Skip to content
Book Keeping Pros home
Get a quote

Xero bookkeeping for accommodation providers

Guests book through online platforms, pay deposits before they arrive and settle extras at check-out, so the money for a stay can reach the bank in several pieces. We gather those pieces in your Xero file and keep the cleaning, linen and maintenance bills current alongside them.

Get a Xero bookkeeping quoteAbout this service
  • By Book Keeping Pros
  • Sources checked 15 Oct 2026

Bookings, payouts and running costs in Xero

We follow each stay from booking to payout, and each property cost from the bill to the payment that clears it.

  • Booking platform payouts matched to the reservations they cover, with each platform's commission entered only when its payout details confirm the amount
  • Deposits for future stays tracked against their bookings, following the treatment your accountant chooses, then updated when the guest stays, cancels or is refunded
  • Payments taken at reception, including extras charged at check-out, matched to your reservation system's daily reports
  • Cleaning, laundry and linen hire bills entered on receipt and reviewed against the supplier's statement
  • Maintenance and repair invoices entered against the property they relate to, using tracking categories where you run several properties
  • Cancellations and refunds traced back to the original booking and the payout they came out of
  • Each month, the bank, card and finance accounts checked against their statements, with any difference explained

Not included

Managing your listings, availability and guest messages on booking platforms. We work from the payout and booking reports those platforms and your reservation system provide.

Businesses in Accommodation (ANZSIC class 4400)

Actively trading businesses across Australia
13,805 businessesAustralian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, June 2025, checked 15 October 2026
Of those, classified as non-employing
6,835 businessesAustralian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, June 2025, checked 15 October 2026
Of those, with 1 to 4 employees
3,463 businessesAustralian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, June 2025, checked 15 October 2026

Businesses by main state or territory

These counts are for the ANZSIC class Accommodation, which covers hotels, motels, serviced apartments and similar businesses. Many individuals who rent out a room or a home are not in this class, so the counts describe accommodation businesses rather than every host.

  1. New South Wales4,739 businesses
  2. Victoria3,440 businesses
  3. Queensland2,882 businesses
  4. Western Australia1,188 businesses
  5. South Australia827 businesses
  6. Tasmania488 businesses
  7. Northern Territory148 businesses
  8. Australian Capital Territory92 businesses
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, June 2025. Counts of Australian Businesses, data cube 2: Businesses by main state by industry class by employment size ranges (8165DC02.xlsx). Checked 15 Oct 2026.

Businesses by number of employees

  1. Non-employing6,835 businesses
  2. 1 to 4 employees3,463 businesses
  3. 5 to 19 employees2,451 businesses
  4. 20 to 199 employees961 businesses
  5. 200 or more employees95 businesses
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, June 2025. Counts of Australian Businesses, data cube 2: Businesses by main state by industry class by employment size ranges (8165DC02.xlsx). Checked 15 Oct 2026.

Related pages

The service

The industry

More for accommodation providers

Xero bookkeeping for other industries

What accommodation owners ask us about Xero

How do you work out what each booking platform took?
From the payout details the platform provides. A payout usually covers several stays, so we match it to those bookings and record the commission it shows as a cost. If a payout doesn't add up to the bookings less that commission, we list the difference for you to raise with the platform.
How do you handle deposits for stays that haven't happened yet?
We record each deposit as your accountant directs and keep it linked to its booking. When the guest stays, cancels or gets a refund, that's recorded against the same booking, so the deposits still held are easy to see.
We have rooms, a restaurant and a bar. Can Xero show each separately?
Yes. Each transaction can carry a tracking category for rooms, food or the bar, and a profit and loss report filtered to that category shows how each is doing.
Do you need a login to our reservation system?
Not usually. Its daily takings, booking and payout reports are what we work from, so you can send them to us or give us access to reports only, if your system allows it.
Can Xero compare our busy and quiet months?
Yes. Running the profit and loss month by month sets room income beside the cleaning, linen and repair costs, so you can see how both move as bookings rise and fall.

Sources

  1. Counts of Australian Businesses, data cube 2: Businesses by main state by industry class by employment size ranges (8165DC02.xlsx)

    Australian Bureau of Statistics. Actively trading businesses at 30 June 2025, released 16 December 2025. Checked 15 October 2026.

    Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, June 2021 to June 2025, licensed under CC BY 4.0 Licence: CC BY 4.0.

  2. Correspondence, GCCSA 2021 to GCCSA 2026 (CG_GCCSA_2021_GCCSA_2026.csv)

    Australian Bureau of Statistics. ASGS Edition 4, July 2026 to June 2031, released 22 July 2026. Checked 15 October 2026.

    Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 4, licensed under CC BY 4.0 Licence: CC BY 4.0.