Adding Rental Income

You need to record all rental income you receive from your property business in Provestor. This includes rent from tenants, service charges, and other property-related income.

This guide covers how to add and categorise rental income in Provestor, whether you're entering it manually or reviewing transactions imported from bank or letting agent statements. The categorisation steps are the same regardless of how the transaction gets into Provestor.

Two ways to add income transactions

Manual entry

Enter transactions one at a time by choosing Add cash in from your account. Use this when:

  • Tenants pay rent directly to you in cash
  • You receive bank transfers not captured in uploaded statements
  • You need to add a one-off payment or correction
  • You're working with a cash account in Provestor (no dedicated business bank account)

Import from statements

Upload bank statements or letting agent statements, and Provestor extracts transactions automatically. You then review and categorise them. This is usually faster if you have regular statements.

See Uploading bank statements or Recording from agent statements for details on importing.

The categorisation process is the same for both methods — whether you manually enter a transaction or import it, you'll follow the same steps to categorise it and link it to a property.

How to add and categorise rental income

For manual entry: Add cash in

If you're manually entering income:

  1. In your Property Business workspace, select the account where you want to record the income (Cash, Business Bank Account, or Letting Agent)
  2. Choose Add cash in from the account screen

For imported transactions: Review extracted income

If you've uploaded a bank or letting agent statement, Provestor extracts transactions automatically. Select the transaction you want to review and categorise.

See Uploading bank statements or Recording from agent statements for the import process.

The next steps are the same whether you manually entered or imported the transaction.

Step 1: Confirm transaction details

On the first screen, confirm or enter:

  • Date — The date you received the payment (see When to record income below)
  • Description — Brief description (e.g. "October rent - 12 Main Street")
  • Amount — Total amount received

Do you need to break this down into multiple items?

  • No, it's a single item / category — Choose this if the entire payment is one type of income (most common)
  • Yes, it's multiple items / categories — Choose this if a single payment contains different types of income (e.g. rent plus a service charge you need to categorise separately)

Choose Next to continue.

On the second screen, select:

  • Category — Choose the income category (usually "Rental income" for regular rent)
  • Property — Link this income to the specific property it relates to

See Which income category should I use? for guidance on categorisation.

If you're recording income for a jointly owned property, enter the full amount received. Provestor automatically applies your ownership percentage when submitting updates to HMRC.

Choose Save to complete.

When to record income

Provestor uses cash basis accounting, which means you record income when you actually receive it, not when it's earned or invoiced.

If tenants pay you directly: Record the income on the date the money reaches your account or you receive cash.

If you work with a letting agent: Use the date shown on your letting agent statement for each income transaction. This represents when the agent received payment from the tenant on your behalf.

For detailed guidance on recording income from letting agent statements, see Recording from agent statements.

For more on cash basis timing rules, see Cash basis accounting.

What about tenant deposits?

Tenant deposits are not rental income. Deposits are held on trust for the tenant and will be returned at the end of the tenancy. They don't get recorded as income or expenses.

For most landlords:
✓ Regular rent payments → Record as Rental income
✗ Deposits received from tenants → Don't record
✗ Deposits paid to protection schemes (TDS, MyDeposits, etc.) → Don't record
✗ Deposits returned to tenants → Don't record

If you use a dedicated business bank account and want to keep your balance accurate:

If you want to record all bank transactions in Provestor to help reconcile your account balance, you can record deposit movements as transfers. Transfers are excluded from your quarterly updates and tax returns, so they won't affect your tax calculations.

Record deposits as:

  • Deposit received from tenant → Transfer in
  • Deposit paid to protection scheme → Transfer out
  • Deposit returned from protection scheme → Transfer in
  • Deposit returned to tenant → Transfer out

This keeps your Provestor account balance matching your bank statement without incorrectly treating deposits as taxable income.

See Transfers for detailed guidance on recording transfers between accounts.

If you keep part of a deposit:

If you retain part or all of a deposit to cover damage the tenant caused, you can only claim repair expenses in excess of the deposit amount you kept.

For example:

  • Tenant caused £800 damage
  • You kept £500 from their deposit
  • You can claim £300 as a repair expense (£800 - £500)

You still don't record the deposit itself — just reduce your repair expense claim by the amount you retained.

Recording advance rent

If you receive rent in advance (e.g. tenant pays two months upfront), record it when you receive the payment. Under cash basis accounting, you record income when the money arrives, not when it's earned.

For example, if a tenant pays October and November rent together in September, record the full amount in September.

Recording partial rent payments

If a tenant pays rent in instalments, record each payment separately as you receive it.

For example, if monthly rent is £1,000 but the tenant pays £500 on the 1st and £500 on the 15th:

  • Record £500 on the 1st
  • Record £500 on the 15th

Don't wait until the full amount is received — record each payment when it arrives.

Common income categories

Most rental income falls into these categories:

Rental income Regular rent from tenants, including charges for furniture or services (cleaning, utilities, etc.)

Other income Property-related income that isn't regular rent, such as:

  • Ground rents you receive
  • Income from filming or events at your property
  • Wayleaves or sporting rights payments

Rent a Room rents received Income from letting furnished rooms in your main home under the Rent a Room scheme

See Which income category should I use? for the complete list with examples.

Best practices for recording income

Record regularly Update your records weekly or monthly rather than waiting until quarterly deadlines. This reduces errors and makes reconciliation easier.

Use clear descriptions Include the property address and month in your description (e.g. "October rent - 12 Main Street"). This makes it easier to review transactions later.

Match against bank statements Regularly check that income recorded in Provestor matches your bank statement. This helps spot missing transactions.

Keep supporting evidence Save bank transfer confirmations, tenant receipts, or other proof of payment. You don't upload these to Provestor, but HMRC may ask to see them if they review your records.

For more tips, see Record keeping best practices.

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