RentFig vs a spreadsheet: one app instead of eight
Most UK landlords don't run their portfolio on one tool — they run it on a rent spreadsheet, an accounts spreadsheet, Google Drive for certificates, a pile of renewal reminders, and manual chasing texts, plus separate tools for referencing, e-signatures and editing PDFs. RentFig replaces all eight with one app — and this page is a fair look at where that helps and where a spreadsheet is still fine.
The short answer
RentFig replaces the eight tools most UK landlords juggle — a rent spreadsheet, an accounts spreadsheet, Google Drive, renewal reminders, manual rent-chasing, a referencing service, an e-signature tool and a PDF editor — with one app. A spreadsheet is free and fine for a single tenancy; RentFig earns its place once you are tracking certificate renewals and chasing rent across several tenancies, because a spreadsheet can't remind you before a certificate expires or chase a tenant for you.
The eight-tool landlord stack, replaced
Here is the stack a typical UK landlord ends up running, the problem with each part, and the RentFig feature that replaces it. Every RentFig capability below is live in the product today.
| What you're using now | Why it falls short | RentFig replaces it with |
|---|---|---|
| A rent spreadsheet | Every payment typed in by hand; nothing reminds you a tenant is late | Rent tracking with auto-generated invoices, outstanding / overdue / paid summaries, tenant statements and a debt tracker |
| An accounts or tax spreadsheet | Figures re-keyed at year end; slow and error-prone for your tax return | Accounting that categorises income and expenses, builds a profit & loss, and exports a Year-End Pack (PDF, CSV or Excel) so your accountant has clean books |
| Google Drive or a filing cabinet | Certificates scattered across folders; no idea what is about to expire | A document vault storing every certificate and document against the property and tenancy — encrypted, with row-level access controls |
| A wall of renewal reminders | You still have to remember to set them — and to act before they lapse | Automatic expiry alerts for Gas Safety, EPC, EICR, Fire Risk, insurance, Right to Rent and utility tariffs, surfaced on your dashboard |
| Chasing rent by hand | Awkward “any news on the rent?” texts, sent manually one by one | Rent Chaser: an automatic escalation ladder (reminder → firm → urgent → final) by email or SMS that clears itself when the tenant pays |
| A separate referencing service | Around £30 a reference and yet another login to manage | Built-in tenant referencing — a free application form, then a £9 credit check or £19 full reference, no extra account |
| DocuSign or another e-signature tool | A whole extra subscription just to get a document signed | Firma.dev-powered e-signatures, legally binding under the Electronic Communications Act 2000 and eIDAS, with a tamper-evident audit trail |
| Adobe or a PDF editor | Paid software just to merge, edit or watermark a PDF | Built-in PDF tools — open any document from your vault to merge, remove or reorder pages, add text, make it fillable or watermark it, and save it back to the tenancy |
… and a few more: a Document Creator with 13 legal templates (Section 8, Section 13, the Renters’ Rights Act Info Sheet), plus an AI assistant you can use over WhatsApp. RentFig figures are our own (disclosure: RentFig is our product).
Where a spreadsheet is still the right call
We're not going to pretend a spreadsheet is useless. If you have a single tenancy, no imminent certificate renewals, and you're happy doing your own reminders, a spreadsheet is free and does the job. RentFig starts to pay for itself when the admin outgrows a grid: several tenancies to keep compliant, rent to chase without sending the texts yourself, and figures to get tax-ready without re-keying them at year end.
Where RentFig wins
- It remembers so you don't— automatic expiry alerts for gas, EPC, EICR, fire risk, insurance and Right to Rent, before they lapse.
- It chases rent for you— an automatic reminder ladder that stops the moment the tenant pays, instead of manual texts.
- It's one subscription, not five— accounting, document storage, PDF editing, e-signatures and referencing in one place from £9/month, rather than a separate bill and login for each.
FAQ
What does RentFig replace?
RentFig replaces the eight tools most UK landlords stitch together to run a portfolio: a rent spreadsheet, a separate accounts or tax spreadsheet, Google Drive or a filing cabinet for certificates, a set of renewal reminders, chasing rent by hand, a standalone tenant-referencing service, an e-signature tool such as DocuSign, and a paid PDF editor. It also includes a Document Creator with 13 legal templates (Section 8, Section 13, the Renters’ Rights Act Info Sheet and more) and an AI assistant you can use over WhatsApp, so several more manual jobs collapse into the same app.
Can I manage rental properties without a spreadsheet?
Yes. RentFig replaces the rent spreadsheet with automatic invoices, outstanding / overdue / paid summaries and tenant statements, and replaces the accounts spreadsheet with income-and-expense tracking and a profit & loss. Every report exports as PDF, CSV or Excel — so you get clean figures for your tax return without typing anything into a spreadsheet.
Is a spreadsheet good enough for managing rental property?
For a single tenancy, a spreadsheet is free and perfectly fine. The moment you are tracking certificate renewals, chasing late rent, or preparing figures for tax across several tenancies, a spreadsheet stops being enough — it cannot remind you before a gas certificate expires, and it cannot chase a tenant for you. That is the point at which landlords tend to move to RentFig.
Do I still need Google Drive, DocuSign or an accountant with RentFig?
You no longer need Google Drive for property paperwork (documents and certificates live in the vault) or a separate e-signature tool (Firma.dev-powered signing is built in). You may still want an accountant: RentFig keeps your books tax-ready and exports everything they need (PDF, CSV or Excel, or a one-click Year-End Pack), but it does not file your Self Assessment or MTD return for you — your accountant still does that.
How much does RentFig cost compared with buying these tools separately?
RentFig is one subscription instead of several. Paid plans start at £9 a month (the Starter tier), versus paying separately for accounting software, a document-signing tool such as DocuSign, a PDF editor and a referencing service. There is also a free tier and a one-month free trial on the Standard plan (no card required), and referencing and extra e-signatures are pay-as-you-go on top. See the pricing page for current plan prices.
See everything in one place on the features overview, or dig into the documents, PDF editing & e-signatures that replace your paperwork.
Disclaimer:This comparison is general information for UK landlords, not legal, tax or financial advice. RentFig is our own product. Third-party tools (Google Drive, DocuSign, Adobe and others) are named only to describe common landlord workflows; they are independent products and their features and pricing may change — confirm current details on their own sites.