The accountant's email in April
After the tax year ends, the emails begin. An owner's accountant wants the number of nights the cottage was let, how many nights it was available, how many the owner used, the total income and costs. Another owner wants the same for their own year end. A third needs it split by property because they own two.
Your team exports bookings, filters them in Excel, counts nights, adjusts for owner stays and cancellations, and sends a figure. Next week the owner asks why it does not match their statements.
Why occupancy figures are hard to produce
The questions sound simple, but the definitions are not. What counts as a let night, is a cancelled booking with a retained deposit included, are owner stays counted, and which dates count as available? Each person builds the figures slightly differently, so results differ from statements and from last year.
Owners also ask for different periods: tax year, calendar year or their own accounting year. Doing the calculation for each one by hand multiplies the work.
What the manual reports cost
The time is concentrated in a busy period, when your team would rather be preparing for the season. Inconsistent figures erode owners' trust and prompt more questions. And because we do not give tax advice and neither should your team, staff can feel pressured to answer questions that belong to the owner's accountant.
The owner reports we build
We build reports from the same data as your statements, with definitions you agree and write down. They provide figures; they are not tax advice.
- Agreed definitions: your team sets out what counts as a let night, an available night, an owner stay and a blocked night, and how cancellations are treated. These appear on every report.
- Booking data: nights and income are read from your property management system and statements, so reports match what owners already received.
- Periods: owners or your team choose the period, such as tax year, calendar year or a custom year end, and the report is produced for it.
- Report content: nights let, nights available, owner stays, blocked nights, income by channel, commission and costs, per property.
- Self-service: owners download their report from the owner portal, or it is emailed automatically after the period ends.
- Questions route: questions about how to use the figures are directed to the owner's adviser; questions about the figures themselves go to your team with the data behind them.
| Figure | Defined as | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Nights let | As defined in your agreed definitions | Bookings |
| Nights available | As defined in your agreed definitions | Calendar and blocks |
| Owner stays | Nights blocked for the owner | Owner stay records |
| Income by channel | Received income per channel | Statements and payouts |
| Costs and commission | As charged on statements | Statements |
After the change
Owners get a clear report for the period they need, consistent with their statements. Accountants receive figures with definitions attached, which reduces follow-up questions. Your team stops counting nights in spreadsheets during the busiest part of the year.
Signs you need this
- Owners and accountants ask for nights let and income every year.
- Figures are built from booking exports in spreadsheets.
- Owners question why figures differ from statements.
- Different staff calculate occupancy differently.
- Your team is asked questions that belong to the owner's accountant.