When it comes to selecting the best software for managing your rentals you first need to know exactly what to look for.
Written by
Ben Luxon
PUBLISHED ON
19
Dec
2022
Finding the best software for your rentals can help you minimise the amount of time required when managing your buy-to-lets, increase your accounting accuracy, and ensure you stay compliant with strict (and regularly changing) regulations.
However, it’s not as simple as googling best property management software, or best property accounting software. You need to first know what to look for. For example, the needs of a commercial let property manager differ dramatically from a landlord of one or two short-term lets. Plus, whichever solution you dop choose needs to be future-proofed to match your long-term goals and with the upcoming MTD legislative change in mind.
In this article, we take a look at what you need to know in order to select the best software for your rental property business and stay on the right side of legal and tax obligations and compliance considerations.
The first thing is to consider the kind of properties you hold. For example, do you have commercial lets, residential, short-term or holiday lets, or a mixture?
The reason this is important is that you don’t want to be using multiple software to manage your property portfolio. It’s neither practical nor cost-efficient.
Landlord Studio is designed for residential buy-to-let investors and our features are designed to best solve the challenges faced by these landlords. However, many of our users also have holiday lets and commercial property within their portfolios.
Running rentals, whether they’re residential, or commercial comes with a lot of paperwork. From drafting a legally binding tenancy agreement to ensuring you supply your tenants with copies of documents such as the How To Rent Guide or the legionnaires’ assessment, to managing repairs and maintenance.
Related: Landlord Compliance Requirements: The Checklist
All of this documentation can be a challenge to stay on top of and so there are a few features that you can look for in the software that you choose that can help you stay organised and compliant. A few of these features include:
Easily set reminders with Landlord Studio and get notified so that you never forget an important inspection date again.
Efficiently track all of your past, current and upcoming tenancies.
Email and SMS your tenant’s important information from inside the Landlord Studio app using our customisable message templates.
Log the deposit amount, where you’ve stored it, and the reference number.
Upload important documentation such as your property EPC, EICR, and the tenancy agreement and keep them properly organised by property and easily accessible from any device at any time. Plus, easily share important documents.
Create, prioritise, and track maintenance jobs in the app and ensure no maintenance requests ever slip through the cracks again.
Additional things to look for are the company’s educational resources and customer support.
Running a rental is just like running any other type of business. You need to accurately record all of your taxable rental income and expenses and file an accurate income tax self-assessment at the end of the tax year.
However, there are also industry-specific nuances you need to have a clear understanding of. A few examples of these include:
All of these rules are subject to regular change. And having a clear understanding of these tax obligations is essential if you want to operate and profitable long-term investment.
MTD has been delayed by the HMRC and will be [based in for landlords earning above the £50,000 threshold from 6th of April 2026.
While this might still seem like a long way away there are some fundamental changes that many landlords will need to make to ensure they stay compliant. And, to avoid potential ‘teething issues’ we recommend getting yourself prepared early.
Summary of MTD changes:
With these changes coming into effect in 2026, finding and adopting a quality accounting solution soon, one that meets your specific needs and is future-proofed against upcoming change to MTD, is essential.
Find out more about making tax digital for landlords
Landlord Studio is a rental management and cloud accounting software designed specifically for landlords.
Our software pairs property management features such as reminders, document storage and sharing, tenant management, and property maintenance management with award-winning accounting tools.
Easily track income and expenses on the go, digitise receipts, and instantly generate financial reports.
Landlords can pair Landlord Studio’s suite of property management tools and easy-to-use income and expense tracking features with Xero using our seamless Xero integration.
Our Xero integration automatically syncs all financial data entered into Landlord Studio with your connected Xero account. This Xero integration not only enables users to take full advantage of Xero’s industry-leading accounting features but also means users can easily stay MTD compliant.