Accounting & Tax
Avalara MyLodgeTax
Full-service lodging tax compliance for short-term rental operators
Best for Scale
Set-and-forget tax compliance for operators who can absorb the per-property cost
From $27/listing • No free trial
Comparison
Avalara MyLodgeTax vs Hostfully Bookkeeper
Pricing, pros and cons, and buyer-fit side-by-side. Pick the one that matches your operation — or see why neither should.
Accounting & Tax
Hostfully Bookkeeper
Accounting and financial reporting built into Hostfully's property management platform
Solid Option
Solid accounting layer if you're already on Hostfully's PMS
From $129 • No free trial
✓Editorial verdict
Which Should You Pick: Avalara MyLodgeTax or Hostfully Bookkeeper?
Pick Avalara MyLodgeTax if you need automated lodging tax compliance — registration, calculation, filing, and remittance — across multiple jurisdictions. Pick Hostfully Bookkeeper if you need day-to-day accounting workflows like owner statements, custom financial reports, and QuickBooks integration built into your property management platform. They solve different problems and many operators use both.
Editorial perspective from the Avalara MyLodgeTax side; factual claims about Hostfully Bookkeeper are drawn from its review.
Pricing Side-by-Side
Avalara MyLodgeTax
Full pricing →From $27/listing • No free trial
Standard
$27/property/mo
One-time $299 setup fee per property
1-5 properties
- Automated tax calculation across 11,000+ jurisdictions
- License and permit registration management
- End-to-end tax return filing and remittance
- Native PMS integrations (OwnerRez, Streamline)
Commercial
Custom quote
6+ properties (commercial pricing)
- Everything in Standard
- Volume-based discounts on per-property fee
- Dedicated account support
- Multi-state portfolio reporting
Hostfully Bookkeeper
Full pricing →From $129 • No free trial
Starter
$129/mo
~$117/mo billed annually (~9% discount)
Up to 4 listings
- Extended Data Report with flexible owner/property columns
- Automated CSV and HTML report exports
- Clearing integration for trust accounting
- QuickBooks Online connector
- 120+ integrations included
Pro
$229/mo
Annual billing discount available
Up to 11 listings
- Everything in Starter
- Enhanced owner statement customization
- Zapier and API workflows for custom accounting exports
- Multi-user access with role permissions
Pro Plus
$285/mo
Annual billing discount available
Up to 19 listings
- Everything in Pro
- Advanced reporting with per-property tax holding rules
- Priority customer support
Premium
Custom quote
20+ listings
- Everything in Pro Plus
- Dedicated account management
- Custom onboarding and training sessions
- Volume-based pricing negotiation
What each tool does well — and where it falls short
What Avalara MyLodgeTax does well
Manages the entire tax lifecycle from registration through remittance
Avalara handles license registration, tax calculation, return filing, and payment to applicable jurisdictions — eliminating the need to manually navigate multi-state obligations.
PMS integrations enable hands-off compliance workflows
Native connections to OwnerRez and Streamline automatically import booking data, removing manual entry from the compliance process.
Enterprise infrastructure supporting up to 40,000+ properties
Commercial pricing tiers for 6+ property portfolios and architecture built for scale mean the platform grows with your business.
Covers 11,000+ tax jurisdictions across the US
Operators expanding into new markets don't need to research local tax requirements manually — Avalara's jurisdiction database handles the complexity.
What Hostfully Bookkeeper does well
120+ integrations included in all plans with specialized accounting partners
All Hostfully packages include access to 120+ integrations, including Clearing for AI-powered trust accounting and QuickBooks Online for automated bookkeeping workflows.
Industry-leading flexible reporting via Extended Data Report
Any data collected from listing sites, OTAs, or direct booking sites can be placed into custom columns, enabling calculations for owner fees, per-property exceptions, and tax holdings with CSV or HTML export.
Consistently praised customer support and onboarding
Reviewers describe onboarding as smooth with helpful training sessions. The team is described as attentive, quick to resolve issues, and consistently improving the platform according to Capterra reviews.
Where Avalara MyLodgeTax falls short
Per-property costs compound quickly for growing portfolios
At $27/month plus $299 one-time setup per property, a 10-property portfolio runs $270/month and $2,990 upfront before any volume discounts apply.
Customer support receives consistent negative feedback
Users report long wait times, unclear escalation paths, and being directed to paid third-party support to resolve issues.
Scope limited strictly to lodging and occupancy taxes
Won't handle 1099 filing, HOA applications, or zoning compliance — operators still need separate solutions for those obligations.
Where Hostfully Bookkeeper falls short
Requires full PMS subscription — no standalone accounting option
There is no way to purchase Hostfully's accounting features separately. The minimum entry point is the $129/mo Starter plan, which may be excessive for operators who only need bookkeeping.
Reported performance issues with slow page loads
Multiple reviewers report certain features taking 5-10 seconds to load, with navigation requiring multiple steps and lacking mobile optimization.
Limited customization and mobile app restrictions
Users report limited flexibility in customizing guidebook layouts and the inability to edit existing templates from the mobile app, with a learning curve for advanced automation setup.
Which Should You Pick
Pick Avalara MyLodgeTax if
Professional property managers with 5+ properties needing comprehensive compliance automation across multiple jurisdictions.
Skip Avalara MyLodgeTax if
You have 1–4 properties — the $299 setup fee and $27/month per listing make the math hard to justify at small scale.
Pick Hostfully Bookkeeper if
Property managers running 4-20+ short-term rental listings who need centralized booking management with integrated accounting workflows through Clearing and QuickBooks Online.
Skip Hostfully Bookkeeper if
You need standalone accounting software only, or you manage fewer than 4 properties where the $129/month base cost exceeds per-listing value.
Where Avalara MyLodgeTax and Hostfully Bookkeeper actually differ
- Avalara MyLodgeTax is a single-purpose tax compliance service at $27/mo per listing plus $299 setup; Hostfully Bookkeeper is an accounting layer within a full PMS starting at $15/property/mo on Growth (1–50 listings), before a platform fee whose amount Hostfully does not publish for 1–50 listings with tiered pricing up to $25/property/mo for 19 listings.
- Avalara covers 11,000+ tax jurisdictions and handles license registration, return filing, and remittance; Hostfully does not calculate, file, or remit lodging taxes — it tracks financials and generates owner statements.
- Hostfully includes 120+ integrations with direct Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com channel connections; Avalara integrates with only OwnerRez and Streamline for booking data ingest.
- Hostfully integrates natively with Clearing for trust accounting and QuickBooks Online for bookkeeping automation; Avalara has no financial reporting, bookkeeping, or trust accounting capabilities.
- Avalara's per-property pricing scales linearly — 10 listings cost $270/mo plus $2,990 upfront; Hostfully's per-property tiers include accounting for all listings within a tier at no additional per-property fee.
Common objections
- Hostfully's accounting is included in a PMS I'm already paying for — why add Avalara on top?
- Because Hostfully tracks your money but doesn't manage your tax obligations. It generates owner statements and exports data to QuickBooks, but it won't register you for lodging tax licenses, calculate jurisdiction-specific rates, file returns, or remit payments. If you operate in jurisdictions where your OTA doesn't fully handle tax collection, Avalara fills a compliance gap Hostfully was never designed to cover.
- Avalara only integrates with OwnerRez and Streamline — what if I use Hostfully as my PMS?
- That's a real limitation. Avalara has no native Hostfully integration, so you'd need to manage tax data separately or use manual workflows. If tight PMS-accounting integration matters more than automated tax filing, Hostfully's built-in tools plus a local CPA may be a more practical path than adding Avalara without a direct connection.
- At $27/mo per listing plus $299 setup, Avalara seems expensive compared to Hostfully's per-property plans that include accounting. Is it worth the extra cost?
- The costs cover entirely different services. Hostfully's $15/property/mo on Growth or $25/property/mo on Pro gives you a PMS with accounting features — reporting, owner statements, QuickBooks sync. Avalara's per-property fee buys active compliance work: filing returns, remitting payments, and managing registrations across jurisdictions. A single missed lodging tax filing can trigger penalties that exceed a year of Avalara fees. If you have multi-jurisdiction exposure, the compliance automation pays for itself.
Keep Digging
Avalara MyLodgeTax
Set-and-forget tax compliance for operators who can absorb the per-property cost
Hostfully Bookkeeper
Solid accounting layer if you're already on Hostfully's PMS