Earnings Summary Report doesn't match Transaction History Report!

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Does anyone else have the problem that the Earnings Summary Report does NOT match the Transaction History Report for the same period (Jan2018 - Dec 2018)? I tried calling Support but that was a waste of time. The first rep verified the discrepency and sent it to “the other team” which responed that the 1099 was correct but never even mentioned these two reports. The problem is I never received a 1099!

I tried downloaded a CSV file of the transaction history but with this years change in payout methods it’s mostly useless.

Am I alone or is this a real problem such that we can’t trust AirBnB reporting?

Thanks,

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Your payment method shouldn’t impact the reporting…:thinking: My numbers match. Let’s double check a few things on your end…

The Transaction history has a column called “Paid Out” and another called “Host Fee”. The total of everything in “Paid Out” should be equal to “Total Paid” on your Earnings summary. The total of “Host Fee” in the Tx report should equal the “Airbnb Service Fees” on the Earnings Summary. Does that match for you?

Adding the Paid out and Host fee numbers results in Gross Revenue, which is what they report on the Earnings summary.

For example I had a $358.90 reservation with a $11.10 Host fee, for a total of $370.
It’s the $370 Airbnb reports in the Earnings summary because from a tax perspective you had “revenue” of $370 and then write off the business expense of $11.10 (marketing/advertising paid to Airbnb).

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Hi Allison,
I’m selecting Progress->Earnings->View Transaction History from my Dashboard.
That takes me to a page where I select “Completed Payouts” and set the date period, payout methods, and listing.
That displays a “Paid Out” amount at the top left.
On that same page right of the “Paid Out” amount there is a “View Earnings Summary” link. I open that link in another tab. On that page are a variety of things. The first section is “Accounts” with 5 columns, the last being “Total Paid.” The rows are the “Payout Methods/Accounts” when I look at the “Total Paid” value for the Payout Method I selected in the Transaction History page they do not match.
On my Earnings Summary report there is the breakout that you describe but the last column is the net value after service fee and adjustments are subtracted. This should be the same as the Total Paid on the Transaction History page.

Also, at the top is the message " NEW Welcome to your new Transaction History. Share your feedback."
My Transaction History doesn’t have any columns. It has the total “Paid Out” and then a list of each transactions by date. :frowning:
I would post the images but apparently that’s not allowed here.
R

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I’m doing a face palm slap. I didn’t even think to write off the service fees as expenses until I read that. Duh. I don’t do my taxes, an accountant does, and they didn’t call that out but you bet I will for 2018.

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Oh yeah, those deductions are like Pokemon - gotta catch 'em all! I deduct everything from toilet rolls and utilities service to the impatiens in the flower pots :wink:

Service fees really add up. It’s why I wouldn’t mind if they moved the guest fees over to hosts - right now we’re essentially paying them without any way to deduct the expense.

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You do have something funny going on because mine match where yours don’t, as described here:

When you go through the steps to get the transaction history, your “Paid out” total shows on the left and there’s a “Download CSV” link on the right. Download the data file and open it to see a column of Host fees and “Paid Out” (what Air actually paid you – this should equal Total Paid on Earnings Statement).
Do the numbers still look funny?

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I downloaded the CSV file first thing. To my utter horror it is nearly unusable.
I use a co-host. This year around Aug Airbnb changed their handling of co-hosts. The result is that the format of the CSV file is mixed up. For example, each payout method has its own row (but uses the same columns) which means I can’t simply sum over a column. After much rearranging via sorts etc. I could come up with a Paid Out total by bank account. That amount agrees with the “Paid Out” amount on the Transaction History page, but NOT the Earnings Summary report.
I didn’t even want to bring up the CSV file issues as they really complicate the problem.

So I don’t know which value is to be believed. Of course a call to Airbnb support resulted in more confusion as they claimed to have sent a 1099 which according to their policy they shouldn’t have.

I just wanted to see if others were having problems with these reports (not necessarily the CSV file).
So you are seeing a DIFFERENT Transaction History report page???
(This would be easy if I could upload a screen shot! Hint Hint)
R

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That ugly CSV format isn’t just messed up because of your different accounts - that’s how mine looks, too (albeit with just one account to deal with). I’m sure we’re looking at the same Tx History report page.

Total up your host fees (Column M in the csv file; you shouldn’t need to do any filtering - in Excel or Google Sheets just click on column M and look at the sum in the bottom right of the screen) Does that equal the Air Svc fees in the Earnings Summary? Those two should match easy-peasy.

help_earnings
help_earnings.png1427×330 16.8 KB

If you add a couple rows at the top of your csv file you should be able to match my Excel sheet here. The yellow is the host fees. The green is earnings total. Use the formula you see at the very top of my screen grab to get an earnings total for each account paid out; you’ll change the range if you have more reservations than I; you’ll also change the “Transfer to •••••1102” to match one of your account payouts. Does this match the total for each account you found after sorting?

One other thing I found from H&R block website is that “Refunds, services fees, and adjustments are not included in the gross amount.” I didn’t have any refunds or adjustments so check to see if these are affecting your totals.

I think the prohibition on uploading images is just the first day or so with a new account to thwart spammers. You might try again?

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Hi,

  Thanks for your perseverance!

  I wish I had a spreadsheet that looked like yours.  For sure the

column headings are the same but because of the change Airbnb made
at the first of Aug and the way they handled things prior I get a
mixture of rows.

Prior to Aug I get:

Date
Type
Confirmation Code
Start Date
Nights
Guest
Listing
Details
Reference
Currency
Amount
Paid Out
Host Fee
Cleaning Fee
07/09/2018
Payout

Transfer to •••••5159

USD

845.5

07/09/2018
Reservation
HM2TB39AMQ
07/08/2018
14
Marc
The Daisy House (1st Floor)

USD
1086.87

31.29
30
07/09/2018
Co-hosting Adjustment
HM2TB39AMQ
07/08/2018
14
Marc
The Daisy House (1st Floor)

USD
-241.37

After Aug I get:

Date
Type
Confirmation Code
Start Date
Nights
Guest
Listing
Details
Reference
Currency
Amount
Paid Out
Host Fee
Cleaning Fee

10/06/2018
Payout

Transfer to •••••3626 (USD)

USD

97.63

10/06/2018
Reservation
HMCHFSNXSK
10/05/2018
3
Lilly
The Daisy House (1st Floor)

USD
97.63

3.02
11.55
10/06/2018
Payout

Transfer to •••••5159

USD

198.22

10/06/2018
Reservation
HMCHFSNXSK
10/05/2018
3
Lilly
The Daisy House (1st Floor)

USD
198.22

6.13
23.45

      Notice the negative number in the Amount column in

the first example.

  Anyway I can sort things out so that I get a total paid to the

5159 account.

  That total matches the Paid Out total from the Transaction History

report below:

  <img src="/uploads/default/original/2X/3/3ca706197026db461ee649844e517a6b8b264b57.png" alt="">

  The REAL problem is the Earnings Summary report obtained by

selecting the “View Earnings Summary” on the page above. Here’s
part of that report:

  <img src="/uploads/default/original/2X/6/68bb486e00da664fc1eb8dba8a94ce2c008936ca.png" alt="">

  While the Airbnb Service Fees and Adjustments number are correct

the Gross Earnings and Total Paid do NOT match the totals from the
Transaction report OR the CSV data. Note the 5159 account totals.

  The problem is which numbers are correct?  Since there's no 1099K

(hopefully) filed with the IRS I will go with the $20,591.46 since
I get it twice.

  I have no confidence in Airbnb reports. I'll go back to my bank

statements are cross reference against it as a third corroboration
but it shouldn’t be this hard.

  We make a LOT of money for Airbnb and it seems that they only care

about picking the low hanging fruit from among us. Anything
that’s hard or annoying to them the just ignore; or even worse
cancel their account.

  If your numbers match and you see no discrepancy between the

Transaction History vs Earnings Summary report be happy!

  Thanks again for all your help,

  Ralph
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I work with data and spreadsheets all day. I’m a glutton for punishment! :wink:

Okay, this is making more sense after seeing some of your data. I still can’t see some of the Earnings summaries you tried uploading, so a little stuck offering more than this:

First off, are you opening the csv file with a spreadsheet program like Excel or Google Sheets?
In absence of a program, it will open as a text file and make your reconciliation even more difficult!

I think this is how your data would look in spreadsheet form.

help_earnings2
help_earnings21088×227 10.4 KB

Without the co-host, you have two lines per reservation (peach highlight): one “Reservation” Type with how much is coming in ($97.63) and the host and cleaning fees. The second line says where the money went to (“Payout” for the same amount).

Notice that the “Amount” and “Paid Out” are the same. Accountants need things to balance! That’s why you’re seeing a negative number when the co-host comes into play, so let’s look at that…

When the co-host is involved you have 3 lines (green highlight): Same “Reservation” line that gives total payout ($1,086.87), host and cleaning fees. Now they need to subtract the co-host amount so the IRS doesn’t expect you to pay income tax on your co-host’s earnings…so “Co-Hosting adjustment” in the Type field, -$241.37 to your Amount paid. Accountants are happy because $1086.87-241.37=$845.5. The other line is your payout, adjusted to remove the co-host fee, so $845.50.

Like I said, without the full csv and earnings reports, I’m kind of stuck offering more help. I suspect it will come down to removal of the host fees.

Unfortunately, you’re so right about Air being unhelpful with this sort of question. I had a tax remittance question submitted over 18 months ago that still hasn’t received a response. If only they put countdown timers and sent themselves nasty reminders like they do for hosts! Haha.

Best of luck!

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Hi There Yulem,
I know your post is a year old but I’m having the exact same problem as you stated here where the summary report does not match the actual net payments received from Airbnb via PayPal. I triple checked my PayPal, Quickbooks, bank account and the transactions on Airbnb. Did you ever find out why the discrepancy? Also, is it still a problem for you this year? My CPA wanted a report from Airbnb on my earnings. I’ll just have to wait for the 1099 I guess. :slight_smile:
Thanks,
Michelle

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Hi Michelle,
Simple answer is No! AirBnB never acknowledged that a problem with
their reports exists! I was simply dismissed by the “Technical” people to whom Customer Support referred me.

I developed software for much of my career and can say with confidence that it is simple sloppy programming on the part of AirBnB. The frustrating part for me is it seems that they really don’t care. Buggy software I can understand; absolute disdain for their Hosts is harder to accept. I suspect it will only get worse after their IPO is completed.

The “Earnings Summary Report for 2019” doesn’t match either the downloaded CSV data or the “Earnings” page (they do match however). It seems the Earnings Summary Report is trash.

I’ll complain to Customer Support again this year but I don’t expect much if they haven’t tried to fix it in over a year.

Good luck, Ralph

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I am having the same issue. The “transaction history” and “Booked Earnings” match, and the “Proof of Income” and “Earnings Summary” match — but “Transaction History / Booked Earnings” and “Proof of Income” / Earning Summary dont reconcile. They’re off by several hundred dollars. :frowning:

And, the Earning Summary only shows $32.43 in Service Fees. :exploding_head:

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Maybe if enough Hosts register the problem here and then send it to
AirBnB en mass they might do something but don’t hold your breath.
This problem has been there for at least a year!

15

Yeap have the same issues. They are showing $188 in service fee’s when it should be $2,287. They are off in the report of earnings also.

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I have a discrepancy between the transaction history and earnings summary of over $5000!
52K vs 57K. Very cool, thanks Airbnb.

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Very cool indeed. I’m willing to switch places with you. Inbox me if interested. :wink:

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Lol, for what it’s worth, I’m a mere property manager keeping a modest percentage of that sum.

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Starting next year for the 2022 tax returns your income will be double-reported to the IRS if you get paid via PayPal as both they and AirBnB will report the same income you earned. Be prepared for the IRS to think you made double what you really made!

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Old topic where many participants are no longer active.

Feel free to start a fresh one.

Topic locked.

JF