The spreadsheet column most landlords are missing
Most reserve spreadsheets I've seen have the same columns: property, rent, expenses, cash flow. Useful, but they're all backward looking, they tell you what already happened.
The column that changed things for me was a forward looking one: for each major system in the property, what's its age and what's its expected remaining lifespan. Once that's sitting next to your cash flow numbers, you stop being surprised by "why did this month's expenses spike" and start seeing it coming months in advance.
It's a small addition but it shifts the whole spreadsheet from a record of the past to something closer to a forecast. Suddenly a good cash flow month next year might already look shaky once you know two systems are aging out in it.
Anyone else tracking this alongside the usual financials, or is it still mostly a separate mental note for most people?