Expense Management Options for Vacation Rental Managers

Managing expenses as a vacation rental manager can feel overwhelming, especially with the many software options available in the market. If you're thinking about setting up expense management software for your short-term rental (STR) business, it’s helpful to understand your main options and how they stack up against each other.

In this guide, we’ll break down these categories and explain how Topkey’s unique approach to expense management simplifies processes for STR managers like you.

1. Manual Workarounds

‍Despite the dominance of software solutions, many property managers still rely on spreadsheets and paper receipts to manage expenses. This approach is often chosen for its familiarity and lack of upfront costs.

‍How It Works:

‍You’ll download expense reports from your credit card accounts, sort through receipts, and manually categorize each transaction. For property managers handling multiple properties, this process can involve hours of tagging and importing data into PMS and accounting software.

‍Pros:

• No steep learning curve.
• Low cost if you’re managing a small portfolio.

Cons:

• Time-consuming as the portfolio grows. What you gain in cheapness with manual workarounds, you lose in time (which ends up being expensive). For instance, at Topkey, we've talked to property managers who had as few as 50 properties, spending 20 hours a month on expense management tasks. That’s six, 40-hour weeks a year—a number that usually grows as the properties under management increase.
  
  
• Higher likelihood of errors and inefficiencies. This is where expense leakage becomes a major problem. We regularly see property managers losing anywhere from $100-1k per year per property on expense leakage that could have been easily fixed.

2. General Expense Management Software

‍What is it?

General expense management platforms offer broad financial tools designed for businesses across all industries. These solutions, like Ramp, Brex, and Bill.com, provide the essential building blocks of expense management: corporate credit cards with spending controls, receipt capture, basic approval workflows, and integration with common accounting software.

At their core, these platforms help businesses control and track spending through corporate card issuance, expense approvals, and basic automation. For example, a manager can issue virtual or physical cards to employees with preset spending limits, automatically block unauthorized purchases, and require receipt uploads for transactions. Most platforms also offer some level of automated categorization and integration with accounting tools like QuickBooks. While these solutions can handle basic expense tracking needs, they are built as horizontal solutions - meaning they serve many different industries rather than focusing on the specific needs of any one sector.‍

How it works in practice: 

Imagine you run a textile import-export company. You’d issue a salesperson a company card with a predefined spending limit. If the salesperson tries to use the card for a non-approved purchase, like a pricey bottle of wine, the card can block the transaction automatically based on the company’s spending policies. These systems also simplify receipt management—employees can snap a picture of receipts, which are then matched to transactions. It frees employees from manual expense reports and the management from chasing down receipts.

The convenient thing about expense management software is that you can expand the spending limits via a click of a button in case your employee needs it, or cancel a card when they leave the company. You can also manage reimbursements when someone needs to spend out of pocket.‍

Common Pain Points with General Expense Software

‍There are two critical technical considerations that affect both general expense platforms and STR-specific software: how they connect to credit cards and whether they support external cards alongside their own.

Many platforms either require you to use their credit cards exclusively or offer reduced functionality with external cards. This often forces a choice between switching your entire credit card program (losing valuable rewards) or accepting limited automation.

We'll explore these technical limitations in detail in the next section on STR-specific software, as these challenges are fundamental to how any expense management platform - general or specialized - handles your financial data.‍

Challenges vacation rental managers face with general expense management software

‍While these platforms provide basic expense management, they aren’t designed for STR businesses, which often rely on property management systems (PMS) like Streamline, Track, Guesty, or others. Because general software is not built with STRs in mind, they don't have native integrations with the PMS platforms, forcing property managers to manually import expense data and tag transactions to specific properties. This creates inefficiencies, especially when managing multiple properties or splitting costs across properties.

These limitations can have a significant impact on your bottom line. Our industry data shows that property managers typically lose 10-20% of their attributable spend per month on each property due to expense leakage - expenses that should be billed to owners but slip through the cracks. For a manager with 80 units spending an average of $100 per property monthly on supplies and maintenance, that could mean up to $19,200 in lost revenue annually. The problem isn't just about lost receipts - it's about the manual effort required to match transactions to properties, track split expenses across multiple units, and ensure every billable expense makes it onto owner statements.

 Without PMS integration and automated property-level tracking, managers are forced to choose between spending hours on manual reconciliation or writing off expenses they can't easily document.

Pros:

• Generally cost-effective.
• Wide range of tools and features.

Cons:

• Manual work to sync with PMS.
• Limited ability to let you keep your current credit card points programs.
• Hidden Costs: Though general software can cost the same as STR-specific software, or be cheaper—depending on what you pick—the manual work of moving data from the expense management software into your PMS and tagging it correctly adds labor costs.

General expense management platforms usually provide the essential building blocks of business expense tracking: corporate cards, spending controls, receipt capture, and basic accounting integration. While these solutions effectively serve many industries with standard needs, they weren't built with vacation rental operations in mind. The lack of PMS integration and property-level expense tracking means managers must choose between time-consuming manual reconciliation or potential revenue loss through expense leakage. Though often good on paper, these platforms' limitations can create hidden operational costs that become more significant as your property portfolio grows.

‍3. STR-Specific Expense Management Software

‍To address the limitations of general software, STR-specific platforms, like Topkey were created. These solutions are tailored to the unique needs of property managers, with features like PMS integration and tools for allocating expenses to specific properties.
‍
What to Look For:

• Integrations: The software should connect to your PMS and accounting software (e.g., QuickBooks).
• Real-Time Expense Tracking: Ensure transaction data from corporate cards is accessible immediately for tagging and categorization.
• Property-level Expense Tagging: Make sure you can tag expenses down to the property level so that you can avoid expense leakage and cut down on receipt chasing.

This last point is crucial in expense management because consistent access to expense transactions forms the foundation of your financial automation architecture. For instance, if an employee pays for cleaning supplies with a credit card, and the STR-specific software connects to the credit card account via third-party tools that pull in delayed transactions rather than immediately, you’ll have problems with data accuracy.Without real-time access to your transaction data, you won't be able to tag and categorize the cleaning supplies expense at the point of purchase. This could introduce a gap where expenses fall through, leading to confusion and financial reporting issues.

Common Pain Points:

‍Just like with general software, you need to do your due diligence to find out whether the software A) Uses direct or third-party connections to connect to credit cards and B) allows you to use your existing credit cards alongside their own or forces you to migrate to their credit card program.

Some expense software relies on third-party tools to pull in transaction data, leading to frequent disconnects between credit card accounts and the expense management software. These interruptions can create delays, manual re-entries, and a lot of frustration for property managers. Make sure that any expense tool you use provides transaction notifications at authorization, not at clearing. If you wait until clearing to try to get receipts and transaction data, your team is much less likely to be able to efficiently provide this information.

Likewise, using third-party tools like Stripe or Plaid to pull in credit card data is notoriously unreliable and prone to disconnects. In our experience, this results in STR operators spending more time manually double-checking data than they save from trying to automate. Find a tool that has built direct integrations with credit card providers like Visa, American Express, and Mastercard.

Some platforms require you to use their credit cards to gain the full benefits of the platform and automation. Switching credit card programs can add a hidden cost by forcing you to forego higher reward card programs. Finally, if a platform tells you that you can connect your existing credit cards but they don’t have direct integrations with major credit card providers allowing for transaction notifications at authorization, then you’ll almost certainly see lost functionality and stability from the platform.

It seems like a small thing but property managers regularly tell us this has been the difference between automating or adding 10 hours of work each month.(Topkey is the only STR-specific expense software that allows you to connect your existing credit cards, keep your rewards, and offers transaction notifications at authorization via our direct integrations to all major credit card providers.)

‍Pros:

• Built with STR operations in mind.
• Automates STR-specific workflows that don’t exist in other industries.
• Connects to your PMS and accounting software, bringing a major gap between your expenses and other tools.

‍Cons:

• If the software uses a third-party tool to connect to credit card accounts this can hurt more than it helps, creating errors and extra work.
• If the software doesn’t have direct connections to your existing credit card program, now you must evaluate an entirely separate product to determine the ROI (credit card programs). Depending on current rewards and spending levels, this could end up as a cost.

While evaluating software, contact the vendors' customers you are considering. Do they use Stripe or Plaid for credit card connections? When do transaction notifications happen? Or does their expense tagging automation work seamlessly? Are you forced to use their credit cards to get full value from the platform? A good vendor will have raving fans willing to talk about their experience; find them.

Topkey - The #1 Expense Management Software for Short-Term and Vacation Rental Managers

Topkey's Approach to STR Expense Management

Topkey combines the comprehensive features of general expense management platforms with deep STR-specific functionality. Unlike other solutions that force property managers to choose between functionality and flexibility, Topkey offers both - allowing managers to keep their existing credit cards while gaining full automation capabilities through direct integrations with Visa, American Express, and Mastercard.

How it works

Imagine you manage 50 properties and your maintenance team makes purchases at Home Depot. As soon as they swipe their card, they receive an automated text message prompting them to take a photo of the receipt and tag the property. This information automatically flows into your PMS and accounting software, ensuring every expense is properly tracked and billed.

For property managers handling multiple credit cards or complex vendor relationships, Topkey's automated workflows ensure that every transaction - whether it's a corporate card purchase, vendor bill, or reimbursable owner charges - is properly captured, categorized, and synced across all your systems.

Key Features:

• Direct credit card integrations (not third-party connections like Plaid)
• Real-time transaction notifications at authorization (not clearing)
• Automated property-level expense tagging
• Native PMS integrations
• Support for existing credit card programs
• Integrated bill pay and vendor management

‍

Common Pain Points Solved:

Topkey addresses the major challenges that plague both general expense platforms and other STR-specific solutions:

• No forced migration to new credit cards
• No reliability issues from third-party connections
• No manual reconciliation between systems
• No expense leakage from delayed transaction processing

Pros:

• Maintains existing credit card rewards while adding automation
• Eliminates manual work through real-time PMS integration
• Reduces expense leakage through immediate capture
• Provides complete financial operations platform beyond just expense management

Cons:

• Requires commitment to implementing new/better processes
• May require training team members on new workflows (Topkey can help with this too)
• Not the absolute cheapest solution, (but a whole lot less expensive than buying something "cheap" that doesn't really work)

The true value of Topkey's approach lies in its ability to eliminate the trade-offs property managers typically face when choosing expense management solutions. Instead of sacrificing functionality for flexibility or automation for reliability, Topkey provides a comprehensive platform that scales with your business while maintaining the simplicity needed for daily operations.
‍

‍Conclusion

‍Vacation rental managers have three main options for managing expenses:

1. General software that spans multiple Industries, like Brex, Bill, and Ramp. These are easy to start with but often require extra manual work to make them fit your STR business needs. 
2. Then there’s STR-specific software tailored to short-term rental management processes: such as having to integrate expenses into a PMS. 
3. But, if you don’t want expense management software, there’s the alternative manual workaround of using spreadsheets and paper to manage finances. However, that comes with hidden labor costs, and inefficiencies as properties under management increase.
4. Lastly, there is Topkey, the leading expense management and financial automation platform built specifically for vacation rental managers and integrating directly into your PMS and accounting software. Topkey is also the only expense platform in the property management industry with direct integrations to all major credit card providers Visa, American Express, and Mastercard.

When evaluating expense management solutions, consider your business's specific needs and growth plans. While general expense platforms or manual processes might seem sufficient when managing a small portfolio, the hidden costs of manual reconciliation, expense leakage, and inefficient workflows can quickly outweigh any initial savings. As your portfolio grows, the ability to automatically tag expenses to properties, integrate with your PMS, and maintain accurate owner statements becomes increasingly crucial.

Look for solutions that not only solve today's challenges but can scale with your business - whether that's supporting multiple properties, handling complex expense allocations, or maintaining owner trust through accurate, timely financial reporting. Most importantly, remember that the true cost of any solution isn't just the monthly fee - it's the combined impact on your team's time, your bottom line, and your relationships with owners.

Ready to simplify your expense management? Try Topkey today!

---

*Topkey is a financial technology company and is not a bank. Banking services provided by Thread Bank; Member FDIC. The Topkey Visa Debit & Charge Cards are issued by Thread Bank pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and may be used everywhere Visa cards are accepted.

Accounts are eligible for pass-through deposit insurance only to the extent pass-through insurance is permitted by the rules and regulations of the FDIC, and if the requirements for pass-through insurance are satisfied. There may be a risk that pass-through deposit insurance is not available because conditions have not been satisfied. In such cases, funds may not be fully insured in the event the insured depository institution where the funds have been deposited were to fail.*Your deposits qualify for up to $3,000,000 in FDIC insurance coverage when placed at program banks in the Thread Bank deposit sweep program. Your deposits at each program bank become eligible for FDIC insurance up to $250,000, inclusive of any other deposits you may already hold at the bank in the same ownership capacity. You can access the terms and conditions of the sweep program at https://thread.bank/sweep-disclosure and a list of program banks at https://thread.bank/program-banks. Please contact customerservice@thread.bank with questions on the sweep program.

‍