Software for small landlords: from the showing to the rent invoice

A landlord with a duplex and a rented condo has two busy seasons a year: turnover, when the unit needs showings, applications and a signed lease within a few weeks, and the 1st of every month, when rent is due and somebody always forgets. Between those dates it's repairs and receipts. SoloWOS handles the paperwork in those moments. Screening, autopay and a tenant maintenance portal belong to property-management apps.

From a vacancy to the first rent payment

1. The "For Rent" sign in the window carries a QR code from Short Links. It points at your listing today, and when the unit is rented you point it at the next vacancy without reprinting.
2. Prospects fill out a rental inquiry form: move-in date, number of occupants, pets, monthly income range. Ask every prospect the same questions, and leave out anything about a protected class (see the fair housing note below).
3. Showings are a 20-minute meeting type on your booking page with the unit's address as the location, 15 minutes between showings and 12 hours' minimum notice (example settings). The confirmation and the reminder 24 hours before carry the address.
4. You screen the applicant through a screening service. Then the lease goes out through E-Signatures: your state-specific lease as a PDF, every adult tenant as a signer in order, and you last. Each person signs from a phone, and you keep the certificate with the audit trail.
5. The move-in invoice has two lines: the security deposit (for example, one month's rent, within your state's cap) and the first month's rent. The tenant pays by card through your Stripe account, or by Zelle or a check using the payment details printed on the invoice.
6. The second invoice, rent only, is dated the 1st and due the 5th, and you set it to repeat every month until the lease ends. On each 1st, SoloWOS creates the next one with the next number and emails it with the pay link. If it's still open, reminders go out before the due date and 3 and 7 days after it.

A typical month with three units

• The 1st: three rent invoices go out on their own at 9 a.m., one per unit, each with the pay link. You set each series to repeat when its lease was signed.
• The 3rd: the tenant in unit B pays by card and the invoice marks itself Paid. Unit A gets the reminder that rent is due on the 5th.
• The 6th: unit C pays by check. You mark the invoice paid by hand so no more reminders go out.
• The 12th: unit A reports a leaking faucet. It goes on that property's board with a due date, and the plumber's $180 bill goes into Expenses with the receipt photo.
• The 28th: unit B's lease ends in 60 days. You share the renewal PDF through Document Tracking and see that the tenant opened it before you call.

All 13 tools, one by one

How a landlord with a few doors uses each tool:

• Link in Bio: One page for your rentals: a link per available unit (photos on your listing site), the rental inquiry form and your showing calendar. Hide a unit's link the day it's leased, without deleting it.
• Short Links: The short link behind the QR code on the "For Rent" sign: count the scans per sign and change where it points when the unit is leased, so an old sign never lands on a dead page.
• Forms: A pre-showing questionnaire with the same questions for every prospect: move-in date, occupants, pets, income range. No file uploads, so pay stubs and IDs go through your screening service, not the form.
• Scheduling: Showings of 20 minutes with the unit address in the confirmation, one meeting type per property, buffers between showings and an email reminder the day before so nobody leaves you waiting at the door.
• Proposals: Barely used for a house or apartment. Helpful for a small office or retail space, where you agree on rent, term and who pays for what before the lease is drafted, and the tenant accepts online.
• E-Signatures: The lease, renewals, the pet addendum and the move-in condition checklist, with every adult tenant signing in order and an optional passcode per signer. Solo includes 15 signature requests a month.
• Document Tracking: The house rules or the HOA rules as a PDF link with a passcode: you see whether the tenant read them before move-in, and you can turn the link off at the end of the lease.
• Screen Recording: Little use for showing the unit, since it records your screen, not your phone camera. Useful for a 5-minute walkthrough of the lease on screen, explaining the deposit, late fee and renewal terms.
• Notes & Boards: A board per property with open repairs and due dates, and a page per unit with what you look up often: appliance models, HVAC filter size, the HOA manager's number, the date of the last smoke-detector check.
• Time Tracking: Hardly applies to your own rentals. Use it if you also manage a neighbor's units for a fee and bill them by the hour for showings and contractor visits.
• Invoicing: The monthly rent invoice that repeats on the 1st with a pay link, and reminders before and after the due date. Solo includes 50 invoices a month, counting the ones that repeat.
• Expenses: Repairs, property tax, insurance, HOA dues and supplies, each with its receipt and assigned to the project for that property, then exported to CSV for whoever prepares your Schedule E.
• Automations: When the lease is fully signed, email the tenant your move-in instructions; when a rent invoice is paid, send yourself a note so you can check that the money landed.

Fair housing, deposits and taxes: the basics

• Fair housing: HUD says the Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in renting housing because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or disability, and it requires reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. Your state or city may add more protected classes, so check yours before you write your inquiry form or your listing.
• Security deposits: limits are set by each state, and some states have none. California is one example: since July 1, 2024, its cap is one month's rent, furnished or not, with a two-month cap for small landlords who meet the law's conditions (a natural person or an LLC of natural persons, with no more than two properties and four units for rent), and still one month for a service member. Check your state's statute for the cap, where the deposit is held and the deadline to return it.
• Taxes: in IRS Publication 527, a security deposit you plan to return isn't income when you receive it. If you keep part of it because the tenant breaks the lease, that part is income in that year, and a deposit meant as last month's rent is advance rent, income when you receive it.

This is general information, not legal advice. Rules vary by state; check yours with a lawyer or your licensing board.

SoloWOS or TurboTenant: which fits

TurboTenant and Baselane are built for landlords: rent collection with autopay, late fees and, in Baselane's case, banking and bookkeeping. Avail is another landlord app; we couldn't check its site for this page, so check their site. SoloWOS is a general business toolkit that happens to cover a lease, showings and a repeating rent invoice.

Choose TurboTenant or Baselane if:

• You want rent pulled by ACH with autopay and late fees added on their own. SoloWOS doesn't charge a tenant's card or bank account.
• You need tenant screening built in, or (Baselane) a bank account and bookkeeping set up for rental properties.

Choose SoloWOS if:

• Rentals are a side business next to other client work, and you'd rather run both from one account.
• Your tenants pay by Zelle, check or card and what you need is the invoice that sends itself with reminders, a signed lease and a showing calendar.
• You rent a small office or a short list of units and use proposals for the commercial ones.

Prices and features checked on October 23, 2026 on each company's site.

Start with these three

Invoicing with next month's rent set to repeat, E-Signatures for your next lease or renewal, and Scheduling with a showing meeting type for the next vacancy. Forms come next, once you write your inquiry questions.

Free tools that help

• Receipt generator for a rent receipt when a tenant pays cash.
• Invoice late fee calculator to work out a late charge, within what your lease and state allow.
• QR code generator for the "For Rent" sign.
• Mileage deduction calculator for drives to your rentals.

What SoloWOS won't do for a landlord

• No autopay, ACH pulls or automatic late fees. The rent invoice sends itself each month; the tenant pays each one.
• No tenant screening, credit or eviction reports, and no rental listings on Zillow or other sites.
• No maintenance-request portal for tenants, and no security-deposit trust account or interest calculation.
• No Schedule E or rental accounting. Expenses exports a CSV for your accountant.
• SoloWOS doesn't file taxes, issue 1099s or collect sales tax for you. Invoicing sends the invoice with a pay link (card through your Stripe account) and your other payment details; your accountant or tax software handles the rest.