Free Prorated Rent Calculator

The Big Picture on Our Prorated Rent Calculator:

• • Prorated rent refers to charging a tenant for a partial month’s rent when the lease starts or ends mid-month. For instance, if a lease begins on September 25, the tenant would owe rent for the remaining days of September and not the full month.
  • There are several methods to calculate prorated rent. You can use the actual days of the month to pro-rate the rent. Meanwhile, the banker’s method divides the month into 30 equal days, regardless of the actual days in that particular month. You can also pro-rate using the annual per diem method, which divides the total annual rent by the days of the year. 
  • Typically, when signing the lease, tenants pay the first full month’s rent and the security deposit. The prorated rent for the partial month is then collected on the first day of the following full month. However, if the lease starts just a few days before the new month, landlords might require both the prorated rent and the first full month’s rent at lease signing.

Image Credit: TaxRebate.org.uk under this Creative Commons Licence

Lease agreements don’t always start on the first of the month. 

So, how do landlords charge for partial months’ rent?

Easy: by prorating the rent from the time the tenants move in. Here’s how rent is prorated and how to calculate prorated rent as a landlord.

Prorated Rent Calculator

No need to Google how to calculate prorated rent formulas or jump on Zillow to look for the tool. To keep life simple, we created a prorated rent calculator for free. 

It uses the 30-day banker’s month method to calculate prorated rent. If you’d rather calculate the per diem (daily) rent annually or based on the actual number of days in the given month, then run your own damn numbers. Rent calculators per day are a pain, so why make your life harder? Just use ours!

It’s hardly rocket science, but life is always easier when someone does the calculations for you, right? 

What Is Prorated Rent?

Prograding rent (sometimes called pro rata rent) means calculating and charging a partial month’s rent when the lease agreement starts midway through a month. Or, for that matter, ends mid-month — although that’s less common. 

For example, the lease starts on September 25 rather than October 1. In addition to October’s full monthly rent, the tenant owes six days in September (the 25th counts as a day). 

Note that landlords should only prorate rent based on when the lease agreement officially starts, not when the tenant moves into the rental property. Landlords should push for a lease start date as early as possible to charge rent. 

Tenants, in contrast, may push for a lease start date when they can move in. This simply comes down to negotiating between the landlord and renter and who needs the lease contract more. 

When to Collect Prorated Rent

When the landlord and tenant each sign the rental agreement, the tenant should pay a full first month’s rent and security deposit, plus possibly the last month’s rent if allowed. 

On the first day of the entire month in the unit, they owe the prorated rent from the partial month.

Does that sound backward? It’s a little counterintuitive, with the tenant paying a full month’s rent when they move in midway through the month and the prorated month’s rent at the beginning of the first full month. But landlords want to ensure the tenant has both a full month’s rent and security deposit to lock down the lease agreement. 

If there’s less than a week remaining before the first of the month, so you’re only prorating a few days of rent, many landlords require both the prorated rent and the first full month’s rent when signing the lease contract. 

And yes, our online rent collection platform allows for prorated rent payments. Just sayin’.

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How to Calculate Prorated Rent

Annoyingly, there are several ways to calculate prorated or pro rata rent. All of them work based on the same premise: you calculate the daily rental rate, then multiply that by the number of days the lease is in effect.

For example, if the daily rate is $50, and there are six days remaining in the month when the lease term starts, the tenant owes $300 in prorated rent. 

But how is rent prorated to determine the daily (per diem) rent rate? 

The simplest and most commonly used method is the “banker’s month” method. To reach the daily rent rate, you simply divide the rent by 30 days (an average month) and multiply that by the number of days remaining in the month. 

Different Calculations Per Month

Alternatively, you can use the actual number of days in that current month. So, in March, you would divide the monthly rent by 31 days to calculate the per diem (daily) rate rather than 30 days in April. In this case, the number of days in February depends on whether it’s a leap year. 

Per Diem Calculations

Or you can calculate the per diem rent annually. Multiply the monthly rent by 12 for the total yearly rent, then divide that annual rent by 365 days in the year (366 in a leap year) for a daily rent payment rate. But, again, per diem rent calculation expands on the monthly calculation, so it’s honestly better to calculate it per month. 

Note that some states require you to use a specific method to calculate prorated rent. California, for instance, requires you to use the flat 30 days’ banker’s month method for how prorated rent is calculated.

While having a handy online prorated rent calculator like ours is great, always check with your local laws for their actual requirements. 

Final Thoughts on Our Prorated Rent Calculator

What is prorated rent? Easy, that’s what. 

You just calculate the daily rent rate, then charge the tenant for each day in a partial month. 

Because not every renter can move on on the first of the month, but you want to let them move in as soon as possible to start collecting rents. Simply explain to them how the rent is prorated, and send them a link to this article if they have any questions. 

Happy leasing!♦

What issues have you encountered with prorated rents? Do you have any remaining questions about how to calculate prorated rent?

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