Rent
Proration
Splitting a full month's rent to charge only for the days a tenant actually occupies the unit.
Glossary
Rent
What does prorated mean?
Proration means charging a partial month’s rent when a tenant moves in or out mid-cycle, so they pay only for the days they occupy the unit. If someone moves in on the 20th, you prorate that first month rather than charging a full month’s rent.
The common method is to divide the monthly rent by the number of days in the month (some landlords use a flat 30), then multiply by the days occupied. Exactly which convention applies can be set by your lease or by local practice, so state the method in the lease to head off disputes.
For example, $1,500 monthly rent divided by a 30-day month is $50 per day. If the tenant holds the unit for 10 days, the prorated amount is $500. Confirm whether the lease uses actual calendar days or a fixed 30-day convention before calculating the charge.
A reproducible proration names every convention
Proration allocates an amount across time or responsibility. If monthly rent is $2,400, the agreed convention is 30 days, occupancy responsibility begins on day 11, and days 11 through 30 are included, the daily rate is $80 and 20 allocated days produce $1,600. A calendar-day or annual convention could produce a different amount.
Responsibility dates and source documents control
The same method can allocate rent, property taxes, utilities, association dues, service contracts, closing adjustments, or management-transition responsibility. For each calculation preserve the source amount, covered period, day-count convention, start and end dates, inclusive or exclusive treatment, responsible parties, rounding, and ledger or closing entry.
Failures include using the wrong month length, counting a boundary date twice, selecting the wrong responsibility date, mismatching a tax period, or posting both a closing credit and a second ledger credit. Correct the source calculation with a linked reversal or adjustment. The lease, law, closing agreement, or adopted policy determines the applicable convention; this example does not prove a universal rule.