In this guide
Do you have past bookings in a spreadsheet, or are you starting out with dozens of future stays already booked? Instead of entering them one by one, you fill in Operent’s template, check a preview and confirm. The bookings come in all at once, each on the right property, with its amounts and, if it’s already been paid, the payment recorded.
Step 1 · Always download a new template
In Bookings, click the more-actions button (⋯) and choose “Import spreadsheet”. Under “1. Download a new template”, click “Download XLSX template”.
The file has two tabs:
- Bookings: where you fill things in, starting on row 7. Columns with blue headers are required; grey ones are optional.
- Instructions: how to fill in the template, plus the list of channels and payment methods active in your Operent at the time of download.
Step 2 · One row per booking
| B · Property | Exactly as registered in Operent. The property must already exist: the import doesn’t create properties. |
|---|---|
| E, F · Check-in and Check-out | Actual Excel dates, in dd/mm/yyyy format. Text that looks like a date won’t work. |
| G · Channel | Exactly as registered: Airbnb, Booking.com, Direct… The list is on the Instructions tab. |
| H · Accommodation price | The total for the nights. |
| I, J · Cleaning and commission | Required. If there was no charge, or you’d rather not enter it, type 0. Don’t leave them blank. |
| K, L · Shares | Depend on the property’s management model. See below. |
| M, N · Payment received | Only for a past booking that’s already been paid: the date it was received and the payment method, exactly as registered. |
| A, C, D, O · Optional | External code (the Airbnb confirmation code, for example), guest name, guest count (blank means 1) and notes. |
Amounts can be number cells or text in the 1,000.00 format, with up to two decimal places. Don’t use formulas
in any cell: if you do, the whole file is rejected.
Columns K and L depend on the property’s model
Here’s an example: an Airbnb booking with a £6,970.00 accommodation price, a £200.00 cleaning fee and £1,305.87 in platform commission. Pick your property’s model to see what to fill in:
Pick the property’s management model
The property belongs to the company or person using Operent.
| H · Accommodation price | I · Cleaning fee | J · Platform commission | K · Manager/co-host share | L · Owner share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £6,970.00 | £200.00 | £1,305.87 | blank | blank |
- Leave K and L blank.
- Operent calculates the net: H + I − J = £5,864.13.
If the stay is in the past and has been paid, Operent records the calculated net: £5,864.13.
The booking money goes into the manager’s account, and the manager pays the owner afterwards.
| H · Accommodation price | I · Cleaning fee | J · Platform commission | K · Manager/co-host share | L · Owner share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £6,970.00 | £200.00 | £1,305.87 | £1,132.83 | blank |
- K is optional. If blank, Operent applies the management percentage set on the property to the accommodation price.
- Leave L blank: it isn’t used in this model.
If the stay is in the past and has been paid, Operent records the calculated net: £5,864.13. The owner payout comes out of that amount.
The channel (Airbnb, for example) pays each party directly: the manager and the owner.
| H · Accommodation price | I · Cleaning fee | J · Platform commission | K · Manager/co-host share | L · Owner share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £6,970.00 | £200.00 | £1,305.87 | £1,132.83 | calculated |
- Enter at least one share. Any of these works:
- K only: Operent calculates L = £4,731.30.
- L only: Operent calculates K = £1,132.83.
- Both: they’re kept as entered. If they don’t add up to the net, the preview warns you but doesn’t block the import.
- Blank means “calculate”; 0 means that share really is zero.
If the stay is in the past and has been paid, Operent records only the manager’s share (K): £1,132.83. What the channel paid the owner directly never goes into the company’s cash account.
Past, today or future: each booking is imported differently
| Past | Today | Future | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it’s imported | With check-in and check-out done automatically | Confirmed, with no automatic check-in or check-out | Confirmed |
| Payment (M, N) | Fill in if it’s been paid; leave blank if it’s still owed | Leave blank and record the payment later, on the booking | Leave blank |
A past booking’s payment is recorded at the amount Operent calculates (see the example above); there’s no “amount paid” column. The months of the stay and of the payment must still be open in Month-end close.
Step 3 · Send it for preview
Back on the import screen, under “2. Send for preview”, click “Choose spreadsheet”. Operent checks the file and shows “Preview complete — nothing was imported.” along with how many rows are error-free and how many have errors. Nothing has been saved yet.
- Errors are grouped by column, with the affected rows (for example, “Rows 5–7”) and what that cell should contain.
- If a property, channel or payment method isn’t found, you’ll see “Match spreadsheet labels”: pick the matching item registered in Operent and click “Refresh preview”. Property matches are remembered for future imports.
- Under “Plan by row”, each row shows how it will be imported (future, today or past), whether it will be marked as paid, and the amount.
Step 4 · Review and confirm
Once every row is ready, you’ll see “Preview ready for confirmation”. Click “Confirm import”. Operent checks everything again and creates all the bookings in one go, then shows “Import confirmed.” along with the number of bookings created.
Duplicate bookings
- Same property, overlapping dates: the row is blocked, whether it clashes with an existing booking or with another row in the file.
- The same file uploaded again after it was confirmed: it’s rejected, and nothing is created twice.
- An external code that was already imported: if the row is identical, it’s skipped; if anything changed, it’s blocked. The import never changes existing bookings: to change one, edit it in Operent.
Common problems
I get “The spreadsheet could not be reviewed.”
That’s a problem with the file as a whole. The usual causes: an old template, a renamed tab or column, an extra tab, a formula in any cell, a file that isn’t .xlsx, or one bigger than 5 MB. Download a new template and copy only the values into it.
My property isn’t found, but I registered it.
The name has to be identical, including upper and lower case, accents and trailing spaces. You can also match it in the preview under “Match spreadsheet labels”. The property must be active, and you must have access to it.
Can I leave the cleaning fee and commission blank?
No. If there was no charge, or you’d rather not enter it, type 0.
My date is right, but I get an error.
The cell is probably stored as text. Retype the date as dd/mm/yyyy, or format the cell as a date, so Excel recognises it.
Can I import cancelled bookings or calendar blocks?
No. Every imported booking comes in as confirmed. Cancellations and blocks are handled directly in Operent.
How many bookings can I import at once?
Up to 2,000 rows per spreadsheet, in a file of up to 5 MB.
early access
See this flow with your own properties.
Operent is in early access and free during the validation phase. We stay close through your setup and your first month-end close.