CalmHost Insights
How to Read Your Airbnb CSV Export - What Every Column Means
*Published by CalmHost*
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If you have ever downloaded your earnings data from Airbnb and stared at a spreadsheet full of cryptic column headers, you are not alone. The Airbnb CSV export is one of the most useful tools available to hosts - but only if you know how to read it. This guide walks through every column, explains what the numbers actually mean, and shows you how to turn raw data into useful insight.
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How to Download Your Airbnb Earnings CSV
To get your CSV, log into Airbnb on a desktop browser and navigate to Transactions under your account menu. From there, select Earnings and use the date filter to choose your period. Click Download CSV and the file will save to your downloads folder.
Airbnb also provides a separate Reservations export from the same screen. The two files contain different information and are worth downloading separately. The Earnings CSV covers money received; the Reservations CSV covers booking details.
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The Earnings CSV - Column by Column
The Earnings CSV is the one most hosts care about. Here is what each column contains.
| Column | What it means |
|---|---|
| Date | The date Airbnb processed the payout to your bank. This is not the check-in date. |
| Type | The category of transaction: Reservation, Resolution, Pass-through Tax, Payout, etc. |
| Confirmation Code | The unique booking reference (e.g. HMCRC5CJ24). Use this to match a payout row to a specific guest. |
| Start Date | The guest's check-in date. |
| End Date | The guest's check-out date. |
| Nights | The number of nights booked. |
| Guest | The guest's first name. |
| Listing | The name of your property as it appears on Airbnb. |
| Amount | The amount paid to you for this transaction. For reservations, this is your payout after Airbnb's service fee has been deducted. |
| Paid Out | The amount that was actually transferred to your bank account in that payout batch. |
| Host Fee | Airbnb's service fee, shown as a negative number. |
| Cleaning Fee | The cleaning fee you charged the guest, included in the payout. |
| Booking Date | The date the guest made the booking. This is different from both the payout date and the check-in date. |
| Currency | The currency of the transaction. |
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The Most Common Points of Confusion
The "Date" column is not the check-in date. It is the date Airbnb processed the payout. A booking that checks in on 15 July might appear in your CSV with a Date of 16 July or even later, depending on when Airbnb released the funds. If you are trying to understand when a guest stayed, use the Start Date column instead.
The "Amount" is already net of Airbnb's fee. Airbnb deducts its host service fee (typically 3% for most hosts) before paying you. The figure in the Amount column is what you actually receive - not the gross amount the guest paid. If you want to understand the gross booking value, you would need to add the Host Fee back. However, most hosts work with the net figure since that is the real income.
Resolutions are separate rows. If Airbnb paid you a damage claim or issued a refund to a guest, these appear as separate rows with Type = "Resolution Payout" or "Resolution Adjustment". They are not included in the reservation row. This is why your total income from simply summing the Amount column may not match what you expect.
Pass-through Tax rows are not your income. In some jurisdictions, Airbnb collects and remits local taxes on your behalf. These appear as separate rows and should be excluded from any income calculation. They are taxes paid for you, not to you.
Payout rows are stub records. A row with Type = "Payout" represents the batch transfer to your bank. It is not a separate source of income - it is just Airbnb confirming that a group of transactions were paid out together. These rows should be ignored when calculating total revenue.
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The Reservations CSV - What It Adds
The Reservations CSV contains different information that is not in the Earnings CSV. The key additional columns are:
| Column | What it means |
|---|---|
| Status | Whether the booking is Confirmed, Cancelled, or Pending. |
| Booked | The date the booking was made (equivalent to "Booking Date" in the Earnings CSV). |
| Nights | Number of nights. |
| Guests | Number of guests in the party. |
| Listing | Property name. |
| Earnings | The payout amount for this booking. |
The Reservations CSV is useful for understanding booking lead times (how far in advance guests book), cancellation rates, and average party size.
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What the CSV Cannot Tell You
The Airbnb CSV does not include the gross amount the guest paid. Airbnb charges guests a separate guest service fee (typically 14-16%) on top of your nightly rate, but this money never passes through your hands and does not appear in your CSV. Your CSV only shows what Airbnb pays to you.
The CSV also does not include turnaround costs (cleaning, laundry, maintenance) that you pay out of pocket. To calculate your true net income, you need to subtract these costs from the Amount column yourself. This is exactly the kind of calculation that CalmHost automates - import your CSV, set your turnaround cost per booking, and CalmHost shows you net revenue at a glance.
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A Practical Example
Here is how a typical month might look in the raw CSV, and how to interpret it:
| Date | Type | Confirmation Code | Start Date | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/07/2025 | Reservation | HMCRC5CJ24 | 28/06/2025 | £420.00 |
| 01/07/2025 | Payout | - | - | £420.00 |
| 15/07/2025 | Reservation | ABCD1234 | 12/07/2025 | £630.00 |
| 18/07/2025 | Resolution Payout | HMCRC5CJ24 | - | £110.00 |
| 31/07/2025 | Reservation | XYZ9876 | 28/07/2025 | £350.00 |
| 31/07/2025 | Payout | - | - | £1,090.00 |
Your actual booking revenue for July is £420 + £630 + £350 = £1,400. The Resolution Payout of £110 is a separate adjustment (perhaps an AirCover damage claim) and should be tracked separately. The two Payout rows are just bank transfer confirmations and should be ignored.
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Making the Most of Your Data
Once you understand the structure, the CSV becomes a powerful record of your hosting business. When you are ready to move from understanding the columns to checking and reporting the figures, turn your CSV into a reviewed financial report. The key steps are:
1. Download both the Earnings and Reservations CSVs regularly - monthly is a good habit.
2. Exclude Payout and Pass-through Tax rows from any revenue calculation.
3. Track Resolution rows separately - they can significantly affect your net income in months where damage claims or refunds occur.
4. Use the Booking Date column to analyse lead times - how far in advance are guests booking, and is that changing over time?
5. Subtract your turnaround costs to get true net revenue per booking.
If this sounds like a lot of manual work, it is - which is why tools like CalmHost exist. Import your CSV once, and all of this analysis is done automatically.
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*CalmHost is a financial analytics tool for Airbnb hosts. Import your CSV and get instant clarity on your revenue, occupancy, and net income - without spreadsheets.*