Stessa vs. Baselane vs. a Spreadsheet: Picking a Rental Bookkeeping Setup for 1–10 Units

Most small landlords don’t need “accounting software.” They need three things to be true in April: every dollar of rent is accounted for, every expense is tagged to the right property and category, and the receipts behind those numbers can be found in under a minute.

Stessa, Baselane and a well-built spreadsheet can all get you there. They get there in different ways, and the right choice depends less on features than on how your money actually moves today.

The quick answer

The rest of this post explains why.

What each option actually is

Stessa: bookkeeping and reporting first

Stessa is built around your existing accounts. You connect bank and card feeds, Stessa pulls in transactions, and you (or its rules) tag each one to a property and category. Its free Essentials plan includes unlimited properties, automated bank feeds, basic reporting, document and receipt storage, tenant screening, and online rent collection. It also includes five “smart” receipt scans a month.

The paid tiers add what a slightly bigger landlord starts wanting:

One detail matters for tax time: on the free plan, the Schedule E report is a Manage-tier feature. You can still export transactions and build the summary yourself. Just know where the line is.

Baselane: the bank account comes first

Baselane is a banking platform for landlords with bookkeeping and rent collection attached. The core idea is that you open separate checking accounts per property or entity inside Baselane (no monthly maintenance fees or minimums, per its pricing page). Because the money already lives in property-specific accounts, categorizing is easier and the books stay cleaner.

Its free Core plan covers banking, bookkeeping, property-level tracking, automated rent invoices and reminders, and reports. Baselane also lists Schedule E reports and an accountant tax package. A paid Smart tier adds AI auto-tagging, receipt matching, custom categories, balance sheets and faster rent deposits. It offers a 30-day trial.

On rent collection, Baselane says ACH payments carry a $2 fee if the money goes to an outside bank, waived if it lands in a Baselane account. Tenants paying by card are charged 3.49%.

A spreadsheet: you own the process

A spreadsheet is a ledger you type into (or paste a bank export into), with a category column that maps to Schedule E lines and a few summary tabs. It doesn’t connect to anything. That’s both its weakness and its appeal.

Side-by-side

The trade-offs nobody puts on the pricing page

1. Bank feeds don’t fix a mixed-up account

If your rental income and your grocery runs flow through the same checking account, Stessa will faithfully import all of it, and you’ll spend your time marking personal transactions as “excluded.” That’s the problem Baselane solves by making you open new accounts. It’s also a problem you can solve yourself for free: open one dedicated checking account and one card for rentals at your current bank. Do that first, whichever tool you pick.

2. Categorization is still your job

No tool knows that the $640 Home Depot charge was half a water heater install (repair or improvement? see our Schedule E walkthrough) and half a personal grill. Rules handle repeat transactions like the mortgage, insurance and utilities. Judgment calls stay with you. Budget 15 minutes a month for review in any system.

3. “Free” plans are funded somehow

Stessa and Baselane make money from paid tiers, payment processing and banking relationships. That’s not a reason to avoid them. It’s a reason to read the fee schedule for rent collection and to know which features sit behind the upgrade.

4. Switching later is more work than starting

Moving three years of categorized history from one platform to another is tedious. Whatever you choose, export a full transaction CSV and your year-end reports every January and save them in your own records folder. That way the platform never holds your only copy.

How to decide in 10 minutes

1. Count last month’s rental transactions. Under 20? A spreadsheet is genuinely fine. Over 40? Use bank feeds.
2. Look at where rent lands. If it’s already in a dedicated account, Stessa’s free tier fits naturally. If it lands in your personal account, decide whether you’d rather open a new account at your bank or move to Baselane.
3. Decide how you feel about connecting bank logins. If the answer is “no,” that settles it: spreadsheet plus a separate rent-collection tool. Our rent collection guide covers those.
4. Check what your tax preparer wants. Many are happy with a per-property income/expense summary by Schedule E line plus the 1098 and property tax bills. Ask before you pay for a report tier.

A sensible hybrid many small landlords end up with

• One dedicated checking account and one credit card for all rental activity.
• A platform for rent collection, so payments arrive with tenant names and dates attached.
• Stessa free or a spreadsheet for the books, reconciled once a month against the bank statement.
• A year-end folder with the exported ledger, Schedule E summary, 1098, property tax bills, insurance declarations and contractor W-9s.

Monthly routine (works with any of the three)

• Download or sync the month’s transactions
• Tag each one to a property and category
• Attach or file receipts for anything over your threshold (many landlords use $75)
• Mark rent received per unit and note anything late
• Move your reserve contribution (see maintenance and capex reserves)
• Compare ending balance with the bank statement
• Note any repair vs. improvement questions for your tax preparer

Bottom line

Pick the tool that matches how your money moves now. If your accounts are already separated, Stessa’s free tier is the least-effort way to get clean reports. If they aren’t and you’re open to new accounts, Baselane bakes separation in. If you’re small and privacy-minded, a good spreadsheet plus a monthly 30-minute routine beats any app you’ll stop opening.