Can AppFolio export to Excel automatically?

AppFolio can email saved reports on a schedule as Excel or CSV files. Getting that data into a live spreadsheet or dashboard takes a small automation that reads the email and appends the file.

How do I export an AppFolio report to Excel?

Open the report from the Reports page, set your properties, dates and columns, update it, then choose Actions and export to Excel or CSV. Print to PDF is there for a formatted copy.

How do I download a document from AppFolio?

In the owner portal, click a file's name to view it or click Download to save it, and use Download Packet for statements. Property managers export reports through the Actions menu on each report.

Can I connect AppFolio to Google Sheets?

Not with a built-in connector. Scheduled report emails plus an automation (Apps Script, n8n, Make or Zapier) keep a Google Sheet updated. On plans with API access, the sheet can be filled from the API directly.

Can I build Power BI dashboards from AppFolio?

Yes. Land the scheduled exports in a OneDrive or SharePoint folder or a database, for example with a Power Automate flow on the report emails, and point Power BI at that. It refreshes on its own schedule.

How to Automate AppFolio Exports to Excel and Google Sheets

Three ways to get AppFolio reports out

Manual export: any report, any time

Open the Reports page in AppFolio and pick the report.
Set your filters (properties, date range), columns and grouping, then update the report.
Choose Actions at the top and export to Excel or CSV. Use Print to PDF when you need a formatted copy for an owner or lender.

Once you've set up a report the way you like it, save it. Saved reports are what scheduled reports are built from, and they keep the columns the same from one export to the next.

Owners see a simpler version in the owner portal: click a file's name to view it or Download to save it, use Download Packet for statements, and use Actions on reports to export to Excel or CSV.

Exporting by hand is fine once. It gets painful every morning.

Scheduled reports: the backbone of AppFolio automation

Go to Reporting → Scheduled Reports and create a new scheduled report.
Give it a schedule name and pick your saved report.
Choose the format: CSV or XLSX.
Add recipients and a subject line you can filter on, e.g. "AF Daily Rent Roll".
Set a start date and frequency, then save.

CSV or Excel? For automation, we recommend CSV: it's plain rows and columns, and every tool reads it the same way. Choose XLSX when a person will open the file directly.

Tip: send automation-bound reports to a dedicated address (e.g. reports@yourcompany.com), or a Gmail label that only the automation reads, not a person's inbox. Nothing breaks when someone goes on vacation, and access stays controlled.

Turning scheduled emails into a live spreadsheet

Trigger on new emails from AppFolio with your subject line.
Read the attachment and normalize headers, dates and currency.
Add a snapshot date to every row, so you keep history instead of overwriting it.
De-duplicate in case a report is re-sent.
Append to Google Sheets, Excel Online, BigQuery or Postgres.
Alert when a run fails or the report layout changes.

Step 3 is the one people skip, and it's the one that makes the data useful. A rent roll that's overwritten daily only shows today; one that's appended with a date shows occupancy and rent trends over months.

Google Sheets vs. Excel and Power BI

Google Sheets. Formulas like IMPORTDATA only fetch files from a public URL, so they can't read an email attachment. The usual route is Apps Script, which can read Gmail and write to Sheets on a timer, or a no-code tool (Zapier, Make, n8n) with a Gmail trigger. Looker Studio, which is free with a Google account, can then chart the sheet. Our AppFolio and Google Sheets guide compares every route, including a sample Apps Script and a third-party Sheets add-on.

Excel and Power BI. On Microsoft 365, a Power Automate flow triggered by When a new email arrives (V3) in Outlook can save each attachment to OneDrive or SharePoint. Excel Online or Power BI then reads the folder and refreshes on a schedule.

With the API. If your plan includes the AppFolio API (read-only on Plus, read/write on Max), you can skip email entirely and pull data on a schedule. See our AppFolio API guide.

Reports worth automating first

Report	What the automation gives you
Rent roll	Daily snapshots, so you can trend occupancy, rents and loss-to-lease over time
Delinquency	Aging buckets by property and manager, and escalation lists each morning
Work orders	Open-days aging, per-vendor turnaround, and stalled-job alerts
Lease expirations	90/60/30-day renewal pipeline routed to the right agent
Vacancy	Days vacant and make-ready status across the portfolio
General ledger	Monthly journal entries for the company's books (see AppFolio and QuickBooks)

Pitfalls to avoid

Editing the saved report. Add or remove a column in AppFolio and the automation's mapping breaks. Keep automation reports separate from the ones people tweak, and have the automation check headers.
Fixed date ranges. A saved report with a fixed range sends the same period forever. Use relative ranges where the report allows them.
Duplicates. Re-sent emails and manual re-runs happen. De-duplicate on report date plus a row key.
Oversharing. Rent rolls and delinquency lists contain tenant names and balances. Share the sheet with the people who need it, not "anyone with the link".
Silent failures. If the report stops arriving, you want an alert, not a stale dashboard nobody notices.

Don't want to build it yourself? RentOps Sheets Sync does steps 1–6 inside your own Google account, after about 15 minutes of setup.

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