This is one of those tax-season details that seems small… but it shows up constantly right now with short-term rental owners:

- Cleaning fees being recorded the wrong way.

Some hosts count cleaning fees as separate “income” but forget to match them with the cleaning expense.
Others lump everything into rental income and never break out the fees, refunds, or platform charges.
And some are double-counting because the 1099-K/booking report doesn’t line up with payouts.

The result? Messy books, overstated income, and deductions that don’t match reality.

The fix isn’t complicated — it’s just about consistency:

• Record gross booking income correctly
• Track cleaning fees the same way every time
• Match cleaning payments to the period they belong to
• Reconcile platform reports to deposits

Clean STR bookkeeping makes tax season easier and helps you see whether the property is actually performing.

STR owners — do you track cleaning fees separately, or do you roll them into nightly revenue?

If you want a quick sanity check on your STR setup (no pressure), DM me “STR BOOKS” and tell me what platform you use. I’ll point you in the right direction.