Lodging & short-term rentals

Books and taxes for boutique hotels.

Rooms booked through a channel manager, a bar and small kitchen on site, event space rented for private parties, and a front desk team on payroll. Gus sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.

Book a call What we handle
  • From $197 a month
  • An accountant on every transaction
  • Cancel whenever
JuneExample month
$35,600
what you made

June came in at $35,600. The private event in the courtyard is booked as event space, not room revenue, so you can see it did not come from a room being full.

  • Cloudbeds payoutRoom revenue
  • Bar and restaurant salesFood and beverage
  • US Foods deliveryFood and beverage cost
  • Front desk payrollPayroll
  • SiteMinder subscriptionChannel management
Money in$148,000
Money out$112,400
Set aside for taxes$8,500
An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

A boutique hotel's books go wrong in the same few places.

You are running several small businesses under one roof: rooms, a bar or restaurant, and often event space, each with its own staff and margins. A generalist sees one deposit a day. Your business needs those three lines kept apart, or you cannot tell which one is actually making money.

  1. 1

    The channel manager payout blends everything

    A payout from Cloudbeds or a similar system can bundle room revenue, resort fees, and taxes collected into one deposit. Booked as a single number, you cannot see the real room rate you are getting after commissions.

    What we doSplits each payout into room revenue, fees, and commission, so the rate you actually keep per room is visible.
  2. 2

    Food and beverage hides inside general expenses

    A bar or small restaurant has its own cost of goods, its own staff, and its own margin. Mixed into general hotel spending, you cannot tell if the bar is paying for itself or eating into room profit.

    What we doKeeps food and beverage revenue and cost on their own lines so the department's real margin is visible apart from rooms.
  3. 3

    Event space rentals are not room nights

    A private party booked in the courtyard or a small meeting room pays differently and cancels differently than a guest room. Lumped in with rooms, it hides which kind of booking is worth chasing.

    What we doBooks event space income separately so you can see if private events are worth the staff time they take.
  4. 4

    Front desk and housekeeping payroll blur together

    A small hotel often has staff who cover both roles, and overtime during a full weekend can quietly erode what looked like a strong month.

    What we doKeeps payroll by role visible against occupancy, so a busy weekend's labor cost is not a surprise in the monthly number.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for a boutique hotel.

Set up once for how you get paid and what you spend. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.

Money in

  • Room revenueBookings through your channel manager, direct calls, and walk-ins.
  • Food and beverageBar tabs, restaurant checks, and room service.
  • Event space rentalPrivate parties, small meetings, and courtyard bookings.
  • Resort and amenity feesParking, spa access, and other add-on charges billed to guests.

Money out

  • PayrollFront desk, housekeeping, and bar or kitchen staff.
  • Food and beverage costLiquor distributors, produce, and kitchen supplies.
  • Channel management and booking feesCloudbeds, SiteMinder, and commissions paid to booking sites.
  • Housekeeping suppliesLinens, amenities, and cleaning products across all rooms.
  • Utilities and maintenanceElectric, water, HVAC service, and routine repairs.
  • Insurance and licensingLiquor license, hotel insurance, and local permits.

What we watch for you

  • RevPAR

    Revenue per available room, the clearest single number for how the property is performing month to month.

  • Food and beverage margin

    What the bar and kitchen keep after cost of goods, tracked apart from room profit.

  • Labor cost against occupancy

    Payroll as a share of room revenue, so a full weekend's overtime does not go unnoticed.

  • The set-aside

    What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.

Ask Gus

Things boutique hotel owners ask Gus.

Text him like you would text anybody. He answers in plain English, and when a question is above his pay grade, an accountant looks and gets back to you.

Our Cloudbeds payout looks lower than what I see booked. Why?

The commission and a resort fee held for taxes both came out before the deposit hit. I booked the full rate as revenue and those two as separate costs, so your top line is not understated.

Is the bar actually making money or just breaking even?

Right now it is covering its own cost of goods and payroll with a bit left over. I kept it on its own line so you can watch that trend instead of guessing from the total.

We're thinking about adding a liquor license for the courtyard. Anything to know?

That one is above my pay grade to advise on directly. I can tell you what the current bar costs and margins look like, and the accountant can weigh in on how a bigger license changes things.

The tax side

The tax side of running a boutique hotel.

Most of what goes wrong here is treating three businesses like one. Rooms, food and beverage, and payroll each carry their own rules, and the return misses what it should catch when they are not kept apart.

What your return has to get right

Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.

  • Cost segregation on the buildingA hotel property often has components such as furniture, fixtures, and certain systems that can be identified separately from the building and written off faster, including bonus depreciation at 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
  • Tip reporting for bar and service staffTips paid to bar and front desk staff are taxable income and usually subject to payroll tax, and a new deduction on tips exists for occupations on the Treasury's list through 2028, though payroll tax on tips is still owed.
  • Contractor 1099sA contractor, such as a maintenance vendor or event staffer not on payroll, paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps the list all year.
  • The pass-through deductionMost profitable hotel owners can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income, with limits above $201,750 taxable income single or $403,500 joint. It comes out right when the books track each department cleanly all year.

Deductions boutique hotels miss

Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.

  • Linens and amenities
  • Liquor and beverage inventory
  • Kitchen and bar supplies
  • Channel manager subscriptions
  • Front desk software
  • Uniforms for staff
  • Liquor license fees
  • HVAC and boiler service
  • Event space furniture rental
  • Guest WiFi service
  • Parking lot maintenance
  • Marketing photography

General information about 2026 federal rules, not advice for your business. Your accountant looks at your actual numbers before anything gets filed.

All year, not just April

A boutique hotel year, kept every month.

Booking patterns shift with the season and the local event calendar. Your taxes come on a schedule. Your team keeps you ahead of both. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.

  1. January

    Plan the year

    Last year's return gets started, contractor 1099s are ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.

  2. April

    Filed. Done.

    Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.

  3. July

    Halfway check

    Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether the summer event calendar changed room and bar revenue.

  4. October

    Before the holiday season

    Before holiday parties fill the event calendar, Gus looks at equipment or renovation spending worth doing before December.

What you get

Starts at$197a month

What you pay depends on what your business needs, and it does not move after that, busy season or slow. No hourly bills, no surprise invoices, no setup fee.

Book a call
  • Monthly bookkeeping

    Every transaction sorted into categories set up for boutique hotels. You never categorize a thing.

  • An accountant checks every transaction

    Real review, every month, before your books close. Not a spot check.

  • Your business tax return, filed

    Prepared, reviewed, and signed by that same accountant every year.

  • The monthly number

    What you made, what you spent, what to set aside for taxes.

  • Your own bookkeeper

    A real person assigned to your business, in the app whenever you need them. No hold music.

  • On your books all year

    Every month, not just in April. Your team speaks up whenever something is worth your attention.

  • Cancel any time

    No contract. No cancellation call. Your books are yours.

Straight answers

Questions boutique hotel owners ask first.

Can Gus separate room revenue from our bar and restaurant?

Yes. He keeps food and beverage on its own line from the start, so you can see whether the bar is paying for itself apart from what rooms bring in.

We use Cloudbeds for bookings. Do we need to change how we run it?

No. Keep booking the way you do. Gus works from your bank statements and booking reports, and when a payout is unclear he asks you once and remembers the answer.

Does event space income count the same as room revenue?

Gus books it separately since it behaves differently, with its own deposits and cancellation patterns, so you can see if private events are worth the staff time.

How does Gus handle tips our staff report?

Tips reported by bar and front desk staff are tracked as taxable income subject to payroll tax. Gus keeps that separate from base wages so payroll numbers stay accurate.

Our books are a mix of three years of spreadsheets. Can Gus untangle that?

Yes. Send the statements you have. Gus sorts them by department, the accountant checks it, and most owners know where they stand inside a week.

Is a real accountant checking my books?

Yes. You get your own bookkeeper, Gus does the first pass on every transaction, and an accountant checks every one before your month closes. That same accountant prepares, signs, and files your business return. Goatkeeper is not a CPA firm, and we never pretend a person looked when they did not.

What does it cost, and can I cancel?

It starts at $197 a month, depending on what your business needs. No setup fee, no hourly bills, no contract. Cancel any time from the app, and your books go with you.

More in lodging & short-term rentals

We keep books for the business next door too.

What makes a bookkeeper worth paying for Every business we keep books for

Book a call

Pick a time. That's the whole signup.

Fifteen minutes with a real person on our team. They look at where your books are, tell you straight what it takes to get caught up, and get you set up on the spot if it fits.

  • $197 a month to start
  • An accountant on every transaction
  • Cancel whenever