Lodging & short-term rentals
Books and taxes for hostels.
Beds booked one at a time through Hostelworld, a few private rooms priced differently, a common kitchen that costs more than you'd think, and commissions from the walking tour you send guests to. Gus sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
July came in at $13,500. Bed nights ran near full all month, and I kept the tour commission money in its own line since it is not a room charge.
- Hostelworld payoutDorm bed nights
- Direct booking, private roomPrivate room nights
- Local tour company commissionActivity commissions
- Restaurant DepotCommon kitchen supplies
- Laundry service invoiceLinens and laundry
Why your books are different
A hostel's books go wrong in the same few places.
You are selling beds, not rooms, to far more guests per night than a typical inn, with a shared kitchen and common areas that cost real money to keep running. A generalist counts deposits. Your business needs bed-level detail, or you cannot tell whether dorms or private rooms are actually carrying the month.
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1
A dorm bed and a private room are different products
A dorm bed sells for a fraction of a private room but fills far more of them per night. Lumped into one room revenue number, you cannot tell which one is actually driving the month's income.
What we doSplits dorm bed revenue from private room revenue so you can see which is filling faster and which pays better per square foot. -
2
The common kitchen is a real cost center
A shared kitchen stocked with basics, plus the dishes, cookware, and cleaning it takes to keep dozens of guests using it daily, adds up in a way that gets buried in general supplies.
What we doKeeps common area and kitchen costs on their own line so you can see what it actually costs to offer the amenity guests expect. -
3
Tour and activity commissions are not room income
Money earned for sending guests to a walking tour, a bike rental, or a pub crawl is a referral fee, not a bed charge, and mixing it into room revenue overstates what lodging itself brings in.
What we doBooks activity and tour commissions on their own line so lodging revenue stays honest. -
4
High guest turnover multiplies small errors
With dozens of check-ins and check-outs a week, a small mistake in how a payout or a walk-in payment is recorded happens far more often than in a hotel with fewer, larger transactions.
What we doReconciles every payout and cash entry against your booking counts so small errors get caught before they add up.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a hostel.
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
- Dorm bed nightsHostelworld, Booking.com, and direct bookings for shared rooms.
- Private room nightsBookings for the private rooms, priced and tracked apart from dorms.
- Activity commissionsReferral fees from tours, bike rentals, and pub crawls booked through the front desk.
- Bar or cafe salesAny drinks or snacks sold on site, when it applies.
Money out
- Common kitchen suppliesBasic groceries, cookware, and dishes for shared guest use.
- Linens and laundrySheets, towels, and laundry service across a high-turnover property.
- Front desk payrollStaff covering the desk, check-ins, and common area upkeep.
- Booking site commissionsWhat Hostelworld or Booking.com keep before you get paid.
- UtilitiesElectric, water, and internet across shared and private spaces.
- Cleaning and pest controlDaily cleaning of common areas and dorms, plus pest prevention.
What we watch for you
- Bed occupancy rate
Beds filled against beds available, tracked separately from private room occupancy.
- Revenue per bed
What each dorm bed actually earns after booking site commissions.
- Common area cost per guest
What the kitchen and shared spaces cost against how many guests use them.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things hostel 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.
Their commission and a service fee both come out before the payout hits your account. I book the full booking amount as revenue and their cut as a cost, so your numbers are not understated.
No, I keep it separate since it is a referral fee, not a room charge. That way lodging revenue stays honest and you can still see the commission money is real income.
That is above my pay grade to advise on directly, especially with a liquor license involved. I can track the costs and revenue once it starts, and the accountant can weigh in on the setup.
The tax side
The tax side of running a hostel.
Most of what goes wrong here is volume. Dozens of small transactions a week and several kinds of income need to stay sorted, or the return misses deductions hidden in the noise.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- 1099-K from booking sitesHostelworld and Booking.com report payouts on a 1099-K once you cross $20,000 and 200 transactions in a year. Every dollar of bed and room revenue is taxable whether or not a 1099-K arrives.
- Activity commissions are ordinary incomeReferral fees from tour and activity partners are taxable business income, not a pass-through, and should be reported the same as any other revenue the business earns.
- Contractor 1099sA cleaner or laundry service 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 hostel 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 high transaction volume is sorted cleanly all year.
Deductions hostels miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Common kitchen groceries and cookware
- Bunk bed and mattress replacement
- Linens and towel replacement
- Laundry service invoices
- Booking site commissions
- Front desk software
- Lockers and security equipment
- Pest control visits
- Cleaning supplies and equipment
- Guest WiFi service
- Signage and common area furnishings
- Fire and safety inspection fees
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 hostel year, kept every month.
Backpacker season swings hard with school calendars and weather. 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.
- 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.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether peak summer travel season is running ahead of last year.
- October
Before the slow season
Before the quieter months, Gus looks at bunk or kitchen equipment worth replacing before December.
What you get
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 hostels. 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 hostel owners ask first.
Can Gus tell the difference between dorm beds and private rooms in the books?
Yes. He keeps them on separate lines from the start, so you can see which one is filling faster and which actually pays better per night.
We have a lot of small transactions every week. Can Gus keep up?
Yes. High volume is exactly what Gus is built for. He sorts every payout and cash entry the same way, no matter how many there are in a month.
Do tour and activity commissions count as our income?
Yes, they are ordinary business income, just kept on their own line so it is clear the money did not come from a bed being booked.
Our guests are mostly international. Does that change anything?
No. Booking site payouts land in dollars in your account the same way, and Gus books them from your bank statement regardless of where a guest is from.
Our books are a mess from years of DIY spreadsheets. Can Gus fix it?
Yes. Send the statements you have. Gus sorts them, 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.
- Bed & breakfasts
- Country inns & lodges
- Event venues with on-site lodging
- Farm stays
- Independent motels
- Mid-term rental operators (travel nurses)
- Wellness & retreat centers
- Airbnb co-hosting businesses
- Boutique hotels
- Extended stay & corporate housing
- Luxury villa rentals
- Short-term rental hosts (Airbnb / VRBO)
- Short-term rental property managers
- Vacation rental management (beach / mountain)
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