Free Rent Receipt Template

What to put on a rent receipt

A rent receipt needs to answer one question without anyone having to call you: was the rent paid, for which month, and how. Put your name or your management company at the top, the tenant name, the property address, the month the payment covers, the amount, the date you received it, and the method. If it was cash, that receipt is the only record either of you has, so do not skip it. Number your receipts so you can find any month later when a tenant disputes a payment or applies for a mortgage.

What a receipt usually lists

Most rent receipts only need one or two lines, but these are the ones that come up:

• Monthly rent, with the month it covers spelled out
• Late fee, if one applied that month
• Prorated rent for a partial first or last month
• Pet rent or parking, if billed separately
• Security deposit, kept on its own receipt

When to give a receipt

Give the receipt the moment you take the payment, especially for cash. Some states require a landlord to provide a rent receipt on request, and a few require it for every cash payment, so issuing one every time keeps you on the safe side without having to track which rule applies to you. Keep a copy for your own records too.

Storing and sending receipts

Tenants ask for rent receipts most often when they are applying for a loan or a new lease, so a clean, numbered PDF makes you look like a landlord who has their act together. If you collect rent from more than a couple of units, retyping the same receipt every month gets old fast. A free WaffleInvoice account can send a recurring rent invoice and issue the receipt automatically the day it is paid.