Why It Matters
Tracking how your actual expenses compare to your budget is essential for:
Identifying overspending early
Adjusting future budgets based on reality
Keeping an eye on cash flow trends
Ensuring your investment is performing as expected
Where to Find the Monthly Expenses Card
The Monthly Expenses card appears at the bottom of each Property Dashboard and displays a visual meter for each category. Each meter helps you instantly see:
How much of your budget (Pro Forma) has been used
Whether you're under, on target, or over budget
This powerful comparison helps you stay on track with financial performance and planning.
Understanding the Pro Forma Data
Pro Forma data represents your budgeted or projected expenses for the property. These figures are entered manually and should reflect your best estimates for each category over the next 12 months. If you don’t have formal budgets in place, you can enter current monthly averages or estimates based on historical data.
To edit Pro Forma values:
Go to the Property Dashboard
Scroll down to the Monthly Expenses card
Click the three-dot menu to Edit All Pro Forma fields
OR you can use the pencil icon to edit each category individually.
Enter or update the monthly Pro Forma value
Some Pro Forma lines may auto-populate:
Mortgage and Insurance amounts are filled in automatically if you’ve set up those details in Stessa
Property Taxes may populate from public records if available
These budgeted numbers are key inputs for performance metrics across your Stessa dashboards and reports, including your Rent Roll and Cash-on-Cash Return.
Understanding the Actual Expenses
The Actual portion of each category is calculated automatically from your Transactions page and reflects the trailing 12-month average for that expense. These figures represent real, recorded costs based on your connected accounts and manually entered transactions.
These actual values cannot be edited directly
If something looks off, review and adjust your transactions instead