Managing Rentals in Excel or a Platform? Comparing the Criteria
Managing rentals in Excel works fine while you have only a few units and remember every deadline. As your portfolio grows, the spreadsheet starts costing more time than it saves, and that is when a rental management platform does a better job. Below you will find the signs that Excel is no longer enough, seven criteria showing what a spreadsheet gives you and what a platform should give you, a comparison table and tips on matching the tool to your own portfolio.
When managing rentals in Excel stops being enough
Excel stops being enough when you spend more time looking after the spreadsheet than looking after your tenants. It usually does not happen overnight. First a second file with leases appears, then a separate sheet for payments, and in the end the meter photos sit on your phone and nobody but you knows which file is the current one.
A typical situation: a tenant asks how much they still owe, and you have to open three files and scroll through your bank statement. Or a lease ended last week because the reminder existed only in your head. These are not the landlord’s mistakes, they are the limits of a tool that was never built for running rentals.
- data on a single unit is spread across several files and hard to pull together in one place,
- you track lease and payment deadlines yourself, with no reminders at all,
- every change to a lease gets saved as a new copy of the file,
- one broken formula can distort your settlements several months back without anyone noticing,
- someone else (a business partner, an accountant, a property manager) needs access to the data, and you email them the file.
If you recognise two or more of these points, it is worth comparing the spreadsheet with a platform against specific criteria rather than a general impression. Automation is useful not just for large property managers, but also for an owner of a few flats who has a full-time job.
Evaluation criteria: Excel vs rental management software
Base your evaluation on what you do every month: records, deadlines, documents, contact with tenants, repairs, reports and access for other people. For each criterion, look at what you already have in your spreadsheet, what is missing and what to ask the platform provider.
Records of units, tenants and leases
Excel gives you complete freedom: you decide which columns to keep and how to name your units. It does not give you links between data, so the unit, the tenant and the lease are separate rows you connect by eye. In a platform, check whether a unit has a status (vacant, rented, under renovation), whether a lease has an end date and a status, and whether the tenant’s profile shows their unit and contact history.
Deadlines and reminders
Excel gives you conditional formatting that highlights an upcoming date, but only when you open the file. It does not give you notifications sent on their own, either to you or to the tenant. In a platform, check who gets the rent reminder, how far in advance, and whether the system warns you about leases that are about to end.
Rent and utility settlements
Excel gives you the most flexibility right here: any cost split, unusual metering, your own rates. It does not give you error checking, so a typo in a meter reading goes through without any warning. In a platform, check whether it settles utilities at all, because not every one does, and if so, whether it can handle your model (flat rate, meter readings, splitting across several units) and whether it lets you correct an item without re-entering the whole period. If the platform does not do this or your way of settling costs is very unusual, keep that one element in the spreadsheet and keep providers’ invoices in the unit’s documents.
Documents and lease versions
Excel gives you at most a list of links to files on your drive. It does not give you order in annexes, handover reports and invoices assigned to a specific unit. In a platform, check whether documents have categories, whether they are assigned to a unit and building, and whether tenants can see the ones that concern them.
Tenant contact and repair requests
Excel gives you a place for a note that a tenant reported a leaking tap. It does not give you a channel through which the tenant can report it themselves, or a record of who handled it and when. In a platform, check whether tenants have their own portal, whether a request has a priority and a status, and whether the repair history stays with the unit for years to come.
Reports and accounting
Excel gives you pivot tables and charts, if you know how to build and maintain them. It does not give you a ready summary of income or unit occupancy without manual work every month. In a platform, check which reports are ready to use, whether they can be exported to PDF or XLSX for your accountant, and whether there is integration with accounting software. If you issue invoices for rent, also ask about KSeF support.
Access, security and cost
Excel gives you full control over the file, offline work and no subscription if you already have a licence. It does not give you accounts for several people with different permissions, or certainty that everyone is working on the same version. In a platform, check the number of users in the plan, the unit limit, how you can export your data if you cancel, and whether the price goes up with every unit or in steps between plans.
Comparison table: spreadsheet vs platform
The table puts the criteria in one place and shows where managing rentals in Excel still holds up. The platform column describes what you should expect from one, not a specific product.
| Criterion | Excel spreadsheet | Rental management platform |
|---|---|---|
| Records of units and leases | Any columns, unlinked data | Unit, tenant and lease linked, with statuses |
| Deadlines | Highlighting when the file is opened | Reminders sent automatically |
| Utility settlements | Full flexibility, no error checking | Depends on the tool, often stays in a spreadsheet |
| Documents | Links to files on a drive | Library assigned to unit and building |
| Tenant contact | Landlord’s notes | Tenant portal, requests with a status |
| Reports | Manually built summaries | Ready-made reports and export |
| Access for other people | Emailing the file, risk of multiple versions | User accounts in one system |
| Offline work | Yes | Usually not |
| Cost | A licence you often already have | Subscription depending on the plan |
The table shows a simple split. Excel wins on flexibility and independence from any provider. A platform wins wherever repeatability, deadlines and several people working on the same data matter.
How to choose a tool for your portfolio
The choice depends mainly on the number of units, the number of people working with the data and how unusual your settlements are. Instead of asking which tool is better, ask which problem from the list of signs costs you the most today.
- One or two flats: a decent Excel template is often enough. A platform makes sense if you want reminders and a tenant portal, and its cost is low or zero.
- A few to a dozen or so units: tracking deadlines and documents by hand starts eating up your evenings. Here a platform usually pays for itself in time saved, and the spreadsheet can stay for unusual calculations.
- A larger portfolio or a team: what matters is accounts for several people, reports for accounting and a repair history for every unit. At this scale a spreadsheet becomes a risk, not a saving.
Whatever your scale, test the tool on your own data before moving your whole portfolio. Enter one unit with a real lease, set a reminder and export a report. In tenanto, the Individual plan for one unit is free, and higher plans differ in their unit and user limits, as described in the tenanto plans and pricing. If you want to see what a test of portfolio management systems looks like, prepare a list of questions from the criteria above in advance.
When moving your data, you do not have to drop the spreadsheet straight away. A good way to start is to run both in parallel for one full billing period: the platform handles records, leases and reminders, while Excel stays for comparing results. Once both sources match, the spreadsheet becomes an archive. For a broader context, see the overview of digital property management platforms.
One final recommendation
Take the list of seven criteria, mark the ones where your spreadsheet already lets you down, and test a platform on exactly those, using one real unit. If only utility settlements fall short, managing rentals in Excel may still serve you well. If deadlines, documents and tenant contact fall short, it is time to move your portfolio to rental management software.
