Automated Owner-to-Co-Host Cleaner Payments Triggered by Check-Out at Fixed Rate

Problem Statement

• As a co-host, I currently front the cleaning money for every booking
• I manually request payment from some Owners via Zelle after each clean
• I only bill owners once a month
• This is time-consuming and creates cash flow issues

Current Workaround

• For some owners, I ask for a retainer upfront so I have enough money to cover cleaning fees without fronting them and only need to bill once a month and get reimbursed for the cleaning fees I fronted
• For other owners (especially those with multiple properties who won't give retainers), I have to request from Zelle payment after each and every clean, which is extremely time-consuming and creates a delay of paying my cleaners if they don't immediately pay the request
• I pay cleaners from my own bank account after each clean, then get reimbursed on my monthly statement

Impact

• I'm forced to front cleaning money for bookings where owners don't provide retainers or wait until they pay via Zelle after each clean
• Manual payment requests are time-consuming and error-prone
• Cash flow is strained

Proposed Solution

• Hospitable automatically triggers a payment from the Owner to the Co-Host when a guest checks out
• The payment amount would be a fixed rate set in Hospitable (not pulled from platform data). For example, if the Airbnb cleaning fee is $178 (due to markup), the Co-Host charges the Owner $150. I would then use Hospitable cleaner payouts to pay the cleaner the fixed rate I have them on (e.g., $125), and the remainder stays in my account
• For example: If the guest checkout triggers a $178 cleaning fee on Airbnb, the owner automatically pays the co-host a fixed rate of $150 set up in Hospitable.

Unlock

• Co-hosts would no longer need to front cleaning money or ask for Retainers up front, which owners dislike.
• Automated payments would eliminate manual requests and save time
• Cash flow would improve significantly
• In the future, the best-case scenario is that this would apply not only to the cleaning fee being triggered upon guest check-out but also to a trigger upon guest check-in for the set commission based on whichever fee structure you charge owners. This would eliminate the need to wait for payment at the end of the month except for reimbursements for maintenance and amenities purchased etc.