Short-term rentals17 October 20264 min read

Excel spreadsheet or management software: when spreadsheets stop coping

Almost every short-term rental owner starts with a spreadsheet: rows for apartments, columns for days, coloured cells for bookings. It is free, simple and always at hand. But as the business grows, the spreadsheet starts taking more time than it saves. Here is where the line is and how to move to management software without losing bookings.

What spreadsheets do well

Free and instant. There is nothing to learn, and a template takes an evening to build.
Flexibility. Any columns, colours and formulas that fit your logic.
Shared access. An online spreadsheet can be opened on a phone and shared with an assistant.

For one or two apartments on a single channel, a spreadsheet is usually enough.

Where spreadsheets start to fail

Occupancy does not sync with channels. A spreadsheet does not know about a booking that came in overnight on a channel. Dates have to be copied by hand, and every delay raises the risk of a double booking.

No protection against overlaps. Two bookings for the same dates look like two shaded cells in a spreadsheet, and the mistake is easy to miss.

Booking data is scattered. Dates in one spreadsheet, the guest’s phone in a messenger, the prepayment in a banking app and notes in a notebook.

Teamwork is hard. A manager deletes a row by accident, a housekeeper cannot see their cleaning tasks, and anyone with the link can see guest data.

Reports are put together by hand. Occupancy, revenue per apartment and each channel’s share have to be calculated with formulas that break every time the structure changes.

History gets lost. It is unclear who changed a booking and when, and a returning guest cannot be found by phone number.

Signs it is time to switch

you have three or more properties, or list on two or more channels;
you have to reconcile bookings between the spreadsheet and the channels’ dashboards;
you have had at least one double booking or date mistake;
managers or housekeepers are involved in the work;
it is unclear how much each property earns;
keeping the spreadsheet up to date takes more than half an hour a day.

What management software gives a vacation rental business

Booking calendar with bookings for every property and overlap checks.
Channel sync: bookings arrive automatically, and occupied dates are blocked on the other channels.
Booking details with all the details: guest, dates, amount, prepayment, deposit and source.
Guest database with stay history and search by phone number.
Housekeeping scheduled around check-outs, with tasks for housekeepers.
Roles and access: each team member sees only their own properties and tasks.
Analytics: revenue, occupancy and expenses for every property, with no formulas.

Each of these is covered in more detail in the articles “The booking calendar” and“How to rent out several apartments”.

How to switch without losing bookings

Choose a switch-over date in a quiet period, not at the peak of the season.
Set up your properties: apartments, houses, hotels with rooms, access details and cleaning rules.
Move upcoming bookings over from the spreadsheet with dates, guests and amounts. Past bookings do not need to be moved.
Connect your channels and check that occupancy matches every calendar.
Add your staff and give them access to the right properties.
Keep the spreadsheet running in parallel for a week until you are sure every booking reaches the system.

How it works in Glavbook

A booking calendar for apartments, houses and hotel rooms, with overlap checks and filters for available properties, check-ins and check-outs.
Avito bookings arrive through a direct connection, and occupied dates from Sutochno.ru and CIAN sync via calendar.
A booking card with the guest, amount, prepayment, deposit, source and change history.
A guest database, a shared blacklist, a cleaning schedule with a mobile workspace for housekeepers, property expenses and analytics.
A web app and an Android app.
Glavbook is currently free: no limits on properties or staff, and no bank card required.

There is no automatic import from spreadsheets yet: properties and upcoming bookings are added by hand, and channel bookings appear on their own once connected.

FAQ

Can I keep a spreadsheet for my own calculations?

Yes. Many owners keep things unrelated to bookings in a spreadsheet, such as renovation plans or purchases. Bookings and occupancy are best kept in one system only, to avoid discrepancies.

How long does the switch take?

For a few properties, one or two evenings are usually enough: set up the properties, move upcoming bookings and connect the channels.

What happens to bookings already on the channels?

Once a channel is connected, its bookings and occupied dates appear in the calendar. Before that, compare upcoming bookings so you do not create duplicates by hand.

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