A short-term rental CPA for owners who want the deduction to hold up.
Bookkeeping, cost segregation, material participation substantiation and the returns — for Airbnb and VRBO owners running one property or twenty. Published fees, no sales call required to hear a number.
What a short-term rental CPA actually handles
Most accountants will file a Schedule E for a rental and move on. Short-term rentals are a different animal — the tax position depends on operating facts that only get captured if somebody is watching them during the year, not reconstructed in March.
- Average stay tracking — the seven-day test, computed per property as the year runs, not estimated afterwards
- Material participation logs — a contemporaneous record that survives an examination rather than a calendar written from memory
- Cost segregation — scoping the study, and deciding whether the property is even a candidate before you pay for one
- Schedule E vs Schedule C — which one the facts actually support, and the self-employment tax consequence of getting it wrong
- Airbnb bookkeeping — platform payouts reconciled to gross rents, cleaning fees, platform commissions and occupancy taxes, per property
- The returns — and the entity structure underneath them where there is more than one property
The mechanics of the strategy itself are set out in the short-term rental tax loophole explained. This page is about the work.
Short-term rental bookkeeping
The platforms make this harder than it looks. What lands in your bank is net — gross rent less commission, sometimes less taxes the platform remitted, sometimes bundling a cleaning fee that is income and an expense in the same transaction. Booked as a single deposit, your revenue is understated, your expenses are invisible, and the return is wrong in a way nobody notices.
Airbnb bookkeeping done properly reconstructs the gross: rent, cleaning fees and taxes separated, commission recorded as an expense, occupancy tax tracked as a liability rather than income, and everything coded to the property that earned it. Multi-property owners get per-property profit and loss, which is the only way to know which one is actually working.
Cost segregation on a short-term rental
A furnished short-term rental usually has a higher reclassifiable share than a long-term rental, because the furniture, fixtures and equipment belong to you rather than the tenant. That raises the portion of basis eligible for accelerated depreciation, and it is the reason a study is more often worth commissioning here.
Not always, though. Below roughly $400,000 of building basis the study fee starts eating the benefit, and if you cannot use the loss this year — because the seven-day test fails, or participation is thin — accelerating it achieves nothing but a larger recapture later. We look at whether it clears before recommending it, which is a shorter conversation than most firms have. The cost segregation guide covers the study itself.
Properties bought years ago
If depreciation was never taken, or the property was never cost segregated and you now wish it had been, that is recoverable. Form 3115 with a section 481(a) adjustment catches up every year of missed depreciation in the current year, without amending prior returns. See the Form 3115 guide for how the calculation works.
Fees
Published, like everything else here.
| Service | Fee |
|---|---|
| 1040 with Schedule E — rental properties | from $850 |
| Partnership or S-corp return, multi-property structure | from $1,400 |
| Monthly bookkeeping, per property | from $450 |
| Form 3115 catch-up depreciation | quoted on scope |
The full fee schedule has the rest.
Who this suits
- W-2 earners with one or two short-term rentals, self-managed, using the loss against wage income
- Owners scaling past three properties where per-property reporting and entity structure start to matter
- Investors who bought before thinking about depreciation and want to know what is recoverable
- Owners with a mixed portfolio of short-term and long-term rentals, where the two are treated differently and grouping decisions matter
What this is not: we do not run your listings, set your pricing, or handle guest communication. Plenty of firms bundle that. This is the tax and accounting side, done properly.
Common questions
What does a short-term rental CPA cost?
A 1040 with Schedule E starts at $850. Monthly bookkeeping starts at $450 per property. A multi-property partnership or S-corp return starts at $1,400. Cost segregation studies are performed by a specialist firm and quoted separately; we scope and review rather than mark up.
Do you work with owners outside Houston?
Yes. The property can be anywhere — the passive activity rules are federal. Most of this work is remote regardless of where the property sits, though state filing obligations follow the property and are part of the engagement.
Should my short-term rental go on Schedule E or Schedule C?
Usually Schedule E. Schedule C becomes appropriate where substantial services are provided in a way that resembles a hotel — daily housekeeping during a stay, meals, concierge services. The distinction matters because Schedule C income is generally subject to self-employment tax and Schedule E income is not. It is fact-specific and worth settling before the first return rather than after.
Can you fix depreciation that was never taken?
Yes, usually without amending. Form 3115 with a section 481(a) adjustment catches up the missed depreciation in the current year.
Is it worth cost segregating a single property?
Often, above roughly $400,000 of building basis and where the loss can actually be used this year. Below that, or where the seven-day test or participation is shaky, the study fee can exceed the benefit. We check before recommending it.