Developer · Austin, TX · Member since 2026 · 3 posts · 4 votes
For those using the 100-hour material participation rule on your STRs, how are you tracking how much time your cleaners actually spend at the property?
Most cleaning crews charge a flat turnover fee instead of an hourly rate, so their invoices don't show hours worked. Do you just use smart lock logs to see when they enter and leave, or ask them for time estimates? Curious what your CPAs usually want to see for this.
Hi Hubert, quick flip on this: your cleaners' hours don't count toward your 100. They count against you. The test is more than 100 hours AND at least as much as any other single person, including non-owners (Reg §1.469-5T(a)(3)). So if any one person logs more time than you, it fails even when you're over 100.
One thing that helps: it's per person, not the whole crew combined. If a company sends three cleaners at 40 hours each, that's 40 per person, not 120, so you only have to beat the busiest individual. Track their hours to prove yours come out on top.
Smart lock in and out times plus your own calendar is plenty. The regs don't strictly require a contemporaneous log, but courts give little weight to estimates reconstructed later with nothing behind them, so keeping it as you go is the safe play.