Owners
Property management commission: what basis should you calculate it on?
A commission rate means nothing until its basis is written down. On the same stay, 20% of gross and 20% of net excluding cleaning can be almost thirty euros apart. Write the basis into the contract, with a worked example, and do the same calculation on every statement.
“20%”: it’s often the only figure an owner remembers when signing. Twenty per cent of what? Of the price paid by the guest, of what the platform pays out, of what’s left once the cleaning is paid? Depending on the answer, the same commission doesn’t bring in the same amount, and the first monthly statement turns into an argument.
Three bases, one stay
Take a five-night stay at €100, with a €60 cleaning fee paid by the guest, booked on Airbnb for a host paying the 15.5% “host-only” fee. Airbnb calculates its fee on the nightly price and on the fees charged by the host, cleaning included, excluding taxes: 15.5% of €560, i.e. €86.80. The payout is therefore €473.20.
| Commission basis | Amount | 20% |
|---|---|---|
| Gross revenue, cleaning included | €560.00 | €112.00 |
| Platform payout, cleaning included | €473.20 | €94.64 |
| Payout, cleaning deducted | €413.20 | €82.64 |
Between the first line and the last, a €29.36 difference on a single stay. For a property with four stays like this a month, that’s over €117 a month, and €1,400 over the year. None of these bases is wrong. The problem is not having written down which one applies.
One more detail: in the last line, the €60 cleaning fee is deducted as it was charged. But Airbnb has already taken €9.30 in fees on that cleaning, which is therefore borne by the owner’s share. Deducting the cleaning net of those fees, €50.70, would be another choice. Both can be defended, as long as they’re written down.
What the platform takes
On Airbnb, there are two fee structures. With split fees, most hosts pay 3%, and the guest pays a service fee on top. With the host-only fee, everything is deducted from the host’s payout: 15.5% for most hosts, between 14% and 16% for others. Airbnb makes this second structure mandatory for most hosts, including those who use property management software. A property manager who connects their listings to software is therefore usually in this case, and that’s where the gap between gross and net is widest.
On Booking.com and the other platforms, the commission depends on your contract. Depending on the platform and the payment method, it’s deducted from the payout or invoiced separately. Look at your statements before writing the rule: is your commission calculated before or after theirs?
Cleaning: in the basis or alongside it
Cleaning fees paid by the guest are not income like any other: they pay for a service the property manager organises and often pays its team for directly. Three approaches are common, all defensible provided they’re written down:
- the cleaning fee goes to the property manager, who pays the team, and it stays outside the commission basis;
- the cleaning fee goes to the owner, who pays for the service on invoice, and the commission covers the whole amount;
- the cleaning is recharged to the owner at its real cost, and the commission only covers the nights.
What can’t be defended is keeping the cleaning fees and also taking a commission on them. An owner who redoes the calculation spots it straight away.
What never goes into the basis
- Tourist tax. It belongs to the town: it passes through you or the platform, then goes back out. Our guide on tourist tax explains who collects it.
- The deposit. A released card hold isn’t income, and a withheld amount pays for damage.
- Damage reimbursements paid by a platform: they make good a loss, they don’t pay for a night.
For cancellations, decide in advance: commission or not on what the platform pays out when a guest cancels. Both are done. What matters is that the owner knows before the first statement, not on reading it.
Excluding or including VAT
If your company charges VAT, write whether the rate is excluding or including VAT. The two don’t produce the same invoice. And a private owner can’t recover VAT: for them, only what they actually pay counts.
The sentence to write into the contract
A good rule fits into one sentence and one example. For instance:
“The property manager’s commission is 20% excluding VAT of the amount paid out by the platform for each stay, after deducting the cleaning fees charged to the guest. Tourist tax, security deposits and damage reimbursements are not included in this amount. A worked example is attached as an appendix.”
Attach the worked example of the stay above, redone with your own figures. The day the owner rereads their statement, they redo the calculation and get the same result as you.
The monthly statement
On every statement, show the basis and the calculation, stay by stay or for the month’s total. “20% of €1,615.00” can be checked in ten seconds; “Commission: €323.00” invites discussion. Set apart anything that isn’t income, such as the tourist tax collected or recharged cleanings: the owner sees where every euro comes from, and asks fewer questions.
Frequently asked questions
What commission percentage should you charge?
No law sets it: it depends on what you do for the owner. To compare two offers, bring them back to the same basis, otherwise you’re comparing two figures that aren’t talking about the same thing.
A fixed monthly amount rather than a percentage?
It’s possible, and simpler to read. But a fixed amount follows neither the season nor occupancy: it suits a property let all year round better than a holiday home.
Can the commission change during the contract?
Only if the contract provides for it, or through an amendment signed by the owner. A new basis applied without their agreement is a guaranteed dispute.
Sources
- Airbnb service fees, Airbnb help centre.
- Tourist tax, collectivites-locales.gouv.fr (in French).
Airbnb fees reviewed on 23 October 2026. The amounts in this guide are examples: redo the calculation with your own figures.
The OmniStay team