Ledger Lane · for landlords with 1–10 units
Run your rentals like a tidy small business.
Plain-English guides on rental bookkeeping, tenant screening, inspections, reserves and tax-time records, plus honest notes on the tools that save time. Written from an operations and finance point of view, without the hype.
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Bookkeeping
Stessa vs. Baselane vs. a Spreadsheet: Picking a Rental Bookkeeping Setup for 1–10 Units
A side-by-side look at Stessa, Baselane and a plain spreadsheet for small-landlord bookkeeping: what each does well, where each gets in the way, and how to choose.
Tenants
How to Screen Tenants Step by Step: A Consistent, Fair Process for Small Landlords
A repeatable tenant screening process, from written criteria to the adverse action notice, with the documents to keep and the fair housing traps to avoid.
Tools
The Small-Landlord Tool Stack for 2026: What's Worth Using (and What to Skip)
A job-by-job look at landlord apps and tools for 1–10 units: listing and screening, rent collection, bookkeeping, documents, communication and mileage, with free options first.
Latest guides
- Stessa vs. Baselane vs. a Spreadsheet: Picking a Rental Bookkeeping Setup for 1–10 Units
- How to Screen Tenants Step by Step: A Consistent, Fair Process for Small Landlords
- The Small-Landlord Tool Stack for 2026: What's Worth Using (and What to Skip)
- Schedule E Line by Line: A Plain-English Walkthrough for Small Landlords
- Move-In / Move-Out Inspection Checklist for Landlords (Printable)
- How to Organize Rental Property Receipts and Records (Digital + Paper System)
Tools we cover
Stessa
Free-to-start rental bookkeeping with bank feeds, receipts and reports. Our comparison
TurboTenant
Listings, applications, applicant-paid screening and rent collection. Screening guide
Baselane
Landlord banking with per-property accounts and bookkeeping. Rent collection guide
A good spreadsheet
Still the cheapest, most portable option for 1–5 doors. Full tool stack
Our own templates
Prefer a spreadsheet you own?
Ledger Lane Templates makes one-time-purchase trackers for Excel and Google Sheets. No subscription and no bank login required.