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Found your message buried in the spam folder for some reason. Rescued it and we'll get back to you soon!

Sent email to help on the 13th re channel bridge import. Some fees are doubled up, some mounts are strange and do not seem to agree.

I thought I sent the issues I encountered to support email with screen prints. Some fees are doubled up.

@BlueMtn, were you able to get that running?

I will try
Just attempting to get 2018 data in order for taxes.

If you've run other imports before, the channel bridge import will warn you that the numbers are off (because the old ones weren't right but the new ones are). To fix that, pick it to overwrite both charges and payments and re-run the channel bridge import.

The only reason you wouldn't want to do an overwrite is if you have taken payment for additional items on those bookings outside of VRBO and recorded those in OwnerRez. The import doesn't know the difference between manually added correct numbers and wrong numbers, which is why it gets you in the loop to choose whether to overwrite.

Did that too with seemingly same inconsistencies

This is why we built Channel Bridge :-). The VRBO exports are very sparse, missing a bunch of info. Channel Bridge logs into your VRBO account and downloads all of the guest info and financials (both invoice charges and payments/refunds). Then you can upload that file into the special Tools > Channel Bridge Import.

More on this: https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/channel-bridge

Ok, I give up. I cannot figure out proper options to correctly import from VRBO.
here is what I have used:
* Everything - Import everything or only service fees. Service fee only import is useful if you're on the Alternate Payments plan where you're already managing the charges and payments inside OwnerRez.

On Non Matching Bookings
* Error - If a row in the HomeAway/VRBO file can't be matched to an OwnerRez booking, what should be done?

* Imported Payments - HomeAway/VRBO doesn't provide per-reservation totals in the export. Should charges be generated from the rates you have configured in OwnerRez or from the current balance for each reservation as imported (which will represent partial amounts until the reservation is fully paid).

On Existing Charges and Fees
* Overwrite - the existing ones (as long as they haven't been manually edited), Skip adding them to the booking, overwrite the existing ones, or return an error and stop processing the import?

On Existing Payments
* Overwrite - If existing payments are found on a booking, what should be done? Merge with the existing ones, skip the booking for payments, overwrite the existing payments, or return an error and stop processing the import?

On Negative Booking Total
* Skip

despite that when i do import by range of dates, it seems to overwrite some amounts to some strange amount that I cannot equate to any charge (partial rent? 1st payment?).

Is there a rule of thumb how to properly import considering that VRBO does not show future pending payments , AND when you select date range (ex: Dec 1, 2018, - Dec 31, 2018), payments that were made for the stay on Dec 15 will be left out as they have been made prior to Dec 1st.
And so, the amounts imported will not reflect full actual charges?

TIA

We have the channel bridge which is available now: https://www.ownerrez.com/support/articles/channel-bridge

The VRBO API based integration will require 5+ properties -- that's their minimum for hooking up an account, unfortunately.

When you get the integration setup for VRBO users is there going to be an offer for the $1 per month for the first year. I am only on my own site and the VRBO site so there is no need for me to sign up now.

that works if you live on premises and keep an eye and you have a B&B set up. Mine are fairly secluded mountain stand alone log homes. So if I rent a 5 bd for 2 bd price, it will mean that there will be people who are unwilling or unable to pay 5 bd rate roaming 5 bd house and possibly bringing more people and in many owners' observation, it is lesser desirable clientele. I cannot lock off anything as it is not B&B but rather a standalone fairly luxury log home. So I will rather have it sit empty than rent for below certain price. Not worth the risk. I am 700 miles away.

Of course, peak - shoulder and off season is each a separate problem.

Although I am not starting until early spring, 1/3 of my building is someone else's bed and breakfast (4 rooms). I watch at night like a hawk for lights in the room and cars in her drive. It is like a tomb Sun afternoon to Friday afternoon the last couple weeks. And she said January-March is dead dead.

So there is a theory that offering my 5 bedroom townhome also as a 2-3 bedroom during the offseason, expands your reach I would be happy to rent it at less just to not have it empty. Like $150 instead of $250 or so a night. you can always lock 2-3 bedrooms so they dont get messed up.

I tend to do my own reports that involve $$$ amounts due to the fact that 1) importing amounts from VRBO and AirBNB still does not seem to always work correctly (esp VRBO) - or maybe I am slow :) and 2) me having the refundable damage dep (vs secdep as card hold) and then refunding seems to mess up the money picture. So as avid OR user, after all these years, I still rely on my trusty spreadsheets an enter amounts manually as importing the amounts from other sites seem to mess them up. :)

I do tend to disagree , in some part, with assertion that if your property books far in advance, your prices are too low. With larger properties it is not so straightforward. if you do not book far in advance , you may not book AT ALL near term no matter how you drop price when it comes close (unless it is highest demand holiday). Why - you had it above: large properties take larger groups who need more time planning. It is not your last minute getaway type booking. Unless of course you want to discount 5 bd house price to that of a 2 bd last moment. Not many owners would do that as it invites undesirable clientele. .

Some people just charge flat prices year round. Seasonal pricing is a theory, but anytime you vary price, it impacts demand.

Yep, the payment summary or booking summary reports are good.

Net is gross - fees, but the reason it doesn't add up on this report is the difference between the way payments and refunds add up fees. Fees on payments are positive and reduce the net, while fees on refunds are negative and increase the net refund. If you run that report for just payments or just refunds, you'll see what I mean.

I'll look into this and see if there's a way to make this simpler on the report so it can add up across.

Any other sorts of reports that would be useful?

@Ross, you can group these by listing site if you want. Or there are also specific listing site volume reports in the Analytics section of reports. What would you be looking for on the seasonal pricing analysis?

I would like to see (unless I missed it) reporting for total profit/total revenue/total bookings per channel (my hosted website, AirBnB, flipkey, VRBNO, Expedia, craigslist, marketing, rebookings, etc. This might help to where to double down or cut back. The last thing I want to do is to saturate myself in google or other analytics, trace back, analyze, research, optimize, panic, etc.

Would be nice, projecting how PriceLabs, flat pricing, seasonal pricing would compare against each other for a property. Probably hard to do!

You mentioned that these reports will provide "analysis that will give you actionable metrics to help increase bookings and increase profit per bookings".

So, how do we measure the profits? It looks to me like the Payment Summary report might be the right one. However, there are three summary fields to use, Total, Net Total, and Fees. I feel like the Net Total and Fees should sum up to the (Gross) Total, but they don't appear to.

How are the three summary fields related. And if (Gross) Total is not a sum of Net Total and Fees, what else is missing here and why?

I had rental properties for > 15 years and I ALWAYS did my own accounting and taxes. If audited, I don't want to be represented by someone who is not really familiar with my numbers. (I'm sorry sir, your accountant of 8 years just retired, but we have this new guy who...) An accountant caused me a major problem with a business purchase, and I have been doubtful ever since.

I believe that if you want to be more successful, a good piece of software and DIY trumps the CPA. You should know your own numbers, intimately (IMHO)

Just wondering what's on the horizon, and whether or not it might make sense to do accounting on my own as opposed to paying an accountant.

We just dropped a large update a week or two ago on QuickBooks and have several more scheduled for later this year.

Are there any particular features you were interested in?

Each one is different, and there are instructions in each channel as you add it, as well as links to step by step articles.

If you run into a particular snag, shoot us an email at help@ownerreservations.com and we'll get you sorted.

What's the approximate roll out date for these new accounting features?

Okay, I signed up... Now how do I turn on each integration?

As many of you are already well aware, dealing with proper accounting and bookkeeping is a big frustration in the vacation rental industry -- whether you manage hundreds of properties or are an owner with just a couple.

Jesse and the team at Ximplifi Accounting have started a great blog series on accounting for vacation rentals. We are working with Jesse's team to create a long-term comprehensive solution in OwnerRez to the accounting problem. We push bookings and payments to QuickBooks already, but this is just the tip of iceberg in terms of what is coming.

Check out Jesse's inaugural article: Trust Accounting for Vacation Rental Managers

Quick excerpt:

Trust accounting for vacation rental managers (or property managers in general) ("PM") can be confusing. Add in the selection, set-up & use of VRM booking and accounting software and it can become all out dizzying! The below is not intended to be all encompassing, as the set-up, and specific accounting & reporting is dependent on many different factors. But, it is intended to provide a framework for VRM trust accounting and the different key considerations.

Continue reading

These appear to be dated instructions. I am having a hard time finding where to increase the check acceptance date.

https://www.ownerrez.com/blog/setting-up-and-understanding-payments-by-check

Wouldn't let me edit post. I added:

Standard disclaimer about fake reviews. 1 and 5 star may be faked. I find most wisdom between 2-4 star reviews.

That is why I said "practically". There are going to be hiccups like your solar eclipse. But one-off things like eclipses or one-time events are certainly not the fault of the dynamic pricer.

I am on board with not using BP or Everbooked. My research leads me to PriceLabs and WH only. And certainly not the builtin dynamic of something like Airbnb. The OTAs have made themselves almost the enemy of the VR owner.

The following may be insightful on software review site Capterra about 3 of the dynamic pricers.

Wheelhouse: https://www.capterra.com/p/171266/Wheelhouse-Pricing/

PriceLabs: https://www.capterra.com/p/158348/PriceLabs/

BeyondPricing: https://www.capterra.com/p/141284/Beyond-Pricing/

Everbooked: Not reviewed there.

Secdep vs actual damage deposit (i.e just auth held against card, vs money actually charged and put in bank). I use the latter as non-taxable surcharge. Pro: money in bank; con: if guests want to buy trip insurance, the damage deposit amount gets included into the amount against which trip insurance is calculated so it is overstated; also refunds take 30 cents out of your money ; remembering to refund it :)

As is said I did "set and forget " with BP and just got several spring break dates booked about $40-50/night LESS than I would have charged (and got, historically) myself .

About WH: Last year they did not set prices correct for local event (solar eclipse) that was crazy popular and could have fetched prices about $40/night more than those they set..

So yes, my time is worth money, but it is definitely worth several nights X$40 doing it myself Vs BP. very disappointed.