A tenant ledger is the running account for one tenancy: charges, payments and the balance between them over time. The word tenant is slightly misleading, because the account belongs to the tenancy rather than to the person, and treating it as the person's account is what makes a portfolio's records hard to read after a few years. This page is about keeping it the right shape.
The account belongs to the tenancy
One unit, one term, one set of parties, one ledger. When any of those change materially, a new tenancy has started and it should have its own account. Keeping a single rolling account against a person across two units and a renewal produces a balance nobody can explain, because the charges relate to arrangements with different terms. The tenancy is the unit of account.
When a tenant moves units
Close the first ledger, settle or carry the balance explicitly with a dated line saying so, and open the second. Carrying a balance silently into a new account is the single most common way a rent record becomes unusable, because the opening balance of the second ledger has no explanation inside it. One line in each ledger, naming the other, makes the whole history readable.
Closing one properly
Final charges, the deposit applied or returned as a separate line, and a closing balance of zero or a stated amount owed with what it is for. A ledger that simply stops is one that will be reopened as a question. The closing entry is also what makes a landlord reference honest and quick to give later, because the pattern and the outcome are both on the record.
Who reads it
You, when a payment does not match. The tenant, at the end, usually about the deposit. An accountant, at the year end. A buyer, through a rent roll or an estoppel. Each wants the same ledger and a different slice of it, which is an argument for keeping one accurate account rather than several partial views assembled for each audience.
Questions people ask about tenant ledger
Should the deposit go on the tenant ledger?
As its own clearly-marked line or its own ledger, never blended into the rent balance. Held money and earned money are different things.
What if two tenants pay separately?
Keep one ledger for the tenancy and record who paid each amount. Splitting the ledger per person makes the tenancy's balance impossible to state.
How long should a closed ledger be kept?
At least as long as your tax records for the property, and longer if a dispute could still arise. Closed ledgers are small and occasionally decisive.