By Christopher Hale, property-management accounting support lead with 9 years of lease-ledger and resident-portal experience
Last reviewed: July 26, 2026
DoorLoop is cloud-based property management software for landlords, property managers, and real estate investors. It combines leasing, rent collection, maintenance, accounting, reporting, and tenant and owner portals.
This independent guide is not affiliated with or operated by DoorLoop.
The first task is identifying which record or portal is involved. Tenant access, owner access, rent payments, bank deposits, and security deposits are handled through different screens, so a working login does not prove that the accounting entry was created correctly.
What DoorLoop is used for
DoorLoop provides tools for rental applications, screening, leases, online rent collection, accounting, maintenance requests, reporting, and communication. Tenants can use their own portal to pay rent, submit requests, and access lease documents, while owners may receive a separate portal for financial and property information.
Three account types are commonly confused:
- Tenant Portal: Resident-facing lease, payment, document, and maintenance access
- Owner Portal: Property-level financial reports, documents, announcements, and investment information
- Company user account: Administrative access controlled through a selected user role
These are not interchangeable. An owner invited to the Owner Portal should not expect the full management dashboard, and a tenant cannot repair property accounting from the resident-facing screen.
Use the narrowest portal first. Skip adding someone as a company user when a tenant or owner invitation provides the access actually required.
DoorLoop login and invitation activation
DoorLoop requires company users to sign in with an email address and password. A newly invited user must first accept the invitation and complete password setup before ordinary login works.
Tenant access also begins with an invitation from the property manager. The current management route starts at People > Tenants, where the manager finds a tenant with an active lease and sends or resends the portal invitation.
Activation comes first.
A renter who never accepted the invitation should ask management to issue another one. A renter who previously created the portal account should use the normal sign-in or password-recovery process instead of requesting a duplicate tenant profile.
Duplicate profiles create practical trouble. The replacement record may not contain the correct lease, current balance, documents, payment method, or maintenance history.
Do tenant-record checks first. Skip repeated invitation attempts until management confirms the active lease and saved contact information.
Tenant Portal versus Owner Portal
The Owner Portal is designed to give property owners access to information about their managed rentals and investments. DoorLoop describes features such as property financial information, documents, announcements, reports, and property-performance views.
Management invites an existing owner through People > Owners. The manager finds the owner, opens the three-dot menu, and edits the record to issue portal access. A new owner can be created from the same area with + New Owner.
A property manager can also inspect the owner-facing screen. DoorLoop’s documented route is People > Owners, followed by the owner’s three-dot menu and Login to Portal. The portal opens in another browser tab.
That view is valuable when an owner reports a missing report or document. It shows whether the issue is a portal permission, a sharing choice, or a misunderstanding about what owners are meant to see.
A missing report does not necessarily mean the accounting data is gone.
Owner Portal or Property Owners user role?
DoorLoop also lets management create an owner as a company user. The documented route begins at Settings > Users, followed by + New User. Management must provide a login email and assign an appropriate role.
This is broader than Owner Portal access.
Use the Owner Portal when the person needs selected property reports, financial information, and documents. Use a company user account only when the owner has a justified operational role that requires access inside DoorLoop’s management environment.
Priority one is least access. Skip Full Access merely because it is faster to configure.
Separate accounts also provide a cleaner activity trail than sharing one staff login among several owners or employees.
Recording a tenant payment correctly
A payment received outside DoorLoop, such as a check or accepted external transfer, must be recorded against the lease. DoorLoop’s current route begins with + Create New > Receive Payment under Tenant Transactions. The manager selects the lease, payment date, and payer information in the Receive Payment window.
Selecting the correct lease is critical.
A payment entered against the wrong lease can reduce one tenant’s balance while leaving the intended tenant overdue. It can also affect deposits, owner reports, and reconciliation.
Confirm these fields before saving:
- The property and unit
- The active lease
- The payer
- The effective payment date
- The payment amount
- The receiving account
- The category or charge being satisfied
One wrong lease selection can create several later discrepancies.
Do not record a bank deposit alone and assume the lease balance will update. The tenant payment and resulting bank activity are related accounting events, but the lease must receive the payment entry.
Payment receipts versus tenant ledgers
DoorLoop supports payment receipts that can be sent automatically after online payments or manually from the lease. Automatic delivery is configured through Rent & Payment Notifications.
A receipt confirms one payment. It does not explain the entire tenant balance.
The lease ledger may also include rent charges, late fees, credits, returned payments, deposit entries, and manual adjustments. When a renter disputes the total due, management should compare the receipt with the full lease activity rather than relying on the receipt alone.
This is a common wrong-record moment.
A payment receipt can be accurate while the balance remains due because another charge was posted or an ACH transaction was later returned. Conversely, a missing email receipt does not prove the payment was never recorded.
Verify the lease transaction first. Resend the receipt only after the amount and lease have been checked.
Security deposits require two accounting steps
DoorLoop’s current security-deposit guidance says recording a deposit is a two-part process. Management first posts the security-deposit charge to the lease, then records the payment or credit that satisfies that charge.
This distinction prevents a frequent accounting mistake.
A charge means the tenant owes the deposit. A payment means the deposit was received. Recording only the charge leaves the lease showing an unpaid obligation; recording money without the corresponding deposit charge can make the ledger difficult to interpret.
Do both entries.
The exact workflow depends on whether the lease was created in DoorLoop or was already active when the company began using the software. DoorLoop routes users to the scenario matching the lease’s history.
A security deposit is also different from ordinary rent income. State and local laws may regulate where it is held, whether interest is owed, what deductions are permitted, and when the remaining amount must be returned.
DoorLoop tracks the accounting. It does not replace the governing lease or local deposit law.
Owner-held security deposits
Some management companies do not hold every security deposit themselves. DoorLoop documents a separate workflow for recording a deposit held by the property owner.
This matters for financial reports.
If the owner holds the money, the management company should not record the transaction as though the funds entered its own operating or trust account. The lease still needs an accurate deposit record, but the holding party must be represented correctly.
Check custody first. Skip placing the amount into a management bank account merely to make the ledger appear complete.
An owner-held deposit can also affect move-out reconciliation, owner reporting, and who is responsible for issuing the eventual refund. Those responsibilities should be confirmed against the management agreement and applicable law.
Security-deposit interest
DoorLoop supports recording interest earned on a security deposit. Its guidance says the lease’s Deposits tab displays the original security deposit plus recorded interest in the Total Security Deposit line. When nothing has been withheld, that total represents the amount available for refund.
This feature should be used only when interest actually applies.
Deposit-interest requirements vary substantially by jurisdiction and account arrangement. Management should not add an assumed interest amount merely because DoorLoop provides the field.
Confirm the governing rule, actual account earnings, and required calculation. Then record the transaction through the deposit workflow rather than as miscellaneous rent credit.
Specific records matter here.
Tracing deposits into the bank
DoorLoop provides a Deposit Detail report under the Accounting section of Reports. The report defaults to the previous seven days, but the reporting period can be changed through the available filters.
Use this report when lease payments and bank deposits do not appear to match.
A useful reconciliation sequence is:
- Find the tenant payment on the lease.
- Confirm the receiving bank account.
- Open the Deposit Detail report.
- Expand the report period beyond the default seven days when necessary.
- Locate the deposit containing the payment.
- Compare the deposit total with its individual components.
- Investigate reversals, fees, or unmatched entries separately.
The seven-day default is easy to overlook. A valid older deposit can seem missing simply because the report period is too narrow.
Adjust the dates first. Skip recreating the deposit until the full period has been searched.
Payment limits are separate from deposit records
Large online rent transactions may be blocked by the property’s merchant-account limits. DoorLoop places the limit review and increase process under Accounting > Incoming Payments > Usage & Limit Info. Management then selects Request limit increase and supplies the requested information through the opened chat.
A rejected large payment is not necessarily an accounting error.
The transaction may exceed a per-payment, lease, ACH, card, or monthly merchant limit. Only the merchant-account holder can request a change.
Check the limit first. Skip creating several smaller charges unless partial payments are permitted and management has agreed to that arrangement.
Frequently asked questions
What is DoorLoop?
DoorLoop is property management software for leases, rent collection, maintenance, accounting, reporting, and portals.
How does management resend a tenant invitation?
Open People > Tenants, locate the tenant with an active lease, and use the portal invitation action.
Can property managers see the Owner Portal?
Yes. Use People > Owners, open the owner’s three-dot menu, and select Login to Portal.
Is an owner portal account the same as a DoorLoop user?
No. The Owner Portal provides limited owner-facing access, while a company user receives permissions through an assigned user role.
Why does a tenant receipt not match the balance?
A receipt covers one payment. The lease may also contain charges, credits, reversals, fees, or deposit activity that changes the total owed.
How is a security deposit recorded?
DoorLoop uses two parts: post the deposit charge, then record the payment or credit that satisfies it.
Can DoorLoop track a deposit held by the owner?
Yes. DoorLoop provides a separate owner-held security-deposit workflow.
Where can management trace bank deposits?
Open Reports > Deposit Detail under Accounting and adjust the report period when the deposit is older than seven days.
