Studios and property
Bookkeeping for vacation rental hosts
Florida's coast is full of short-term rentals. Each one is a small business with platform payouts, cleaners, taxes and a mortgage. Your books should show how each is doing.
Updated October 4, 2026
In short
Vacation rental hosts get paid through Airbnb, Vrbo or a booking site, in payouts that mix nightly rent, cleaning fees, platform fees and sometimes taxes. Florida short stays carry state sales tax and county tourist development tax. We split payouts apart, track taxes by property, and give you a profit and loss for each rental. Most hosts with a few properties fit Simple or Moderate.
How the money moves
How money comes in and goes out
Each booking pays out after check-in: rent plus cleaning fee, minus the platform's service fee. Platforms collect and remit some Florida rental taxes on hosts' behalf in many counties, but not always all of them, and direct bookings are on you.
Costs are cleaning, supplies, utilities, internet and streaming, repairs, HOA fees, insurance, property tax and the mortgage, plus furnishing and storm prep that arrive in big lumps.
Common problems
Where the books usually go wrong
Payouts that bundle everything
One payout can hold several bookings, cleaning fees and fees. Without splitting, you can't see what each property earns.
Which taxes the platform paid
If a platform remits some taxes and you owe others, you need clean records of both.
Furnishing and repairs
A new sofa, a replaced AC and a roof all get treated differently from routine cleaning. Your accountant needs them separated.
Every month
What we do every month
- Split each payout into rent, cleaning fees, platform fees and taxes
- Track Florida sales and tourist development taxes by property
- Record direct bookings and their taxes separately
- Categorize cleaning, supplies, repairs and furnishing purchases
- Report profit and occupancy-driven revenue for each property
A month of books, for example
A host runs two condos on the beach, one on Airbnb and one on Vrbo plus a few direct bookings. Each month we'd split the payouts, show which taxes each platform remitted and which the host owes on direct bookings, and give her a profit and loss per condo. One of them turns out to earn about 40% more after cleaning costs.
Illustrative example, not a client story.
Getting started
What we need from you
- Access to your Airbnb and Vrbo earnings reports
- Statements for any direct-booking payment tool
- Your county's tourist tax account details, if you file directly
Software and statements we work from
- Airbnb
- Vrbo
- Booking.com
- Hospitable
- OwnerRez
- Stripe
- QuickBooks Online
Price
What it costs
Hosts with one to three properties usually fit Simple, $200 to $400 a month. Larger portfolios, separate LLCs or co-hosting setups move into Moderate.
One flat monthly price, set after the free review. See the pricing guide or estimate your tier.
Questions
Common questions
Does Airbnb pay my Florida taxes for me?
Platforms collect and remit some Florida taxes in many counties, but it varies, and direct bookings are always on you. We track both so your returns are right; your accountant or the county can confirm what you owe.
Do you file the tourist development tax return?
We keep the numbers ready. Filing we'd discuss in the review.
Can you track several properties separately?
Yes. Each property gets its own profit and loss.
Do you work with co-hosts or property managers?
Yes. We reconcile their statements and fees just like platform payouts.
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