Rent Logger

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Automated rent invoices

Automated rent invoices are raised in Xero on a schedule, then emailed. Finish Getting started first: connect Xero, link the portfolio, and map the income account before you turn invoicing on.

1. Who receives the invoice

The agreement type decides who is billed. The switch only appears when Rent Logger will raise a rent invoice.

  • Self-managed. Each tenant with a rent share above zero receives their own invoice. A share of zero is skipped.
  • Guaranteed rent. The agent is invoiced for the period rent. Tenant shares are not used.
  • Agent collects the rent, and managed short-term lets, do not use this. Income is recorded from agent statements. See Xero plans and what you can post.

2. Choices on the agreement

These sit on the Rent tab when you add or edit an agreement.

In the app

  1. Tenancies
  2. View Tenancies
  3. Add Agreement
  4. Rent
  • Set the billing frequency and the rent for one period. Daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly are presets. The frequency stays fixed for the life of the agreement.
  • Under Xero Invoice Automation, turn on Account for rental income in Xero. Left off, Rent Logger does not raise rent invoices or post that rent to Xero. For guaranteed rent, turning it on sends the invoices to the agent.
  • Days before due date to email invoice is 0 to 27. Seven means the invoice is created and emailed seven days before the rent is due. Zero means it goes out on the due date.
  • When to start Invoice Generation/Payment Due Dates begins on the start date. Tick Choose a different First Payment Due Date when the first bill should be earlier or later. Later dues follow from that date. Teal dates are rent due. Amber dates are when the invoice will be generated.
  • If the first due date leaves days unpaid from the start date, Start date rent balance offers three choices. Add to the first invoice puts the gap on that invoice. Raise a Xero invoice bills the gap on its own, and anything still unpaid is settled on the final invoice. Ignore this balance starts from the first payment date and does not bill the gap. Use ignore when the tenancy was already being collected outside Rent Logger.
  • On a self-managed agreement, the Rent Split Calculator is Split Equally, One to Pay All, or Manual. Each tenant who is invoiced needs an email address.

3. Accounts to map first

The property’s portfolio must already be linked to a Xero organisation. Rent Logger then needs one income account, chosen from the agreement type. The checklist on the agreement shows this before you can save with invoicing on.

In the app

  1. Xero API
  2. Open the organisation
  3. Chart Of Accounts
  • An Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) and an Assured Periodic Tenancy (APT) use Residential rent income.
  • A Licence To Occupy (LTO) uses Other property income.
  • A lease on a commercial property uses Commercial rent income. A lease on any other property uses Residential rent income.
  • Map that role to the Xero account you already use for that income, and make sure the account has a code. The tax Xero applies is the default on that account. Give the property a short description: that text becomes the invoice reference.
  • Tracking is optional. If the property already has a Xero tracking option, it is added to the invoice line. Security deposit invoices, when you send one, use the Security deposit account instead of the rent income account.

4. What is written on the invoice

Rent Logger creates an authorised sales invoice in Xero, using the branding template selected under Invoice Branding. There is one line.

  • The reference is the property short description. The invoice date is the day it is generated. The due date is the rent due date.
  • The line description is the charge type, the property address, and the period. A normal line reads Rent for the address, then For Period from the due date to the day before the next due date. A lease uses Lease instead of Rent. The last period uses Final Rent.
  • If a start-date charge or credit was added to that invoice, the same description also states the amount and the number of days.
  • The amount is that tenant’s share, or the full period rent when the agent is invoiced. Quantity is 1. The line is coded to the mapped income account.
  • The contact is the tenant, unless this is guaranteed rent, in which case it is the agent. The email goes to that same person and includes the invoice.

5. Link the Xero contact

Do this before the first invoice. If nobody is linked, Rent Logger creates a new Xero contact from the details it holds. If you have already been billing this tenant or agent in Xero, link that contact instead so later invoices stay on the same record.

In the app

  1. Tenants
  2. View Tenants
  3. Open the tenant
  4. Xero
  5. Connect to Xero
  1. Agents
  2. View Agents
  3. Open the agent
  4. Xero
  5. Connect to Xero
  • Choose the organisation, then Link to an existing Xero contact. Search for the contact that has already been receiving the invoices, and confirm it. Create a new Xero contact is for someone who is not in that organisation yet.
  • On an agent, the address under Registered / trading address is written to the Xero contact as its postal address. Add the address in Rent Logger, then use Push Rent Logger data to Xero on the Xero tab if the contact already exists. A new contact picks the address up when it is created. Leave the address blank and the Xero contact is created without one.
  • On a tenant, a billing address is preferred. Without one, Rent Logger uses the tenancy property address. If the tenant is invoiced on more than one tenancy, add a billing address so Xero has a single postal address rather than one of the properties.
  • Rent Logger stays the source of truth after the link. Later edits in Rent Logger are not overwritten by Xero. Push again when you want those edits, including a new agent address, copied across.

6. Invoices already in Xero

Rent Logger does not copy an old Xero invoice into its own invoice list. To take over from one, keep that invoice in Xero and start Rent Logger at the next period, on the same contact.

  • Link the tenant or agent to the Xero contact that invoice was sent to, as in the previous stage. While you link, Also import their details into Rent Logger now copies contact fields such as name, email, and address into Rent Logger once. It does not import the invoice.
  • On the agreement, tick Choose a different First Payment Due Date and pick the next rent due date that Rent Logger should bill. Periods before that stay as they are in Xero. Rent Logger will not raise them again.
  • If that leaves a start-date gap, choose Ignore this balance. That is the option for a tenancy that was already being collected before it was added here.
  • After that, each new period is raised in Xero against the linked contact and recorded in Rent Logger. If a period already has an invoice in Rent Logger, that period is skipped so it is not sent twice.