How do I give viewing access to my bookkeeper

[Eva2580]

Hi Everyone!

I have decided to go with a bookkeeping service and they have asked for admin access to be able to go in and see invoices and payments in an effort to ensure that taxes are being paid correctly and to account for any taxes I need to pay separately. How do I do that? I have poked around and so far I can only find co-host as a solution. Anytime my assistant tries to log in under my login, it sends me a code that I have to send to her. There has to be an easier way to do this with a team. Is the Airbnb Pro tools the only option? 

Thanks in advance, 

Eva

[Aziz4]

With the team it will be easy for you 

[Kia272]

@Eva2580 I'm a bookkeeper and a host. There is no reason that a bookkeeper should need access to your AirBnB anything. AirBnB makes your numbers available to you in many formats. At any time during the calendar year, you can see how much you've made and what's been paid to AirBnB out of your gross, etc. You can pull those reports at any time and forward them to your bookkeeper if necessary. If you need to pay personal estimated taxes, you have your numbers right there. 

If your local jurisdiction requires some tax that is not paid by AirBnB, you can pull your numbers to-date. If you're in a jurisdiction where AirBnB does pay your lodging  taxes, then any mistake is on them. 

This sounds like an over-complication. 

Kia

[Sally10]

Wow what a great answer I kew about all the numbers etc that airbnb supplies us with .

Since you are a bookkeeper how often do you think I would need 1 for 1 listing I was thinking once a month ?? I may be overstepping my bounds asking you this and apologize if I am .

Thanks Sally

[Lorna170]

@Sally10  IMO, your need for a bookkeeper depends on how often you need to file tax reports and for how many properties.  In my case, I have to file quarterly, so I would want to have a bookkeeper perform that duty 4 times a year for a single property.  If I had more than 5 properties, a bookkeeper would be monthly to ensure that I have paid taxes as well as to keep track of my deductible expenses.

Other persons may use a bookkeeper just once a year for Federal 1040 reporting and State taxes.

[Ainsley24]

I have to question your experience as a bookkeeper.  Clients are notorious for not providing data on time, sometimes not for months. I work for a mid-size CPA firm in Colorado and as a bookkeeper have access to every bit of financial data so I can produce financial statements by the 10th of the following month so the owners know the financial state of their business. Or worse trying to beat a tax deadline, smh. 

** Let's go a step further and pretend all clients give the data on time, what if they didn't pull the data correctly, or there is an odd variance that needs research, now you have to go back to the client again and ask until you get it when you could have had access and solved the issue in 5 min.

Also, sometimes when you find these oddities, you can see and resolve a problem that might have been ongoing or potential to do so. To ever say a bookkeeper does not need access to financial data is absurd. Please stop spreading nonsense.

**[Content removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

[Kia272]

@Ainsley24  I'm definitely an inexperienced bookkeeper who doesn't care about standards. I specialize in poor service and giving bookkeepers (a simple plural, not possessive) a bad name. 

Spreading nonsense is my specialty. 

At least I don't insult perfect strangers on the Internet. I'm also capable of recognizing that there are different solutions to different situations. Wow. Just wow. 

[Ainsley24]

🙂I wasn’t insulting you.  You took it that way.

 You added  nothing professional to your response. I explained my reasoning. your  insecurity is showing. 

[Kia272]

@Ainsley24 Actually, you were extremely rude and insulting. Now you've been insulting again, re my "insecurity."

I'm not sure what your problems are, but it's not appropriate to come here and take your frustration out on perfect strangers. 

I will be reporting you to the moderators. 

Contributors to the community center don't always agree, but we can have differences of opinion with resorting to what you've done. 

I wish you the best, and hope you can get some help. 

[Frances3408]

@Ainsley24. Hi Ainsley, this question was posted over two years ago. You do realise that the "data" Airbnb supplies to its hosts is pretty limited at best? Also, there is no mechanism to provide a separate login access you would normally find in standard accounting software.

Yes, we can download CSV spreadsheets and the tax invoices but even these I need to tidy up so they make sense before giving to my accountant (fyi she's Chartered, not just CPA and our annual accounts require an independent auditor sign off).

I think your response to @Kia272 Kia's comments was unprofessional and deserves an apology. She was not denigrating the role of bookkeepers, just highlighting the lack of need for granting Airbnb access.

Finally, yes in a previous role I was a licensed tax agent, and as a small business owner had a bookkeeper so I know all about financial accounting, data feeds and various accounting software providers (at least here in OZ).

[Rebecca]

Hi @Ainsley24, 

I'm Rebecca, one of the Community Managers for the Airbnb Community Center. I'm here to ensure that it stays a safe, inclusive, constructive and respectful space for all our members.

As stated in our Community Center Guidelines, being respectful and encouraging of other Hosts and community members is top of the list, so please ensure that all comments adhere to Airbnb's policies. You can find further details of what this includes by heading to: Community Center Guidelines.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
Rebecca
Community Manager
Airbnb Community Center

[Eva2580]

Thank you! I was thinking it sounded like a lot. I downloaded a CSV file and sent over the transaction history. 

[Lindsay418]

So Over 2 years later and we still don't have a better solution to this? i.e. an accountant/bookkeeper access?

While Ainsley was perhaps rude about her suggestion, she's not incorrect. As an owner,  I have multiple properties and pay my BK to handle things. I don't want to have to log in and print out the details every month. I'd be far simpler to allow access so I don't have to be involved for simple questions that could otherwise be investigated by my BK without my involved.

AirBNB, can we please do better? Provide a solution for this. Thanks