What Is the Tenant Ledger?
The Tenant Ledger is a running financial record for each tenant. It captures:
Rent charges
One-time or recurring fees (utilities, late fees, etc.)
Payments received
Adjustments or credits
Running balances
Tenants can view their payment history directly in the Resident Portal.
How to Access the Tenant Ledger
Method 1: Rent Collection Page
Go to the Rent Collection tab to see all of your tenants, including their rent amounts, balances, and balance status.
Click a tenant’s name.
Select Ledger & Charges (found under the property address).
Method 2: Properties Page
Go to the Properties page.
Select the relevant property.
Go to the Leases tab.
Click the tenant whose ledger you want to view.
Click Ledger & Charges to see their payment details.
Method 3: Reports Page
Go to the Reports page and select Tenant Ledger from the Report Type drop-down.
Choose the property address to view the ledger report.
This method is recommended when tenants request a detailed payment history or balance details.
Automate Your Ledger: Set It & Forget It
Most ledger entries are generated automatically if your account is set up properly:
Monthly rent charges are added automatically on the 1st of each month if valid lease dates and rent amounts are saved in your leases.
Payments are pulled from your Transactions page when they’re categorized as Income and assigned to the correct Unit/Tenancy.
Keep your rent roll and transactions up to date, and your ledger will take care of itself.
Troubleshooting Missing Entries
Missing rent charges? Double-check the lease dates in your lease setup.
Missing payments? Find the income item on your Transactions page and make sure it’s assigned to the correct Unit and Tenancy.
Ledger discrepancies? Review the ledger for inconsistencies, then adjust lease term details to cover missing charges.
Overdue rent errors? Disable and re-enable rent collection for the affected lease. Make sure the new start date aligns with the lease terms so the ledger refreshes.
Adjusting the Ledger Timeline
To clean up older data or skip prior history:
Click More > Adjust Balance.
Set a Calculate Since date and a starting balance.
Calculate Since options:
All Time – Starts from the first lease
Today – Current date only
Earliest Charge – First rent or manual charge
Custom Date – You choose
Add Charges & Credits
Add a Charge
Use Add Charge to bill for something outside rent, or to let a tenant pay more than their usual rent (for example, paying in advance or covering utilities or repair costs).
Click More in the upper-right corner of the ledger.
Choose Add Charge.
Enter the name, date, charge amount, and category.
When payment is received, assign the income to the tenancy on the Transactions page.
Both the charge and payment will appear in the ledger.
When rent collection is enabled, adding a charge changes the tenant’s balance due. The tenant will need to make a manual payment for the added charge. It won’t be included in their autopay automatically.
Add a Credit
Credits lower a tenant’s balance, allowing them to pay less than their current rent balance. Use credits to:
Write off unpaid amounts
Reimburse the tenant for prior overpayments or repairs
Click More in the upper-right corner of the ledger.
Choose Add Credit.
Enter the name, date, credit amount, and category.
Payment Rules and Limitations
Tenants can only pay up to their current balance shown in Stessa.
To let a tenant pay more than the balance, first add the additional amount as a charge.
Added charges aren’t automatically included in autopay. Tenants need to pay added charges manually.
The balance field can’t be edited to allow payments greater than the amount due.
Credits can let tenants pay less than their current balance when needed.
Editing or Deleting Ledger Line Items
Find the line item you want to change in the ledger.
To delete it, click the trash icon. Note: You can only delete one-time charges and credits. You can’t delete a rent charge tied to a lease.
To edit it, click the pencil icon and make your changes. Note: Changing the rent charge amount changes it for all previous rent charges.
Save your changes.
Ledger Issues
Check these if your ledger looks off:
Lease start dates are missing or incorrect.
Payments aren’t categorized or aren’t assigned to the right tenancy.
Tenant charges (e.g., utilities or late fees) haven’t been entered manually.
Refresh the ledger by disabling and re-enabling rent collection.
Negative balances from missing charges? Re-enter the specific lease term details to reconcile them.
Tenant app shows the wrong rent status? Restart rent collection settings and allow up to 24 hours for the system to refresh.
Lease renewal discrepancies? Review and update lease start and end dates. For partial-month adjustments, add prorated charges manually.
Overdue rent notices even though payments are current? Disable and re-enable rent collection for the lease to refresh balances.