What is Prorated Rent?
Prorated rent is the amount of rent a landlord would charge to a tenant for a portion or part of a month. The amount of the proration would be based on a full month’s rent as agreed upon by both parties in the rental agreement. Use the prorated rent calculator below to figure out just how much rent to charge for a partial month.
In theory, prorated rent can be used at any time during the lease agreement. The most common time is when the least first starts. If a tenant wants to move in on the 10th or 11th of the month and both parties agree that the lease rent due date will be the first of each subsequent month, the tenant would only be required to pay for rent from the 10th or 11th until the end of the first month. The calculation to determine the 20 days of rent due is called the proration or prorated rent.
This method is also used when tenants are on a month-to-month lease agreement. Should they decide to only stay a portion of the last month living there, they would pay based on the number of days they intend to stay, prorated rent. The amount per day would still be based on the monthly amount to which both parties have agreed.
How to Prorate Rent
The rent proration calculation process is basic math. You can use a prorated rent calculator if you want to ensure complete accuracy. Otherwise, you could do calculations on a spreadsheet or with paper and pencil. To explain the proration process, we will use a very basic example.
Example: Tenant A decides to rent an apartment from Landlord A. The rental agreement calls for a monthly rental amount of $900 due on the first of each month. After a discussion, both parties agree that tenant A can move in on the 11th of the month (we will use September because it has 30 days). For the first month, the tenant will only need to pay rent from the 11th to the 30th or 20 days.
The daily rental amount would be $900 / 30 days = $30 a day
For 20 days of rent, the tenant would pay 20 x $30 per day = $600
Yes, it really that easy to calculate prorated rent. As long as a daily amount can be established, the proration calculation process is very easy.
Prorated Rent Calculators:
Here is an easy to use and share calculator to prorate rent and move-in costs…
Calculate rent for move-out
Prorate rent owed when your tenant moves out using this calculator:
For what it is worth, the very same process can be used to prorate deposits or even utilities. If Landlord A has the responsibility for paying utility bills and cant delineate how to charge two tenants who occupied the same place during the billing period, prorating the utilities to both tenants is the fair and equitable solution. Just divide the utilities by the number of days in the billing period and charge each tenant for the number of days they occupied the rental.
If you are new to the world of being a landlord, you will find that the proration process can benefit you in many ways. You now know how to prorate rent, deposits, and even utilities. You also know you can make life easier by using the prorated rent calculator above for the most accurate numbers possible.