Once you own more than one rental property, the question stops being "did the portfolio make money?" and becomes "which properties are pulling their weight?". If your rental accounts are in Xero, a tracking category per property answers that, and a couple of reports cover arrears and cash. Here's a simple setup and how to keep the numbers coming to you each month.
This guide is for landlords reporting on their own properties. If you manage property for other owners and hold their money, client money or trust account rules usually apply, and many agents use dedicated property management software for owner statements.
One tracking option per property
In Accounting > Accounting settings > Tracking categories, add a category called "Property" with one option per address, for example "12 Mill Lane" and "Flat 3, Harbour Court". Then tag rent received, repairs, letting fees, insurance and other costs with the property they belong to. Xero lets you have two active tracking categories, so you can add a second one later if you need it.
Costs that cover the whole portfolio, like accountancy or a software subscription, can stay untagged or be split across properties with a manual journal; your accountant can suggest which. Decide once and keep it consistent so the property figures stay comparable over time.
Profit per property
Open the Profit and Loss and use Compare tracking categories to show each property as its own column, or Filter to look at one property. That gives you rent, costs and net profit per property for any period. Remember that comparison periods and tracking columns can't be combined in one view, so it's either properties side by side or months side by side.
Rent arrears
If you raise rent as invoices in Xero, the Aged Receivables Summary shows which tenants are behind and by how much, and it can be grouped by tracking category to see arrears per property. A weekly look, or the unpaid invoices list by email every Monday, catches missed payments early. Our reminder email templates help with the follow-up.
Cash and the bigger picture
The Bank Summary shows money in and out of each account, which is useful if each property or portfolio has its own bank account. The Balance Sheet shows the position at month end, including loans.
Getting it every month without logging in
Reportpost can send these to you, a business partner or your accountant on a schedule:
- A monthly schedule with the Profit and Loss by your "Property" tracking category, every property as its own column.
- A weekly schedule with the aged receivables or the unpaid invoices list, so arrears land in your inbox on Monday morning.
- If a co-owner only shares one property, a separate schedule with the Profit and Loss filtered to that property.
Each schedule has its own recipients and message, and you can send yourself a test first. You can try the demo without connecting Xero.
Related: Xero reports by tracking category, reporting on several locations and the Xero debtors report explained.