When Joe Tindell joined his friend Kenneth Wheeler’s vacation rental venture in 2015, they started with a single tiny house on Airbnb. It was a simple project that Kenneth and his sons had built, but its popularity took them by surprise. "They threw it up on Airbnb, and it just got slammed," Joe recalls. That first listing’s success led them to experiment with container homes, creating a unique niche in the central Texas market.

What began as "just a couple of friends building a container home together" quickly evolved into a full-fledged property management company. By 2019, they were managing nearly 20 container homes and had begun expanding into traditional vacation rentals. Today, VillaStay manages 79 properties, combining innovative container homes with conventional houses.

The Industry-Wide Challenge of Expense Tracking

As VillaStay grew, so did the complexity of its financial operations. With Joe’s background in construction and plumbing, he understood the importance of maintenance and property improvements. However, tracking these expenses proved to be one of their biggest challenges.

For many vacation rental property managers, keeping track of expenses isn’t just a hassle—it’s a major financial drain. Small, unbilled expenses can quietly chip away at profits, and without a clear system for tracking them, they often go unnoticed. Joe and his team relied on a manual, time-consuming process to review expenses. “We had to go through statements line by line to figure out what should be billed to owners,” Joe explains. “We tried our best, but anyone who’s ever handled finance knows—it’s the small things that kill you.”

These overlooked expenses—whether a $10 part for a repair or a last-minute supply run—quickly added up. “At $20 to $30 per listing per month, that’s nearly $19,000 a year just disappearing from our bottom line,” Joe says.

VillaStay’s struggle wasn’t unique. Across the short-term rental industry, property managers face the same problem: maintenance teams make purchases on the go, receipts get lost, and by the time the monthly reconciliation process comes around, it’s too late to track every dollar accurately. This lack of real-time expense tracking leads to missed owner reimbursements, accounting headaches, and ultimately, reduced profitability.

Implementing Topkey: A Tech-Forward Solution

As someone who had helped build VillaStay’s digital infrastructure—from Wi-Fi systems to PMS integrations—Joe was always on the lookout for ways to optimize their operations. When he discovered Topkey, he immediately saw its potential.

"I was like, this is exactly what I’ve been looking for," Joe recalls. "There was nothing in the industry that could give us real-time expense tracking. When I swipe my card, I want to get a text immediately and categorize the transaction."

Initially skeptical, Joe admits that Topkey’s website didn’t fully convey the platform’s capabilities at the time. However, after speaking with Topkey’s team, he realized it was built specifically for vacation rental property managers like him. "A lot of companies in our industry are holdovers from other sectors, trying to break into our market. But Topkey understood our pain points from the start."

VillaStay implemented Topkey’s expense management system, leveraging its American Express integration. Their financial workflow now follows a clear, automated path: expenses are tracked in Topkey, synced to QuickBooks, and then flow to VR Platform for owner statements.

"My accounting process is Topkey for expense management, which syncs to QuickBooks. QuickBooks then syncs to VR Platform," Joe explains. "If it’s tagged properly, it flows straight onto the owner statement, cutting out a ton of manual work."

Results: Automated Tracking and Recovered Revenue

Since implementing Topkey, VillaStay has seen significant improvements in its financial operations:

Recovered Revenue

The most immediate impact was on their bottom line. By properly tracking and billing owner expenses, VillaStay recovered approximately $19,000 annually, which was previously lost through expense leakage.

Faster Monthly Close

The automated expense tracking and tagging have significantly improved their monthly closing process. "I would say it probably cut down 10-15% of my monthly close timeframe," Joe shares.

Streamlined Reconciliation

With Topkey, Joe and his team can quickly follow up on missing information. "When I go to reconcile at the end of the month, I can just fire off requests straight from the Topkey platform and say, ‘Hey, upload these receipts and tell me what this is for.’"

Why Topkey: Rapid Development and Customer-Centric Approach

For Joe, one of Topkey’s standout features has been the team’s responsiveness to customer needs. "The speed at which Topkey develops to my needs has been astounding," he emphasizes. "The entire Topkey team takes my recommendations and pain points seriously, and within weeks, I see updates that make my life easier."

This level of agility and customer support is a game-changer. "There are obviously still things I’d love to see added, but knowing that I can work with a company that listens and evolves with my business needs is invaluable."

Looking Ahead: From Startup to Scalable Systems

As VillaStay continues to grow, Topkey plays a crucial role in its evolution from a startup to an established property management company. "We’re five or six years into our company, and so it shouldn’t feel like a startup anymore, but we still act like one in some ways," Joe reflects.

He sees Topkey as key to this transition: "I see Topkey forcing processes and systems that make our entire property management system flow and sync a lot better. It’s helping us move from a scrappy startup to a well-oiled machine."

Ready to Eliminate Expense Leakage and Streamline Your Financial Operations?

Joe’s story is one that many vacation rental managers can relate to—growing pains, financial complexity, and the need for smarter, more automated solutions. If you’re ready to stop expense leakage and gain better control over your finances, schedule a demo with Topkey today.

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Topkey is a financial technology company and is not a bank. Banking services provided by Thread Bank; Member FDIC.

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