Software used to manage finances and prepare for tax season

[Neighborly-Properties0]

Hello,

I'm new to hosting and am looking to learn how folks manage their finances and prepare for tax season

- Do you use a dedicated business CC to track home purchases?

- Did you open a dedicated Checking account so you can write checks to vendors?

- Do you use any software to track revenue related data? or do you just use the 1099 form come tax season

Any and all info that will help me track expenses and be ready for tax season is helpful

[Steven1869]

Hey @Neighborly-Properties0 , Welcome to the community regarding your third question an excel google spreadsheet would do the trick, there's some cool designs out there with graphs and stats better that a lot of the expensive software with recurring bills. separating personal and business expenses always simplifies bookkeeping but to each their preferences

[Jason114]

I run an accounting firm and I have a few points I could make regarding this.  First, using just the 1099 form from Airbnb for tax season is definitely not enough. The 1099 only shows your gross payouts.. it doesn't account for Airbnb's service fees, refunds, or adjustments. If you file based solely on that number, you'll end up overstating your income and paying more in taxes than you should.

A good first step is to open a dedicated checking account specifically for your Airbnb activity. Route your Airbnb payouts there and pay all related expenses (cleaning, supplies, maintenance, etc.) from that account. It keeps your books cleaner and makes tax preparation much easier. As a bonus, get a business credit card to earn points for business expenses and purchases.

For tracking income and expenses, a spreadsheet might work fine if you have just one listing and you're in a very simple tax jurisdiction. However, if you are dealing with any sort of taxes, including income tax and occupancy taxes, or as soon as you have multiple listings and deal with more complex expenses (utilities, management fees, local taxes, etc.), it's much better to use proper accounting software like QuickBooks Online (https://quickbooks.intuit.com/) or Xero.

Then, to automate Airbnb accounting, you can connect Airbnb directly to QuickBooks or Xero using Tallybreeze (https://www.tallybreeze.com/). Tallybreeze automates the entire Airbnb bookkeeping process.. syncing your reservation payouts, service fees, cleaning fees, and taxes directly into your accounting software. It also allows you to import historical Airbnb data if you need to catch up on previous months. Essentially, it eliminates manual entry and keeps you updated for tax season.

You will also find Hubdoc useful for importing receipts and automating the classification of expenses. These are just my first thoughts, there's plenty more but this is a great start.