Understanding your monthly statements: A guide to short term rental owners
It’s the end of the month. Lots of happy guests have come through your doors. It’s time to get down to business, are you actually making any money?
If you’re working with a management company, this should be pretty straight forward. At Berkshire Vacation Rental Co., we publish owners statements in our owners portal within seven days of the month’s closing and release funds, simple as that. Or is it?
Thing is, the financials for an individual reservation are actually fairly complex. You’ll see line items for things like accommodation, linens, cleaning, taxes, etc etc. The list can go on and on. To add complexity, often times different OTA’s (think AirBnb / VRBO / etc) map their transactions differently. This can start to make your head spin, especially if things aren’t transparent.
We aim to keep things as simple and transparent as possible. The top part of the owners statement shows revenue paid out to owners, per reservation. This is paid out as a portion of the nightly rate. We don’t include cleaning, linen, or other miscellaneous revenue on here as we would then have to deduct it in the bottom section of the statement, adding unnessecary complexity. The bottom section of the owner statement includes any additional expenses for things like supply restocks or maintenance work from either our handyman or external vendors like an electrician. Any expenses that we had to pay for, we always attach a receipt for transparency.
Next up, some simple math. Total from the top section, or gross revenue, minus the total expenses from the bottom equals the owner payout. One page, easy to read, and straight forward. Exactly how it should be. We give owners full access to all financial info, but generally the owner statement is more than you need and paints the full financial picture in an easy to read one page pdf.
Keeping the financials simple and transparent for all our owners is something we take seriously here at Berkshire Vacation Rental.
That’s another BnB Bulletin for ya ! If you’re interested in our services for your own Short Term Rental, we’re taking on new clients through April 1, 2026. Hit the link below to set up an intro call.
Happy hosting,
- Jaryn