes per property.
Step 1: Add your property
Enter the address and monthly rent amount.
Step 2: Add your tenant
Name, email, lease start and end date, payment due date.
Step 3: That's it
Leasily generates a payment schedule automatically. Three days before each due date, your tenant gets an email reminder. If it goes overdue, they get a follow-up. You get notified if anything needs attention.
At the end of the year, you export a PDF income report — every payment, every property, ready for your accountant.
What about WhatsApp reminders?
A lot of landlords manage rent reminders over WhatsApp. It works, in the sense that messages get delivered. But it has a few problems:
- Messages get buried in conversation history
- It only works if you remember to send them
- There's no record — just a chat thread
- It feels unprofessional as your portfolio grows
Automating reminders isn't about being cold with your tenants. It's about removing yourself as the bottleneck so nothing falls through the cracks.
Free options
Leasily is free until July 2026 for all new users. No credit card, no trial period — just free while the product is being built with early landlords. After July, the price locks in at €9/month for anyone who signs up now.