Collecting the rent is the part of the job property owners notice fastest when it slips. The Rent Collection Rate certification puts a verified number on yours: of the rent you charged, how much was paid. This guide covers exactly what we need to calculate it.
Connect your software instead
Where your software can calculate this certification, connecting it is the faster path: we recalculate your rate from your synced charges after every sync, so there's nothing to re-upload. Our team verifies the result before the certification goes live. We only read your data, and we never change anything in your software.
As of October 2026, syncing calculates Rent Collection Rate from:
- AppFolio (Plus plan or higher): in beta, meaning the synced number is still being validated, so our team may ask for a report before certifying. How to connect AppFolio
- Rentvine: not yet. Rentvine's sync doesn't include how much of each charge has been paid, so upload a report for now.
- Buildium: not yet. Buildium's synced payments don't line up with individual rent charges yet, so upload a report for now.
- Any other software: upload a report, using the checklist below.
How we calculate it
Rent Collection Rate = rent paid ÷ rent charged × 100
- The window is the three most recent full calendar months. We count rent charges dated in those months and the payments made against them up to the day you export. Run in October, the window is July, August and September. The current month stays out because it's still being collected.
- Rent only. Rent income counts, and so does subsidy rent, like Section 8 and other housing assistance payments. Late fees, utilities, pet rent, appliance rental, deposits and prepaid rent stay out.
- Every rent charge counts, paid or not. That includes rent still owed by tenants who have moved out, and rent charged at properties you stopped managing during those months.
- You need at least 30 rent charges totaling $10,000 for us to calculate a result.
- A rate of 99% or higher gets an extra check against a delinquency report run the same day, so we can confirm every unpaid charge made it into the export.
Any verified result earns the certification. Higher rates earn a bigger lift in how you rank when property owners search by rental address:
- 99% or higher: top tier
- 97% or higher: second tier
- 95% or higher: third tier
- Below 95%: certified at the base level
Thresholds as of October 2026.
What we exclude
- Charges dated outside the window, including everything in the current month.
- Non-rent charges, such as late fees, utilities, pet rent, appliance rental, resident benefit packages, deposits and prepaid rent.
- Short-term rentals, meaning tenant accounts run as nightly, vacation, corporate or mid-term rentals, plus stays on leases shorter than 165 days. They come out of both sides of the math.
- Payments that aren't tied to a rent charge, such as prepayments and refunds.
A rate above 100% means something in the export doesn't line up, so we can't certify it until that's resolved.
What we need from your report
Any rent report works if it has one row per charge and these fields:
- Charge date, so we can place each charge in the window
- Account or charge type, so we can keep rent and leave the rest out
- Amount charged
- Amount paid against that charge so far
- Tenant account and property, so we can screen out short-term rentals
Include charges dated in the three most recent full calendar months, with every charge status, paid and unpaid, and every tenant, current and past. Exporting every account is fine, since we keep only the rent accounts. Don't filter by property, tenant or status, and don't edit the file before you upload it. CSV or Excel works best, and a full-report PDF is fine too.
Expect a rate of 99% or higher? Add a delinquency or aged receivables report run the same day, with past tenants included.
Screenshots don't count for Rent Collection Rate, with one exception: when your software calculates the rent collection percentage itself, for a date range and rent accounts you choose, a screenshot of that figure works. Today that's Rentvine's KPI Rent Collection Percentage report.
AppFolio
AppFolio's Charge Detail report has the charge-level rows we need, and its Delinquency report is our cross-check.
- Go to Reporting, then Reports, and open Charge Detail.
- Set Date Type to Charge Date, and use the date pickers to set the range to the first and last days of the three most recent full months (run in October: July 1 to September 30).
- Set Charge Status to All. This is the setting that keeps unpaid charges in.
- Set Properties to Show All Properties, and leave GL Accounts, Tenants and Tenant Status on All. That keeps rent owed by past tenants, and rent at properties you've stopped managing, in the report.
- Export to Excel.
- The same day, open the Delinquency report. Set Properties to All, Tenant Status to All (past tenants included), Balance to greater than 0 and Include future dated charges to No, then export it too.
Rentvine
Rentvine's sync can't calculate this certification yet, so upload one of these:
- The Rent Paid report for the three most recent full months. It splits each unit's posted charges and payments into rent and non-rent, and it ends with a Summary section and a Grand total row. Export the whole report.
- The KPI: Rent Collection Percentage report, with Date Posted set to the three most recent full months, voided charges left out, every lease status included so past tenants stay in, and the account filter set to rent accounts only, without utility or fee accounts. It calculates the paid percentage itself, so a screenshot works too if it shows the Date Posted range and the other filters at the top, the summary line with Amount Charged, Amount Paid and Percent Paid, and your Rentvine account. We certify the percentage as Rentvine shows it.
Any other software
Using Buildium, Rent Manager or something else? Look for a charge detail, rent collection, receivables or tenant ledger report that lists each charge with what's been paid against it, and check it against this list before you export:
One row per charge, covering charges dated in the three most recent full months
The amount charged and the amount paid so far on every row
An account or charge type on every row, so rent can be separated from fees and utilities
Every charge status (paid and unpaid) and every tenant (current and past)
Tenant account and property on every row
No property, tenant or status filters applied
Not sure which report to use? Email support@propertymanagement.com before you upload.
How to upload it
- In your dashboard, open Certifications and choose Rent Collection Rate. Open Rent Collection Rate
- Choose Upload evidence manually and attach your files (on AppFolio, the Charge Detail and the Delinquency report). PDF, JPG, PNG, CSV, XLS or XLSX, up to 10 MB each.
- Click Submit for Review. Your upload doesn't reach our team until you do.
Our team recalculates your rate from the rows in your report, under the rules on this page. Once it's approved, the certification appears on your public profile. An uploaded result covers the three months in your report, and certifications stay valid for 12 months. To refresh yours, upload a newer report or connect your software. Check your files against the list above before you submit: a complete report is the fastest way through review.
Common questions
Why leave out the current month?
Because it's still being collected. A charge dated last week hasn't had a fair chance to be paid, and counting it would make every manager look worse than they are. Full months keep the rate honest and comparable.
Does Section 8 or other housing assistance count?
Yes. Subsidy rent, like Section 8 and other housing assistance payments, counts as rent alongside what tenants pay.
Do late fees, utilities or pet rent count?
No. The rate covers rent only, so it answers one question: whether the rent gets paid.
What about tenants who moved out owing rent?
Their unpaid rent from those months stays in. Leaving it out would flatter the rate, and property owners deserve the real number.
Do I need a high rate to qualify?
No. Every verified result earns the certification. Higher rates earn a bigger lift in how you rank when property owners search by rental address.
Why do you ask AppFolio users for a delinquency report?
It's our check that every unpaid charge from those months made it into the export, and it matters most for rates of 99% or higher.
Keep going: How to get certified on PropertyManagement.com · What property owners see in Rent Collection Rate · How to connect AppFolio