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How To Write Off Unpaid Rent (Cash-Based and Accrual-Based Accounting)
How To Write Off Unpaid Rent (Cash-Based and Accrual-Based Accounting)

What to do when a tenant moves out with outstanding charges not covered by their deposits.

Samuel avatar
Written by Samuel
Updated over a week ago

Overview

Unfortunately, you might have a tenant move out without paying the rent they owe. There are several ways to record this in DoorLoop. However, it's always best to speak with your accountant about how to handle this for your situation.

Here we'll walk through writing off the unpaid rent as a bad debt expense.

This method works for both cash-based and accrual-based accounting. Learn what the difference is between cash vs. accrual accounting.

Step 1 - Find All Open Charges on the Lease

In order to clear rent that is uncollectible, you’ll need to check what all the open charges are on the lease. You can do this by going to the reports and viewing the A/R Aging Detail by Account Report.

  1. On the main menu, click Rentals and then click Properties.

  2. Find and click on the Property with the uncollectable rent charges.

  3. To view all the ledger accounts that currently have an open charge on this lease, first, click the Reports tab.

  4. Scroll down to the Who Owes You section and click on A/R Aging Detail by Account.

  5. Filter it to the one lease with the open charges.

  6. You will now see all the open charges for that lease. Make note of these.

Step 2 - Issue a Credit on the Lease

The next step is to issue the credit on the Lease.

  1. On the main menu, click Leasing and then click Active Leases.

  2. Find and click on the Lease that requires the credit.

  3. On the Overview page, click on the Transaction tab.

  4. Click the Issue Credit button.

  5. For the Category dropdown, select the account you are applying the credits to. For example, if it’s for rent, select rent.

  6. Enter the amount of unpaid charges in the Amount field.

  7. Click Save to finish.

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