An owner statement is the report a property manager sends each property owner for a set period, usually a month. It lists bookings and income, the fees and expenses deducted, and the payout the owner receives.
A clear statement is what keeps owners trusting you and stops the same questions from landing in your inbox every month. If you're building a management business, this fits right alongside the steps in our guide on how to become a vacation rental property manager.
In this guide:
- What an Owner Statement Is (and Isn't)
- What to Include in an Owner Statement
- Owner Statement Template With a Worked Example
- How to Prepare an Owner Statement Each Month
- Common Owner Statement Mistakes
- Owner Access: What to Share Beyond the Statement
- How to Prepare Owner Statements With Smoobu
- Frequently Asked Questions
What an Owner Statement Is (and Isn't)
Think of the owner statement as the bridge between what guests paid and what lands in the owner's bank account. Without it, the owner only sees a transfer and has to trust that the number is right.
Most property managers send one statement per owner per period, with one section per property when an owner has several. Your management agreement should say how often you send it, what it covers, and when the payout follows.
It's easy to mix the statement up with other documents you already produce. Here's how they differ:
| Document | Who it's for | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Owner statement | The property owner | Income, deductions, and the owner's payout for the period |
| Guest invoice | The guest | What one guest paid for one stay |
| Channel payout report | You, the manager | What a booking platform paid you after its own fees |
The owner statement draws on the other two. Guest invoices and channel payout reports back up each line.
What to Include in an Owner Statement
A good statement answers three questions at a glance: how much the property earned, what came off and why, and how much the owner gets. These are the sections that cover it:
- Header: owner name, property, statement period, statement date, and your company details
- Bookings: each stay with its dates, nights, channel, and booking value, plus any cancellations that still earned money
- Channel fees: what each booking platform kept, taken from its own payout report
- Management fee: your fee, with the rate and the amount it's calculated on
- Expenses: cleaning, repairs, supplies, and utilities you paid on the owner's behalf, each with a receipt
- Taxes: any tourist or occupancy tax you collected and paid on, if the arrangement makes you responsible for it
- Payout: the net amount, the payment date, and the account it goes to
- Year-to-date totals: income, fees, expenses, and payouts since January, so the owner can see the trend
Channel fees deserve their own line because they vary by platform. For example, on Airbnb, most hosts on the single-fee structure pay a 15.5% service fee (as of November 2026), while Booking.com and other channels charge their own commission under your contract.
A short notes section at the end is worth the extra minute. One or two lines on a repair, a quiet month, or a rate change answer the owner's question before they ask it.
Want every booking, channel, and property in one place before you build your next statement? Try Smoobu free for 14 days.
Owner Statement Template With a Worked Example
Below is a simple template filled in for one imaginary property. Every figure is an assumption for illustration, not a benchmark. The Booking.com commission of 15% and the management fee of 20% are hypothetical rates; use the ones in your own contracts.
The example covers October 2026: three stays, one each from Airbnb, Booking.com, and the manager's own website. The management fee is charged on booking revenue after channel fees, a common way to set it.
| Line | Details | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Booking 1 | October 3 to 7, Airbnb, 4 nights | $760.00 |
| Booking 2 | October 12 to 15, Booking.com, 3 nights | $570.00 |
| Booking 3 | October 20 to 26, direct booking, 6 nights | $1,080.00 |
| Booking revenue | 13 nights | $2,410.00 |
| Channel fees | Airbnb 15.5% of $760 ($117.80), Booking.com 15% of $570 ($85.50) | −$203.30 |
| Revenue after channel fees | $2,206.70 | |
| Management fee | 20% of $2,206.70 | −$441.34 |
| Cleaning | 3 turnovers at $80 | −$240.00 |
| Repair | Replacement shower head, receipt attached | −$45.00 |
| Supplies | Toiletries and coffee, receipt attached | −$30.00 |
| Owner payout | Paid November 5, 2026 | $1,450.36 |
Out of $2,41t guests paid, the owner receives $1,450.36, a little over 60%. Showing each step makes that gap easy to follow, which is exactly what an owner wants to see.
Illustrative example
From booking revenue to owner payout
How an imaginary October booking total of $2,410 becomes a $1,450.36 owner payout, step by step.
| Line | Details | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Booking revenue | 3 stays, 13 nights | $2,410.00 |
| Channel fees | Airbnb 15.5% and Booking.com 15% | −$203.30 |
| Management fee | 20% of revenue after channel fees | −$441.34 |
| Expenses | Cleaning, repair, and supplies | −$315.00 |
| Owner payout | 60% of booking revenue | $1,450.36 |
Assumptions: Airbnb 15.5% service fee (Airbnb help article 1857, November 2026). The Booking.com 15% commission, the 20% management fee, and all booking values are hypothetical. Not tax advice.
To use it as your template, copy the table into a spreadsheet, keep the line names, and swap in your own bookings, rates, and expenses. Add a column for year-to-date totals once you've sent your first few statements.
Smoobu Pro Tip: Write the fee base into the statement itself, for example "20% of revenue after channel fees". Owners compare statements with their contract, and naming the base on every statement settles the most common question before it comes up.
How to Prepare an Owner Statement Each Month
The work is easier when you follow the same order every month. Here's a routine that keeps the numbers consistent:
- Fix the period: use the same dates for every report, for example the first to the last day of the month
- List the stays: export the period's bookings per property, including cancellations that kept a fee
- Pull the channel fees: take what each platform kept from its own payout or commission report, not from an estimate
- Apply your management fee: use the rate and the base in the management agreement
- Add the expenses: enter each cost with its date and receipt, and say who approved anything unusual
- Reconcile: check that the payouts you received from channels and payment providers match the statement
- Send and file: send the statement with a short note, then keep a copy with the receipts for year-end
If an owner has several properties, do steps 2 to 5 per property and add a summary at the top. Owners with a portfolio usually want both the total and the property-by-property view.
Common Owner Statement Mistakes
Most statement disputes come from a handful of avoidable slips. These are the ones to watch for:
- Mixing up booking value and payouts: the value of a booking and what a channel actually paid you are different numbers, so label which one each line shows
- Leaving out cancellations: a canceled stay with a retained fee is still income for the owner
- Unclear cleaning fees: if guests pay a cleaning fee and you also deduct cleaning costs, show both so the owner sees the full picture
- Expenses without receipts: even a small charge with no receipt can make an owner doubt the whole statement
- Changing the format: moving lines around every month makes statements hard to compare
- Sending late: a fixed day each month builds more trust than a perfect statement that arrives whenever
Statements also feed into the owner's taxes. In the US, for example, the IRS says property managers must use Form 1099-MISC to report the rent paid over to the property owner. Rules differ by country and state, so check with an accountant: Smoobu isn't a tax adviser.
Owner Access: What to Share Beyond the Statement
Many owners want more than a monthly report: they want to see when their property is booked, especially before they plan their own stays. Giving them that view also cuts down on "is it free next weekend?" messages.
There are three common levels of owner access:
- Statement only: the owner gets the monthly report and nothing else
- Calendar view: the owner sees booked and free dates, but no guest or price details
- Read-only account: the owner logs in and sees bookings, and prices, if you choose, for their own properties only
Agree on the level of access in the management agreement, together with how owners block dates for their own use. Keep guest contact details out of owner access unless there's a clear reason to share them.
How to Prepare Owner Statements With Smoobu
Smoobu doesn't generate owner statements for you, but it holds most of the data a statement starts from: every booking from every connected channel, per property. With the features on Smoobu for property managers, you collect that data in a few steps and do the maths in your spreadsheet template.
- Export the bookings: in Bookings, set the statement period, open Filters, and switch on every status, including Cancelled, before you export
- Check revenue per property: on the Analytics page, set the same dates and choose the owner's property to see its revenue, nights, and occupancy
- Add what Smoobu doesn't hold: take channel commissions from each platform's payout report, and expenses from your receipts
- Download issued invoices: if you invoice guests through Smoobu's Invoicing System, attach the invoices for the period as evidence
Two things to know before you start: Analytics revenue is the gross booking value, including the channel's commission, and Analytics tables can't be exported, so note the figures you need in your spreadsheet.
For owner access, add the owner as a team member. Read-only accounts are free, and you choose which properties they see and whether prices, guest names, and notes are visible. The Help Center explains how to set what each team member can see and do.
If an owner only needs to see availability, share the property's private iCal link instead. They add it to their own calendar app and see booked dates, with no access to your Smoobu account.
Frequently Asked Questions
A guest invoice shows what one guest paid for one stay. An owner statement covers the full period for the property owner: all bookings, channel fees, your management fee expenses, and the owner's payout. Invoices are part of the evidence behind the statement.
Usually once a month, but the management agreement decides. Whatever you agree, send it on a fixed day and use the same period every time, so owners can compare one statement with the next.
It depends on your management agreement. Charging it on revenue after channel fees is one common way, and it's the one our worked example uses. Whichever base you choose, name it on every statement.
Yes. You can add an owner as a free read-only team member who sees only their own properties, and choose whether prices, guest names, and notes are visible. If they only need availability, share the property's private iCal link instead.
No. Smoobu holds the bookings and revenue per property, but it doesn't record channel commissions or your expenses. Export the bookings, take the fees from each channel's payout report, and build the statement in your spreadsheet template.
Summary: Clear Owner Statements With Smoobu
A good owner statement walks the owner from what guests paid to what they receive, with every fee and expense shown and backed by a receipt or a channel report. Send it on a fixed day in the same format, and most owner questions answer themselves.
Smoobu keeps every booking, channel, and property in one place, so the data behind each statement is ready when you need it. Start your 14-day free trial of Smoobu today.
