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Australia: Short-term rental operating system Hospitable has introduced a trust accounting product designed to help Australian property managers manage owner funds and meet state reporting requirements.
Hospitable Trust Accounting is currently available as a paid private pilot to property managers across Australia.
The product connects trust account records with the bookings and owner statements already held within Hospitable, reducing the need for property managers to reconcile information across separate systems.
Bank transactions and balances are imported daily through a read-only connection with an accredited open banking provider. Managers can alternatively upload bank statements using CSV or PDF files when a direct feed is unavailable.
Transactions are displayed alongside suggested matches from owner statements, allowing managers to connect deposits with platform payouts and transfers with payments due to owners or management fees.
Once a transaction is confirmed, the system issues a numbered receipt to the relevant owner ledger. Hospitable said the software updates accounting records but cannot move money from the connected bank account.
Each owner and property receives a separate trust ledger that cannot be overdrawn. Property managers can produce reports covering account reconciliation, ledger balances and payment registers, alongside a permanent month-end record.
The product was initially developed around Queensland’s trust accounting requirements and will apply location-specific rules as Hospitable expands it across other Australian states.
Property managers who collect money on behalf of owners may be required to hold it separately from their operating funds, although the applicable requirements vary according to location and business arrangements.
Ethan Brown, general manager for APAC at Hospitable, said: “The managers we’ve spoken to say the hardest part is keeping their trust account in step with bookings and payouts held in a separate system, and that’s usually where mistakes happen.”
Hospitable Trust Accounting is available to property managers using the company’s Mogul plan and operates alongside its Owner Statements product. It is also being privately piloted in the United States.
Hospitable said the product provides record-keeping tools and does not replace legal or accounting advice.
Highlights
- Hospitable has introduced native trust accounting for Australian property managers.
- The paid product is currently available through a private pilot.
- Bank transactions are imported daily and matched against owner statements.
- Separate ledgers are created for each owner and property.
- The system can produce reconciliation and month-end reports.
- It was initially developed around Queensland’s reporting requirements.
- Hospitable is also privately piloting the product in the United States.
