Prorated rent calculator
Enter the rent, the month and the move date, and choose whether to divide by actual days or by a 30-day month. The calculator shows the daily rate and the amount payable.
Charged from the move-in day to the end of the month, inclusive.
Whichever convention you use, state it in the agreement and apply it to both ends of the tenancy. Using actual days at move-in and a 30-day month at move-out is how a landlord ends up collecting slightly more than a full month.
Prorated rent is calculated as monthly rent ÷ days in the month × days occupied. Some agreements use a fixed 30-day divisor instead, which produces a different daily rate in every month except those with exactly thirty days.
How the calculation works
The formula is trivial. The convention you use is what causes the disagreement.
The formula: Prorated rent = Monthly rent ÷ Days in month × Days occupied
A tenant moving in on 19 September with a rent of ₹30,000 occupies twelve days of a thirty-day month, including the move-in day. That is 30,000 ÷ 30 × 12 = ₹12,000. In a thirty-one-day month the same twelve days would be 30,000 ÷ 31 × 12 = ₹11,613.
At move-out the count runs from the first of the month up to and including the final day of occupation. A tenant leaving on 10 March pays for ten days of a thirty-one-day month: 30,000 ÷ 31 × 10 = ₹9,677.
Inputs you will need
The full monthly rent, the month and year — because the number of days differs — the move date, and whether the date is a move-in or a move-out. The direction matters: a move-in on the 19th is charged forward to month end, while a move-out on the 19th is charged backward from the 1st.
The convention your agreement specifies. Where it is silent, actual days is the more defensible default because it makes the sum of the partial months equal one full month’s rent, which a 30-day divisor does not.
- Full monthly rent. Before any proration.
- Month and year. Because February and thirty-one-day months differ.
- Move date and direction. In counts forward; out counts backward.
- The convention. From the agreement, or actual days by default.
Worked example: moving in on the 19th with ₹30,000 monthly rent
The two methods agree only in a thirty-day month. Everywhere else the difference is a few hundred rupees, which is small individually and not small across a portfolio.
| Scenario | Days charged | Actual-days method | 30-day method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Move in 19 September (30 days) | 12 | ₹12,000 | ₹12,000 |
| Move in 19 October (31 days) | 13 | ₹12,581 | ₹13,000 |
| Move in 19 February (28 days) | 10 | ₹10,714 | ₹10,000 |
| Move out 10 March (31 days) | 10 | ₹9,677 | ₹10,000 |
| Move out 10 April (30 days) | 10 | ₹10,000 | ₹10,000 |
Prorating conventions: actual days vs 30-day months
Actual days is the more defensible convention. It reflects the period genuinely occupied, and it has the arithmetic property that a move-in part-month and a move-out part-month in the same calendar month sum to exactly one month’s rent. A 30-day divisor does not, which is where disputes originate.
The 30-day convention persists because it is simpler and produces a constant daily rate across the year, which suits systems that bill many tenancies. That is a legitimate reason to use it, provided it is applied consistently at both ends of every tenancy and stated in the agreement.
Two related questions are worth settling in the agreement at the same time. Whether the move-out day itself is charged — the common position is that it is, since the tenant has possession that day — and whether the deposit is prorated, which it should not be, because a deposit secures obligations rather than paying for occupancy.
- Actual days is the safer default. Part-months sum correctly to one month.
- A 30-day divisor is fine if stated and consistent. Applied at both ends of every tenancy.
- The move-out day is normally charged. Possession is held that day.
- Deposits are not prorated. They secure obligations rather than pay for occupancy.