Revenue Formula Setting

Revenue Formula Setting

The Revenue Formula is a powerful tool that ensures your revenue reporting in PriceLabs precisely matches your internal accounting definitions, eliminating discrepancies and manual reconciliation. If your PMS is supported, you can raise a request to support@pricelabs.co to get access to the revenue formula builder.

Revenue Recognition Preference

You can choose from three revenue recognition methods:

Pro-Rated on Stay Dates (Default)
Revenue is distributed evenly across each night of the reservation.
This method is ideal for:
  • Trend analysis
  • Occupancy and pacing analysis
  • Month-over-month performance comparisons
Check-In Date
The entire reservation revenue is assigned to the guest's arrival date.
This method is useful for:
  • Tracking booking arrivals
  • Event-based reporting
  • Operational analysis
Check-Out Date
The entire reservation revenue is assigned to the guest's departure date.

This method is ideal for:

  • Financial reconciliation
  • Owner statements
  • Businesses that recognize revenue after a stay is completed

Where You Can Configure Revenue Recognition

Revenue Recognition settings are available across multiple PriceLabs products. However you can also set them up in the Account Settings - Revenue Formula Tab.

Portfolio Analytics

Portfolio Analytics includes page-level controls, allowing you to switch the revenue recognition method independently on supported pages.

This gives you the flexibility to:

  • Use Pro-Rated on Stay Dates for pacing and trend analysis.
  • Switch to Check-In Date or Check-Out Date when analyzing arrivals, departures, or operational performance.
Booking Insights

Booking Insights supports all three revenue recognition methods, allowing you to view reservation data based on the accounting model that best fits your reporting needs.

Report Builder

All standard PriceLabs report templates use Pro-Rated on Stay Dates by default.

You can temporarily switch to another revenue recognition method while viewing or exporting a report. The selected method only applies to your current session and automatically resets to Pro-Rated on Stay Dates the next time you open the report.

Owner Reports

Owner Reports automatically follow your Account Default Revenue Recognition setting.

This helps ensure that all owner reports remain consistent without requiring additional configuration for each report.


Revenue Formula


What It Does

This feature allows you to define custom mathematical formulas for both Rental Revenue and Total Revenue. Since every Property Management System (PMS) and internal accounting department defines revenue differently, this tool makes PriceLabs a single source of truth for your financial metrics.

Please note that the formula is applied only to your portfolio and reservations and does not affect market calculations in any way.

Default Revenue Calculations

This tool is necessary when your internal definitions deviate from the PriceLabs standard:

MetricPriceLabs Default Definition
Rental RevenueAdjusted Rental Revenue (Nightly Rates minus Discounts).
Total RevenueTotal Cost or Host Payout (varies by PMS integration).

Supported Property Management Systems (PMS)

The Custom Formula Builder is currently available for the following PMS integrations:
  1. Guesty
  2. Hospitable
  3. Airbnb
  4. Hostaway
  5. Smoobu
  6. Hostfully
  7. Ownerrez
  8. Lodgify
  9. Track
  10. Stays
  11. Streamline
Additional PMS integrations will be available soon. If your PMS is not supported, you can raise a request to support@pricelabs.co. Please note that it will take 3-4 weeks to begin supporting a new PMS.

Transparency for Other PMSs: For most of the other PMSs where custom formulas are not yet supported, you will still be able to view the default revenue definition that PriceLabs is currently using for your account. This provides necessary transparency even if the definition is not editable.

Using Revenue Formula Builder      

  1. Access and Creation
    1. Access: Navigate to your Account Settings in PriceLabs and locate the "Revenue Formula" section.
    2. Select Scope: You can customize both Rental Revenue and Total Revenue in this section. By default, only the account-level definition is supported. To enable the Listing-level formula builder, please submit a request to support@pricelabs.co.
    3. Build Formula: Use the interface to select data fields (see Appendix below), mathematical operators (plus: $+$, minus: $-$, multiply: $*$, divide: $/$), and static numerical values. 
    4. Preview and Save: Use the preview function to verify the calculated output for your latest reservation before applying it.
  2. Validation Rules and Troubleshooting
    1. To ensure your data remains accurate, the system performs several checks. If your formula fails, you may see one of the following errors:
      1. Content Requirements
        1. Include a Required Metric: Every formula must contain at least one of these core metrics: 
          1. Total Cost
          2. Adjusted Rental Revenue
          3. Gross Rental Income
          4. Net Rental Income
          5. Owner Rental Income
          6. Host Payout
          7. Sub Total Price
        2. Length Limit: Formulas must be shorter than 1000 characters.
      2. Syntax and Logic
        1. Mathematical Syntax: Ensure all parentheses are matched, and operators are placed correctly. Division by zero is not allowed.
        2. Non-Negative Results: Revenue formulas must produce a positive number or zero. If your formula results in a negative number, it will be rejected.
        3. Numeric Output: The result of the formula must be a number, not text or other data types.
      3. Data Availability
        1. Unknown Fields: Ensure you only use fields available in your specific PMS mapping.
        2. Missing Reservation Data: Validation requires at least one existing reservation. If no bookings exist for the account, the formula cannot be tested.
        3. Incomplete PMS Data: If your PMS does not send a full "Revenue Breakup," PriceLabs cannot calculate custom formulas.
  3. Use Case Examples: Building Your Formulas
    These examples illustrate how common accounting needs can be translated into custom formulas using the data fields available to you.
    GoalMetric to DefineCustom FormulaRationale
    Remove Host Service Fee from Rental RevenueRental Revenue[Adjusted Rental Income] - [Host Service Fee]Subtracts the platform-specific fee the host is charged.
    Match AirBnB host payout (For AirBnB customers)Rental RevenueHost PayoutDefines rental revenue as the host payout seen on AirBnB.
    Add all fees to Rental RevenueRental Revenue[Adjusted Rental Income] + [Total Fees]Includes fees charged as part of the rental income to make the price all-inclusive.
  4. Formula Hierarchy (Precedence)
    When a listing has conflicting formulas, the system follows this rule:
    1. Listing Level: A formula set at the individual listing level always takes precedence over the Account-level formula.
    2. Account Level: Applies to all listings under that PMS.
    3. Default Fallback: If no custom formula is set at either level, the PriceLabs default calculation is used.

Impact of Custom Definitions

Once applied, your custom formulas consistently redefine how revenue is displayed across PriceLabs metrics.

  1. Impacted by Custom Rental Revenue (Only): 
    1. Portfolio Analytics KPIs and Historical Reports, 
    2. Portfolio Analytics Pacing Reports
  2. Impacted by Both Custom Rental Revenue and Total Revenue: 
    1. Review Prices Bookings Insights
    2. Bookings Report
    3. Report Builder
    4. Owner Analytics (Beta)

Important Note: Your custom definitions do not impact the calculation of Market Rental Revenue metrics, as these are based on scraped market data.

Impact on Safety Minimum Price

It is critical to understand how your custom Rental Revenue formula affects your Safety Minimum Price.

By default, PriceLabs calculates your Safety Minimum as 10% higher than your last year's Average Daily Rate (ADR).

Because Average Daily Rate is derived directly from your Rental Revenue, changing your revenue formula will automatically shift your Safety Minimum:

  • If your custom formula increases your reported Rental Revenue, your calculated Average Daily Rate will rise, which in turn increases your Safety Minimum.

  • If your custom formula decreases your reported Rental Revenue (for example, by subtracting fees), your calculated Average Daily Rate will fall, lowering your Safety Minimum.

Recommendation: After applying a new revenue formula, always review your Safety Minimum settings to ensure they still align with your pricing strategy.

Appendix: Data Field Dictionary 

The specific fields available for your formulas are determined by what data your connected Property Management System sends to PriceLabs. This list represents all unique fields available across all integrations.
Field NameDefinition
Accommodation Fare DiscountThe discount applied directly to the nightly rate or base accommodation fare. (Available only on Guesty)
Accommodation Fare Monthly DiscountA specific discount applied for monthly stays. (Available only on Guesty)
Accommodation Fare Weekly DiscountA specific discount applied for weekly stays. (Available only on Guesty)
Adjusted Rental IncomeRental Income after Discounts.
AdjustmentsMiscellaneous credits or debits applied to the booking total.
Cleaning FeeFee charged to the guest specifically for cleaning.
CommissionFee or percentage deducted by the management company.
ExclusionShows the exclusions applied for a specific account (available only in Streamline)
Extra Person FeeFee charged for guests exceeding the standard occupancy limit.
Folio ChargesMiscellaneous charges added to the booking ledger or invoice. (Available only on Track)
Generic Channel DiscountA general discount applied by the booking channel. (Available only on Guesty)
Gross Rental IncomeRental Income before any costs, commissions, or discounts.
Guest Service FeeFee charged directly to the guest by the booking channel/platform.
Host PayoutThe final amount the host/property manager receives after all channel fees and commissions.
Host Service FeeFee charged to the host/property manager by the booking channel/platform.
Length of Stay DiscountDiscount applied based on reservation duration.
Linen FeeSpecific charge for the use or cleaning of linens/towels.
Net PayoutFinal income after core deductions.
Net Rental IncomeNet Rental Income as defined on the Guesty Business Model. (Available only on Guesty)
Owner Rental IncomeThe specific share of revenue designated to the property owner.
Pet feesFee charged for allowing guests to bring pets.
Security Deposit FeeThe amount collected as a refundable security deposit.
Sub-Total PriceThe total cost before taxes.
Total CostThe total cost of the booking to the guest (including all fares, fees, and taxes).
Total DiscountsThe sum of all discounts applied to the booking.
Total ExtrasThe sum of all optional or supplementary charges.
Total FeesThe sum of all non-tax fees.
Total Fees & TaxesThe combined sum of all fees and all taxes.
Total TaxesThe sum of all applicable taxes (e.g., local, occupancy, sales tax).

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