How to add custom formulas?

What is a formula?

Formulas are mathematical calculations based on reservation fields. For all reservations (except iCal) we have Financial Formulas.

In Hostaway you can create formulas in two different ways:

1. Formula Wizard
2. Add custom formula

In this article, we will focus on how to create a custom formula. Please watch the following video in which we explain how to create custom formulas so you can start using them right away and take advantage of their full potential.

As you can read in the article about Formula Wizard, the system can create some formulas for you, default formulas that in the major part of the cases will work to create reports from different channels. These formulas cannot be deleted once created, but you can always edit or hide them.

All the financial information you can visualize in your Rental Activity tab comes from the formulas you have previously created.

Formulas can be set from the system as a whole, or they can be edited from a specific listing. If you go to Financial Reporting > Financial Settings you will visualize all the existing formulas for the whole system. Please note that you can edit and customize existing formulas as well as create new ones; also, when editing or creating new formulas, you can always use values as well as formulas within formulas.

How to add formulas manually?

To create a new formula, you should follow the next steps:

1. Go to your Hostaway Dashboard > Financial Reporting > Financial settings
2. Click on + Add custom formula
3. Enter the name you would like to assign to the formula
4. Enter the description for the formula
5. Enter the value for the formula
6. Select if you want this formula to be displayed as a percentage
7. Select if you want this formula to apply only to specific channels
8. Select if you want this formula to apply only to specific statuses
9. Click on Add formula
10. The formula will be available on the Rental Activity tab as a new column

Notes

• The "here" button will take you to an article with very useful information about the fields you can use within your formulas

• Formulas within listings can be found by clicking on Listings > Edit > Financial Settings tab and you will be able to visualize all the formulas specific to that listing

• Formulas can be created on an account level (Dashboard > Financial reporting > Financial settings) or listing level and can be modified at any level. Modifications done at the Account level propagate to the Listing but not vice versa
• When a new custom formula is created, it will propagate to all listings as well. But you can modify it on a listing level. It will not update other listings
• When editing a formula on a Settings level, it will edit all unmodified formulas on a listing level. If you have modified it manually, you will need to update it manually

Using formulas within formulas

Hostaway allows the creation of formulas within formulas for up to 7 levels. This means that formula A can contain formula B and formula B can contain formula C and so on until G.

A validation will still appear if the system identifies a loop scenario or an error will be generated if you try to create a formula within a formulator of more than 7 levels.

How to Edit a Formula

To edit a formula in Hostaway, follow the steps below:

1. Go to Your Hostaway Dashboard > Select Financial Reporting from the left-hand menu. Then, click on Financial Settings
2. Select the Formula to Edit. Locate the formula you want to edit. Click on the three dots under the gear icon column
3. Click on Edit. From the dropdown menu, select Edit.
4. Edit the Formula. A new window will open on the right side of the screen, where you can edit the formula
5. Make Changes. Modify the desired fields to suit your needs
6. Save the Changes. Once you have finished editing, click Save to apply the changes

Time-Based Formula Settings

In response to customer feedback, we've introduced time-based formula versions to give you more control over when and how formulas are applied. This is particularly useful when you need to update commission rates, fees, or other settings that need to take effect on a specific date—without affecting previous reservations.

Key Features

• Event Selection. You can now choose from three events—check-in, check-out, or creation—to define when a new formula version should take effect.
• Date Selection. Set a specific date for when the new version of the formula should apply, allowing you to handle changes retroactively and from a defined point onward.
• Multiple Versions. Create multiple formula versions as needed, including for past dates, to ensure the accuracy of your financial reports.
• Listing-Level Adjustments. The time-based formula feature is available at the listing level, so you can fine-tune formulas for individual properties.

Additionally, the Copy Settings button allows you to easily replicate formula changes across multiple listings, saving you time and effort. If a reservation’s dates are modified, the system will automatically check for date conditions and apply the correct formula version, ensuring consistency and accuracy.

By enabling time-based formulas, you can ensure that your financial reports reflect the correct amounts, even when changes are made mid-period.

How to Delete a Formula

To delete a formula please follow the next steps:

1. Go to your Hostaway Dashboard > Financial Reporting > Financial Settings
2. Select the formula you would like to delete > Click on the three dots under the gear icon column
3. Click on Delete from the dropdown
4. A pop-up will open telling you:
   • Which formula contains the one selected
   • Deleting this formula will replace it with a 0 wherever it is used and recalculations will be triggered
5. If you agree with the above click on Delete Anyway

Set up a formula per channel

• In some cases, you may need to have a specific formula for specific channels. For example, if you want to create a formula to reflect the Reservation Total. Every channel is in this case different
• Create your formula and select Apply only to specific channels
• Then, you can select the channels to which you want this formula to apply

What about combining the results of these formulas?

Once you have created your formula per channel, to reflect Total Reservation, you may want to combine them.

You only need to create one general formula within "Value", with the different formulas per channel you have created before.

Display and Calculate formulas as percentages

In many cases, formulas represent percentages, especially when setting a commission rate.

For example, to set a 20% commission, a formula of 0.2 is often recommended to simplify calculations when combined with other formulas. However, when this data is displayed on the Rental Activity or Owner Statements tabs, it can be confusing. We would display the value as 0.2 with a currency symbol, and the totals would be displayed as the sum of all rows instead of an average.

To avoid this confusion we have implemented an option in the formula settings called Display this formula as a percentage.

When selected, the results are displayed as percentages and the totals represent an average. This will also be displayed in the CSVs and Owner Statements.

In addition, when generating the PmCommission using the formula wizard, this option is automatically applied to avoid confusion.

We have also updated all existing PmCommission formulas generated by the formula wizard with values between 0 and 1, as they were being used as percentages.

Additional notes:

• This setting is applied at the general formula level and affects all listings
• Percentage-based formulas cannot be used in the grand totals of the owner's statement

Default Formulas

Old Hostaway accounts may have what was called "Default formulas". These had some placeholder values, but with the evolution of OTAs and Hostaway, those were not perfectly accurate.

We recommend using the Formulas Wizard to substitute those with new and more accurate compositions. The original Default formulas are totalTax, totalGuestFees, rentalRevenue, subTotalPrice, pmCommission, and ownerPayout.

You can find a list of all Financial Fields.