Templates / Short-Term Rental Host Tracker
Short-Term Rental Host Tracker
Airbnb pays you net of fees and refunds, so your payouts never match your gross rent. This tracker keeps every booking, payout, expense, mile and hour for up to five rentals, and reconciles it all so year-end isn't a rebuild.
- Google Sheets and Excel, no macros
- Instant download, no subscription
- Lifetime updates for this version
- 14-day refund if it doesn't work for you
What it does
Works with Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com and direct bookings. Log as you go, paste a payout export once a month, and the summaries fill themselves in.
Payout reconciler
Paste a platform CSV export and map its columns once. The sheet splits payouts into gross rent, cleaning fees, host fees, refunds and taxes collected, then compares them by month with your bookings and bank deposits.
Per-property P&L
Income and expenses for each of up to five properties plus a portfolio total. Shared costs split evenly or by nights booked. Capital items sit apart from repairs, below net income.
Occupancy, ADR and RevPAR
Nights booked, occupancy, average daily rate, revenue per available night and direct-booking share for each property and the whole portfolio.
Hours log
Record time worked by you, a spouse, a cleaner or a co-host, with running totals and average stay alongside. It's a tidy record for your tax professional; it doesn't draw conclusions.
Schedule E-style or C-style summary
Your year-end totals roll into categories commonly used on Schedule E or Schedule C. Pick the grouping that fits, and count income by payout date or check-in date; the sheet doesn't choose for you.
Lodging tax and 1099-K tie-out
Mark which platforms remit lodging tax for each property, and see what you collect yourself vs what you've remitted. Type the gross a platform reports to see it next to the tracker's gross, with likely explanations for a gap. Also: a mileage log and an STR vs long-term lease comparison.
Who it's for
Hosts who'd rather keep their own clean records than pay for software they only half use.
- One to five short-term rentalsEach gets its own P&L, and the portfolio rolls up automatically.
- Hosts on more than one platformAirbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com and direct stays in one bookings log.
- Anyone who dreads tax seasonHand your preparer a category summary instead of a shoebox of payout reports.
What's inside
14 tabs in one .xlsx file. Yellow cells are yours to fill in; everything else calculates and is locked (no password) so a formula can't be overwritten by accident.
| Tab | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Start Here | Quick start, the rules the sheet follows, health checks and FAQ. |
| Setup | Tax year, whether to count income by payout date or check-in date, property names, available nights, lodging-tax rates, and a property-by-platform grid of who remits lodging tax. |
| Bookings | One row per stay: dates, platform, gross rent, cleaning fee, host fee, refunds and payout, with a payout check. Rows with an unreadable date or a text amount are flagged and left out until fixed. |
| Payout Reconciler | Paste a platform export, map its columns, compare by month against bookings and deposits. |
| Expenses | Receipts by property and category, with capital items and furnishings flagged separately. |
| Mileage Log | Trips by property, multiplied by the rate you enter. |
| Hours Log | Who did what, and for how long, with running totals. |
| Lodging Tax | Lodging tax you collect yourself (direct stays and platforms that don't remit for that property) vs what you've remitted. |
| Property P&L | Income and expenses per property, plus a month-by-month view. |
| KPIs | Occupancy, ADR, RevPAR, nights and stays for each property. |
| Tax Summary | Schedule E-style or Schedule C-style category totals and the 1099-K tie-out. |
| STR vs Long-Term | Compare your short-term results with a long-term lease. |
| Dashboard | Income, net income, KPIs and charts for the tax year at a glance. |
| Lists | The dropdown options, such as expense categories and platforms. |
Questions about the rental tracker
Does it connect to Airbnb automatically?
No, and that's on purpose: nothing has access to your accounts. Once a month, download your payout or transaction history CSV and paste it into the Payout Reconciler. You map the columns once, and the sheet pulls the right numbers from then on.
Should I use Schedule E or Schedule C?
The tracker doesn't decide that, because it depends on your facts. It can show your totals in either grouping so you and your tax professional can use whichever fits. Not tax advice.
Why doesn't my payout match my gross rent?
Platforms pay you after taking their fees and any refunds. The tracker records gross rent, cleaning fees and platform fees separately, so both numbers are visible and the gap is explained.
Does income count by payout date or check-in date?
You choose on Setup. Payout date is the default, because platform 1099-K forms follow payment dates; check-in date is the other option. The choice only moves booking money between years: nights and occupancy always follow the check-in date. Ask your tax professional which fits you.
What if I type a date or amount wrong?
Start Here has health checks. A booking with a date the sheet can't read (like 14/12/2026 typed day-first) or an amount typed as text is marked "Check this row" and left out of every total until you fix it. The checks also catch property names that aren't on Setup, check-out before check-in, and more nights than a property has available.
I have more than five properties.
Use one copy of the file for each group of up to five. The personal-use license covers your own rentals.
Will it work in Google Sheets?
Yes. Upload the .xlsx to Google Drive and save it as a Google Sheet. Dropdowns, formulas and charts carry over, and the log tabs keep their entry columns on the left so you can add rows from the phone app.
Organizes your records into categories commonly used on Schedule E or Schedule C. Not tax advice: confirm with your tax professional. Not affiliated with Airbnb, Vrbo or Booking.com.
The Steady Bundle
All three templates for $39. Separately they come to $51 at launch prices, or $60 regular. Handy if you host, are paying something down, and share costs with a partner, or if you want one to give away.
Three .xlsx files. Google Sheets and Excel.
Coming soon: The Steady Bundle