Glossary · DealProp
Tenant ledger
A per-tenant running record of every charge billed and every payment received. The source of truth for whether a tenant is current, late, or owed money.
A tenant ledger is a per-tenant running record showing every charge billed (rent, late fees, utility passthrough, security deposit) and every payment received, ordered chronologically. It runs from the tenant's lease start through the end of their tenancy. The current balance — the difference between charges and payments — tells you whether the tenant is current, late, or has a credit.
A good ledger is immutable. You add new entries (charges or payments); you do not edit old ones. If a charge was applied in error, you reverse it with a new offsetting entry. The history is preserved.
Why it matters
The tenant ledger is the document that wins disputes. A tenant says they paid; the ledger shows they did not. A tenant disputes a late fee; the ledger shows when the rent posted and which day the policy fired. A tenant moves out and claims their security deposit; the ledger shows what they actually owed at the time.
It is also the source of truth for refunds. At move-out, the security deposit returns whatever is unused after lawful deductions. Computing "lawful deductions" requires the ledger to be correct — every charge accounted for, every payment posted, every adjustment documented.
Spreadsheet ledgers can do this if you are careful. They tend to fail at scale because they require the landlord to remember to update them, to apply charges on the right dates, and to never make typos in the running balance. Software ledgers do this without the landlord remembering anything.
In DealProp
Every tenant has a live ledger that updates the moment a payment posts or a charge accrues. The ledger is append-only — corrections happen as offsetting entries with a reason code, not as silent edits. Export to CSV anytime for your CPA, your lawyer, or the tenant who asks for it. See rent collection.