Managing a property includes both fixed and variable costs tied to time, effort, and resources. Many property managers believe that every charge deserves thoughtful oversight and keen attention to detail. Therefore, adding a commission to all fees—beyond just rent—can be viewed as a fair acknowledgment of the hard work and careful risk management that go into handling every financial aspect effectively.
Ultimately, the property manager has the choice to charge a commission on fees or expenses. The “everything is an expense” theory in property management treats all charges—rental income, cleaning, maintenance, and other fees—as expenses subject to a management commission. Property managers justify this approach by viewing all financial transactions as requiring their time, resources, and oversight, which incurs costs. By charging a commission on the total cash flow (not just rental income), they argue that they’re compensated for handling all aspects of property administration. This simplified, single-rate commission approach also clarifies the fee structure for owners, though it’s sometimes controversial among owners who feel commissions should apply only to rental income.
When you are setting up your Owners, you, as the property manager, have the opportunity to determine whether you want to pay for or have your owners pay for Channel and Transaction Fees.
Channel Fees
Channel fees include expenses and commissions are calculated on host fees, channel commissions, etc., that are incurred on bookings sourced from listing channels and displayed on Owner Statements.
Here are the default settings. Pay close attention when determining who will pay for the channel fees (e.g., host fees, channel commissions, etc.) and whether you will "give the commission back to the owner."
In the Expense section, you can make the following decisions.
- If you select the "Show as reimbursed expense on owner statement" default option, you are classifying channel fees for payment and refunds as owner expenses when processing channel transaction fees, meaning that channel fees will be paid by the owner and deducted from their revenue.
- If you select the "PM will pay fees" option, you are excluding these fees from being classed as an owner expense, meaning that you, as the property manager, will pay the channel fees.
In the Give Commission Back? section, you decide on the following.
- When you choose the "Yes, give commission on this fee amount back to the owner" default option, any channel fee commissions configured will be returned to the owner; the property manager will earn commissions on channel fees, but they will be returned to the owner.
- Choosing "No, keep the commission" will keep channel fee commissions for the property manager.
Transaction Fees
Transaction fees control how those expenses and commissions are calculated and displayed on Owner Statements.
Here are the default settings. Pay close attention when determining who will pay for the expenses and whether you will "give the commission back to the owner."
In the Expense section, you can make the following decisions.
- If you select the "Show as reimbursed expense on owner statement," you are classifying transaction fees for payment and refunds as owner expenses when processing transaction fees, meaning that transaction fees will be paid by the owner and deducted from their revenue.
- If you select the "PM will pay fees" default option, you are excluding these fees from being classed as an owner expense, meaning that you, as the property manager, will pay the transaction fees.
In the Give Commission Back? section, you decide on the following.
- When you choose the "Yes, give commission on this fee amount back to the owner" default option, any transaction fee commissions configured will be returned to the owner; the property manager will earn commissions on transaction fees, but they will be returned to the owner.
- Choosing "No, keep the commission" will keep transaction fee commissions for the property manager.