Answers · Bookings into your accounts
How do I connect Airbnb to accounting software?
Short answer
Airbnb has one built-in accounting connection, to QuickBooks, which syncs your Airbnb earnings monthly. For Xero, Sage or FreshBooks, or if you also take bookings on Booking.com, Vrbo or directly, you need a bridge. Airflow is one: it reads the booking-confirmation emails from every channel and creates a draft invoice per booking in Xero, QuickBooks Online, Sage or FreshBooks, without needing access to your Airbnb account.
Why there is no simple "connect" button
Airbnb does not offer individual hosts an open accounting API, so most accounting packages cannot pull bookings from it the way they pull transactions from a bank. General automation tools have the same gap: Zapier, for example, has no official Airbnb app to trigger from.
That leaves three kinds of bridge. Tools that log in to your Airbnb account on your behalf. Tools that receive data from a property management system you already use. And tools that read what Airbnb sends you anyway: the booking-confirmation email.
How to do it with Airflow
- 1
Pick your accounting package
Airflow connects to Xero, QuickBooks Online, Sage and FreshBooks. You sign in to the package from your Airflow portal and choose the accounts and tax rates to use.
- 2
Choose how emails reach Airflow
Forward confirmations by hand, set a forwarding rule in your mail, or connect Gmail or Outlook so Airflow reads booking emails as they arrive. It reads booking emails only.
- 3
Check the first booking
Forward one recent confirmation and look at the booking Airflow builds from it, then at the draft invoice in your accounting package. Adjust the account or tax mapping if a line is in the wrong place.
- 4
Let it run
Every new confirmation from Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo or Expedia now becomes a draft invoice. You approve them in your accounting package.
Which accounting package should a host use?
Use the one your accountant already works in. Xero is common in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and handles tracking categories well for several properties. QuickBooks Online is the usual choice in the United States and uses classes for the same job. Sage and FreshBooks suit hosts whose wider business already runs on them. Airflow works with all four, so the choice does not need to be made around the booking side.
Sending bookings to other tools
If you want bookings in a tool Airflow does not connect to directly, it can send each booking to Zapier, Make or n8n as it is confirmed, and from there to almost anything. This is part of the Growth plan and above. Because the booking has already been read and structured, the automation receives clean fields rather than an email to parse.
Other ways to do this
Airflow is one option. These are the others, and when each is the better choice.
- Airbnb's built-in QuickBooks sync
- Set up under Earnings in your Airbnb account. It syncs Airbnb earnings into QuickBooks on a monthly schedule. Simple and free if Airbnb is your only channel and QuickBooks is your package.
- An account-connected sync tool
- Tallybreeze and similar tools connect to your Airbnb login and post to Xero or QuickBooks, including payout reconciliation. They need access to your Airbnb account and are focused on the ledger alone.
- Your property management system
- If you already run a PMS, check its accounting integrations first. It already holds the bookings, so adding the accounting link there may be the shortest route.
- CSV export and import
- Always available and always manual. Download earnings from Airbnb, reshape, import.
What Airflow does not do
- Airflow is not an official Airbnb integration and uses no Airbnb API. It works from the emails Airbnb sends you.
- It creates draft invoices; it does not post final entries or reconcile bank lines.
- It does not connect to NetSuite or to desktop accounting software.
Common questions
Does Airbnb connect to QuickBooks?
Yes. Airbnb has a built-in QuickBooks sync, set up under Earnings in the host account, which syncs Airbnb earnings monthly. It covers Airbnb bookings only.
Does Airbnb connect to Xero?
Not natively. To get Airbnb bookings into Xero you need a third-party tool. Airflow does it by reading the booking-confirmation email and creating a draft Xero invoice.
Can I connect Airbnb to Zapier?
Zapier has no official Airbnb app. Airflow can act as the source instead: it reads the Airbnb booking and sends it to Zapier, Make or n8n as structured data, on the Growth plan and above.
Is it safe to give a tool access to my email?
You do not have to. Forwarding confirmations to your Airflow address works without any mailbox connection. If you do connect Gmail or Outlook, Airflow reads booking emails to build bookings, and you can disconnect at any time.
Can I connect more than one channel to the same accounts?
Yes. Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, Expedia and direct bookings all become draft invoices in the same accounting organisation, each labelled with its channel.
What does it cost?
Connecting is included on every plan. The work done on each booking uses automated tasks. Paid plans include a monthly allowance of automated tasks and start with a free trial; on the Free plan the same work is pay as you go. Current prices and allowances are on the pricing page.
Try it on your own bookings
Forward a few booking emails and look at what Airflow builds from them. A card is needed at sign-up.
Start with Airflow See plans and pricing