How to Calculate Short-Term Rental Profit per Property

Updated October 10, 2026

A busy calendar doesn't always mean a profitable listing. Between platform fees, cleaning, supplies, utilities and the nights that never book, many hosts aren't sure what each property actually earns. This guide shows how to calculate short-term rental profit per property, step by step, with a worked example and the few numbers worth checking every month.

This guide covers tracking income and expenses for business decisions. It doesn't cover taxes, which have their own rules. For those, talk to a qualified professional.

Step 1: Record every booking

Profit starts with clean booking data. For each stay, record:

• Property
• Check-in and check-out dates. Nights = check-out − check-in.
• Nightly rate (or the total accommodation amount)
• Cleaning fee charged to the guest
• Other income, such as pet fees or extra-guest fees
• Platform fee taken from your payout

Gross booking income = (nights × nightly rate) + cleaning fee + other income

Use dates rather than typing the number of nights, so nights are counted consistently, and check that no check-out is earlier than its check-in.

Step 2: Account for platform fees

Booking platforms usually take a service fee from the host's payout. How much depends on the platform and the fee model you're on. Some charge the host a larger single fee, others split fees between host and guest. Check your own payout statements, record the fee per booking, and if the percentage changes, update it rather than assuming last year's rate.

Net booking income = gross booking income − platform fee

Step 3: Track expenses by property and category

Log each expense with a date, property, category and amount. Useful categories for hosts include:

• Cleaning and laundry (what you pay, not what the guest pays)
• Supplies and consumables
• Utilities and internet
• Repairs and maintenance
• Furnishings and equipment
• Software and services
• Insurance
• Mortgage interest or rent, if you choose to track it in the same sheet

Shared costs (for example one software subscription covering three listings) can be split evenly or by nights booked. Pick one method and use it consistently.

Step 4: Calculate profit per property

Net profit = net booking income − expenses

Do this per property and for all properties together. A portfolio can look healthy overall while one listing quietly loses money.

Worked example (illustrative numbers; not typical results)

One property, one month:

These numbers are examples only. Your fee percentage and costs will differ.

Step 5: Add occupancy and average nightly rate

Two numbers explain why profit moved:

• Occupancy rate = nights booked ÷ nights available. In the example, a 30-day month: 20 ÷ 30 = 66.7%.
• Average daily rate (ADR) = accommodation income ÷ nights booked. In the example, $2,800 ÷ 20 = $140.

If profit drops, check which one changed. Lower occupancy means fewer bookings; lower ADR means discounting. Each calls for a different fix.

Step 6: Split stays that cross months

A guest who checks in on January 29 and leaves on February 3 stayed some nights in each month. If you put the whole stay in January, January looks great and February looks weak. For accurate monthly figures, split income by night: 3 nights in January, 2 in February. The same applies to stays that cross into a new year.

Step 7: Review monthly, not just annually

Once a month, look at:

1. Net profit per property vs last month
2. Occupancy and ADR per property
3. Fees as a share of gross income. Is your effective fee rate what you expected?
4. Expense categories that jumped
5. Payouts received vs bookings, so nothing's missing

Common mistakes

• Using payouts as income without recording the fee, which hides what the platform costs you
• Counting the guest's cleaning fee as profit without subtracting what you pay your cleaner
• One spreadsheet tab per property with no combined view
• Putting the whole stay in the check-in month
• Forgetting small recurring costs like software and consumables

A ready-made tracker

Our Short Term Rental Profit Tracker ($19, for Google Sheets & Microsoft Excel) is built around these steps:

• Bookings where nights calculate from dates, with nightly rate, cleaning fee and other income
• A platform fee per booking (an editable default in Settings, or set per booking)
• Expenses by property and category
• A dashboard per property and for all properties: bookings, nights, occupancy, average nightly rate (ADR), gross, fees, expenses and net profit
• Stays that cross months or years split by night, plus monthly payouts, expenses and net
• Flags for check-out before check-in, unknown properties and bad dates, with unknown properties totaled separately so totals reconcile

It's one of our spreadsheet templates for hosts and small businesses.

The bottom line

To calculate short-term rental profit, record every booking with its fee, track expenses by property, subtract both from gross income, and watch occupancy and ADR alongside profit. Do it monthly, per property, and you'll know which listings are earning their keep.

Microsoft Excel is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation; Google Sheets is a trademark of Google LLC. Sheetsmith Studio is not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by either.

This article is general information, not financial, tax or legal advice. Example figures are for illustration only.