What is PropertyFolio?

PropertyFolio is AI-powered property management software for landlords. It tracks rent, expenses, and ROI across your rental properties, parses documents with AI, generates legally compliant 50-state leases, collects rent online, and analyzes investment properties — all from the web or a native mobile app.

Who is PropertyFolio for?

PropertyFolio is built for individual and small-portfolio landlords — typically those managing 3 to 20 units who have outgrown spreadsheets — as well as small property management teams. It supports single-family homes, condos, and multi-family/apartment buildings.

How much does PropertyFolio cost?

PropertyFolio has a free plan that includes 2 properties. Paid plans are Starter ($9/mo, 5 properties), Growth ($19/mo, 15 properties, includes a 7-day free trial), Plus ($49/mo, 50 properties), and a custom Enterprise tier for larger portfolios.

Can PropertyFolio collect rent online?

Yes. Tenants can pay rent online by card, ACH bank transfer, Apple Pay, or Google Pay through Stripe, with recurring auto-pay and shareable payment links. Landlords can also record manual payments such as Zelle, cash, check, or Venmo.

Does PropertyFolio generate lease agreements?

Yes. PropertyFolio generates legally compliant residential lease agreements for all 50 US states plus DC, with state-specific clauses and disclosures, and collects legally binding e-signatures from landlords and tenants.

Does PropertyFolio have a mobile app?

Yes. PropertyFolio has native iOS and Android apps for both landlords and tenants, so you can manage properties, sign leases, and pay rent on the go.

How to Track Rental Property ROI, Cash Flow, and Expenses

Published 2026-06-24

Buying a rental is easy to feel good about. Knowing whether it actually makes money is harder. If you can't answer "what did this property earn last month, after everything?" in a few seconds, you're flying blind. Here's how to track the numbers that matter — and how to stop doing it by hand.

The metrics that matter

Cash flow — rent collected minus every expense (mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance, management). Positive monthly cash flow is the foundation.
Cash-on-cash ROI — annual cash flow divided by the actual cash you invested (down payment + closing + rehab). This tells you how hard your money is working.
Cap rate — net operating income divided by property value. Useful for comparing properties independent of financing.
Appreciation — change in property value over time, the second half of your total return.

The most common tracking mistakes

Forgetting irregular expenses. A new roof or a turnover can wipe out a year of "profit" if you only track the monthly mortgage.
Mixing properties together. Portfolio averages hide the one property that's quietly losing money.
Counting future rent as collected. Track what was actually received, not what's scheduled.

Automating the math

This is exactly what property management software is for. PropertyFolio tracks real-time profit/loss, cash-flow ROI, and appreciation per property and across your whole portfolio, and auto-creates expenses when you log vendor payments. Its AI document parsing pulls purchase price, loan terms, and taxes straight from your closing and mortgage documents, and it generates Schedule E tax reports from the same data at year end.

Bottom line

Track cash flow, cash-on-cash ROI, cap rate, and appreciation — per property, not just in aggregate — and use real collected amounts, not projections. Then let software keep the ledger so the numbers are always current.

See your portfolio's ROI in PropertyFolio — free to start.