Free spreadsheet
Free rental property expense spreadsheet template, sorted by Schedule E line
By Rentlab Team. Checked against IRS sources on .
For expenses you pay in 2026, reported on the 2026 Schedule E you file in 2027.
Record each rental expense once and pick its category. The spreadsheet adds up every line of the US federal (IRS) Schedule E for each of your properties, ready to copy onto the form at tax time.
Use it as a rental property expense tracker all year, and as a rental income and expense worksheet in the spring: rent goes on line 3. Each row also asks whether a cost is a repair or an improvement, the question that decides whether you deduct it this year or depreciate it over many.
A free .xlsx file for tax year 2026. It opens in Excel, Google Sheets and Apple Numbers. No email needed. How to open it in Google Sheets
What's inside the spreadsheet
- Start here: five steps, and the rules that trip up first-year landlords, on one page.
- Properties: name up to 10 rentals once, and every list and total picks them up.
- Expenses: your expense tracker. One row per expense, with lists to pick the category, the property and "Repair or improvement?", and the Schedule E line filled in for you.
- Schedule E: every line added up for each property, ready to copy onto the form, with checks that catch a missing date or a mistyped category before tax time.
- Categories: what goes on each line and what does not, with the IRS source.
- Example: 14 sample expenses across two properties, so you can see a filled-in half year before you start.
A Schedule E spreadsheet template with every line mapped
These are the example rows from the file. Each category is one of Rentlab's own, and each one maps to a Schedule E line. Mortgage and CapEx are recorded but kept off the totals.
| Date | Description | Category (line) | Property | Repair or improvement? | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lender, January mortgage payment | Mortgage (line 12, interest only) | Property A | $1,850.00 | ||
| Insurance company, landlord policy for 2026 | Insurance (line 9) | Property A | $1,200.00 | ||
| Locksmith, replaced broken back-door lock | Repairs (line 14) | Property A | Repair | $145.00 | |
| Listing site, rental ad | Marketing (line 5) | Property B | $49.00 | ||
| Painter, repainted bedroom between tenants | Repairs (line 14) | Property B | Repair | $640.00 | |
| Plumber, replaced water heater | CapEx (line 18, depreciated) | Property A | Improvement | $1,450.00 | |
| Tax preparer, rental part of 2025 return | Legal & Professional Fees (line 10) | Property A | $300.00 | ||
| County, first-half property tax | Taxes (line 16) | Property B | $1,625.00 | ||
| Hardware store, kitchen faucet | Repairs (line 14) | Property B | Not sure | $89.00 | |
| City water and sewer bill | Utilities (line 17) | Property A | $78.40 | ||
| Property manager, April fee | Management (line 11) | Property B | $160.00 | ||
| Cleaning service, cleaning between tenants | Maintenance (line 7) | Property B | $225.00 | ||
| Hardware store, smoke detector batteries | Supplies (line 15) | Property A | $18.96 | ||
| Hardware store, returned unused batteries | Supplies (line 15) | Property A | -$6.32 |
What those rows add up to on the Schedule E tab
| Schedule E line | Property A | Property B | All properties |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Advertising | $0.00 | $49.00 | $49.00 |
| 7 Cleaning and maintenance | $0.00 | $225.00 | $225.00 |
| 9 Insurance | $1,200.00 | $0.00 | $1,200.00 |
| 10 Legal and other professional fees | $300.00 | $0.00 | $300.00 |
| 11 Management fees | $0.00 | $160.00 | $160.00 |
| 14 Repairs | $145.00 | $729.00 | $874.00 |
| 15 Supplies | $12.64 | $0.00 | $12.64 |
| 16 Taxes | $0.00 | $1,625.00 | $1,625.00 |
| 17 Utilities | $78.40 | $0.00 | $78.40 |
| 20 Total expenses | $1,736.04 | $2,788.00 | $4,524.04 |
| Recorded, not deducted as entered | |||
| Mortgage payments (the interest goes on line 12) | $1,850.00 | $0.00 | $1,850.00 |
| Improvements, CapEx (depreciated instead) | $1,450.00 | $0.00 | $1,450.00 |
Line 3 (rent) and lines 12, 13a and 18 (the interest from Form 1098, vehicle loan interest and depreciation) are yellow cells you fill in at tax time, so the example leaves them empty. Lines 12, 13a and 18 count toward line 20 once you fill them in. The refund is entered as a negative amount, so it comes off the Supplies total.
IRS rental expense categories, line by line
Schedule E Part I has a line for each common rental expense. These are the lines on the 2026 form, an IRS early release draft until the final form is out, with the spreadsheet category that feeds each one, so the Schedule E tab works as a rental property tax deductions worksheet.
Rules for every line
- Deduct the ordinary and necessary expenses of renting. Do not deduct the value of your own labor, or amounts paid for capital improvements (Schedule E instructions).
- Most individuals use the cash method, so an expense generally counts in the year you pay it (Publication 527).
- If you own part of a rental, deduct your share of what you paid. If you use the property yourself during the year, your deductions may be limited. The spreadsheet does not split either for you.
Line 3: Rents received
In the spreadsheet: a yellow cell on the Schedule E tab. Fill in the rent you received in the year.
Goes here: All rent you receive in the year, including advance rent (counted in the year you receive it, whatever period it covers), a payment to cancel a lease, and any of your expenses a tenant pays instead of rent, which you can also deduct if they are deductible rental expenses.
Does not: A security deposit you plan to return. If you keep part of it because the tenant did not live up to the lease, include that part in the year you keep it. A deposit to be used as the last month's rent is advance rent.
Sources: IRS Publication 527, IRS: 2025 Instructions for Schedule E
Line 5: Advertising
In the spreadsheet: the Marketing category.
Goes here: Ads and listing fees to find tenants.
Sources: IRS: 2026 Schedule E (early release draft), IRS Publication 527
Line 6: Auto and travel
On the form: Auto and travel (see instructions)
In the spreadsheet: the Auto & Travel category.
Goes here: Driving to collect rent or to manage or maintain the rental: the miles times the standard mileage rate (72.5 cents a mile from January to June 2026, 76 cents from July 1) plus parking and tolls, or the rental share of your actual car costs. Travel away from home whose main purpose is the rental, including 50% of meals. If you claim any car expenses, by either method, you must also fill in Part V of Form 4562 and attach it to your return.
Does not: Driving between your home and the rental, which is generally commuting unless your home is your principal place of business. Car lease payments if you deduct actual car costs (line 19). Vehicle loan interest (line 13a on the 2026 draft). Travel whose main purpose is to improve the property.
Sources: IRS: 2025 Instructions for Schedule E, IRS Publication 527, IRS: Standard mileage rates
Line 7: Cleaning and maintenance
In the spreadsheet: the Maintenance category.
Goes here: Cleaning and routine upkeep, for example cleaning between tenants or yard care.
Does not: Fixing something that broke (line 14, Repairs). Improvements (CapEx).
Sources: IRS: 2026 Schedule E (early release draft), IRS Publication 527
Line 8: Commissions
In the spreadsheet: the Commissions category.
Goes here: Agents' commissions, such as a fee to an agent who finds you a tenant. If the lease runs longer than a year, ask a tax preparer whether the fee has to be spread over the lease instead.
Line 9: Insurance
In the spreadsheet: the Insurance category.
Goes here: Premiums for insurance on the rental.
Does not: If a premium covers more than 1 year, the part for later years. Deduct each year's part in its own year.
Source: IRS Publication 527
Line 10: Legal and other professional fees
In the spreadsheet: the Legal & Professional Fees category.
Goes here: Tax advice, and preparing the rental part of your return. On the 2026 Schedule E that includes fees paid in 2026 to prepare Part I of your 2025 Schedule E.
Does not: Legal fees to defend or protect title, to recover the property, or to develop or improve it, which are added to its basis. Legal and recording fees from buying the property, which are part of its basis.
Sources: IRS: 2025 Instructions for Schedule E, IRS Publication 527
Line 11: Management fees
In the spreadsheet: the Management category.
Goes here: A property manager's fees.
Line 12: Mortgage interest paid to banks
On the form: Mortgage interest paid to banks, etc. (see instructions)
In the spreadsheet: a yellow cell on the Schedule E tab. Fill in the interest from your lender's Form 1098. Record the whole mortgage payments under Mortgage; they stay off the totals.
Goes here: Interest you paid to banks or other financial institutions on the rental's mortgage, usually the figure on Form 1098. Your lender sends one if you paid $600 or more in interest.
Does not: Principal. Points, which are deducted over the life of the loan. Costs of getting the mortgage, such as mortgage commissions, abstract fees and recording fees, which are part of the property's basis. Interest paid to a person rather than a bank, or with no Form 1098 (line 13b on the 2026 draft).
Sources: IRS: 2025 Instructions for Schedule E, IRS Publication 527
Line 13a: Vehicle loan interest
On the form: Vehicle loan
In the spreadsheet: a yellow cell on the Schedule E tab. Fill in the rental-use share of your vehicle loan interest.
Goes here: The rental-use share of interest on a loan for a vehicle you use in your rental activity.
Lines 13a and 13b are on the 2026 draft form. The final form may differ; we re-check it when the IRS publishes it.
Sources: IRS: 2026 Schedule E (early release draft), IRS: 2026 Instructions for Schedule E (draft)
Line 13b: Other interest
On the form: Other
In the spreadsheet: the Other Interest category.
Goes here: Other interest related to the rental, such as interest on another loan used for it. Mortgage interest paid to a person rather than a bank, or with no Form 1098, goes here too: record only the interest under Other Interest, and the rest of each payment under Mortgage.
Lines 13a and 13b are on the 2026 draft form. The final form may differ; we re-check it when the IRS publishes it. On the 2025 form this is line 13, Other interest.
Sources: IRS: 2025 Instructions for Schedule E, IRS: 2026 Instructions for Schedule E (draft)
Line 14: Repairs
In the spreadsheet: the Repairs category.
Goes here: Costs that keep the property in an ordinarily efficient operating condition, such as fixing a broken lock or painting a room.
Does not: Improvements: costs that better or restore the property or adapt it to a new use, such as adding substantial insulation or replacing an entire HVAC system. These are generally capitalized and depreciated (CapEx).
Sources: IRS: 2025 Instructions for Schedule E, IRS Publication 527
Line 15: Supplies
In the spreadsheet: the Supplies category.
Goes here: Supplies used for the rental, for example cleaning products or light bulbs.
Does not: Furniture, fixtures and equipment, which are depreciated unless a safe harbor lets you deduct them.
Sources: IRS: 2026 Schedule E (early release draft), IRS Publication 527
Line 16: Taxes
In the spreadsheet: the Taxes category.
Goes here: Real estate taxes on the rental.
Does not: Back taxes the seller owed that you agreed to pay when you bought the property, and transfer taxes. Both are part of the property's basis.
Source: IRS Publication 527
Line 17: Utilities
In the spreadsheet: the Utilities category.
Goes here: Utilities you pay for the rental, and phone calls related to it.
Does not: The base rate for the first phone line into your own home.
Line 18: Depreciation
On the form: Depreciation expense or depletion
In the spreadsheet: a yellow cell on the Schedule E tab. Fill in the year's depreciation, from Form 4562, your own worksheet or your tax preparer. Record what you spend on improvements under CapEx; it stays off the totals.
Goes here: Depreciation on the building (not the land), improvements and equipment, spread over their recovery periods. Residential rental buildings generally use 27.5 years. You attach Form 4562 only in some years, such as the year a property is first placed in service; in other years you figure it on your own worksheet and keep that with your records.
Does not: What you spent on improvements this year, as a lump sum. Record that under CapEx; the spreadsheet keeps it off the totals.
Sources: IRS: 2025 Instructions for Schedule E, IRS Publication 527
Line 19: Other
On the form: Other (list)
In the spreadsheet: the Other category.
Goes here: Ordinary and necessary rental expenses not on lines 5 to 18; list them on the form. Items you deduct under the de minimis safe harbor, if you elect it. Car lease payments when you deduct actual car costs.
Sources: IRS: 2025 Instructions for Schedule E, IRS Publication 527
Line 20: Total expenses
On the form: Total expenses. Add lines 5 through 19
In the spreadsheet: adds itself up.
Goes here: Lines 5 through 19 added up, including the cells you fill in for lines 12, 13a and 18.
Line 21: Income or loss
On the form: Subtract line 20 from line 3 (rents) and/or 4 (royalties). If the result is a (loss), see instructions to find out if you must file Form 6198
In the spreadsheet: adds itself up.
Goes here: Line 3 minus line 20. If it is a loss, the at-risk rules (Form 6198) and, on line 22, the passive activity loss rules (Form 8582) can limit how much you deduct.
What the spreadsheet keeps off your totals
- Mortgage payments. The principal is not deductible. The interest is, and your lender's Form 1098 gives the figure for line 12. Record the whole payment under Mortgage so you can see it; the spreadsheet keeps it off lines 20 and 21. If your lender pays property tax and insurance from escrow, those are deductible too: record them under Taxes and Insurance using your lender's year-end statement.
- Improvements. A new roof or a replacement water heater is an improvement (IRS Publication 527, Table 1-1). It is recovered through depreciation over the years, not deducted at once. Record it under CapEx; it stays off the totals.
- Depreciation. It is figured from what the property cost, not from this year's spending, so it is not tracked row by row. Enter the year's figure in the yellow line 18 cell; the line 18 card above says when Form 4562 is needed.
- Security deposits you will return. They are not income. If you keep part of a deposit, add that part to the rent on line 3 for the year you keep it.
Repair or improvement? Flag it as you go
Line 14 takes repairs: costs that keep the property in an ordinarily efficient operating condition, such as fixing a broken lock or painting a room. An improvement betters or restores the property or adapts it to a new use, such as adding substantial insulation or replacing an entire HVAC system, and is generally capitalized and depreciated instead (Schedule E instructions, line 14).
The IRS asks you to separate the costs of repairs and improvements and keep accurate records, because you need the cost of improvements when you depreciate or sell the property (Publication 527). So every row has a Repair or improvement? column with three choices: Repair, Improvement and Not sure. The Schedule E tab counts the Not sure rows so none slip through, and flags any improvement whose category is not CapEx or Other (Other is for the de minimis items below).
One exception the spreadsheet sorts for you: if you elect the de minimis safe harbor, which needs a policy in place from the start of the year, you can deduct items costing $2,500 or less per invoice (or per item on the invoice) on line 19 instead of depreciating them (IRS tangible property FAQ). Put those in Other. Our guide to repairs vs. improvements on a rental property explains the safe harbors.
Bring it into Rentlab
CSV import is part of Rentlab Pro, and it works on a computer, not a phone or tablet (see pricing). If you upgrade, you can bring a year of spreadsheet rows into Rentlab in one go:
- Save the Expenses tab, not the Example tab, as a CSV file (the steps for Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers are below).
- In Rentlab, open Import Transactions in the sidebar and add the file. When it asks what type of account the file is from, pick Bank Account.
- Check each row before you import. The category comes from your spreadsheet. Rentlab suggests a property and remembers what you pick.
- Import. Rows already in Rentlab come in unchecked, so you can import the whole tab again later. If Rentlab already records your mortgage payments, uncheck the Mortgage rows.
Rentlab imports the date, description, amount and category of each expense; notes and the repair flag stay in your spreadsheet. Mortgage and CapEx rows stay off lines 20 and 21 in Rentlab's Schedule E report too, the same as in the spreadsheet.
Rentlab does not import refunds. A refund for the full amount unchecks the purchase it cancels, when both name the same store. For a partial refund, open the purchase in the review list before you import (click its description, then Edit) and lower its amount by the refund, or fix it in Rentlab after you import it. Rentlab's import skips rows that look like bank statement summary lines, so do not start a description, note or property name with To, From, Through or Thru followed by a number, with Page and a number, or with the word Total on its own.
On the free plan, for up to 2 units, you record each expense in Rentlab as it happens and the Schedule E PDF is included.
Use it as a rental property expense tracker in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers
- Excel: open the downloaded file. To save the Expenses tab as CSV, open that tab, then choose File, Save a Copy (or Save As) and CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited). Excel saves only the tab you have open.
- Google Sheets: upload the file to Google Drive, then open it with Google Sheets. Or, in Google Sheets, choose File, Import, Upload. To save the Expenses tab as CSV, open that tab, then choose File, Download, Comma-separated values (.csv).
- Apple Numbers: open the downloaded file in Numbers. To save the Expenses tab as CSV, choose File, Export To, CSV, and pick a file for each table rather than one combined file; then upload the file for the Expenses tab. If the Category and Property lists do not come through in Numbers, type the names exactly as they appear on the Categories and Properties tabs, capitals included: Rentlab matches categories letter for letter, and the Schedule E line column says "Fix the capitals" when one is off.
Tracking 2027 expenses? This file is for 2026. We will publish a 2027 version when the IRS releases the 2027 Schedule E.
Common questions
What expenses go on Schedule E?
Schedule E has a line for each common rental expense: advertising (line 5), auto and travel (6), cleaning and maintenance (7), commissions (8), insurance (9), legal and other professional fees (10), management fees (11), mortgage interest paid to banks (12), other interest (13, split into 13a for a vehicle loan and 13b for other interest on the 2026 draft form), repairs (14), supplies (15), taxes (16), utilities (17), depreciation (18) and other expenses (19). You can deduct the ordinary and necessary expenses of renting, but not the value of your own labor, and improvements are depreciated over time rather than deducted.
Can I deduct my whole mortgage payment?
No. The principal is not deductible. The interest is: interest paid to a bank or other financial institution goes on line 12, and your lender sends Form 1098 showing it if you paid $600 or more in interest. The spreadsheet records the whole payment under Mortgage so you can see it, keeps it off the totals, and has a cell for the Form 1098 interest. If your lender pays property tax and insurance from escrow, those are deductible too: record them under Taxes and Insurance using your lender's year-end statement. If you pay a person rather than a bank, the interest goes on line 13b instead: record only the interest under Other Interest, and the rest of each payment under Mortgage.
Is a repair the same as an improvement?
No. A repair keeps the property in an ordinarily efficient operating condition, like fixing a broken lock or painting a room, and is deducted on line 14 for the year you pay it. An improvement betters or restores the property or adapts it to a new use, like replacing an entire HVAC system, and is generally depreciated instead. Safe harbors can let you deduct some smaller costs right away; our repairs guide explains them.
Is a security deposit rental income?
Not if you plan to return it at the end of the lease. If you keep part or all of it because the tenant did not live up to the lease, include the amount you keep in income for that year. A deposit to be used as the last month's rent is advance rent, income when you receive it.
Where does depreciation come from?
Depreciation is figured from what the property cost, not from what you spent this year, so the spreadsheet does not track it row by row. Land is not depreciated, and residential rental buildings generally use a 27.5-year recovery period. You attach Form 4562 only in some years, such as the year a property is first placed in service; in other years you figure it on your own worksheet. Enter the year's figure, or your tax preparer's, in the yellow line 18 cell.
Does it work in Google Sheets, and can I import it into Rentlab?
Yes. Upload the file to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets, or in Google Sheets choose File, Import, Upload. It also opens in Excel and Apple Numbers. To bring your expenses into Rentlab, save the Expenses tab as a CSV file and use Import Transactions. CSV import is part of Rentlab Pro and works on a computer, not a phone or tablet.
Keep reading
- Your rental tax calendar: every federal date for your first rental year, and whether you need quarterly payments.
- Repairs or improvements? How the January 1 small-purchase policy and the safe harbors work.
- Stop paying your accountant to sort receipts: what to keep, and for how long.