Rental Property Bookkeeping in Google Sheets for Tax Time

Tax time doesn't have to be a nightmare. I know landlords who spend entire weekends in April going through bank statements and shoebox receipts. That's not a system. That's a crisis.

Here's what I do instead. 10 minutes a month in Google Sheets. When April comes, my Schedule E numbers are ready in about 20 minutes.

What You Need to Track

The IRS wants to know two things about your rental properties. How much money came in, and how much went out. That's it. They just want it organized in very specific categories.

On the income side: all rent received, late fees, application fees, and any other rental income. Every dollar a tenant gives you.

On the expense side, the IRS breaks it into these Schedule E categories:

Line 5: Advertising. Line 6: Auto and travel. Line 7: Cleaning and maintenance. Line 8: Commissions. Line 9: Insurance. Line 10: Legal and professional fees. Line 11: Management fees. Line 12: Mortgage interest. Line 13: Other interest. Line 14: Repairs. Line 15: Supplies. Line 16: Taxes. Line 17: Utilities. Line 18: Depreciation. Line 19: Other.

Those 15 categories cover everything. Every rental expense you have fits into one of them.

Setting Up Your Bookkeeping Sheet

Create a Google Sheet called "Rental Bookkeeping 2025." Two tabs: Income and Expenses. (If you want the full walkthrough on setting up both tabs, read my post on tracking rental income and expenses in Google Sheets.)

Income tab columns: Date, Property, Tenant, Type, Amount.

Expense tab columns: Date, Property, Schedule E Category, Description, Vendor, Amount, Receipt Link.

That "Receipt Link" column is key. More on that in a minute.

For the Schedule E Category column, set up data validation with a dropdown. Use the exact category names from the list above. No freestyling. "Repairs" not "Repair." "Insurance" not "Ins." Consistency is everything when formulas need to match text.

The Receipt System

Create a Google Drive folder called "Rental Receipts 2025." Inside, create subfolders by month. January, February, etc.

Every time you get a receipt, take a photo with your phone. It uploads to Google Drive automatically if you use the Drive app. Drop it in the right month folder.

Then paste the Google Drive link into the Receipt Link column of your expense entry. Right-click the file in Drive, click "Get link," paste it in the cell.

Now every expense has a linked receipt. If the IRS ever asks for documentation, you click the link and there it is. Your accountant will love you for this.

The Monthly Close-Out (10 Minutes)

On the last day of each month, or the first day of the next month, do this. Set a calendar reminder. It takes 10 minutes.

Step 1: Reconcile income (3 minutes). Open your bank statement. Compare deposits against your Income tab. Every rental deposit should have a matching row. If something's missing, add it.

Step 2: Reconcile expenses (5 minutes). Go through your credit card and bank statements. Look for any rental-related charges you didn't log. Add them to the Expenses tab with the correct Schedule E category.

Step 3: Verify receipt links (2 minutes). Scroll through the month's expenses. Does every entry over $50 have a receipt link? If not, find the receipt and link it now. Small stuff under $50, use your judgment. But repairs, insurance payments, and professional fees should always have receipts.

That's it. 10 minutes. Your books are clean for the month.

Don't Forget Mileage

If you drive to your properties for inspections, repairs, or showings, that mileage is deductible. The IRS rate for 2025 is $0.70 per mile (check the current year's rate).

Add a "Mileage" tab to your sheet. Columns: Date, From, To, Purpose, Miles. At the end of the year, total your miles and multiply by the IRS rate. That total goes on Schedule E under "Auto and travel."

I log mileage the same day I drive. It takes 30 seconds. If you wait until year-end to estimate, you'll either lowball it (leaving money on the table) or overestimate it (audit risk).

Depreciation Basics

This is the one landlords always forget. The IRS lets you depreciate the value of your rental building (not the land) over 27.5 years. It's a paper expense that reduces your taxable income.

You don't track this monthly. But you do need to know your property's depreciable basis (purchase price minus land value, plus improvements) and divide by 27.5. That annual number goes on Line 18.

If you're not sure about your depreciation amount, ask your accountant. But track the number in your Summary tab so you don't forget to include it.

Year-End: Generating Your Schedule E Numbers

Here's the payoff for all that monthly work. When January rolls around and it's time to do taxes, open your Summary tab.

Total rental income per property:

=SUMIF(Income!B:B,"123 Main St",Income!E:E)

Expenses by Schedule E category per property:

=SUMIFS(Expenses!F:F,Expenses!B:B,"123 Main St",Expenses!C:C,"Repairs")

Create a section that looks like Schedule E. One row per category, one column per property. The formulas pull the numbers automatically.

Your Summary tab should now look almost exactly like a completed Schedule E. Total income at the top. Each expense category with its total. Net income at the bottom.

Hand this to your accountant. Or plug the numbers into TurboTax yourself. Either way, the hard work is already done.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Let's say you own two rental properties. 123 Main St has 4 units. 456 Oak Ave has 2 units.

Your Summary tab has a "Schedule E" section for each property. Under 123 Main St: Total Rents Received $67,200. Advertising $150. Insurance $2,400. Mortgage Interest $14,800. Repairs $3,200. Taxes $4,100. Depreciation $7,273. Total Expenses $31,923. Net Income $35,277.

Those are the exact numbers you (or your accountant) enter on Schedule E. You didn't calculate anything in April. You just looked at your sheet.

For the template with all of this pre-built, grab our free rental property expense tracker.

The secret to stress-free tax time isn't hiring an expensive CPA. It's spending 10 minutes a month keeping your books clean. By the time you need the numbers, they're already there. No shoeboxes. No all-nighters. Just a Google Sheet that does its job.