Landlord Self Assessment Preparation Pack
A year of rent payments is much easier to explain when the receipts, costs and property records agree. This free Excel workbook helps individual landlords prepare those records before completing Self Assessment or handing them to an accountant.
Free Excel download with blank records and a separate fictional worked example.
The bank payment is only part of the story.
The figures and properties here are fictional. The Excel download includes its own worked example alongside the blank records.
How should this appear in the records?
Under the cash basis, record £1,200 of rent when the agent collects it and the £144 fee separately. Entering only the £1,056 bank payout would hide part of the income and the corresponding cost.
The example also includes rent on 5 April 2026 and 6 April 2026. Only the first falls in the selected 2025 to 2026 tax year. The workbook uses the transaction dates to keep those periods apart.
The £419 combines the £144 agent fee, a £185 repair and £90 insurance. The example keeps a £450 loan capital repayment and £2,000 extension outside that subtotal. These are preparation figures, not a final taxable profit or tax bill.
Who it is for
People who own UK rental property personally, including landlords with one home. Company accounts and overseas property need different treatment.
What is inside
The blank records give you somewhere to enter your own income and costs. The separate worked example shows how a completed record looks, so you can learn from it without clearing sample transactions out of your own figures.
Keep gross rent separate from the amount that reaches your bank. Record an agent fee or repair as its own cost, with the statement or invoice reference beside it.
Finance costs and possible capital work stay visible for review instead of being quietly treated as ordinary running expenses. The workbook prepares records. It does not calculate your final tax bill or submit a return.
When to use it
Use it as payments and invoices arrive, then reconcile it with bank and agent statements before preparing the return. Under the cash basis, rent collected by your agent is normally received for tax purposes when the agent collects it, even if your payout arrives later.
Keep the original statements and receipts. A category in a spreadsheet does not establish that a cost is deductible, and your accounting method, ownership and personal circumstances can change the treatment.
Frequently asked questions
What should I give my accountant?
Give them the reconciled workbook and the supporting bank statements, agent statements, receipts and invoices. Point out any uncertain cost treatment or difference between the records and the statements.
Can I claim the property allowance as well as expenses?
The property income allowance and actual expense deductions are alternatives. If you claim the allowance, you cannot also deduct the expenses or claim other allowances against that same income. You also cannot use the property allowance if you claim the residential finance cost tax reduction. Keep the records so you or your adviser can check the appropriate treatment.
How should I record mortgage payments?
Separate the capital repayment from interest and other finance costs. Relevant residential finance costs for individual landlords can qualify for a basic rate tax reduction, subject to limits, rather than an ordinary deduction from rental income.
What about deposits and improvements?
A refundable tenancy deposit is not ordinary rent when it arrives. Amounts later retained can have tax consequences. Keep potential improvements separate for review rather than assuming every building invoice is a repair.
Preparing the right tax year
The worked example covers 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026. The usual online filing deadline for that year is 31 January 2027. Change the workbook’s tax year dates when you start a different period and check any specific notice HMRC has sent you.
The automatic summary uses cash receipt and payment dates. If you use traditional accounting, have the figures adjusted before using them for your return. For a jointly owned property, enter your established reportable share and check the ownership treatment rather than assuming an arbitrary split.
Making Tax Digital began on 6 April 2026 for people with qualifying gross income above £50,000 in the 2024 to 2025 tax year. It combines property and self employment income before expenses. Starting it does not remove the previous year’s Self Assessment return.
A spreadsheet may form part of a suitable digital record system, using compatible bridging software and the required digital links. This file itself does not connect to HMRC. Check your position before relying on an annual spreadsheet alone.
Guidance checked on 29 October 2026 against HMRC’s UK property return and notes, its filing deadlines, cash basis guidance, property allowance exclusions and residential finance cost rules. See also who needs Making Tax Digital and compatible software.
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