Lodging & short-term rentals
Books and taxes for travel nurse housing operators.
A 13-week booking through Furnished Finder, a direct deposit from a nurse instead of a booking site payout, far fewer turnovers than a nightly rental, and utilities you cover for the length of the assignment. 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
April came in at $4,600. All three units are on assignment-length stays right now, so there was no turnover cleaning at all this month, just utilities and the usual carrying costs.
- Furnished Finder booking paymentAssignment stay revenue
- Direct deposit, nurse tenantAssignment stay revenue
- Bundled utilities, three unitsUtilities
- Furniture Finder listing feeListing fees
- HVAC service call, unit 2Repairs
Why your books are different
A travel nurse housing operator's books go wrong in the same few places.
Your guests stay for weeks at a time, not nights, and many pay you directly instead of through a booking site payout. A generalist expects nightly turnover and booking site deposits. Your business needs assignment-length stays and direct payments tracked their own way, or the numbers never quite match what actually happened.
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1
Direct payments do not come with a clean paper trail
A nurse paying rent by bank transfer or a payment app does not generate the same automatic record a booking site payout does, and without a habit of logging it, income can slip through unrecorded.
What we doBuilds a simple habit of recording every direct payment the week it arrives, so nothing depends on remembering it months later. -
2
Low turnover means costs cluster differently
A unit occupied for 13 weeks straight has almost no cleaning cost most months, then a cluster of turnover cleaning, minor repairs, and re-listing costs all at once when the assignment ends.
What we doTracks turnover costs against actual vacancy, so a quiet month with no turnover and a busy transition month both read as expected. -
3
Furnished Finder fees work differently than a nightly booking site
Furnished Finder generally charges a listing fee rather than a per-booking commission, which changes how a listing's true cost per stay should be calculated compared with a nightly rental.
What we doTracks listing fees on their own line rather than trying to force them into a per-booking commission model that does not fit. -
4
A tenant on a long stay can start to look like a lease
A stay of 13 weeks or longer, especially if it gets extended, can shift how the arrangement is treated for local landlord-tenant and occupancy tax purposes compared with a typical short-term stay.
What we doTracks each stay's length and flags longer or extended stays for the accountant, so the arrangement is not assumed to be a standard short-term rental by default.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a travel nurse housing operator.
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
- Assignment stay revenueRent from Furnished Finder bookings and direct nurse payments.
- Extension paymentsAdditional rent when a nurse extends her assignment and her stay.
- Damage chargesFees kept from a deposit for actual damage, once it is kept.
- Pet feesAdditional charges for tenants bringing pets during an assignment.
Money out
- UtilitiesElectric, water, gas, and internet, often bundled into the rent.
- Listing feesFurnished Finder and similar listing costs, generally flat rather than per booking.
- Turnover cleaningCleaning between assignments, far less frequent than a nightly rental.
- Furniture and repairsFurniture wear and unit repairs between tenants.
- Property carrying costsMortgage, insurance, and HOA fees on each unit.
- Renters insurance ridersCoverage specific to furnished mid-term rental use.
What we watch for you
- Occupancy rate
Weeks occupied against weeks available, tracked by assignment length rather than by night.
- Average assignment length
How long stays typically run, useful for planning turnover and cash flow between tenants.
- Turnover cost per vacancy
What each gap between assignments costs in cleaning, repairs, and re-listing.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things travel nurse housing operators 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.
Yes, it is income either way. I log direct payments the week they arrive so there is a clear record, the same as a booking site payout.
Not at all, that is the normal pattern for assignment-length stays. I track turnover costs against actual vacancy, so a quiet month reads as expected, not a red flag.
It might, since a stay that long can shift how it is treated locally. I flagged the length so the accountant can take a look at whether anything about the arrangement needs to change.
The tax side
The tax side of housing travel nurses.
Most of what goes wrong here is direct payments without a paper trail and stays long enough to blur into a lease. Both get cleaner once every payment is logged and stay length is tracked all year.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Direct payments are still taxable incomeRent paid by bank transfer or a payment app is taxable the same as a booking site payout, whether or not it comes with an automatic record. Gus builds a habit of logging it the week it arrives.
- Longer stays may shift local treatmentA stay of many weeks or months, especially with extensions, can affect how occupancy tax and local landlord rules apply compared with a typical short-term rental. Gus flags longer stays so the accountant can review them.
- Bonus depreciation on furnitureFurniture and appliances for furnished units can often be written off in full in the year placed in service, with bonus depreciation at 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- The pass-through deductionMost profitable operators 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 direct payments and stay lengths are tracked cleanly all year.
Deductions mid-term rental operators for travel nurses miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Furniture and mattress replacement
- Turnover cleaning between assignments
- Bundled utility costs
- Furnished Finder listing fees
- Renters insurance riders
- HVAC and appliance repairs
- Linens and kitchenware
- Locksmith and rekeying costs
- Mileage between units
- Internet and cable service
- Pest control between tenants
- Local business license 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 travel nurse housing year, kept every month.
Assignment cycles often follow hospital staffing seasons rather than typical vacation timing. 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 summer assignment turnover is running ahead of or behind last year.
- October
Before year end
A look at furniture or unit upgrades worth doing before December, and how the year will close.
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 mid-term rental operators for travel nurses. 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 travel nurse housing operators ask first.
Some nurses pay me directly instead of through Furnished Finder. Does Gus handle that?
Yes. Direct payments are logged the week they arrive, the same as a booking site payout, so nothing depends on remembering it later.
My units sit occupied for months with no turnover. Will a quiet month look wrong?
No. Gus tracks turnover costs against actual vacancy, so a stretch with no cleaning or repair costs reads as the normal pattern for assignment-length stays, not a warning sign.
Furnished Finder charges a listing fee, not a booking commission. Does Gus track that differently?
Yes. Listing fees are kept on their own line rather than treated like a per-booking commission, since that is not how the fee actually works.
One tenant has extended her stay twice and is approaching seven months. Does that matter for taxes?
It can, since a stay that long may shift how it is treated locally. Gus flags longer or extended stays so the accountant can look at whether anything changes.
My books are just a spreadsheet of Venmo and Furnished Finder payments. Can Gus organize that?
Yes. Send what you have. Gus sorts it, the accountant checks it, and most operators 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.
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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