Accurate, detailed and personable; three of many qualities that Diane brings to the table every single day. There is no one I would trust more than Diane with my bookkeeping.
Call (417) 323-2629 or have me call you.
I’m Diane Jones, a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor in the Springfield, Missouri area. I’ve kept books for more than thirty years, over twenty of them as the accounting manager for one company. I keep books for cabin owners, condo hosts, and small rental managers in Branson, around Missouri, and anywhere else in the U.S. It all runs over Zoom and QuickBooks Online.
Airbnb and VRBO payouts, reconciled to the penny
Say a guest pays $1,400 for a week. The platform keeps its host fee, nets out a refund adjustment from last month, adds a resolution payout for the broken lamp, and deposits $1,238. Record $1,238 of income and you’ve understated your gross revenue, hidden your platform fees, and thrown off any tax that calculates on gross bookings:
- Gross bookings recorded at full value, not the net deposit
- Host and service fees broken out as platform expenses
- Refunds and adjustments posted in the month they happen
- Resolution payouts and damage reimbursements tracked on their own
Then every payout gets reconciled against the platform’s transaction report and your bank feed. Some months the platform’s math and your bank don’t agree. I find the difference.
Cleaning fees and pass-throughs
Cleaning fees look simple until tax time. If a guest pays a cleaning fee and you do the turnover yourself, that fee is income. If it passes through to a cleaner you pay, the books need to show both sides, so you’re not paying tax on money you handed to somebody else. I keep the income and the reimbursement separate, track what you pay each cleaner all year, and prepare and e-file their 1099s in January when they qualify.
The Branson tax nobody collects for you
The City of Branson charges a 4% tourism tax on nightly rentals, on top of sales tax. As of this writing the city is clear that no platform remits that tax for you, Airbnb and VRBO included. It’s due to the city’s finance department by the 20th of each month, and a late payment picks up a 10% penalty plus monthly interest. Most hosts find out about all of this from a letter.
I set up a tourism tax liability account and accrue 4% of gross bookings every month when I close your books. On the 20th the number’s already sitting there. Rates and rules change, and every license situation is a little different, so confirm the details with the city. My Branson short-term rental tax guide covers what I know as of now.
If your listings are somewhere other than Branson, check whether your city or county charges a lodging tax the platform doesn’t remit for you. If it does, I set up the same monthly accrual so the number’s ready when the return is due.
One P&L per listing
Own three cabins and you own three little businesses that share a login. Each listing gets its own class in QuickBooks Online, so every property carries its own profit and loss: its bookings, its platform fees, its cleaning, its supplies, its repairs. That’s how you find out the A-frame everybody photographs runs your thinnest margin while the plain two-bedroom pays for both. Then you know which one to raise the rate on.
If you also manage listings for other owners, the money you hold for them has to sit apart from your own. That’s the same structure I build for property management companies.
Schedule C or Schedule E
Schedule C generally comes in when you provide substantial services to guests, and it can bring self-employment tax with it. Schedule E is the more common rental treatment. Which one applies changes what your records have to show, including average stay length and what services you actually provide. Your CPA makes that call. My books work for either answer, with per-listing numbers your CPA can rely on instead of rebuilding your year out of payout deposits. If you don’t have a CPA, I work alongside several firms and I’ll introduce you.
How pricing works
Monthly bookkeeping is a flat monthly fee, quoted in writing after a free review of your file. For short-term rentals, the quote comes from your listing count, the platforms you sell through, and how many payouts and expenses move each month. If the file needs a cleanup before monthly service can start, that gets its own fixed project quote. The pricing page walks through what moves the number, and you get the price in writing before I touch anything.
Reviews
5 out of 5 stars
5 out of 5 stars
What people say about working with me
Diane is very competent and dependable. She has been working in the bookkeeping, finance, and records area for many years and does great work. Her services are recommended.
Questions
Questions I hear a lot
Does Airbnb collect all my Missouri taxes?
Largely yes for state sales tax and some local sales taxes. Lodging and tourism taxes that get filed locally are often left to you, and as of this writing Branson’s 4% tourism tax is one of those: the city says no platform remits it for a host. Check your own situation with your city, and I’ll keep the number ready every month.
Can you handle ten or more listings?
Yes. Per-listing books scale fine in QuickBooks Online. Each listing gets its own class, so ten properties give you ten clean profit and loss reports instead of one pile. The price goes up with listing count and volume, and you get a flat monthly fee in writing after a free call of your file.
I manage other people’s properties too. Does that change things?
It does. When you’re holding other people’s rental income, their money has to sit apart from yours. I set that up the same way I do for property management companies.
Do you do my taxes?
Your CPA files the return. What they get is a reconciled, tax-ready file with per-listing numbers and the tourism tax already accrued, and I’ll send it to them directly if you’d rather I did. If you don’t have a CPA, I work alongside several firms and I’ll introduce you.
Do you work with hosts outside Missouri?
Yes. Most of it runs in QuickBooks Online over Zoom, so a host in another state works with me the same way a Branson host does. If your city or county charges its own lodging tax, I set up the same monthly accrual I use for the Branson tourism tax.
What do you need from me?
Mostly your platform transaction exports and your bank feeds. Airbnb and VRBO both bury those exports a few menus deep, and I’ll show you where they are. After setup, most clients spend a few minutes a month on their end.
A Form 990 on extension is due November 16, 2026. Your CPA needs reconciled, fund-level books to finish it, and that’s the part I do.
Filed an extension for 2025? Those returns are due October 15, 2026. Your CPA needs a reconciled 2025 file before then, and the sooner I see it the more room we both have.
1099s for your subs and vendors are due February 1, 2027, and they’re built from a full year of entered payments. If 2026 is behind, the last weeks of the year are the time to catch it up.
1099s for your subs and vendors are due February 1, 2027, the same day your payroll provider sends W-2s. If the 2026 books aren’t entered yet, that’s the first thing I’d fix.
S corporation and partnership returns are due March 15, 2027. Your CPA needs a reconciled 2026 file to file on time.
Individual returns are due April 15, 2027. A reconciled 2026 file is what your CPA needs to file, or to file the extension with real numbers.
Talk to me
One cabin or a dozen, you’ll see what each listing actually earns.
Each Airbnb and VRBO payout gets broken out into the booking, the fees, and the cleaning. Your tourism tax number is ready before it’s due, and you’ll have the monthly fee in writing before I start.
A Form 990 on extension is due November 16, 2026. Your CPA needs reconciled, fund-level books to finish it, and that’s the part I do.
Filed an extension for 2025? Those returns are due October 15, 2026. Your CPA needs a reconciled 2025 file before then, and the sooner I see it the more room we both have.
1099s for your subs and vendors are due February 1, 2027, and they’re built from a full year of entered payments. If 2026 is behind, the last weeks of the year are the time to catch it up.
1099s for your subs and vendors are due February 1, 2027, the same day your payroll provider sends W-2s. If the 2026 books aren’t entered yet, that’s the first thing I’d fix.
S corporation and partnership returns are due March 15, 2027. Your CPA needs a reconciled 2026 file to file on time.
Individual returns are due April 15, 2027. A reconciled 2026 file is what your CPA needs to file, or to file the extension with real numbers.
I’ll call you back within 15 to 20 minutes during the day.