The rental property records your accountant actually needs (before 31 October)

If you lodge your own tax return, the deadline for 2025–26 is 31 October 2026. If you use a registered tax agent, you generally need to be on their client list by that date to get their later lodgement program (H&R Block summary of ATO dates).

Either way, the quality of your rental schedule comes down to one thing: the records behind it.

The ATO's warning about property manager statements

In July 2026 the ATO cautioned tax agents against relying only on property manager reports when preparing rental schedules (Accountants Daily, 22 July 2026). The statements are useful, but they aren't prepared with tax in mind. The problems it flagged included:

• vague labels such as "sundry" or "other" that hide whether a cost is deductible now, over time or not at all;
• the same expense claimed twice (once from the statement, once from the invoice), or missed entirely;
• initial repairs on a newly bought property, which are capital, claimed as immediate deductions;
• several costs grouped into one line with too little detail;
• confusion over whether an expense was claimed when billed or when paid;
• private costs, such as the owner's own use of the property, mixed in.

The ATO said incorrect rental expense claims were a major part of the individuals-not-in-business tax gap, estimated at about $1.5 billion in 2022–23 (Real Estate Business, 27 July 2026). And you, not your agent, remain responsible for what's claimed.

The rental property pack: what to hand over

1. Income, by property

• Rent received for the financial year (from your bank, not just the statement).
• Any other rental income: insurance payouts for lost rent, tenant reimbursements, bond money kept for damage or arrears.

2. Every expense, itemised, with the paperwork

• One line per expense, against the right property, with the date paid.
• The invoice or receipt for anything over a few dollars, especially where the statement just says "maintenance" or "sundry".
• A short note of what the work was and why, where it isn't obvious.
• Expenses you paid yourself (insurance, council rates, strata, land tax) as well as those your property manager paid, without double counting.

3. Loan statements

• Year-end interest statements for each loan.
• Notes on any redraw, top-up or refinance. If part of a loan was used for something private, the interest has to be apportioned, which the ATO has long called out as one of the biggest sources of rental errors.

4. Capital items, flagged separately

• Anything new, replaced or improved (an oven, hot water system, new flooring, insulation): these are usually depreciated or written off over time, not claimed as repairs. Our guide to maintenance vs improvements explains the difference.
• Your quantity surveyor's depreciation schedule, if you have one (understanding depreciation).

5. Purchase and sale documents

• Contract, settlement statement, stamp duty and legal costs for any property bought or sold. These form the cost base for capital gains tax later, so keep them for as long as you own the property and then some.

6. Private use and vacancy

• Dates the property was available for rent, any periods you or family used it, and any below-market rent to friends or relatives.

A system beats a shoebox

The investors with the easiest tax time don't do more work in October. They categorise as they go: each transaction tagged to a property and a tax category when it lands, each invoice attached to the bill it paid, and a report that matches the bank.

How PropKeeper builds the pack for you

PropKeeper connects to your bank accounts and uses rules you set to categorise rental income and expenses automatically, assigned to the right property and tax category (you can do this on the go in the mobile app too). Pay a bill and record the receipt and the account it came from, and PropKeeper links it to the bank transaction so nothing is counted twice. Insurance instalments are matched to your bank feed, and your documents live with the property.

At the end of the financial year, the Tax Report gives your accountant an itemised income and expense summary by property, as a PDF or CSV. It's included on both Starter and Premium.

Got a property manager? Upload their PDF statement and PropKeeper extracts the rent received, fees and expenses for you, ready to check against your invoices. And you can invite your accountant into a shared team, so the records are there when they need them.

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This article is general information only, not financial or tax advice. Your circumstances may differ; speak to a registered tax agent about your situation.