Lodging & short-term rentals

Books and taxes for short-term rental property managers.

Booking payouts for a dozen owners' properties, your management fee taken off the top, cleaner and maintenance bills paid on their behalf, and owner statements due every month. 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
AugustExample month
$22,800
what you made

August came in at $22,800 in company earnings. That is your management fee across all fourteen properties, kept apart from the owner rent that passed through your account.

  • Guesty payout batchOwner rental income
  • Management fees earnedCompany revenue
  • Owner disbursement, Miller propertyOwner payouts
  • Cleaning crew, weekly invoiceCleaning cost
  • Hostaway subscriptionSoftware
Money in$94,600
Money out$71,800
Set aside for taxes$4,900
An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

A property manager's books go wrong in the same few places.

You are holding other people's money most of every month, not just earning your own. A generalist runs it all through one account. Your business needs owner rent and your own fee income kept strictly apart, or you cannot tell what the company actually earned.

  1. 1

    Owner rent is not company revenue

    Booking payouts for properties you manage belong to the owners, minus your fee, not to your company. Running it all through one account as sales overstates what the business earned by a wide margin.

    What we doSeparates each owner's rental income from your management fee, so your company's real revenue is never confused with money you are only holding.
  2. 2

    Owner statements need to match the books exactly

    An owner expecting a monthly statement of what their property earned and what was spent on their behalf will notice fast if the numbers do not match your own records.

    What we doKeeps each property's income and expenses tracked individually, so owner statements and your books tell the same story.
  3. 3

    Cleaner and maintenance bills paid on an owner's behalf are not your cost

    When you pay a cleaner or a repair bill out of an owner's rental income before disbursing the rest, that expense belongs to the owner's property, not to your company's own costs.

    What we doTracks vendor payments by which owner's property they belong to, so your company's true operating costs stay separate from pass-through expenses.
  4. 4

    Your management fee percentage hides inside gross bookings

    If fee income and gross rental income sit in one pile, you cannot easily tell whether your fee percentage is actually covering what it costs to run the business.

    What we doBooks your management fee on its own line so you can see it against your real payroll and software costs.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for a short-term rental manager.

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

  • Owner rental incomeBooking payouts belonging to the property owners you manage.
  • Company revenueYour management fee, kept apart from owner rent.
  • Onboarding and setup feesAny one-time fee charged when a new owner joins.
  • Referral or listing bonusesIncentives from booking sites for meeting volume thresholds.

Money out

  • Owner payoutsRent disbursed to each property owner after fees and expenses.
  • Cleaning costCleaning crews paid across all managed properties.
  • Software subscriptionsGuesty, Hostaway, or a similar system, plus pricing tools.
  • PayrollStaff coordinating bookings, guest communication, and maintenance.
  • Maintenance and repairsVendor bills for upkeep across managed properties.
  • Marketing and photographyListing photos and ads to bring in new owner clients.

What we watch for you

  • Management fee margin

    Your fee income against payroll and software costs, the clearest read on whether the business itself is profitable.

  • Owner payout accuracy

    Every owner's disbursement matched against their property's actual income and expenses.

  • Portfolio occupancy

    Booked nights across all managed properties, useful for spotting a property that is underperforming.

  • The set-aside

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

Ask Gus

Things short-term rental managers 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.

An owner asked why their statement doesn't match what I told them verbally last week. What happened?

I keep each property's numbers tracked individually as bookings and expenses come in, so the statement should always match the books. Send me the specific property and I will check where the difference is.

Does the rent I collect for owners count as my company's income?

No. I keep owner rental income separate from your management fee, so your company's real revenue is only what you actually earned, not what passed through on its way to an owner.

We're thinking about raising our management fee percentage. Can you tell me what it costs to run each property?

I can show you cleaning, maintenance, and software costs per property from the books. Deciding on a new fee structure is above my pay grade, but the accountant can help you think through the numbers.

The tax side

The tax side of running a property management company.

Most of what goes wrong here is treating pass-through owner money like company income. Once trust-style accounting is in place, the return reflects what the company actually earned.

What your return has to get right

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

  • Only your fee is company incomeRent collected on behalf of property owners is not your business's taxable income, only the management fee you keep is. Gus separates the two from the start so the return is not overstated.
  • Contractor 1099s for cleaners and vendorsA cleaner, landscaper, or maintenance vendor not on payroll paid $2,000 or more in 2026 by your company gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps the list all year.
  • Worker classification for coordinatorsA booking coordinator or guest communication staffer who works your schedule and uses your systems usually looks like an employee, not a contractor, even if paid per property managed.
  • The pass-through deductionMost profitable management companies 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 owner and company money are never mixed.

Deductions short-term rental property managers miss

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

  • Property management software
  • Pricing and calendar tools
  • Listing photography
  • Marketing to new property owners
  • Payroll for booking coordinators
  • Mileage between managed properties
  • Business liability insurance
  • Owner onboarding materials
  • Office or coworking space
  • Phone and communication tools
  • Bookkeeping and accounting fees
  • 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 property manager's year, kept every month.

Peak booking season varies across a portfolio spread over different markets. 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, vendor 1099s go out, 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 new owner onboarding this year is changing the fee revenue picture.

  4. October

    Before year end

    A look at software or equipment purchases worth making before December, and how the portfolio's growth is shaping the year.

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 short-term rental property managers. 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 property managers ask first.

Can Gus keep each property owner's numbers separate?

Yes. Every managed property's rental income and expenses are tracked individually, so owner statements always match your company's own records.

Does the rent I collect for owners count toward our company's revenue?

No. Only your management fee counts as company revenue. Gus keeps owner rental income separate so your books never overstate what the business actually earned.

We manage properties across several booking systems. Can Gus handle that?

Yes. Gus works from your bank statements and payout reports regardless of which system each property runs through, and asks once when something is unclear.

How does Gus handle a cleaner who works across multiple owners' properties?

The cleaner's pay is tracked against each property it applies to, and if you pay them $2,000 or more in 2026, they get a single 1099-NEC from your company by January 31.

Our books currently mix owner money with our own. Can that be fixed?

Yes. Send the statements you have. Gus separates owner rent from your fee income going forward, the accountant checks it, and most managers 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