Rental Income and Expense Tracking: The Money View
The Money view is Estavo’s unified transaction ledger — every dollar in and out of your rental portfolio in one place. Airbnb payouts, monthly rent, mortgage payments, repair invoices, utility bills, insurance premiums — all of it lives here as transactions in a sortable, filterable table organized by IRS Schedule E categories.
This replaces the multi-tab spreadsheet approach (income on one tab, expenses on another, separate sheets per property) with a single source of financial truth for your entire portfolio.
In This Section
The Ledger Layout
Direction Tabs
Four pill tabs at the top of the Money view filter what you’re looking at:
| Tab | What it shows |
|---|---|
| All | Every transaction — income and expenses together |
| Income | Credit transactions only (rent, booking payouts, etc.) |
| Expenses | Debit transactions only (repairs, utilities, mortgage, etc.) |
| Bookings | STR income transactions that have a check-in date — bookings only |
Bookings is distinct from Income: it filters to credit transactions with a check-in date filled in, so you see your booking history as a clean guest-and-date list with its own column layout (guest name, platform, check-in, check-out, nights, amount).
KPI Strip
Three tiles above the table show totals for the current filter view (not your org-wide total):
- Income — sum of credits matching current filters
- Expenses — sum of debits matching current filters
- Net — income minus expenses for the filtered set
Search and Filters
- Search box — filter by description text
- Filters button — expands a filter row with property, category, and date range selectors
- Property dropdown — filter to a specific property
- Category dropdown — filter to a Schedule E category
- Date range — two date inputs (start and end)
A “Clear filters” link appears when any filter is active.
Transaction Table
The table has pagination — “X–Y of Z transactions” in the footer with Previous/Next buttons.
Standard columns (All, Income, Expenses tabs):
| Column | Notes |
|---|---|
| Date | When the transaction occurred |
| Description | What it was for |
| Property / Unit | Which property or unit (hidden on mobile) |
| Category | IRS Schedule E category (hidden on smaller screens) |
| Source | How it entered the ledger (hidden on wide screens) |
| Status | Draft · Confirmed · Void badge |
| Amount | Green for credits, red for debits (right-aligned, sortable) |
| Actions | Edit (pencil) · Delete (trash) |
Bookings tab columns:
| Column | Notes |
|---|---|
| Guest | Check-in icon + guest name |
| Property / Unit | Property and unit name |
| Check-in date | Guest arrival |
| Check-out date | Guest departure |
| Nights | Length of stay |
| Platform | Airbnb · VRBO · Direct · etc. |
| Amount | Booking payout (green) |
| Actions | Edit · Delete |
Export and Import
Two buttons in the top-right header:
- Export CSV — downloads a CSV of current filtered view
- Import CSV — upload transactions from a spreadsheet (plan-gated: requires Host plan or above; Free users see an upgrade modal with a lock icon)
Income and Expenses Are Both Transactions
There is no separate “bookings” tab, no separate “expenses” module. Everything is a transaction with a direction:
| Direction | Type | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Credit | Income — money coming in | Monthly rent, Airbnb payout, VRBO booking, direct booking |
| Debit | Expense — money going out | HVAC repair, electric bill, insurance premium, mortgage payment, cleaning |
This unified model means one filter, one report, one export. Your P&L pulls from the same table your Schedule E export pulls from.
Transaction Sources
| Source | How it enters your ledger |
|---|---|
| Manual | You entered it via Add Transaction |
| Obligation auto | Auto-generated by an obligation template — starts as Draft, requires your confirmation |
| CSV import | Uploaded from a spreadsheet via the import tool |
Transaction Status
| Status | What it means | Counts in reports? |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | Auto-generated by an obligation — not yet reviewed | No |
| Confirmed | Reviewed and accepted (manual or confirmed from draft) | Yes |
| Void | Cancelled; preserved for audit trail | No |
Only Confirmed transactions count in P&L reports and Schedule E exports. Check your draft queue regularly — go to Money → Direction: Expenses → filter Status to see pending obligation drafts waiting for your review.
How the Money View Relates to Reports
The Money view is the raw ledger. Reports are aggregations of it:
- P&L report = income minus expenses by category for a date range
- Schedule E export = expense totals grouped by the 15 IRS Schedule E lines
Clean ledger → clean reports. Every miscategorized transaction in Money is a miscategorized line in your Schedule E export.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Estavo have a separate module for Airbnb bookings?
No — and that’s intentional. An Airbnb payout is a credit transaction in the Money view, with optional fields for check-in date, check-out date, guest name, and platform. Switch to the Bookings tab to see your STR income history in a booking-specific layout. There’s nothing to reconcile between a “bookings module” and an “expenses module.”
How do I see only the expenses for one rental property?
In Money, click the Expenses tab, then open Filters and select the property. You can further narrow by date range and category.
Can I add custom categories beyond the 15 Schedule E categories?
You can add subcategories under any of the 15 parent categories — “Utilities → Propane”, “Repairs → HVAC”. Subcategories show in the Money view filter and reports but roll up to their parent Schedule E line for tax purposes. Top-level categories are fixed by the IRS and cannot be added.
What’s the fastest way to enter a batch of transactions?
Use CSV import (Host plan and above). Estavo provides a downloadable template; map your columns once and upload. For ongoing entry from Airbnb/VRBO, download their CSV payout report and import it.