Vacation rental trust accountingKnow the money you hold for owners matches your bank
For property managers who hold owner and guest money. Guest payments are recorded into trust automatically, issued owner statements build each owner’s balance, and every month VacayOps checks that your bank, your books and what you owe owners agree — with a sign-off and a PDF for your accountant. Included in the Full Platform, no add-on.
VacayOps records and reconciles the money in your own bank and processor accounts. It never holds or moves funds.
Trust reconciliation · September
Balanced · signed1 · Bank
$46,500.00
- Statement
- $48,200.00
- + In transit
- $1,350.00
- − Not yet cleared
- $3,050.00
2 · Books
$46,500.00
Trust cash in your books
3 · What you hold
$46,500.00
- Held for owners, guests & tax
- $44,900.00
- + Your own money
- $1,600.00
Example figures. Signing freezes the month; the PDF carries the worksheet, the schedules by property and by owner, and the sign-off lines.
Three-way reconciliation: bank, books and owner balances agree — and someone signs for it
Three numbers must agree each month: your bank balance (adjusted for deposits on the way and payouts not yet cleared), the trust cash in your books, and what you hold for owners and guests plus any of your own money in the account. Signing off freezes the month; a month that doesn’t balance needs a written reason.
- Breakdown by owner and by property, with an explicit “not attributed” row — nothing hides in a total
- Reconciliation PDF: the worksheet, schedules by property and by owner, and sign-off lines — marked DRAFT until signed
- CSV exports: payout list, owner ledger, property ledger and the reconciliation
- A “Trust account” card on your accounting home: trust cash, what you hold for owners and guests, your own money in trust, and the last signed month
Reconciliation PDF · September
DRAFT until signed- Reconciliation worksheet
- Schedule by property
- Schedule by owner
- Sign-off lines
The property schedule carries a “not attributed to a property” row, so its rows always add up to what you hold.
Problems flagged in plain words
Each time you open or refresh the Trust screen, VacayOps checks the trust books and explains each problem in plain language. If you override a check, it records who did and why.
- A shortfall, or an owner balance below zero
- Money without an owner
- Statements not yet issued
- Owner funds unpaid too long, and bank lines unmatched too long
- Stays earned but not fully paid
Trust checks
2 to look at- ShortfallClear
- Negative owner balanceNeeds a look
- Money without an ownerNeeds a look
- Unissued statementsClear
- Owner funds unpaid too longClear
- Bank lines unmatched too longClear
- Stays earned but not fully paidClear
- $420.00 in trust isn’t tied to an owner yet — usually a property with no owner set.
- Dana Lee’s balance is $180.00 below zero — other owners’ money is covering it.
Any override records who made it and why.
Money in and money out, recorded from the work itself
Trust entries come from the same reservations, month close and owner statements you already run — nothing to re-type into a second system.
- Guest payments recorded into trust automatically — brought up to date whenever you open the Trust screen and before a month closes
- Month-close earnings posted, and each issued owner statement added to that owner’s balance
- Move the fees you’ve earned to your operating account. VacayOps won’t let you move owner money that isn’t on an issued statement yet.
- Card processing fees paid from your own account, if that’s how you work
- Lodging tax you remit for an owner, recorded from the Trust screen
Trust activity · September
Pay owners from your bank. VacayOps keeps the record.
VacayOps never sends money. It gives you a payout list for your bank, and when you pay an owner it records the payout against their balance — once. If a payout from a month that’s already closed has to be reversed, the reversal goes on a date you choose, so closed months stay closed.
- Payout list CSV for your bank
- Duplicate-proof payout records
- Owner balances carried month to month
Owner payouts · September
Separate trust account or one account — set up the way you hold money
An admin turns trust accounting on from Owners & Accounting → Trust Accounting, picks how you hold money and the date it starts, and VacayOps sets up the trust accounts in your books.
- A separate trust bank account (segregated)
- One bank account, with owner and guest money tracked separately from yours (advisory)
- Effective from a date you choose
Trust settings
A separate trust account
Segregated: a bank account just for owner and guest money.
One bank account
Advisory: owner and guest money tracked separately from yours.
Records an auditor can follow
Invite your accountant with the Accounting role, or give their software read-only access to the trust balances, the books and issued owner statements with an API token you can revoke any time. Every token created or revoked is logged, and tokens can never write.
- Signed reconciliation PDFs, month by month
- Owner and property ledgers as CSV
- 1099-MISC rents for owners, split among co-owners, as CSV files laid out for the IRS IRIS portal — you review and upload
Accountant access
1099 files · tax year 2025
You review and upload to IRIS. VacayOps does not e-file.
What trust accounting covers
Part of the Full Platform at $29/property/month. No trust add-on.
Three-way reconciliation
Bank, books and owner balances, every month, with sign-off that freezes the month.
Trust receipts
Guest payments recorded into trust automatically from the bookings themselves.
Owner & property balances
What you hold for each owner and each property, with a “not attributed” row for anything unassigned.
Integrity checks
Shortfalls, negative balances and unmatched bank lines explained in plain words; overrides recorded.
Reconciliation PDF
Worksheet, schedules by property and by owner, and sign-off lines. DRAFT until signed.
Accountant access
Read-only, scoped, revocable API tokens — every create and revoke logged.
Your money stays in your bank
VacayOps records and reconciles the money in your own bank and processor accounts. It never holds or moves funds. You pay owners from your own bank, and VacayOps records each payout against the owner's balance.
Trust rules come from your state and your license. VacayOps gives you and your accountant or broker the records, checks and signed reconciliations to work from; meeting those rules and making your filings stay with you.
Trust accounting questions
- Is trust accounting extra?
- No. Trust accounting is part of the Full Platform at $29/property/month. There is no add-on fee for it, and onboarding, setup, configuration and training are included. Trust accounting is often bought as an add-on or a separate tool connected to your PMS. In VacayOps it’s part of the Full Platform, on the same bookings and owner statements.
- Does VacayOps hold my owners’ money or pay them?
- No. VacayOps records and reconciles the money in your own bank and processor accounts. It never holds or moves funds. You pay owners from your own bank, using the payout list VacayOps produces, and VacayOps records each payout against the owner’s balance.
- Does this meet my state’s trust accounting rules?
- VacayOps doesn’t certify compliance. Trust rules come from your state and your license. VacayOps gives you and your accountant or broker the records, checks and signed reconciliations to work from; meeting those rules and making your filings stay with you. What it gives them: owner and property balances, a monthly three-way reconciliation your accountant can sign off, a reconciliation PDF and checks that flag problems in plain words.
- Who sets it up?
- An admin turns trust accounting on from Owners & Accounting → Trust Accounting, picks how you hold money (a separate trust account, or one account with owner money tracked separately) and the date it starts. VacayOps sets up the trust accounts in your books. No setup fee — onboarding, setup, configuration and training included.
- Do I need a separate trust bank account?
- VacayOps works either way: a separate trust bank account (segregated), or one bank account with owner and guest money tracked separately from yours (advisory). Which one your license or state calls for is a question for your broker or accountant.
- What is three-way reconciliation?
- Three numbers that must agree each month. One: your trust bank balance, adjusted for deposits that haven’t arrived yet and payouts that haven’t cleared. Two: the trust cash in your books. Three: what you hold for owners and guests, plus any of your own money sitting in the account. When all three match, the month reconciles and can be signed off.
- What changes for my bookkeeper or accountant?
- Invite them as a user with the Accounting role, or give their software a read-only API token for the trust balances, the books and issued owner statements. (The Accounting role can’t open the Trust or API Access screens — those stay with your admins.) Each month you can hand them the reconciliation PDF with its sign-off lines; if they work in QuickBooks Online, invoices and bills sync across.
- How do bank statements get in?
- Import them from any bank as CSV, OFX or QFX. US accounts can also be linked through Stripe Financial Connections. Bank lines are matched to the books with suggested matches, and anything left over you match by hand.
- What if a booking changes after the statement was issued?
- Regenerating the month creates an adjustment statement for the difference only; the issued statement is never rewritten. The adjustment is reviewed, issued and posted to the owner’s balance like any other statement.
- We’re on another system today. How do we switch?
- Switching is built in — a self-guided Migration Center, with a specialist reviewing your move. The move brings your properties, owners and upcoming reservations across, and your owner balances too, so the first VacayOps owner statement — and the trust ledger — start from the right number.
- Who can use trust accounting?
- Property managers on the Full Platform whose reservations run on the VacayOps PMS — trust accounting needs the bookings, the statements and the bank in one place. Running another PMS today? Switching is built in — a self-guided Migration Center, with a specialist reviewing your move. Owner-operators don’t need trust accounting, because the money is their own, and Operations Only has no reservations, so there is no guest money to hold.
See a month on the Trust screen
In a 30-minute walkthrough we’ll show owner statements, the three-way reconciliation and sign-off. No setup fee — onboarding, setup, configuration and training included.