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What a spreadsheet does — and what it drops at tax time

Most self-managing landlords start in Excel or Google Sheets. That works until April, when you are reconstructing a year of rent and repairs by hand.

Where a spreadsheet is enough

If you have one unit, a handful of expenses, and you already keep a clean year-to-date tab, a spreadsheet is free and familiar. Manor Keeper is not trying to shame that.

Where it breaks

  • Bank activity lives in one place; your books live in another. Copy-paste errors show up in April.
  • There is no Schedule E line built in. You remap “Home Depot” to repairs every year.
  • Per-property totals are a pivot you rebuild. Receipts are a folder or a phone roll.
  • Your accountant gets a file they have to re-key.

What Manor Keeper does instead

  • Import last year’s bank CSV or connect Plaid. Categorize once against IRS Schedule E lines.
  • Per-property P&L and a tax packet (Schedule E + P&L + transaction register) you can email.
  • $9/month for Pro after a 14-day trial. No credit card to start.

If you only want to type rent and expenses for up to three units, the free ledger is still there.

See a sample Schedule E · Start 14-day trial — no credit card · Back to all comparisons