The best hotel accounting software includes the ability to monitor income and expenses, produce basic financial reports, and manage revenue. They should also handle multiple properties, room inventory, staffing, and payroll. Software with additional features, such as integrations with a property management system and a powerful booking engine, is also useful.
We have identified five of the best accounting software for hotels:
- Cloudbeds: Best overall hotel accounting software with an integrated booking engine
- QuickBooks Online: Best for small, independently owned hotels that want local bookkeeping assistance
- Nimble Property: Best for extensive hotel management features
- Hotelier Books: Best for limited-service hotels on a budget
- M3 Accounting Core: Best for hotel businesses with construction projects
The Fit Small Business editorial policy is rooted in our mission to provide you with the best answers to your small business questions. We offer accurate, impartial, and helpful information that you can trust when choosing hotel accounting software. That said, we developed an internal scoring rubric that allows us to properly score each software across a predetermined set of categories. This helps us provide in-depth analysis and insights into the hotel accounting software’s performance and provide you with accurate recommendations based on your business needs.
Comparison of Best Hotel Accounting Software
Monthly Pricing | Booking Engine | Assisted Bookkeeping Available | Accounting Mobile App | Number of Users | Hotel Payroll | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Quote-based | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | Unlimited | Via third-party integration |
 | $99 for Plus | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | Up to 5 | Additional cost |
 | Starts at $250 | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | Unlimited | ✓ |
 | Starts at $169 | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | 1 | Via third-party integration |
 | Quote-based | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | Unlimited | Additional cost |
Cloudbeds: Best Overall Hotel Accounting Software With Integrated Booking Engine
Pros
- Booking engine supports multiple languages and currencies
- Ability to assign different roles and permissions to each user
- Data migration services available
- Professional support team based in United States and other parts of the world
Cons
- Must be integrated with accounting software to produce financial statements
- No mobile app
- Pricing isn’t transparent
- Customer service is mainly online
- No free trial; can only test a demo account for 21 days
Cloudbeds’ pricing model adjusts on a sliding scale based on the number of active rooms on each property. There are four tiers that include different levels of functionality: Essentials, Plus, Premier, and Enterprise. Contact Cloudbeds for a free quote.
Add-ons are available for a fee: Cloudbeds Payments, revenue management, shared inventory, and room allocations.
Cloudbeds has useful features, such as real-time reporting analytics and housekeeping organization functions, and strong hotel management tools, including a booking engine and pricing intelligence engine. The booking engine is a big plus for hoteliers since it can help them manage incoming bookings, organize hotel operations, and plan hotel workforce; this is the only platform on this list that has a built-in booking engine.
Though Cloudbeds is our overall best pick, Hotelier Books is a great alternative if you’re looking for software with more powerful hotel accounting features and don’t need integration with third-party accounting software. Cloudbeds’ accounting features are weak if used standalone, and it relies on third-party accounting software integration for better accounting features, which would mean an additional subscription.
Cloudbeds Overview
QuickBooks Online Plus: Best for Small, Independently Owned Hotels That Want Local Bookkeeping Assistance
Pros
- Powerful mobile app
- Wide selection of customizable financial reports
- Plus and Advanced tiers allow you to track by class and location
- Bookkeeping help readily available from an enormous network of independent ProAdvisors
Cons
- No customer service telephone number
- Cannot add more users without upgrading plan
- No hotel management features without integrations
- No dedicated account team
We recommend the Plus or Advanced plan because of the class and location tracking. However, the lower-priced plans might work for a single location without the need to separate income by classes:
- QuickBooks Online Simple Start: $35 per month for one user
- QuickBooks Online Essentials: $65 per month for three users
- QuickBooks Online Plus: $99 per month for five users
- QuickBooks Online Advanced: $235 per month for 25 users
New subscribers can choose between 50% off for the first three months or a 30-day free trial.
QuickBooks Online is our top-recommended small business accounting software and is a great option for small independently owned hotels that don’t necessarily need hotel features and want to find a local bookkeeper who can help on an as-needed basis. QuickBooks is by far the most popular small business accounting software in the United States and, as such, most bookkeepers are very familiar with it.
Although it lacks built-in hotel management features, QuickBooks Online has a lot of integration options with point-of-sale (POS) systems and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms. If hotel features are important to you, we recommend Cloudbeds for its booking engine or Nimble Property for its extensive hotel management features.
QuickBooks Online Overview
Nimble Property: Best for Extensive Hotel Management Features
Pros
- iOS and Android mobile app
- Scalable and customizable
- Can manage multiple properties
- Prompt and efficient support and service
Cons
- Pricing isn’t listed clearly on website
- No booking engine
- No free trial
- No receipt capture
If you read Nimble Property’s blog post from December 2021, you’ll find that plans start at $250 per month; contact Nimble Property for a free quote and demo. There’s no cost for additional users.
Nimble Property has many features that make it a good accounting software for hotel businesses wanting access to special hotel management tools. The door lock system, for example, allows you to grant different levels of access to your property.
Meanwhile, you can use the key performance indicator (KPI) dashboard to view financial metrics and set budgets. You even have the option to outsource your books to a dedicated bookkeeper. However, you may want to pick Cloudbeds instead for its booking engine and accounting software integration, as these two are not present in Nimble Property.
Nimble Property Overview
Hotelier Books: Best for Limited-service Hotels on a Budget
Pros
- Prices are affordable and transparent
- Inventory tracking
- Assisted bookkeeping services (additional fee)
- Payroll and tax management (with Nimble Property module)
Cons
- No mobile app
- Doesn’t support multiple users
- No free trial
- No customer relationship management (CRM) integration
- Limited Service: $169 per month ($149 per month if billed annually) for fewer than 50 rooms on a limited-service property
- Limited Service +: $199 per month ($179 per month if billed annually) for 50 or more rooms on a limited-service property
- Full Service: $249 per month ($229 per month if billed annually) for full-service properties
There’s no free trial available, and you must commit to a demo before signing up.
Hotelier Books’ features make the platform ideal for limited-service, small-scale hotel business owners to manage accounting for their properties and gain access to business insights. The software is easy to set up and manage, and you can outsource your books to one of the provider’s dedicated bookkeepers.
Though Hotelier Books has powerful accounting features for hotels, it doesn’t have strong hotel management features, such as managing hotel bookings and tracking hotel room availability. Cloudbeds is a good alternative since it has better hotel management features and can integrate with third-party accounting software to supplement its limited built-in accounting features.
Hotelier Books Overview
M3 Accounting: Best for Hotel Businesses With Construction Projects
Pros
- Strong support service options
- Track construction project costs and set up budgets
- Option to manage your own books or outsource to an M3 accountant
- Insight and Labor modules let you streamline other functions
Cons
- Pricing isn’t transparent
- No mobile app for Accounting; only Labor and Insight
- Software has a steep learning curve
- No free trial
Request a free demo to receive information about M3 Accounting’s pricing for both the software and support services. A free trial is currently unavailable.
M3 Accounting is a robust accounting and analytics platform designed for the hospitality industry and is especially useful for hotels with construction projects because of the ability to create up to three budgets and track project costs. You can manage the accounting for your entire property portfolio as it includes time tracking, A/R and A/P, and financial analysis. However, you may opt for Cloudbeds because it has better hotel management features than M3 Accounting and can integrate with accounting software that can also account for construction costs.
M3 Accounting Overview
How We Evaluated the Best Accounting Software for Hotels
The best hotel accounting software should enable hoteliers to manage hotel operations, finances, and operations with ease. With that in mind, we evaluated our picks in this guide based on the following criteria:
20% of Overall Score
Price is an important component of every small business decision. In our evaluation, we placed more emphasis on providers that have a transparent pricing structure. However, we don’t discredit providers who’d like to keep their pricing confidential or those that offer a custom pricing model.
40% of Overall Score
The best hotel accounting software should have enough accounting features to cater to a hotelier’s daily accounting needs. We considered the following subcriteria: general features, A/P, A/R, fixed assets, inventory, and basic financial reporting.
20% of Overall Score
While our focus is hotel accounting, having hotel management features included in the software is a big plus. Therefore, we award points to providers that include features, such as hotel booking, housekeeping, hotel financial planning, and revenue management.
20% of Overall Score
Our ease-of-use evaluation revolves around customer support, integration, and expert analysis. For customer support, we’d like to see multiple support channels that enable users to contact the provider in case of problems. Users should be able to contact the support team by phone, email, or live chat. If direct contact is unavailable, there must be alternatives like a detailed knowledge base or help center and chatbot for quick assistance.
Having the ability to integrate the software with other apps is a good addition to overall ease of use. Customer feedback from user review websites is also included in our rubric to corroborate our findings with actual user feedback. However, we remain neutral and fair in considering reviews as some tend to be one-sided or focused on the negative.
Lastly, we include our expert analysis score based on our evaluation of the software and on the information made available to perform a full review.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Good hotel accounting software should have features like accounts payable and receivable, payroll management, financial reporting, budgeting, and cash management.
The cost of hotel accounting software varies depending on the size of the hotel, the number of users, and the level of customization required. On average, good hotel accounting software costs about $250 per month.
Yes, many hotel accounting software has the capability to handle multiple properties and currencies, making it easier for hotel chains and franchises to manage their financials.
Bottom Line
Cloudbeds is the overall best accounting software for hotels because it combines strong accounting features with a booking and a price intelligence engine. The booking engine helps you accept bookings, while the price intelligence engine helps you stay competitive in pricing. We hope this guide helps you in picking the right hotel accounting software given your needs.
