Question for STR accountants / bookkeepers in the US
Property Manager 路 Cyprus 路 Member since 2026 路 12 posts 路 4 votes
Question for STR accountants / bookkeepers in the US
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John UnderwoodPro Member
Investor 路 Greer, SC 路 Member since 2014 路 13k+ posts 路 17k+ votesMy CPA says I am one of his most organized clients.
I don't use a book keeper.
I track income and expenses in a spreadsheet.
I have every expense detailed and Excel adds it up for me with a few formulas.
I have different sections for each deductible type.
I have a different section for mileage.
It is very easy and takes little time to keep up with everything this way.
I have a tab for each property to keep everything separated.
I don't see any reason to change what works great for me.
It doesn't take my CPA long to do my taxes due to my organization.
4 Replies
- 3wJohn UnderwoodPro MemberInvestor 路 Greer, SC 路 Member since 2014 路 13k+ posts 路 17k+ votes
My CPA says I am one of his most organized clients.
I don't use a book keeper.
I track income and expenses in a spreadsheet.
I have every expense detailed and Excel adds it up for me with a few formulas.
I have different sections for each deductible type.
I have a different section for mileage.
It is very easy and takes little time to keep up with everything this way.
I have a tab for each property to keep everything separated.
I don't see any reason to change what works great for me.
It doesn't take my CPA long to do my taxes due to my organization.
- Property Manager 路 Cyprus 路 Member since 2026 路 12 posts 路 4 votes3w
Haha, with 13k+ posts I guess it鈥檚 allowed to miss the actual question once in a while 馃槃
I was specifically asking accountants/bookkeepers who work with STR property managers in the US about the workflow before things reach them.
But no worries. Thanks for sharing how you handle yours.
- Accountant 路 Long Island, NY 路 Member since 2021 路 184 posts 路 148 votes3w
Quote from @Eduard Friesen:
I run around 50 short-term rentals in Cyprus (European island)and I also offer finance support for other STR operators, mainly around owner statements, income and expenses, reconciliation, bank transactions, receipts etc.
I鈥檓 currently looking more into the US market and would like to understand if the finance workflow there is very different from what I am used to.
For those of you working with STR managers in the US, is there anything specific you would expect to be handled differently before everything goes to the accountant/bookkeeper?
Just trying to get a better feel for how this normally works in the US and if there are any important differences I should be aware of.
Would be great to hear how you guys handle it.
Hi Eduard,
Not much different. If a client pays a PM company, the only things that likely won't be captured on their owner statement/PM statement are items NOT handled by the PM company. Think mortgage interest, ptax, utilities.
However, if you are being paid for full-service bookkeeping, I'd hope the bookkeeper catches everything. It seems like you are running a PM company but also offering full-service bookkeeping.
- 22hAaron WeikleBusiness MemberMember since 2026 路 79 posts 路 23 votes
The biggest structural difference you'll run into is the tax-driven categorization that US accountants expect before they touch anything.
In the US, STR income flows through Schedule E or Schedule C if it meets the "average rental period of 7 days or less" threshold with material participation, and the distinction matters because it affects self employment tax exposure and how losses are treated. Your pre accountant job is to feed data in a way that makes that determination clean and defensible. A few specifics that differ from a typical European property management workflow is that platform remittance is messier here. Airbnb and Vrbo collect and remit occupancy taxes in most states, but not all, and the amounts they withhold show up in the payout differently depending on the platform. You need to track gross booking revenue separately from what actually hits the owner's bank account, and document the tax withheld so it's not double counted. Owner statement reconciliation needs to separate management fees, cleaning fees (especially if recharged to guests), and any reserve funds held. US accountants want those buckets clean before year end, not reconstructed in April. Depreciation is a big deal here in a way it may not be in Cyprus. The property itself depreciates over 27.5 years under MACRS, but a cost segregation study can reclassify furniture, fixtures, and certain structural components into 5 or 7 year property, which dramatically accelerates deductions. Your role is making sure FF&E purchases are itemized and dated properly so the accountant or cost segregation engineer has something to work with when they prepare Form 4562. Mileage and home office allocations also come up constantly for owner operators. If your clients self manage, they'll want those tracked separately from property level expenses.
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