Revenue Distribution now lets you choose how the Property Manager commission is calculated, so your payout breakdown can match your owner contracts more closely.
Applies to: Revenue Distribution configurations, Owners, Property Manager payouts, SmilyPay
Keywords: revenue distribution, commission model, PM commission, owner payout, property manager payout, OTA commission, SmilyPay fees, commission base
Overview
When setting up Revenue Distribution, you can now choose the commission model that best matches the contract you have with each owner.
Previously, Smily calculated the Property Manager commission using one model only: the PM commission percentage was applied to the rent after the rental OTA commission was deducted.
With this update, you can configure:
- How the PM commission is calculated
- Whether selected fees are included in the commission base
- Who bears SmilyPay payment-processing fees
- How the traveler fee is being handled
This helps make the Owner and Property Manager payout breakdowns more accurate for different contract types.
Before you start
Make sure that:
- Revenue Distribution is enabled on your account
- You know which commission rule applies in your owner contract
- You know who should bear SmilyPay payment-processing fees when the guest pays through SmilyPay
Changing an existing Revenue Distribution configuration can affect future payout breakdowns. Existing configurations keep their current behavior until you deliberately edit them.
Configure the commission model
Step 1
Go to Settings → Revenue Distribution.
Open an existing configuration or create a new one.
Step 2
In the configuration form, find the Commission model field.
Choose the model that matches your owner contract.
Step 3
Save the configuration.
The Owner and Property Manager payout breakdowns will use the selected model.
Available commission models
| Model | Commission base | Fee treatment | Who bears the OTA commission | Result on example | Best Used For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net payout(default) | Gross rent − OTA commission on rent | Paid in full (Owner or PM per config) | Split between rent and fees | €720(€900 − €180) | Contracts where you only deduct the portion of the OTA commission that applies directly to the rent. |
| Gross rent | Full gross rent | Not included | Owner, as a separate line | €900 | Contracts where your commission is based on the full rental amount before any OTA fees are taken out. |
| Net payout + fees | Net rent + selected fees | Included if checkbox ticked | Deducted entirely from rent | €800(€700 net rent + €100 cleaning) | Contracts where you charge your PM fee on the final net rent received, plus extra operational fees like cleaning. |
| Gross rent + fees | Gross rent + selected gross fees | Included if checkbox ticked | Owner, as a separate line | €1,000(€900 rent + €100 cleaning) | Contracts where you take your cut from the total gross amount of both the rent and specific fees. |
| Net payout (full OTA on rent) | Gross rent − full OTA commission | Paid at gross amount | Deducted entirely from rent | €700(€900 − €200) | Contracts where the entire OTA commission is aggressively taken out of the rent bucket only. |
Same example used throughout: Airbnb booking of €1,050 (incl. €50 city tax, €100 cleaning fee) → gross rent €900, total OTA commission €200 (€180 on rent / €20 on cleaning fee).
Net payout
This is the default model and keeps the previous Revenue Distribution behavior.
The PM commission is calculated on the rent after the OTA commission on rent is deducted. Fees, such as cleaning or linen fees, are paid entirely either to the Owner or to the Property Manager, depending on your fee configuration. This model makes a difference between the OTA commission on rent and the OTA commission on cleaning fees. So if you deduct the full amount of the OTA commission from your rent amount, this is not your model.
Use this model if your contract calculates the PM commission on the net rent received after OTA rent commission.
Example
A booking on Airbnb is 1050 euros, with 50 euros city tax and 100 euros cleaning fees.
The gross rent is 900 euros (total amount - city tax - cleaning fee). Gross rent includes a Airbnb commission of 200 euros. This commission amount is split between commission on rent (180 euros) and commission on cleaning fees (20 euros).
PM calculates their commission on 900 euros base (gross rent) less the commission on rent of 180 euros = 720 euros
Gross rent
The PM commission is calculated on the full gross rent.
The OTA commission is shown as an Owner-borne line in the payout breakdown.
Use this model if your contract calculates the PM commission on the full rental amount before OTA commission, after deducting fees.
Example
A booking on Airbnb is 1050 euros, with 50 euros city tax and 100 euros cleaning fees.
The gross rent is 900 euros (total amount - city tax - cleaning fee). Gross rent includes the Airbnb commission.
PM calculates their commission on 900 euros base (gross rent).
Net payout + fees
The PM commission is calculated on the net rent and on selected fees.
For this model, an In commission base checkbox appears for each fee kind. Select this checkbox for the fees that should be included in the PM commission base.
Use this model if your contract applies the PM commission to the net rent plus some fees, such as cleaning fees.
Example
A booking on Airbnb is 1050 euros, with 50 euros city tax and 100 euros cleaning fees.
The gross rent is 900 euros and the full OTA commission is 200 euros. The Net payout is 700 euros (900 euros gross- 200 euros commission).
PM calculates their commission on a base of 700 + fees so a total of 800 euros in that case.
Gross rent + fees
The PM commission is calculated on the gross rent and on selected gross fees.
For this model, an In commission base checkbox appears for each fee kind. Select this checkbox for the fees that should be included in the PM commission base.
The Owner bears the full OTA commission.
Use this model if your contract applies the PM commission to the full rent plus some fees.
Example
A booking on Airbnb is 1050 euros, with 50 euros city tax and 100 euros cleaning fees.
The gross rent is 900 euros and then PM adds 100 euros fees = 1000 euros.
PM calculates their commission on a 1000 euros base (gross rent+cleaning fee).
Net payout (full OTA on rent)
The full OTA commission is deducted from the rent only.
Each fee is paid out at its gross amount according to your fee configuration.
Use this model if your contract deducts the OTA commission from the rent only and does not spread the OTA impact across fees.
Example
A booking on Airbnb is 1050 euros, with 50 euros city tax and 100 euros cleaning fees.
The gross rent is 900 euros. The full OTA commission is 200 euros. The net rent is 900-200 = 700 euros.
PM calculates their commission on a 700 euros base (gross rent - full OTA commission).
Include fees in the commission base
Some commission models allow fees to be included in the PM commission calculation.
This applies to:
- Net payout + fees
- Gross rent + fees
Step 1
Select either Net payout + fees or Gross rent + fees as the Commission model.
Step 2
For each fee kind, use the In commission base checkbox.
Select the checkbox when that fee should be included in the amount used to calculate the PM commission.
Step 3
Save the configuration.
The selected fees will be included in the commission calculation.
Configure SmilyPay processing fees
If a guest pays through SmilyPay, SmilyPay payment-processing fees can be handled in different ways.
This setting is configured separately from the commission model and applies on top of the selected commission model.
Step 1
Go to Settings → Revenue Distribution.
Open the relevant configuration.
Step 2
Find the SmilyPay processing fees treatment field.
Step 3
Choose who should bear the SmilyPay fee:
- Borne by Property Manager
- Deducted from the commission base
- Borne by Owner
Step 4
Save the configuration.
SmilyPay processing fees options
Borne by Property Manager
This is the default option.
The SmilyPay fee is deducted from the Property Manager payout.
Deducted from the commission base
The SmilyPay fee is deducted from the amount used to calculate the PM commission.
This means the fee is shared between the Owner and the Property Manager through the PM commission percentage.
Borne by Owner
The Property Manager keeps the full commission.
The SmilyPay fee appears as an Owner-borne line in the payout breakdown.
Configure travellers' fee commission treatment
When a booking includes a travellers' fee, the OTA may also take commission on that fee.
The Traveller-fee commission treatment setting decides where that travellers' fee OTA commission appears in the payout breakdown. This setting is configured separately from the commission model and applies on top of any commission model.
Step 1
Go to Settings → Revenue Distribution.
Open the relevant configuration.
Step 2
Find the Traveller-fee commission treatment field.
Step 3
Choose how the travellers' fee OTA commission should be handled:
- Externalised to traveller
- As rent commission
Step 4
Save the configuration.
Travellers' fee commission treatment options
Externalised to traveller
This is the default option and keeps the previous behavior.
The OTA commission on the travellers' fee is shown as its own acquisition line. It is kept out of the rent commission.
Use this option if you want the travellers' fee commission to stay separated from the rent commission in the payout breakdown.
As rent commission
The OTA commission on the travellers' fee is folded into the rent commission.
On gross-rent models, this means:
- The Owner bears it on the owner-borne OTA commission line
- The Property Manager commission base grows slightly
- A small amount may shift from the Owner payout to the Property Manager payout
Use this option if your contract treats the travellers' fee OTA commission as part of the rent commission.
Impact of the travellers' fee commission treatment
On net-payout models, both options give the same Owner and Property Manager totals. Only the acquisition breakdown changes.
On gross-rent models, choosing As rent commission can shift a few euros from the Owner to the Property Manager because the travellers' fee OTA commission is included in the rent commission.
What happens to existing configurations?
Existing Revenue Distribution configurations are not changed automatically.
They remain on:
- Commission model: Net payout
- SmilyPay processing fees treatment: Borne by Property Manager
Nothing is recalculated until you deliberately edit a configuration.
Split Payments
Split Payments are not affected by these new Revenue Distribution settings yet.
For now, Split Payments continue to use the Net payout model, regardless of the commission model selected in Revenue Distribution.
Related articles
- Revenue Distribution
- Invite an owner
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