Industries
Hospitality
Finbryn keeps books for UAE hotels, short-term holiday homes and hospitality operators, splitting Airbnb, Booking.com and DTCM-regulated holiday home payouts into nightly rate, fees and Tourism Dirham, and tracking Corporate Tax and VAT by property. We work inside Xero alongside a channel manager and close by business day five.
Management report
Illustrative client · August 2026
AED
| Line | Aug | Jul | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 142,380 | 131,904 | +10,476 |
| Cost of sales | (51,260) | (48,115) | (3,145) |
| Gross profit | 91,120 | 83,789 | +7,331 |
| Payroll | (46,300) | (45,900) | (400) |
| SoftwareNoted | (6,480) | (5,490) | (990) |
| Rent | (8,000) | (8,000) | 0 |
| Other operating | (9,215) | (9,870) | +655 |
| Net income | 21,125 | 14,529 | +6,596 |
Reviewer's note
Software is up on last month after two seats were added mid-month. Revenue includes one milestone invoice that will not repeat next month.
Illustrative. An example of the document, not a client's figures.
Exceptions report
Where the books usually hurt
Booking platform payouts arrive net of commission and fees, hiding the actual nightly rate and occupancy
Multiple properties or units get tracked in one file with no way to see which one is actually profitable
Cleaning, maintenance and management fees get coded inconsistently across units
Occupancy tax collected from guests gets mixed into general revenue instead of held and reported separately
A booking platform payout is not the room rate
A payout from Airbnb, Booking.com or a holiday home management platform arrives net of commission, payment processing fees and any currency conversion, all wired to the bank as one figure. An operator who books that deposit as revenue loses sight of the actual nightly rate and occupancy the property is achieving, which makes it hard to price rooms correctly against a competing listing in the same building.
Finbryn connects a channel manager to Xero so booking payouts arrive already split into gross booking value, commission, fees and any adjustment, before they reach the ledger. Multiple units or properties in one portfolio, whether licensed hotel apartments or DTCM-permitted holiday homes, are tracked separately, so it is clear which unit is actually carrying its costs.
Tourism Dirham fees and VAT on accommodation
Dubai hotels and holiday homes collect a Tourism Dirham fee per room per night on behalf of the Department of Economy and Tourism, and that fee is a pass-through collected from the guest, not revenue belonging to the operator, so it needs its own line rather than being blended into room revenue. Accommodation is standard-rated for VAT at 5% once a property or portfolio crosses the AED 375,000 mandatory registration threshold, and we monitor turnover against that threshold and flag when registration is approaching. Registration itself, and the return once registered, are filed by you or by your appointed tax agent.
Corporate Tax on a hospitality entity
A hospitality operator running as a mainland licensed company or through a free zone structure is subject to Corporate Tax at 9% on taxable income above AED 375,000, filed within 9 months of the tax period end. Small Business Relief can bring taxable income to nil for an eligible operator with revenue at or below AED 3,000,000, for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2026, though a larger multi-property portfolio typically sits above that threshold.
Working with Finbryn
You keep the Xero file, with a named pod on your account and a recorded handover memo if that pod changes. Books are reconciled weekly and closed by business day five, in your time zone. Cleaning, maintenance and management fees across multiple units get coded consistently, so a cost comparison between properties is genuinely comparing like with like. Operators bringing books current after a gap typically start with a catch-up project, priced separately from ongoing monthly bookkeeping, with pricing published on our pricing page and terms in your engagement letter.
Questions
Frequently asked questions: Hospitality
Do you track Tourism Dirham fees separately from room revenue?
Yes. The Tourism Dirham is a pass-through fee collected on behalf of the Department of Economy and Tourism, tracked apart from room revenue so it is clear what belongs to the business.
Can cleaning and management costs be compared consistently across properties?
Yes. These are coded the same way across every unit, so a cost comparison between properties is genuinely comparing like with like.
Will you flag us when we are approaching the VAT registration threshold?
Yes. We monitor rolling 12-month turnover against the AED 375,000 threshold and flag when registration is approaching. Registration and the return itself are filed by you or by your appointed tax agent.
Do you handle multiple booking platforms feeding one set of books?
Yes. Payouts from Airbnb, Booking.com and other platforms can be consolidated into one Xero file through a channel manager, with each platform's fee structure tracked separately.
Can you separate food and drink sales from room revenue for VAT purposes?
Yes, different revenue streams can carry different VAT treatment, so we split them at the point of sale data import rather than lumping all revenue into one line and sorting the split out later, which reduces the chance of the wrong rate landing on the wrong category.
Can you break out booking platform payouts by rate, fees and commission?
Yes, payout detail from the booking platform is used to split gross revenue from fees before it reaches the ledger.
Do you track profitability by property or unit?
Yes, each property or unit can be tracked separately for income and direct costs.
What are the common bookkeeping challenges for a hospitality business?
Beyond the basics, cleaning, maintenance and management fees get coded inconsistently across units and occupancy tax collected from guests gets mixed into general revenue instead of held and reported separately come up often in this industry. We build the chart of accounts and reconciliation process around those specific patterns rather than a generic template that ignores how the business actually operates.
What software do you support for hospitality?
We work inside QuickBooks Online and Xero, along with the other tools listed on this page that are common in the hospitality industry. If you have no file yet, we set one up in your name so you own it from day one.
Related services
- BookkeepingMonthly bookkeepingOngoing monthly bookkeeping: transactions sorted into categories, accounts reconciled and month-end reports delivered in the software you already use.
- BookkeepingCatch-up and cleanup bookkeepingMonths or years of books brought up to date and reconciled, with a written record of every adjustment, so monthly bookkeeping can start from a clean base.
Next step
Talk to the team that would run your books
A short call covers your setup, your software and what a first month would look like. You get a written scope and price after it.