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Latchkey or a spreadsheet

Moving on from a spreadsheet.

Most landlords start with a spreadsheet, and with one or two lets it can be enough. These are the points where it starts to cost you, usually after a mistake has already been made.

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app.latchkey.co.uk/rent
The rent screen in the landlord app: a chase list of tenants in arrears ordered by balance Open the whole screen
The chase list: who owes what, and for how long
Where it goes wrong

Six places a spreadsheet lets you down.

  1. The balance nobody can explain

    A spreadsheet can say a tenant owes £1,375 with no way to show how. In Latchkey every balance opens up into the charges and payments behind it, so you can answer the tenant while they’re still on the phone.

  2. The deposit counted as income

    It’s a common spreadsheet mistake, and it makes your tax wrong. In Latchkey a deposit is held as money you owe the tenant, so it never reaches your profit.

  3. The certificate that expired in March

    A tab of renewal dates only works if somebody opens it. Latchkey puts each renewal on Today before it’s due.

  4. The late fee that wasn’t allowed

    The Tenant Fees Act limits late fees, and a fee over the limit is a banned payment the tenant can claim back. A spreadsheet will work out whatever you type.

  5. The rent increase that didn’t stick

    Section 13 allows one increase a year, with two months’ notice on Form 4A. Latchkey checks both before the notice is produced.

  6. The file called final v3

    Two people can’t safely work in one file. In Latchkey each person has their own access, and every change is recorded with who made it.

Moving over

Start with one tenancy, bring the rest when you’re ready.

A new account opens on a guided setup. Your spreadsheet is optional: import it once your first tenancy is in, or add the rest by hand.

  1. Step 1

    Follow the guided setup

    Your details, your first building, its units and a tenancy, one short step at a time.

  2. Step 2

    Invite your tenant

    Copy the link to their app or email it. They sign in with a link, with no password to set.

  3. Step 3

    Import the rest, if you like

    Properties, tenants, tenancies and payments from your spreadsheet, previewed row by row before anything is created.

  4. Step 4

    Nothing gets overwritten

    An import adds to what’s there. Load the same file twice by mistake and nothing doubles.

14 days free

Try it with your own figures.

Fourteen days is long enough to set up your lets and see whether the balances match what your spreadsheet says.

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