Short‑term rental bookkeeping that explains every payout.
Airbnb, Vrbo and direct bookings reach your bank as lump sums, net of fees and adjustments. MavisWorks breaks those payouts back into reservations, fees and properties, ties them to your PMS and bank, and keeps QuickBooks Online ready for reporting.
Payout breakdown
One channel payout · 3 reservations · 2 properties
| Component | Amount | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Gross booking revenueper channel payout report | 4,860.00 | Tied out |
| Cleaning feesper channel payout report | 540.00 | Tied out |
| Channel host feesper channel payout report | (164.10) | Tied out |
| Refund and adjustmentper adjustment report | (120.00) | Tied out |
| Net payoutper channel payout report | 5,115.90 | Tied out |
| Bank depositper bank statement | 5,115.90 | Tied out |
You are probably here because the bank and the booking reports never quite agree.
Open item: Deposits arrive as one number covering several reservations and properties.
Open item: Payouts are booked as revenue at the net amount, so fees and gross revenue disappear.
Open item: Refunds, cancellations and adjustments land in a different month from the stay.
Open item: The PMS report and the bank are always a little apart.
Open item: Profit by property only exists in a spreadsheet.
Open item: Cleaning, supplies and maintenance costs are not assigned to the right unit.
Net‑payout bookkeeping hides the numbers you run the business on.
When a payout is recorded as a single deposit, gross revenue, channel fees and property performance vanish from your books. Those are the numbers behind pricing, owner reporting and tax preparation, and the mismatches compound every month until year-end cleanup is bigger than the monthly work would have been.
- Revenue you can defend
- Gross revenue and channel fees recorded separately, so reports show what guests paid and what platforms charged.
- Performance by property
- Know which units carry the portfolio and which only look busy.
- Tax time without a rebuild
- Your tax preparer receives organized books instead of a year of lump-sum deposits.
How we keep short‑term rental books
Every payout is traced from the channel to the bank to the property before the month is closed.
Not sure where your gaps are?
Start with a review. We identify what is behind and what doesn't tie out before recommending any ongoing work.
Get a Month-End ReviewStep 1: Collect channel and PMS detail
Payout reports from Airbnb, Vrbo and other channels, plus reservation and owner reports from your PMS.
Step 2: Break each payout into components
Gross rent, cleaning and other fees, channel fees, refunds and adjustments, by reservation and by property.
Step 3: Match payouts to deposits
Each payout is tied to the deposit it arrived in. Timing differences and missing payouts go on the open-items list.
Step 4: Post to QuickBooks by property
Using classes, locations or the structure agreed at onboarding, so reports show performance unit by unit.
Step 5: Close and report
Accounts reconciled, open items cleared or escalated, and the month's property-level reports delivered.
What support can include
Scope is set with you after the review.
- Channel payout breakdown into revenue, fees and adjustments
- Payout-to-deposit matching
- PMS-to-books reconciliation
- Property-level tracking in QuickBooks Online
- Expense coding by property
- Bank and credit card reconciliations
- Monthly close with profit and loss by property
- Owner statement review if you manage units for owners
Every engagement starts with a written scope. Nothing on this list is assumed until we have agreed it with you.
Who this is for
A good fit if
- You operate multiple listings across Airbnb, Vrbo or direct booking
- You use a PMS or channel manager
- You want profit by property, not only in total
- You manage some units for third-party owners
Probably not a fit if
- You have one listing with a handful of bookings a month
- You only need year-end tax filing
- You cannot provide access to channel and PMS reports
Short‑term rental bookkeeping: common questions
Why don't my Airbnb payouts match my bank deposits?
Payouts are net of host fees and adjustments, can combine several reservations, and are released around check-in rather than at booking, so one deposit rarely equals one booking or one calendar month. We break each payout back into its reservations and match it to the deposit.
Do you record revenue gross or net?
Our default is to record gross booking revenue and channel fees separately so reports show what guests paid and what platforms charged. We confirm the treatment with you and your tax preparer during onboarding.
Can you track each property separately?
Yes. In QuickBooks Online we use the structure that fits your reporting, usually classes or locations, set up during onboarding and applied consistently every month.
Which PMS and channels do you work with?
We work from the reports your PMS and channels export. Platforms differ in what they provide, so we confirm your stack during the review. MavisWorks has no formal partnership with any PMS or booking channel.
How is pricing determined?
Pricing is based on the number of listings and channels, transaction volume, bank and card accounts, how current the books are, and the reports you need. After the Month-End Accounting Review you receive a written scope and price before anything starts.
Related support
- Owner statement supportA review layer before statements and distributions go out.
- Monthly close & reportingA documented close calendar, reconciliations and reports on schedule.
- QuickBooks cleanupCatch-up and cleanup for files that are behind or unreliable.
Guide: Why Airbnb and Vrbo payouts don't match your bank deposits
Find out where your payouts and your books part ways.
The Month-End Accounting Review traces a sample of recent payouts through your PMS, bank and QuickBooks and shows what it would take to keep them tied out.
What happens after you ask
Tell us about your month
A short form: your systems, portfolio size and what is not tying out.
Review session
We go through your reconciliations, owner reporting and QuickBooks file with you.
Written scope and price
A recommended path and a price, before any work starts. No commitment to monthly work.