Airbnb Trust Accounting for Property Managers: QuickBooks Accounting for Airbnb

Airbnb Quickbooks Templates
Trust Accounting

Who should read this guide?

This guide explains how to manage Airbnb trust accounting in QuickBooks for property managers who use a trust account to collect funds on behalf of property owners. It provides a comprehensive accounting method designed for those who must follow strict state or local regulations governing trust accounts. A trust account is a dedicated bank or financial institution account used by licensed property managers or real estate brokers to hold owner funds securely and separately from operating funds.

For the purposes of this guide, we assume that QuickBooks Online is your bookkeeping system and that all funds collected by Airbnb are deposited directly into your trust bank account. We also assume that you maintain a separate bank account for your general business operations.

NOTE: In this guide, we only cover income accounting, not costs. For a guide about Airbnb costs and chart of accounts to consider, check out this guide instead: Airbnb Costs and Chart of Accounts to Consider

SKIP TO TEMPLATE

Table of Contents

What you’ll get from this guide:

  1. QuickBooks Chart of Accounts Template for Airbnb Trust Accounting
  2. Learn How to Automate Airbnb Trust Accounting with Tallybreeze
  3. Execute Common Transaction Workflows in QuickBooks
  4. Generate Monthly Reports in QuickBooks

Cash Flow Diagram

Airbnb Trust Accounting for Property Managers Cash Flow Diagram

Who should not read this guide?

There are other business models that may be a better fit for your specific situation, and these are explained in more detail in the following guides:

Trust Accounting vs Accounting for your Business

As part of Airbnb trust accounting, you, the property manager, act in a fiduciary role as a custodian of funds on behalf of property owners. Any money you handle for an owner is considered to be held in trust (What is a trust account?). Because of this, many jurisdictions impose specific accounting and reporting requirements for trust accounts. Even if your state does not mandate these rules, it is still a best practice to operate as though the requirements apply.

Why take this approach? Proper Airbnb trust accounting provides maximum transparency to your owners. Owners value transparency, and it builds confidence in your services. The more your owners trust you, the more likely they are to recommend you to others, which ultimately helps your business grow.

Three-Way Trust Reconciliation

The proper reconciliation method for Airbnb trust accounting is known as the three-way trust reconciliation process. This process requires three separate records to match exactly during reconciliation: the trust ledger, the stakeholder ledgers, and the trust bank statement (Source).

  • The trust ledger: This is the record of all transactions within the trust account, which you will track in QuickBooks Online. In our chart of accounts template, the trust ledger corresponds to the Trust Account Liability.
  • The stakeholder ledgers: These ledgers take the trust ledger one step further by assigning each transaction to a specific stakeholder and grouping all trust account activity associated with that individual stakeholder. In our chart of accounts template, under the Trust Account Liability, we separate two primary stakeholders: Owner Funds and Property Management Funds. We also use class categories in QuickBooks Online to further distinguish funds for each owner.
  • The trust bank statement: This statement is issued by the bank where the trust account is held and provides third-party verification of all transactions posted to the trust account.

During reconciliation, the trust bank statement balance must match both the trust ledger and the combined balances of all stakeholder ledgers. This requirement is what makes it a ‘three-way reconciliation.’

Accounting for your Property Mangement Business

In addition to reconciling the trust ledger and each stakeholder ledger, the property manager must also reconcile their own company ledgers. Property management funds are held in the trust account and are eventually transferred from the trust bank account to the property manager’s operating bank account. This process will be explained in detail later in the guide.

Accordingly, our template is organized into three main sections: Trust Account Asset, Trust Account Liability, and Property Management Revenue. These sections represent the following:

  • Trust Account Asset: This account tracks the amount owed to the property management company from the trust account and should always match the Property Management Funds total within the Trust Account Liability.
  • Trust Account Liability: This is the trust ledger discussed above.
  • Property Mgmt Revenue: This account tracks all earnings of the property management company, including revenue generated from the trust account.

QuickBooks Chart of Accounts Template for Airbnb Trust Accounting

Building on the previous sections, this part of the guide explains our chart of accounts template in detail. It is presented in the same structure used in QuickBooks, with parent categories and their respective subcategories shown below:

Account Codes

No. AccountType
12000Trust Account AssetAsset
12100Trust Account Asset: Property Mgmt Funds ReservedAsset
12200Trust Account Asset: Property Mgmt Funds ReceivableAsset
23000Trust Account LiabilityLiability
23100Trust Account Liability: Property Mgmt FundsLiability
23120Trust Account Liability: Property Mgmt Funds: Property Mgmt Funds ReservedLiability
23140Trust Account Liability: Property Mgmt Funds: Property Mgmt Funds PayableLiability
23300Trust Account Liability: Owner FundsLiability
23310Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Owner Funds ReservedLiability
23320Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb CollectionsLiability
23330Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections: Accommodation FareLiability
23340Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections: Cleaning FeesLiability
23350Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections: Resolution AdjustmentsLiability
23360Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections: Airbnb Service FeesLiability
23370Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections: RefundsLiability
23380Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections: Custom Taxes PayableLiability
23390Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections: Tax WithholdingsLiability
23400Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections: Airbnb Suspense AccountLiability
23500Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Less Amounts Due to Property MgmtLiability
23600Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Less Owner PayoutsLiability
41000Property Mgmt RevenueRevenue
41100Property Mgmt Revenue: Airbnb CommissionsRevenue
41200Property Mgmt Revenue: Airbnb Cleaning FeesRevenue
IMPORT TEMPLATE

NOTE: In this guide, we only cover income accounting, not costs. For a guide about Airbnb costs and chart of accounts to consider, check out this guide instead: Airbnb Costs and Chart of Accounts to Consider

Detailed Explanation of Accounts

Click to expand and learn more about any particular account.

Trust Account Asset

12000 – Trust Account Asset – This account balance should always match “23100 – Trust Account Liability: Property Mgmt Funds”. This is the account for all trust account portions allocated to the property management company in the trust account.

12100 – Trust Account Asset: Property Mgmt Funds Reserved – This account balance should always match “23120 – Trust Account Liability: Property Mgmt Funds: Property Mgmt Funds Reserved”. This account tracks amounts allocated to the property management company in the trust account but are held in reserve within the trust account for funding any issues needing to be paid by the property management company. For example, if you provide a refund to a guest because of something at the fault of the property management company (e.g. to reimburse on a complaint for an unclean listing), this amount should be paid out of the property management company portion of the trust account.

12200 – Trust Account Asset: Property Mgmt Funds Receivable – This account balance should always match “23140 – Trust Account Liability: Property Mgmt Funds: Property Mgmt Funds Payable”. This account tracks amounts due to the property management company from the trust account.

Trust Account Liability

23000 – Trust Account Liability – This account is the trust ledger for three-way trust reconciliation. This account balance, which includes all balances of its child accounts, should match the trust bank account statement balance during reconciliation. This is a ledger of all the transactions flowing into and out of the trust account.

23100 – Trust Account Liability: Property Mgmt Funds – This account is a stakeholder ledger within the trust ledger for three-way trust reconciliation. Also, this ledger balance should always match “12000 – Trust Account Asset”. This stakeholder ledger is specifically for the property management company. This is the account for all trust account portions allocated to the property management company in the trust account.

23120 – Trust Account Liability: Property Mgmt Funds: Property Mgmt Funds Reserved – This account balance should always match “12100 – Trust Account Asset: Property Mgmt Funds Reserved”. This account tracks amounts allocated to the property management company in the trust account but are held in reserve within the trust account for funding any issues needing to be paid by the property management company. For example, if you provide a refund to a guest because of something at the fault of the property management company (e.g. to reimburse on a complaint for an unclean listing), this amount should be paid out of the property management company portion of the trust account.

23140 – Trust Account Liability: Property Mgmt Funds: Property Mgmt Funds Payable – This account balance should always match “12200 – Trust Account Asset: Property Mgmt Funds Receivable”. This account tracks amounts due to the property management company from the trust account.

23300 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds – This account is a stakeholder ledger within the trust ledger for three-way trust reconciliation. This stakeholder ledger is specifically for all owners grouped together. Transactions in this ledger should be further classified for each individual owner by the use of class categories within QuickBooks.

23310 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Owner Funds Reserved – This account tracks amounts allocated to owners in the trust account held in reserve. Rather than being paid out to owners, these amounts are held for funding property maintenance from the trust account.

23320 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections – This account tracks all amounts collected from Airbnb in the trust account.

23330 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections: Accommodation Fare – This account tracks the accommodation fare portion of each Airbnb reservation. The accommodation fare is equal to the number of nights multiplied by the average nightly rate of each reservation.

23340 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections: Cleaning Fees – This account tracks the cleaning fee portion of each Airbnb reservation.

23350 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections: Resolution Adjustments – This account tracks any resolution adjustments collected from Airbnb.

23360 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections: Airbnb Service Fees – This account tracks service fee costs from Airbnb for each reservation, which is subtracted from Airbnb collections.

23370 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections: Refunds – This account tracks refunds executed by Airbnb, which is subtracted from Airbnb collections.

23380 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections: Custom Taxes Payable – This account tracks any custom taxes collected from Airbnb and payable to a tax authority from the trust account.

23390 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections: Tax Withholdings – This account tracks any taxes withheld by Airbnb for income tax obligations. This is very rare and usually due to the Airbnb account holder lacking tax identification information. Ideally, this account should not contain any balance and is seldom (if ever) used. To avoid income tax withholdings from Airbnb, be sure to update your Airbnb account with your tax identification information and verify your account.

23400 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections: Airbnb Suspense Account – This account tracks any income or refund events from Airbnb not tied to any particular reservation or listing. For example, on rare occasions if you receive a credit from Airbnb for referring another host or if you purchase photography from Airbnb. When there’s no associated reservation related to the transaction, there’s no particular listing rules to handle the amounts in Tallybreeze.

23500 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Less Amounts Due to Property Mgmt – This account tracks any amounts subtracted from the owner’s portion of the trust account to pay the property management company.

23600 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Less Owner Payouts – This account tracks any amounts subtracted from the owner’s portion of the trust account to pay the owners.

Property Mgmt Revenue

41000 – Property Mgmt Revenue – This account, along with its child accounts, tracks property management revenues received from the trust account as an income to the property management company.

41100 – Property Mgmt Revenue: Airbnb Commissions – This account tracks Airbnb commissions earned by the property management company.

41200 – Property Mgmt Revenue: Airbnb Cleaning Fees – This account tracks Airbnb cleaning fees earned by the property management company.

Accounts not included in this template

For the scope of this guide, we’re mainly focused on Airbnb revenue recognition and movements within the trust account. It is important to point out that our template does not include many general accounts. We also make reference to some accounts not include in this particular template, which we’ll list here:

  • 11000 – Airbnb Payment Clearing Account – This account is created by Tallybreeze but is not included in this template in particular. This account is used to apply payments to Airbnb invoices upon the day the Airbnb reservation payout is posted. Payouts can take 3-5 days (or longer) to arrive in the bank account after posted from Airbnb. Monies owed are held in this clearing account until the payouts are received in the bank. This account also helps to automate the reconciliation process in QuickBooks.
  • 1XXXX – Trust Bank Account – This is a bank account set up with your financial institution for funds held in trust. It’s a cash asset account solely for the management of owner funds as part of the three-way reconciliation process.
  • 1XXXX – Operations Bank Account – This is a separate bank account set up with your financial institution. It’s a cash asset account to facilitate your Airbnb property management company’s day-to-day business operations.
  • 4XXXX – Billable Expenses Income – This is a general account for capturing income received for the payment of billable expenses by owners, which may include a markup.
  • 7XXXX – Billable Expenses – This is a general account for tracking billable expenses for any owners.

Quick Setup Steps

Here’s how to import the above chart of accounts template. All of the accounts discussed in this article can be imported into QuickBooks automatically using Tallybreeze’s setup tools. Here’s how to access this utility…

  1. If you haven’t already, Sign Up to Tallybreeze. It includes free use of this template.
  2. Once registered, go to the Connections manager in Tallybreeze. Connect your Airbnb account, connect your QuickBooks Online account and then create a connection between the two.
  3. Within the Connection settings, select “Set Up QuickBooks”
  4. Select your business model from the drop-down list at the top and select “Import Template to QuickBooks”.
SET UP QUICKBOOKS

Automate Airbnb Trust Accounting

Every reservation received from Airbnb can be reconciled automatically, and in great detail, using Tallybreeze. In addition, all property management commissions can be split and allocated instantly using proper Airbnb trust accounting practices. In this section, we’ll discuss how Tallybreeze automates Airbnb reservation accounting, along with the presets it provides for Airbnb trust accounting that align with the chart of accounts described above.

Tallybreeze connects Airbnb to QuickBooks and processes accounting data for each reservation. Within Tallybreeze, you can set specific accounting rules for each listing. When a reservation is received from Airbnb, Tallybreeze can automatically create an invoice in QuickBooks Online with all trust account allocations applied, including Airbnb collections, property management commissions, cleaning fee distributions, and any other required splits.

Tallybreeze Listing Presets for Airbnb Trust Accounting

In Tallybreeze, once you’ve connected your Airbnb and QuickBooks accounts, you’ll be guided through setting up the Airbnb trust accounting rules for each listing. When you edit the rules for a specific listing, Tallybreeze provides preset options based on our chart of accounts template, allowing for a quick and efficient setup. These presets are organized into three groups: Lines 1–6, Lines 7–10, and Lines 11–14.

Airbnb Trust Accounting for Property Managers Automation Tallybreeze Presets
Explanation of Preset Lines

Click to expand and learn more about each preset.

Lines 1-6: All amounts received by Airbnb are 100% allocated to the owner in the trust account

Lines 7-10: A 20% commission is received from the owner to the property manager

Lines 11-14: The entire Airbnb cleaning fee is received from the owner to the property manager

Example Reservation

Let’s say you’ve configured Tallybreeze for this listing using the preset settings above. Now imagine Airbnb sends a payout for a reservation with the following itinerary price items:

  • Accommodation Fare: $2000
  • Cleaning Fee: $300
  • Airbnb Service Fee: -$60
  • Airbnb Transient Occupancy Taxes: $200
  • Reservation Total: $2440

First, Tallybreeze records all income received from Airbnb, separating each price item. The total amount due from Airbnb for this reservation is $2,440, which is allocated to the Airbnb Payment Clearing Account and later reconciled with the corresponding bank deposit.

AccountDebitCredit
23330 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections: Accommodation Fare$2000
23340 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections: Cleaning Fees$300
23360 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections: Airbnb Service Fees$60
23380 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections: Custom Taxes Payable$200
11000 – Airbnb Payment Clearing Account (Asset)$2440

Next, Tallybreeze calculates 20% of the accommodation fare ($2,000 × 20% = $400). It then reallocates this amount as payable from the trust account and records it as revenue receivable by the property management company:

AccountDebitCredit
23500 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Less Amounts Due to Property Mgmt$400
23140 – Trust Account Liability: Property Mgmt Funds: Property Mgmt Funds Payable$400
12200 – Trust Account Asset: Property Mgmt Funds Receivable$400
41100 – Property Mgmt Revenue: Airbnb Commissions$400

Then, Tallybreeze allocates 100% of the Cleaning Fee ($400) as payable from the trust account and records it as revenue receivable by the property management company:

AccountDebitCredit
23500 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Less Amounts Due to Property Mgmt$300
23140 – Trust Account Liability: Property Mgmt Funds: Property Mgmt Funds Payable$300
12200 – Trust Account Asset: Property Mgmt Funds Receivable$300
41100 – Property Mgmt Revenue: Airbnb Cleaning Fees$300

Finally, on the date the reservation payout is deposited by Airbnb into the Trust Bank Account (typically 3 to 5 days later), a bank rule in QuickBooks can automatically reconcile the deposit to the Airbnb Payment Clearing Account:

AccountDebitCredit
1XXXX – Trust Bank Account$2440
11000 – Airbnb Payment Clearing Account (Asset)$2440

Set Invoice Customer & Class Categories

Finally, in your Tallybreeze listing rules, we recommend setting the owner as the customer on the invoice. We also suggest assigning the class category for each line item as ‘Owner Name: Listing Address.’ To do this, create two class categories in QuickBooks for the listing: one parent class for the owner and one sub-class for the listing address.

Airbnb Trust Accounting for Property Managers QuickBooks Class Categories

Automate Additional Bills & Invoices (Optional)

With Tallybreeze, you’re also able to automate the creation of additional bills and invoices for each reservation. Consider the following:

  • Create a bill to set payouts payable to the property owner for each reservation.
  • Create a bill to set amounts payable to a tax authority for each reservation.
  • Create a bill to set amounts payable to a cleaning service for turnover of each reservation.
  • Create additional invoice to set amounts receivable by any third party for each reservation.

Quick Setup Steps

All of the above settings can be quickly set up using Tallybreeze’s presets for your listings. Here’s how to set up these presets…

  1. If you haven’t already, Sign Up to Tallybreeze.
  2. After logging into Tallybreeze, set up your connections, then go to Listing Rules.
  3. Select any listing you’d like to automate that hasn’t already been set up.
  4. Select “Load Presets”.
  5. Select your business model from the options.

From here, presets will be loaded as your listing accounting rules and you can edit as needed.

SET UP AIRBNB ACCOUNTING

Execute Common Transaction Workflows in QuickBooks for Airbnb Trust Accounting

In this section, we outline the common transaction workflows required for Airbnb trust accounting and property management.

Paying the Property Manager (yourself) from the Trust Account

Over the course of a month, an accumulation of commissions occur. The first common transaction workflow to mention is paying yourself, the property manager, from the Trust Bank Account. Assuming you’ve reconciled any expenses, the amount to be paid can be found in the balance sheet under Property Mgmt Funds Payable and Property Mgmt Funds Receivable (both of these account balances should match).

Over the course of a month, property management commissions accumulate. The first common transaction workflow to address is paying yourself, the property manager, from the Trust Bank Account. After reconciling any related expenses, the amount you should receive can be found on the balance sheet under Property Management Funds Payable and Property Management Funds Receivable, these two account balances should always match.

Example Transaction

You, as the Airbnb property management company, have $10,000 recorded in the Property Management Funds Receivable account for the owner, Kim Sorreno, related to the listing at 462 Atlas Way. You now want to pay yourself this amount from the trust account.

First, initiate the transfer between your bank accounts at your financial institution. Once the transfer has posted, record the outgoing transaction from the Trust Bank Account using the following entry:

DebitCreditClass Category
1XXXX – Trust Bank Account (Asset)$10,000Kim Sorreno: 462 Atlas Way
23140 – Trust Account Liability: Property Mgmt Funds: Property Mgmt Funds Payable$10,000Kim Sorreno: 462 Atlas Way

Next, record the incoming transaction to your Operating Bank Account with the following entry:

DebitCreditClass Category
1XXXX – Operations Bank Account (Asset)$10,000Kim Sorreno: 462 Atlas Way
12200 – Trust Account Asset: Property Mgmt Funds Receivable$10,000Kim Sorreno: 462 Atlas Way

Detailed instructions for QuickBooks Online

Paying Owners from the Trust Account

The next common transaction workflow to identify is paying Owners from the Trust Bank Account. The amount that needs to be paid to each owner can be found in the balance sheet by filtering the class for each owner. The amount can be found under the “Owner Funds” account. You can also cross-check this by looking at the transaction report for any particular month.

Example Transaction

You, the Airbnb property management company, are holding funds under “Owner Funds” in the amount of $20,000 for the owner, Kim Sorreno, for the listing 462 Atlas Way. You’d like to pay this amount to the owner from the trust account as a result of a month-end report.

First, you’ll need to send the owner the money via bank transfer, ACH, check or other means. Once the transfer is posted and complete, record the outgoing transaction from the Trust Bank Account using the following entry:

DebitCreditClass Category
1XXXX – Trust Bank Account (Asset)$20,000Kim Sorreno: 462 Atlas Way
23600 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Less Owner Payouts$20,000Kim Sorreno: 462 Atlas Way

Detailed instructions for QuickBooks Online

Paying Expenses on Behalf of Owners Directly from the Trust Account

Sometimes an owner may ask you to purchase items on their behalf, paid directly from their funds in the trust account. For larger expenses, such as a new water heater or major repairs, first confirm that the owner has sufficient funds in their Owner Funds Reserved account. If they do not, you’ll need to allocate additional funds to that account. Otherwise, you risk commingling funds from other owners within the trust account and violating proper Airbnb trust accounting practices.

Example Transaction

The owner, Kim Sorreno, would like you to purchase a new water heater using the funds she has in the trust account for her property at 462 Atlas Way. The total cost is $2,000, which includes installation by a professional maintenance company.

First, you’ll need to pay the maintenance company from the Trust Bank Account.. whether by bank transfer, ACH, check, or another approved method. Once the payment has cleared, record the outgoing transaction from the Trust Bank Account using the following entry:

DebitCreditClass Category
1XXXX – Trust Bank Account (Asset)$2,000Kim Sorreno: 462 Atlas Way
23310 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Owner Funds Reserved$2,000Kim Sorreno: 462 Atlas Way

Detailed instructions for QuickBooks Online

Paying Expenses on Behalf of Owners from your Operations Bank Account

In many cases, you’ll purchase items for an owner’s property from your operations bank account, especially for smaller maintenance issues that need quick attention. These amounts will be reimbursed to you after month-end, when you report the expenses and retrieve the corresponding funds from the trust account.

Example

A property owned by Kim Sorreno needs a bathroom faucet replaced by a professional plumber. The service costs $200 and must be completed quickly, as guests are checking in later today.

First, pay the plumbing company from your Operations Account, whether by bank transfer, ACH, check, or another approved method. Once the payment has posted, record the outgoing transaction from your Operations Bank Account using the following entry:

DebitCreditClass Category
1XXXX – Operations Bank Account (Asset)$200Kim Sorreno: 462 Atlas Way
7XXXX – Billable Expenses (Expense)$200Kim Sorreno: 462 Atlas Way

Next, record the amount owed to you from the trust account so it can be included in the next month-end payout. You may also choose to include a 10% markup for coordinating and funding the service. Use the following entry:

DebitCreditClass Category
23500 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Less Amounts Due to Property Mgmt$220Kim Sorreno: 462 Atlas Way
23140 – Trust Account Liability: Property Mgmt Funds: Property Mgmt Funds Payable$220Kim Sorreno: 462 Atlas Way
12200 – Trust Account Asset: Property Mgmt Funds Receivable$220Kim Sorreno: 462 Atlas Way
4XXXX – Billable Expenses Income (Revenue)$220Kim Sorreno: 462 Atlas Way

When the next month-end payout occurs, the amount of $220 will be included in the Property Mgmt Funds Receivable and Payable accounts.

Detailed instructions for QuickBooks Online

Remitting Taxes from the Trust Account

In many jurisdictions, Airbnb will collect taxes and remit to local tax authorities on the owner’s behalf. However, you can opt to collect these taxes from Airbnb and remit them directly. If you’re using Tallybreeze, the Custom Taxes line item found in our presets will take care of the allocation of custom taxes for each reservation. This section is about paying the local tax authorities the amounts owed.

In many jurisdictions, Airbnb collects taxes and remits them to the local tax authorities on the owner’s behalf. However, you can opt to collect these taxes from Airbnb and remit them directly. If you’re using Tallybreeze, the Custom Taxes line item in our presets will automatically allocate these taxes for each reservation. This section covers how to remit the amounts owed to local tax authorities.

Example

The owner, Kim Sorreno, has a listing at 462 Atlas Way, where Airbnb is configured to collect custom taxes for all reservations. In Tallybreeze, these amounts are allocated to the Custom Taxes Payable account. After running a balance sheet report for this listing in QuickBooks, you see that $1,000 is owed in transient occupancy taxes under Custom Taxes Payable.

First, send your payment to the tax authority, whether by bank transfer, ACH, check, or another accepted method. Once the payment has posted, record the outgoing transaction from the Trust Bank Account using the following entry:

DebitCreditClass Category
1XXXX – Trust Bank Account (Asset)$1,000Kim Sorreno: 462 Atlas Way
23380 – Trust Account Liability: Owner Funds: Airbnb Collections: Custom Taxes Payable$1,000Kim Sorreno: 462 Atlas Way

Detailed instructions for QuickBooks Online

SET UP ACCOUNTING AUTOMATION

Generate Monthly Reports in QuickBooks for Airbnb Trust Accounting

Now that your data is automatically processed from Airbnb and seamlessly synced into QuickBooks, producing clear and professional owner statements and reports each month becomes simple, especially after reconciling any additional expenses.

Monthly Owner Statement by Listing

This statement can be sent to owners each month. It is grouped by class, meaning it presents activity on a per-listing, per-owner basis. This allows owners to clearly see their earnings for each listing, along with all movements in and out of the trust account. Every line created by Tallybreeze includes a reservation code and transaction details. A final grand total due to the owner appears at the bottom.

In the example below, we’re displaying an owner statement for a single owner, Kim Sorreno:

Airbnb Trust Accounting for Property Managers QuickBooks Monthly Owner Statement Report
Quick Setup Steps

Here’s how to create this Owner Statement by Listing in QuickBooks Online:

  1. In QuickBooks Online, go to Reports, select “Transaction Detail by Account”
  2. Select the report period (perhaps the previous month)
  3. Select “Customize” and select the following
    • Under “Rows/Columns” select to Group by “Class”
    • Select “Change columns” and remove all columns except “Date”, “Memo/Description” and “Amount”
    • Under “Filter” select “Distribution Account” and select only the accounts starting with “Trust Account Liability:Owner Funds…”
    • Under “Filter” select “Class” and select the owner and their respective listings you want to report
  4. Sort by “Memo/Description” ascending order
  5. Select “Run Report”

From here this statement can be saved as a custom report and re-used every month for the owner.

Monthly Owner Statement by Account

If you prefer an owner statement that more closely resembles a profit and loss report, this option can also be sent to owners each month. It is similar to the previous statement, but grouped by account rather than by class. It shows the flow of money coming in from Airbnb, as well as the outflow of funds allocated to the property manager for commissions and cleaning fees. Any billable expenses you’ve incurred will also appear on this statement.

Airbnb Trust Accounting for Property Managers QuickBooks Monthly Owner Statement Report by Account
Quick Setup Steps

Here’s how to create this Owner Statement by Account in QuickBooks Online:

  1. In QuickBooks Online, go to Reports, select “Transaction Detail by Account”
  2. Select the report period (perhaps the previous month)
  3. Select “Customize” and select the following
    • Under “Rows/Columns” select to Group by “Account”
    • Select “Change columns” and remove all columns except “Date”, “Memo/Description” and “Amount”
    • Under “Filter” select “Distribution Account” and select only the accounts starting with “Trust Account Liability:Owner Funds…”
    • Under “Filter” select “Class” and select the owner and their respective listings you want to report
  4. Sort by “Date” ascending order
  5. Select “Run Report”

From here this statement can be saved as a custom report and re-used every month for the owner.

Profit & Loss by Customer

Keeping all Airbnb trust accounting activity separate from your company’s operational activity makes it easy to generate a profit and loss report at any time and see how much you’re earning from each customer over any period. This report can be found in QuickBooks under “Reports” as “Profit and Loss by Customer”:

Airbnb Trust Accounting for Property Managers QuickBooks Profit and Loss by Customer Report

Conclusion

Managing other people’s funds with integrity requires a high level of diligence. Even when it’s not legally required, following Airbnb trust accounting standards has a significant impact on how clients perceive your services. Proper trust accounting provides maximum transparency for owners, and transparency builds trust. The more your owners trust you, the more likely they are to recommend your services to others. And with an automated system in place, you’ll be prepared to scale quickly as you grow.

AUTOMATE TRUST ACCOUNTING

Finally, there are other business models that are not covered in this guide but are covered better in the following guides. Be sure to check these out :