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Rental property balance sheet template
A free rental property balance sheet template that adds itself up. Assets, liabilities, and equity for up to three properties, with the line most templates skip: accumulated depreciation. No email, no signup.
- Assets, liabilities, and equity, per property plus a portfolio total
- Accumulated depreciation built in as a contra-asset
- A separate market-value memo so cost basis and market equity never get mixed
Educational template, not tax or accounting advice. Confirm your specific situation with your CPA.
What goes on a rental property balance sheet
Three sections, one identity: assets minus liabilities equals equity. The template lays them out per property so you can see each building's position and the portfolio total side by side.
| Section | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Assets | Cash and bank accounts, rent receivable, the property at purchase price, capital improvements, less accumulated depreciation |
| Liabilities | Mortgage balance, security deposits you hold, cards and other debt, property taxes owed |
| Equity | Assets minus liabilities. Calculated for you |
The line most templates skip: accumulated depreciation
Your building loses basis every year you depreciate it, roughly 1/27.5 of the building's cost. On the balance sheet that shows up as a negative asset line, and skipping it quietly overstates what you own. It also matters at sale: the accumulated figure is exactly what comes back as depreciation recapture. If you have never tallied it, the depreciation calculator rebuilds the schedule from your purchase details.
From a cost segregation study to this balance sheet
A cost segregation study splits a building's purchase price into parts that depreciate at different speeds instead of one 27.5-year lump. The balance sheet is where the result has to land, and it is the step most study marketing skips:
| Step | What happens | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Split the basis | The study moves 20 to 30% of the building's cost onto 5- and 15-year clocks: appliances, carpet, driveways, fencing | Each class stays under Assets at cost, on its own row |
| 2. Run the schedules | Each class depreciates on its own schedule, and the fast classes can take 100% bonus depreciation in year one | The year's total is your Schedule E line 18 deduction |
| 3. Carry the totals | Depreciation accumulates per asset, year after year | The accumulated depreciation contra-asset line on this template |
Whether a study is worth its fee is a separate question; we walk that math in cost segregation for rental property. The bookkeeping side is not optional, though. After a study your books carry several schedules, not one, and the accumulated figure has to stay per asset or the recapture math at sale falls apart. The free depreciation schedule template keeps those rows by hand; Oberlin24 books them automatically, MACRS and straight-line both, straight through to line 18.
Cost basis is not market value
Books are kept at cost: what you paid, plus improvements, minus depreciation. Zillow is a different number. On one real two-property portfolio we track, cost-basis equity was about $505,000 while market equity was about $670,000. Both are true, they just answer different questions: the books answer what the IRS will ask at sale, the market view answers what you could walk away with. The template keeps a market memo block below the balance sheet so you can track both without mixing them.
When to update it
A balance sheet is a snapshot, not a running log. Once a quarter is plenty for most landlords: update mortgage balances from your statements, add the year's improvements, and bump accumulated depreciation once a year when you file. Pair it with the Schedule E worksheet, which covers the income-and-expense side the balance sheet leaves out.
Balance sheet or P&L: which one do you need?
Both, because they answer different questions. A P&L covers a period: rents in, expenses out, ending at net income. The balance sheet covers a date: what you own and owe after all those periods have done their work. The two connect in ways that matter for landlords. Net income flows into equity here, and mortgage principal payments never touch the P&L at all; they show up on this sheet as a smaller loan balance. If you keep only one statement, a lender will eventually ask for the other. The free profit and loss template is this template's companion, with every expense row mapped to its Schedule E line.
When a spreadsheet stops being enough
The template holds up fine for a property or two. It gets brittle when every mortgage payment has to split into interest, escrow, and principal, and the principal slice has to land on this sheet while the interest lands on Schedule E. That double-entry grind is what Oberlin24 does in the background: it keeps a live balance sheet that reconciles to your bank to the penny.
Frequently asked questions
What is a rental property balance sheet?
A snapshot of one date: what you own (assets), what you owe (liabilities), and the difference (your equity). Unlike a profit-and-loss, which covers a period, the balance sheet answers where you stand right now: cash, the property at cost, improvements, accumulated depreciation, the mortgage balance, and the deposits you are holding.
What goes on a rental property balance sheet?
Assets: cash and bank accounts, rent owed to you, the property at purchase price, capital improvements, minus accumulated depreciation. Liabilities: mortgage balances, security deposits you hold, cards and other debt, property taxes owed but unpaid. Equity is assets minus liabilities and the template calculates it per property and for the whole portfolio.
How do I calculate equity on a rental property?
On the books, equity is total assets minus total liabilities at cost basis. Market equity is a different number: today's market value minus the mortgage. Both are legitimate, they answer different questions, and mixing them is the most common balance-sheet mistake. The template keeps a separate market-value memo below the balance sheet so both stay visible without blending.
Why is accumulated depreciation on the balance sheet?
Because your building's book value falls every year you depreciate it, and the balance sheet must say so or it overstates your assets. It is recorded as a negative (contra-asset) line under the property. It is also the number the IRS taxes as recapture when you sell, so a balance sheet that tracks it means no surprise at sale.
Are security deposits an asset or a liability?
A liability. The deposit is the tenant's money sitting in your account, and you owe it back unless the lease lets you keep part of it at move-out. Counting deposits as income (or just leaving them off) is a classic small-landlord error, so the template gives them their own liability line.
Does this template work in Excel and Google Sheets?
Yes. It is a standard XLSX with plain SUM and subtraction formulas, so it opens in Excel and Numbers directly, and you can upload it to Google Drive and use it as a Google Sheet. The totals, equity, and market-memo formulas carry over in all three.