Posted by Managing finances can be a complex task for Airbnb hosts, whether you have one home or a hundred. It’s not just about tracking expenses and income. You want to stay on the right side of the law and also get the maximum tax deduction!
In this article, we look at the top accounting programmes for Airbnb hosts and go over the advantages of implementing this technology to simplify financial administration.
Here are our top tips:
Best overall: Freshbooks
Best features: Quickbooks
Best for remote owners: Xero
Best Free Alternative: Wave
All in one solution: Zoho Books
What is the best Airbnb accounting software?
To simplify the process of tracking every penny, many hosts turn to accounting software built specifically for Airbnb. These programs automate bookkeeping and provide financial insights, allowing hosts to maintain control of their business finances.
Our top pick? Fresh books. Even though Freshbooks meets all the criteria we want, that doesn’t mean there isn’t other software that fits your business needs.
For this article, we reviewed and rated several accounting software platforms. Some are household names (like Quickbooks), others cater specifically to vacation rental companies.
Anyway, we looked at each tool from an Airbnb business owner’s perspective and measured them against a number of criteria:
Cost – How much does it cost? Do the features justify the price?
Features – What can the software do? Does it meet all the host’s requirements?
Usefulness – Is the software easy to use? simple to learn?
Reviews and reputation – What are people saying about the software?
Integrations – Does the software connect to my property management software (PMS)? Or other tools?
FreshBooks is a cloud-based accounting software that can be a great solution for Airbnb owners. It provides an easy-to-use platform for tracking and managing income and expenses, invoicing guests and monitoring project costs. With features like automatic payment reminders and online payment processing.
FreshBooks simplifies the financial management process for Airbnb hosts, saving them valuable time and effort. Additionally, FreshBooks interacts with other programmes and platforms (like Ownerrez and Uplisting), offering it a complete option for Airbnb hosts wishing to simplify their accounting requirements.
Best Features
- Bookkeeping: Automatically tracks and organizes each transaction and helps prepare tax documents in advance.
- Online Payment: Integrates with payment gateways and supports multiple currencies so hosts can easily accept online payments from guests.
- Hosts may manage their funds and keep track of spending using a mobile app.
- Reporting: Provides financial reports and analytics, giving hosts a clear picture of their income and expenses.
- Easy-to-use interface: Has a simple and intuitive interface that makes it easy for hosts to navigate and manage their finances.
Planned price
Freshbooks offers a 30-day free trial. Their plans start at $17/month.
Our recommendation:
Freshbooks is great accounting software for Airbnb owners with any number of listings. The software can scale as many times as you need. It’s affordable, easy to use, and has a number of features that make vacation home billing easy.
Quickbooks is the largest (and most well-known) accounting software on this list, and with good reason. Their software is used in almost every industry and has millions of users. Additionally, it has a truly comprehensive feature set that makes it a versatile solution for small business owners looking to streamline their accounting processes.
In addition, Quickbook’s online features allow you to track income, business expenses, and bank accounts and generate detailed reports from any device. It works just as well on your phone or tablet as it does on a desktop computer.
Best Features
- Complete accounting system: Quickbooks has many tools. So much so that users can handle almost any accounting process.
- Reporting tools and analytics: Analyze the health of your entire organization with detailed reports and customizable analytics dashboards.
- Integrations: Quickbooks has been around for a long time and can be connected to most other Airbnb software programs, such as your favorite PMS or vacation rental channel manager.
Planned price
Quickbooks offers a 30-day free trial. Their plans start at $30 per month. Calculate your Quickbooks costs.
Our Recommendation
Quickbooks is the “Walmart” of accounting software – it has just about every financial reporting, expense tracking, and tax prep tool you could want.
Still, Quickbooks has a learning curve and some complex accounting processes that can make learning daunting. This tool is better suited for people with some accounting knowledge, people who have used accounting software, or people who have a lot of experience tracking the finances of a vacation rental company.
Founded in New Zealand in 2006, Xero has since expanded globally. Xero’s cloud-based accounting solution provides the flexibility many Airbnb owners need to manage their finances, especially if they manage multiple properties or operate across multiple locations.
With features like real-time banking, billing, and expense tracking, Xero can help Airbnb owners manage their income and expenses, track their financial performance, and stay on top of tax compliance. Additionally, Xero connects with other software and tools that Airbnb hosts frequently use, like payment processors and property management programmes, making it a desirable alternative for vacation rentals.
Best Features
- Cloud-based: Xero operates in the cloud, allowing for seamless collaboration and anytime, anywhere access to financial data.
- Real-time integration of bank account flows is provided through bank connectivity, providing automatic and safe financial transaction updates.
- Multi-Currency Support: Do you have properties in different countries? Xero allows businesses to manage multiple currencies on a single platform.
Planned price
Xero offers a 30-day free trial. Their plans start at $13 per month. Calculate your Xero costs.
Our Recommendation
For owners with rental units spread across several states or nations (this may be true for jurisdictions with various tax rules), Xero is the finest Airbnb accounting software. Multi-currency support and tax compliance features simplify a potential accounting nightmare.
Wave, which was introduced in 2010 as free accounting software for small businesses, quickly grew to more than three million active customers.What is even more impressive? Only two people have Wave!
Wave accounting software is equipped with high-quality features. Wave’s invoicing feature enables automatic payment tracking, receipt scanning helps track expenses, financial reporting provides insight into income and expenses, and the payroll solution makes it easy to pay employees and contractors.
It’s also the only 100% free vacation rental accounting software on this list.
Best Features
- Free: Wave is available to companies of all sizes because it is cost-free.
- Automated invoice and receipt scanning: This helps streamline the accounting process and saves time.
Planned price
Wave’s accounting software is free.
Note: Wave charges a small fee for payroll service AND payment processing. However, this “execution” fee structure is standard practice for any program that processes online payments or payroll functions.
Our Recommendation
For individuals who are new to Airbnb accounting or the vacation rental sector in general, Wave is a fantastic accounting programme. Plus, you can spend the money you save on accounting software on more important things like insuring your vacation home or furniture.
Zoho Books makes it easy to track your rental income and expenses related to your Airbnb listing. The intuitive user interface makes it easy to categorize income streams, record rent payments and record expenses such as cleaning costs, maintenance costs and utilities. This will help you maintain accurate financial records and get a clear picture of your property’s profitability.
Best Features
- Optimized recording of income and expenses
- Automated invoicing
- Integration of payment processing
- bank reconciliation
- Tax management and reporting
- Integration with property management systems
- Collaboration and access control
- Mobile app for on-the-go management
- Customizable financial reports
- Support for multiple currencies.
Planned price
Zoho Books isn’t completely free, its pricing plans provide flexibility and affordability to efficiently manage your Airbnb business’ accounting needs.
Free Trial: Start with a 14-day free trial to explore the software’s features.
Our Recommendation
Zoho Books is a great choice for Airbnb hosts looking for reliable and efficient accounting software. With its extensive features, affordable prices, and easy-to-use interface, Zoho Books simplifies the financial management of your Airbnb business.
Whether you’re new to Airbnb accounting or experienced in the vacation rental industry, Zoho Books provides the necessary tools to streamline your accounting processes. When you choose Zoho Books, you can use the money you save with accounting software for other important aspects of your Airbnb business.
Such as insuring vacation rentals or improving the quality of the interior design. This allows you to invest in improving the guest experience and protecting your property while maintaining accurate and organized financial records.
Conclusion:
Effective financial management is essential for Airbnb hosts to track income, manage expenses and stay on top of taxes. The best accounting software options, including QuickBooks Online, Xero, Wave, FreshBooks and Zoho Books, offer comprehensive features tailored to the needs of Airbnb businesses.
Whether you’re tracking rental income, managing expenses, creating professional invoices or creating insightful financial reports, these software solutions provide efficient and easy-to-use platforms to streamline financial operations.
By choosing the right accounting software, Airbnb hosts can save time, reduce manual errors, and gain valuable insight into their business finances to make better decisions and thrive in the long term.