Vacation Rental Software - Which is Best for You?

Managing vacation rentals is not an easy task. Creating reports, generating invoices, arranging reservations and organizing rental activities are just some of the responsibilities of a manager. The job can be made much easier with vacation rental management software where all the everyday jobs or tasks in managing a hospitality business are combined into one vacation rentals software.

If you are thinking of buying software for taking reservations, this article will help you determine what hotel booking system would best suit your needs.

First and foremost, you must determine what are the things that you are looking for in a vacation rental management software. What are the things that you would like the software to do for you? Second, do you need a desktop application or a web-based program? Third, is the software user-friendly? Fourth, how affordable is the accommodation software?

The common features of room reservation software are:

Check for availability and make reservations including the arrival date, departure date and manage multiple rental rates.

Generates confirmations, receipts and statements.

Keep track of deposits, payments to accounts, and other income sources. Generate registers for your income reporting accounts

Record all your expense payments and travel deductions. View deposits and debits for any number of expense reporting accounts.

An easy-to-use database that tracks all the information about your guests especially payments.

A way to add misc. charges and record full and partial rent payments and print rent receipts.

Process Online payments.

Record important information on all of your rental units.

Track of all your income and tax deductible expenses and generate tax form reports.

Some room booking software will also keep track of schedules, generate form letters to be mailed or emailed, and provide other tools to help you streamline your business. Consider these additional features:

Send promotional materials or other form letters to all of your guests, vendors, family, friends or any other contacts

Keep track of all the appliances, furniture, etc. that are included with your rental units.

Display your appointments, deadlines and other important events in Daily, Weekly or Monthly Calendar formats in scheduling software.

Create property management invoices for other owners whose units you manage. Add management fees and deduct expenses.

Create Work Orders for any repairs or maintenance, track vendors, schedules, work completed and amounts paid.

Create To Do Lists with room for notes, deadlines, priorities, etc. with project management software.

The best hospitality software also includes tools which allow you to look up where area codes are, calculate time zone differences, and has a universal calculator that adds or subtracts numbers, dates and times, converts length, volume and weight measurements, computes discounts, sales tax, foreign money exchanges and loan payment amounts.

One major thing to consider is, should it be a desktop application or a web-based application? Here are some differences between the two:

A web-based application, which includes any software you log on to a web site to access, requires a fast, reliable internet connection. A desktop application is an application that runs without the need of an internet connection.

If you do not have a very fast internet connection, it could take you several times longer to get the same amount of work done. Desktop software is generally much faster and easier to use than web-based software.

If your web connection goes down, or the company's website were to go down, or the company went out of business, you will no longer have access to your data if using web-based applications. A desktop application, if backed-up regularly, is more secure and reliable than a web-based application.

With web-based applications you rent the software, paying monthly fees and often get only email support. With desktop applications, you generally pay just once, and technical support is often included.

The next thing to consider is how easy is the software to use? Is it easy to understand? Are you comfortable using the software? Can you get technical support easily and quickly, both by phone and by email? Does that support cost extra?

The final question is, how much are you willing to spend for this software? Would you rather pay less on a monthly basis for web-based software, which will add up to much more over time, or pay one reasonable amount up front and get the features, speed and reliability of a desktop application?

As a small business person, I'm sure you would rather find ways to save money and at the same time have the features and capabilities you are looking for in vacation hotel management software?

With these things in mind, you can now determine what would be the best vacation rental property management software for your needs. The best hotel booking software for a small business person like you, in my opinion is Vacation Rental Tracker plus. It is a reasonably priced desktop application that is easy to use and is available for most Mac and Windows computers.

To better understand its ease, comfort and productivity, and to download a free trial today, visit Vacation Rental Tracker Plus for more details.