All Forum Posts by: Patricia Andriolo-Bull

I don't.  I don't have a large place and my fees are pretty high so I generally get good guests.  I do require a rental agreement and damage insurance (and for direct bookings I also take a $500 security deposit hold).  This generally keeps people in check.  The damage insurance is mandatory (I pay for it but it is bundled into my fees).  

I’m lucky. I don’t hear much. I did just have my first GVR guest (arriving 1/14) ask me for one additional bath towel and face towel for each of the 3 guests. Good news is they must have read my welcome guide. 😂

Quote from @Simon W.:

Quote from @Patricia Andriolo-Bull:

Quote from @Simon W.:

Stessa isn't good for keeping track of tax deduction items.

Stessa was designed to just look at P&L. Not even Balance Sheet.

I don't know if they changed their model since the change of subscription plan but it isn't ideal to use it as depreciation or amortization.

They do have a balance sheet.

Is it with only the upgrade? are you allowed to edit the chart of accounts? 

 No.

Quote from @Krishnan Iyer:

@Patricia Andriolo-Bull - I am using Stessa too and love it. You are tagging and categorizing the CapEx items correctly or are they going to "regular" operational expense? Just checking.

I have been categorizing things like furniture as CapEx (e.g. new furniture and equipment). The issue with this is, section 179 allows this to be expensed when put into service rather than depreciated over X number of years. My CPA does this correctly but Stessa does not. My expenses are lower in Stessa and my CapEx is higher. I tried changing useful life to 1 year but it doesn't change the line to show as an in year expense.

Quote from @Simon W.:

Stessa isn't good for keeping track of tax deduction items.

Stessa was designed to just look at P&L. Not even Balance Sheet.

I don't know if they changed their model since the change of subscription plan but it isn't ideal to use it as depreciation or amortization.

They do have a balance sheet.

Quote from @Michael Baum:

Wish I had any help @Patricia Andriolo-Bull. This is one of the reasons I use a CPA for everything. He makes sure we maximize all deductions and have no issues.

 Thanks! Yup.  I use a CPA, too, but I like to do my own bookkeeping throughout the year and send him a tax package quarterly to review.  

Quote from @Dominic Mazzarella:

I believe that Stessa isn’t designed to handle all the nuances of depreciation and tax adjustments perfectly. One workaround could be keeping a separate spreadsheet to track your adjusted tax basis accurately and only using Stessa for operational insights.

You could also reach out to a cpa and see if they have a specific recommendation for software to use. 

 Thanks.  I do have it correct outside, but when I run reports through Stessa, they aren't accurate.  Also, as I prepare for estimates, would be helpful to know where my in year deductions actually are.  I'm thinking of maybe just lumping them into a category under repairs or something but want to see if others have a good workaround.

Hi. I searched the Stessa forums and couldn't find an appropriate answer so thought I'd try here. I use Stessa for my STR accounting and am pretty happy with it overall for what it is and the value I get. One thing that I find frustrating is categorizing same year capital deductions (e.g. furniture that is able to be deducted in the same year due to 179). My cost basis for my properties are consistently off from my tax returns because Stessa will include everything in the basis even though it shouldn't be. This is true for bonus depreciation items as well. Anyone have a workaround for this? I'd love to have Stessa reflect the actual state of my tax basis.

Quote from @Garrett Brown:

@Patricia Andriolo-Bull dang that is frustrating! They had me as lakeview for a while when it was just a pond and I was 10 minuntes from the lake. It took a few months to correct it but they finally did. I will say that they hve been telling me for almost two weeks now the tech team is working on the category link. Still no solution yet from them though after I check in every few days. How they think a national park is near you is laughable though lol

Technically Tigertail is a park but it would be a far stretch from calling it a national park.  If I were a guest searching for a National Park and my listing came up, I would be annoyed!

Interesting that the link isn't working for you.  I went in yesterday when you posted this and it works fine for me!  I have one listing that I'm able to make updates to, I just decided not to given the prior attempts.  Have you tried it recently?

Quote from @Garrett Brown:

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Quote from @John Underwood:

Quote from @Garrett Brown:

Quote from @John Underwood:

Nothing that paying for a 3rd party app to automate functions will fix.

If I had to pick something it would be getting higher occupancy rates.

Overall things are great.

I'm definitely not an app developer so no worries about me making one that can help. I think we have enough software in the STR world lol
What if we made a guide to increase occupancy rates that centers around marketing, guest experience, and ways to stand out in saturated markets that isn't simply "buy more amenities"? 

That sounds interesting. 
Would this be something different from what you can Google and find other articles on? 

Absolutely, I am taking great pride this year in making content that is not microwaved from sourcing a few google articles that "gurus" just reguritate. I made some in depth STR marketing videos on youtube (I come from a hotel marketing background) before I joined BiggerPockets and people loved them. I am thinking of that being one of my next big projects if the community is wanting it.

Even simple things like making sure each photo on Airbnb has Alt text and that is fits into their SEO categories, I was surprised that more people weren't aware of it. 

Did you know that you can go https://elevate.translated.com/categories-login and suggest what categories you want to be in? (This link has been down for about a week though, FYI. Airbnb tech team is working on it they said but this is how I added categories besides the ones Airbnb suggested for my listings)

 Re: the airbnb category suggestion...it is a joke.  I have tried several times to correct my categories using that very link Airbnb pointed me to (I have a few very wrong categories - like national park, and a few very correct ones - like beachfront) and they refuse to correct them.  I have competitors that show up as beachfront that are on canals.  They told me they only adjust every few months, it has been over 7 months since I made several requests. 

 Interesting, I did not have the issues on mine when I first used but it take a while to get them confirmed. They still have not confirmed one of the main ones I want (OMG category for my mirror house) but they said they are having tech issues.  I do think they are trying to outsource so many things to AI that its gotten bogged down with some incorrect decisions. Did you try and escalate it at ABB at all? 

 Yes, several times and I've given up.  They said they only review categories every couple of months so I patiently waited and called again.  They said give them another couple of months.  Well, it's been 7 months now.  It is frustrating because I am really not in a National Park and all 4 of my listings show up as such.  I can't imagine people coming to Marco Island for a National Park!  Lol!  I am beachfront (all 4 listings are in the same building, same floor, next door to each other), some are listed as beachfront, others aren't.  I am trying to get one of mine in the Luxe category and it has been futile - especially when I compare my property to the few Luxe ones in my locale.