Financial Reporting - Formula Builder

We have been working on an easy way for all Hostaway users to create formulas using a step-by-step formula builder. We will explain how to use it in this article.

Some notes before you start reading:

• The formula builder can be used as many times as you want. That said, it will remove all created formulas. This means that you can use it one time to build as many formulas as possible and then edit them (How to create formulas manually?)
• Only the main account holder and Users with Admin access level can see the formula builder (User permissions)
• This formula builder will only work for New and Modified reservations. For cancellations and Owner Stays, you will need to create them manually (How to create formulas manually?)
• The formulas created with the Formula Builder can then be edited

 

Revamp of financial settings

We took the opportunity to upgrade the Financial settings section.

Now it is divided into 2+1 sections (In Financial Reporting > Financial Settings)

1. Formulas

2. Taxes

3. Additional settings

Formula Builder

We have now made it easier than ever to create formulas using a step-by-step guide in the Hostaway Dashboard.

 

Changes in the financial settings section

In Financial Reporting > Financial Settings, we have now added 3 pages:

• Formulas
• Taxes
• Additional Settings

 

How to use the formulas builder

For new Hostaway users

By default, some pages will be empty informing that formulas are needed to use these features: Formulas, Listings financials, reservations' formulas section, Analytics, Owner statements

In the Occupancy Report, we will show a banner.

 

The formulas builder

When using the formula builder for the first time, Clicking on Setup formulas will open a side pop-up with the following steps:

For new and current users

New Hostaway users

Here we explain what the resulting formulas will be

1. 1. Total Price

   2. Rental Revenue

   3. Total Payout

   4. Owner Payout (only for invoice and payout models)

   5. Property Manager Payout (only for invoice and payout models)*

To reach those we’ll also generate intermediate formulas

*Please note that the PmCommission should only contain the commission %. To understand how much corresponds to the property manager, please use Property Manager Payout.

For current users

If there were already formulas set, we’ll show a warning informing that existing formulas will be removed to generate new ones.
In this case, the system will offer to download a CSV with all your formulas in case you want to save them to manually restore them later on.

Model

Here you need to select between your models: owner, payout, or invoice.

The 2 latest ones will generate more results since they are shared-revenue models with commissions involved and more information is required: % of PM commission, and where should this commission apply

OTAs

You need to select which OTAs you plan to use. (General advice: Do not select all OTAs if you do not plan to add them all - This will add a lot of formulas, more complexity, and longer calculation/load time)

Guest fees

You need to select which fees you plan to use (General advice: Do not select all fees if you do not plan to add them all - This will add a lot of formulas, more complexity, and longer calculation/load time)

Taxes

Find more information here on how to add a tax % to a Tax. 
We show a quick introduction regarding taxes in our system and allow you to select them.
In addition, we ask who remits these taxes for Airbnb because they affect the payout (and other dependent formulas can be affected as well)

Sometimes, some taxes are remitted by Airbnb and some by the Host. In this case, you will need to distinguish between them.

Discounts and other

The final step should help the system apply the correct discounts and apply the damage deposit when is part of the total price or not

When the process is finished, the formulas will be generated

The results

As mentioned, there are intermediate formulas that can be used inside other formulas. This summarizes what we built. 

Because the number of formulas may be a bit overwhelming, we have added an option to hide formulas so they don't appear in other places (dropdown selectors, list of formulas etc.). Previously selected formulas that are hidden will remain selected until changed. 

 

 

FAQ

1. I wish to change some numbers such as a tax or a commission changed for 1 specific listing, how can I do that?
   1. When changing a Tax or a number in Financial Reporting > Financial Settings > It will update all your listings
   2. If you need to change a value for a specific listing, go to Listing > Edit > Financial Settings > Edit the value there. Only this listing will be impacted.
   3. Please note that once changed manually on a listing level, if you change the value on the account level, the system will not update this manually edited listing.
2. Are owner stays included in Financial Reporting?

   1. No. You will need to edit the created formulas or create new ones (how to create manual formulas?)

3. Do you consider cancellations?
   1. 1. No. You will need to edit the created formulas or create new ones (how to create manual formulas?)