Landlord expense categories that match Schedule E
Invent your own categories and you re-sort everything in March. Use the Schedule E line names from day one and the year-end total is already sorted.
| Line | Label | Typical small-landlord costs |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Advertising | rental listings, signs |
| 6 | Auto and travel | mileage to the property, trips for repairs |
| 7 | Cleaning and maintenance | cleaning between tenants, routine upkeep |
| 8 | Commissions | leasing agent fees |
| 9 | Insurance | landlord and liability policies |
| 10 | Legal and other professional fees | lawyer, accountant, eviction filing |
| 11 | Management fees | property manager |
| 12 | Mortgage interest paid to banks | mortgage interest (Form 1098) |
| 13 | Other interest | other loan interest |
| 14 | Repairs | fixing what broke |
| 15 | Supplies | light bulbs, filters, small parts |
| 16 | Taxes | property tax |
| 17 | Utilities | water, trash, gas, electric you pay |
| 19 | Other | anything else, labeled |
Repairs or improvements?
Fixing what broke is usually a repair (line 14). Making the property better, longer-lived or different is usually an improvement that gets depreciated instead. The line is not always clear; flag the big ones for your accountant.
Log every expense with four things
Date, property, line, amount. Add vendor and a note. Keep the receipt file name in the note.
Skip building it. Doorledger's expense log has these lines as a dropdown and totals them per property. The full Doorledger workbook ($29 once, no monthly fee) adds a Monday view, 24 recurring repair jobs, leases, deposits, expenses and a Year summary by Schedule E line.