RentDesk Help

Install on iPhone or iPad

Install RentDesk before you set up your portfolio. On iPhone and iPad the Home Screen app keeps its own storage, separate from Safari, and Safari can clear data for websites you haven't used for 7 days.

1. Open your private link from START HERE in Safari (not a private tab).
2. Tap Share. If it isn't in the toolbar, tap ⋯ first.
3. Choose Add to Home Screen (under View More if you don't see it), then Add.
4. Open RentDesk from your Home Screen and set up your portfolio there.

Chrome on iPhone works the same way: tap Share in the address bar, then Add to Home Screen.

If the Home Screen app shows the RentDesk product page, paste your private link into the box at the bottom of that page and tap Open RentDesk.

Install on Android

1. Open your private link from START HERE in Chrome.
2. Tap Chrome's menu ⋮, then Install (it may say Add to Home screen or Install app), then Install again.
3. Open RentDesk from its icon on your Home screen.

Install on a Windows, Mac or ChromeOS computer

• Chrome or Edge: open your private link, then choose Install in the address bar. RentDesk opens in its own window and can be pinned to the taskbar or Dock.
• Safari on a Mac: open your private link, then choose File › Add to Dock.
• Firefox: can't install apps. RentDesk works fully in a normal tab; bookmark it.

Open RentDesk with your private link

1. Open START HERE.pdf from your Etsy download and tap Open RentDesk.
2. Use your normal browser, not a private or incognito window: RentDesk keeps your portfolio in ordinary browser storage.
3. Afterwards RentDesk opens at rentdesk.jykdigital.com without the link. Keep the PDF in case you ever need the link again.

Your link is just for you: please don't share it or post it online.

Set up your portfolio

1. Choose Set up my portfolio.
2. Give your portfolio a name, such as your business or LLC, and check the currency. Choose Start my portfolio.
3. Home shows Getting started: add a property and its units (or import a spreadsheet), add the current tenant and lease, record a rent payment, and back up. Each step ticks itself when it's done.

Your business details, rent and late-fee defaults, date and number format, and tax reporting are in Settings, whenever you need them.

Explore the demo

Choose Explore the demo to try RentDesk with a sample rental business: five properties with their owners, tenants, leases, rent, repairs and expenses. Nothing you do there affects your own portfolio. When you're ready, use the banner at the top of the demo to start your own.

Import a spreadsheet

Already keep your rentals in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets? Bring them in instead of retyping them.

1. Open Backup and find Import from a spreadsheet. Each kind of record has its own import: owners, properties, units, tenants, vendors, leases, payments and expenses.
2. Not sure which columns to use? Choose Template, then Download template, and copy your rows into it.
3. Save your sheet as a CSV file, then choose Import CSV and pick it.
4. RentDesk shows every row before anything is added, with the problems it found. Fix those rows in your spreadsheet and import again, or import the rows that are ready.

Import in this order, so each file can refer to the last: owners, properties, units, tenants and vendors, then leases, then payments and expenses. A row refers to a property, unit or tenant by its name. Leases, payments and expenses are only ever added, never updated. Imported the wrong file? Choose Undo import straight away.

Add a lease and its rent

1. Open People & Leases, then Leases, and choose New lease. A vacant unit has Create lease too.
2. Follow the five steps: the tenants (the first one is the primary contact), the unit, the lease and its rent, the deposit, then Review and activate.
3. Under Lease and rent, set the rent, the day it's due and any other recurring fees such as parking. If the lease starts mid-month, RentDesk shows how the first month is prorated before anything is saved.
4. Choose Activate lease. The unit shows as occupied, rent charges appear each period, and the lease's end date goes on the calendar.

Late fees follow each lease's rule, shown in words, and appear only after the grace period. You can waive a fee from the lease's ledger. To renew, open the lease and choose Renew.

Record a payment and print a receipt

1. Choose Record payment (at the top of most screens) and pick the tenant and lease.
2. Enter the amount, the date you received it and the method, such as cash, check or bank transfer. RentDesk applies it to the oldest open charges first and shows the balance before and after.
3. Turn on Create receipt (and Print after saving if you want a paper copy), then choose Record payment.

A part payment leaves the rest of the charge open and on the rent board. A receipt keeps what it said when it was made; open the payment to see its receipts or to make a new one. On the receipt, choose Print to print it or save it as a PDF.

Move a tenant out and settle the deposit

1. Open the lease, choose ⋯, then Start move-out.
2. Work through the steps: the notice, the move-out date, the final inspection, the comparison with move-in, the damages, the ledger, the deposit, the keys, and End lease. You can stop and come back: the lease shows Continue move-out.
3. The comparison shows each item that changed since move-in, side by side. Mark the damages the tenant is responsible for, with their cost.
4. At the deposit step, RentDesk works out the refund: the deposit held, less the deductions and anything still owed. Choose Print deposit statement for the tenant.

When the lease ends, the unit starts its turnover and counts as vacant until the next lease. Deposit rules vary by place: check the deadlines and allowed deductions where your property is.

Track maintenance and repairs

1. Open Operations and choose New request. Say what needs fixing, pick the property and unit, set the priority, add photos if you have them, and choose Save request.
2. Open the request and choose Assign vendor: pick the vendor, the scheduled date and the estimated cost. The request becomes a work order.
3. When the job is done, choose Complete and enter the actual cost. Leave Add … to property expenses? on, and the cost becomes the property's expense, so you don't type it twice.

Emergencies and overdue work orders show on Home under Needs attention. Each vendor's page lists the jobs they did and what you spent with them.

Back up and restore your portfolio

1. Open Backup and tap Back up portfolio. The file holds everything, photos and PDF files included.
2. Keep the .rentdesk file somewhere safe, such as iCloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive.
3. Back up again after you make changes. RentDesk reminds you when it's been a while.

To restore, open Backup, choose Restore backup and pick the file. RentDesk checks it and shows what's inside before anything changes, and offers to back up what you have first.

Anyone with the file can read your portfolio, so keep it private. Spreadsheet exports (CSV and Excel) are for reading and sharing; only the backup file restores.

Move to a new device or to the installed app

1. On the old device (or in Safari), back up your portfolio.
2. On the new device (or in the installed app), open RentDesk with your private link.
3. Choose Restore from a backup file and pick the file. RentDesk checks it and shows what's inside before anything changes.

Want to keep using both devices? Link them instead, and they stay up to date.

Use RentDesk on more than one device

1. On the device that has your portfolio, open Devices (on a phone it's in the menu) and choose Link another device. The first time, name this device and choose Show a code. A six-digit code appears; it works for 5 minutes.
2. On the other device, open RentDesk with your private link and choose I already use RentDesk on another device. If RentDesk is already set up there, open Devices and choose Enter a code instead; linking replaces what that device has.
3. Type the code and choose Link this device (Replace and link on a device that's already set up).
4. On the first device, check the name and choose Approve. The other device opens with your portfolio.
5. From then on, changes made on either device reach the other when both are online.

Your portfolio is encrypted on your devices before it leaves them, and only your linked devices can read it. Nobody can recover it for you, so linking isn't a backup: keep saving a backup file now and then. To stop, open Devices and choose Stop syncing on this device; the portfolio stays on every device.

Where your data, photos and files are stored

Your portfolio is stored in the browser on this device: on iPhone and iPad, in the Home Screen app if you installed it. It isn't stored in an account or on our server, and it works without a connection.

• Backup shows how much space your data, photos and files use, and how much the browser allows.
• Photos are shrunk when you add them, so they take little space. PDF files are kept as they are, up to 20 MB each.
• RentDesk warns you when storage runs low. Back up, then remove photos and files you no longer need.
• Browser storage can be cleared: by you, by "clear browsing data", or by a browser short of space. A backup file is the copy that protects you, so keep one somewhere safe.
• Use your normal browser, not a private or incognito window, which forgets everything when it closes.

Privacy

• There is no account to create, and RentDesk has no analytics, ads or tracking.
• Your tenants, payments, photos and files stay on your device. Our server delivers the app and checks your private link; it never receives your portfolio unencrypted.
• If you link devices, your portfolio is encrypted on your device before it leaves it, and only your linked devices can read it.
• A backup file and a spreadsheet export are not encrypted. Keep them private, like any business record.
• You are responsible for your tenants' personal details: keep only what you need, and follow the privacy rules where you operate.

Troubleshooting

• My portfolio is empty or older than I expected. Check that you're in the same browser, or the same Home Screen app, where you set it up, and not in a private window. If the browser's data was cleared, restore your latest backup from Backup.
• "A new version of RentDesk is ready." Choose Reload when you're not in the middle of something. Your data isn't touched.
• A figure looks wrong. Most figures have an ⓘ that shows how they're worked out. A balance comes from the lease's ledger: open the lease and check its Ledger tab for a missing payment or a charge you didn't expect.
• A photo or file wasn't added. RentDesk takes photos and PDF files. It refuses a PDF over 20 MB, a file that is neither, and anything new when storage is nearly full, with a message that says why. See where your data is stored.
• An import shows problems. Each row with a problem says why, such as a property name that doesn't match one you have. Fix those rows in your spreadsheet and import again. See import a spreadsheet.
• Printing cuts off or adds headers. In the print dialog, turn off headers and footers and choose a scale that fits the page, or save as PDF.

I see the RentDesk product page instead of my portfolio

This browser hasn't been unlocked yet, or its cookies were cleared. Open your private link from START HERE again, or paste it into the box at the bottom of the product page. Your portfolio is still in this browser's storage; opening the link brings it back.

Contact us

Message us on Etsy at JYKDigital. Tell us which device and browser you use. Please never send your backup file or your private link.