Platform payouts nobody can explain
The payout hits the bank with the commission already taken and the cleaning fee mixed in. QuickBooks records a number that is not the real revenue of any property.
Orlando and Kissimmee · Bookkeeping services
Portuguese speaking bookkeeper in Orlando for tourism, construction and service businesses
The calendar filled up in high season, emptied out after, and QuickBooks cannot tell you which property, job or client paid the bills this year.
GS Brasil provides bookkeeping services in Orlando, Kissimmee and nearby cities, with a Portuguese speaking bookkeeper who also works in English and Spanish. Gustavo Brasil, a Certified QuickBooks PRO Advisor, handles reconciliation, categorization and the monthly close in QuickBooks Online, and explains the numbers in plain language. Service is remote, based in Florida, with video meetings. It fits short term rental operators, contractors, cleaning and maintenance companies that need to know the margin on each property, job or contract.
Taxes stay with your CPA. GS Brasil hands them closed, organized books.
Common signs in Orlando
What usually trips up businesses in the area
High season that never becomes a reserve
Busy months pay well, but nobody sets cash aside for the slow ones. When business drops, the account gets tight.
Crews paid by Zelle with no W-9
Cleaning, maintenance and construction run on contractors paid through apps. In January the W-9s are missing, totals per person are missing and 1099s turn into a scramble.
The Orlando picture
What is different about bookkeeping for an Orlando or Kissimmee business
An economy with its own calendar
Orlando runs on tourism, services, construction and real estate. That gives the area a rhythm unlike other cities: high season fills the calendar, and some months slow down. For service businesses, revenue swings with it.
Swings are not the problem. Not seeing them is. With the monthly close current, you can compare the same month across years and separate what is seasonal from a real decline. Add hurricane season, June through November, which can cancel bookings and stop outdoor work for days.
Vacation rentals: revenue that arrives half told
Near the parks, many Brazilian owned companies own or manage vacation homes, known as short term rentals. Money comes in through platforms, and the payout is already net: the platform keeps its commission, passes the cleaning fee along with the nightly rate and sometimes bundles several bookings into one deposit.
Booking that deposit straight as revenue is the most common mistake. Proper bookkeeping works backwards:
- Records gross revenue for each booking and the platform commission as an expense.
- Separates the cleaning fee charged to the guest from what the cleaning crew is paid.
- Ties every entry to the property, so each home shows its own margin.
- Distinguishes owner payouts from the management company's own revenue, when you manage homes for others.
The tax side of lodging belongs to your CPA. What they need is revenue by property and by period, and that is what the monthly close delivers.
Construction, remodeling, cleaning and maintenance
Construction and remodeling move with the local real estate market, and cleaning and maintenance companies serve homes, condos and vacation rentals. In all three the pattern repeats: a crew of contractors, payments through apps, materials on a card and clients who pay in stages.
Contractors will find more detail in construction bookkeeping in Florida. The W-9 and 1099-NEC routine for your crews is covered in bookkeeping for 1099 contractors.
Sales tax changes at the county line
Orange County, where Orlando sits, adds a surtax to the 6% state sales tax and reaches 6.5%. Kissimmee is in Osceola County, and each neighboring county has its own surtax. A business selling taxable goods or services on both sides needs to record where each sale happened. Which services are taxable and how much to remit is your CPA's call. Bookkeeping keeps that information separated and checked.
How it starts
How we start with your Orlando business
01
Video
First conversation
Twenty minutes by video, at no cost, to understand the business: how many accounts, how many properties or jobs, who your CPA is.
02
Setup
A chart of accounts for your industry
Vacation rentals get a class per property in QuickBooks. Jobs become projects. Cleaning companies split residential and commercial clients.
03
Cleanup
Fix the past first
If QuickBooks has a pile in Undeposited Funds or duplicate transactions, the file goes through a QuickBooks cleanup before the routine starts.
04
Routine
A monthly close you understand
Every month, a P&L, a Balance Sheet and margin by property, job or client, explained in plain language.
What we deliver
What goes into your Orlando business routine
Platform payouts broken down
Each payout split into gross revenue, commission, cleaning fee and owner payout, checked against the platform report.
Margin by property, job or client
Each home, job or cleaning contract with its own revenue and cost in QuickBooks Online.
Bank, card and app reconciliation
Bank, card, Zelle and payment processor matched to statements every month.
Contractor tracking
W-9 requested before the first payment and totals paid per contractor through the year, ready for the 1099-NEC.
Sales tax by county
Taxable sales recorded with their location, in an account apart from revenue, for your CPA to calculate.
Cash for the slow season
A month by month view of what comes in and goes out, so you set cash aside while the calendar is full.
Where our work ends.
GS Brasil does not prepare or file taxes or sales tax returns, and does not issue 1099s as a tax service. It keeps your Orlando business books and hands your CPA organized numbers, including revenue by property and totals paid to each contractor.
Frequently asked
Questions from Orlando business owners
Do you have an office in Orlando?
No. Service is remote, based in Florida. Meetings are by video and day to day contact is directly with Gustavo on WhatsApp.
Do you serve Kissimmee and other nearby cities?
Yes. Kissimmee, Orlando and surrounding cities are served the same way, as is the rest of Florida and Massachusetts.
I have two vacation rentals in one LLC. Is a bookkeeper worth it?
With two homes it already pays to split revenue, commission and cleaning by property. Without that, your CPA only sees net deposits and cannot see how each one performs. Transaction volume defines the plan, and pricing is quoted per case.
I pay my cleaning crew by Zelle. Is that a problem?
The payment method is not the problem. Paying without a W-9 and without a record per person is. The 1099-NEC threshold was 600 dollars for payments through 2025 and rose to 2,000 dollars for payments made from 2026 on. Confirm your case with your CPA. GS Brasil organizes the W-9s and totals, and the CPA handles the filing.
My CPA only speaks English. How does that work?
That works well. The books and QuickBooks reports are in English, the way your CPA expects, and our conversations with you can be in Portuguese or Spanish.
Keep reading
More for Florida businesses
Bookkeeping in Florida
Portuguese speaking bookkeeping for Florida businesses.
Construction bookkeeping in Florida
Hurricanes, draws, retainage and subcontractors in your job cash.
1099 bookkeeping
W-9s, contractor totals and a 1099 package for your CPA.
QuickBooks cleanup
When QuickBooks is in use but the numbers are wrong.
Catch-up bookkeeping
When the books are months behind, with or without QuickBooks.
Restaurants
Food cost, prime cost and daily cash close.
First step
Start with the first conversation
Twenty minutes, no commitment, to understand where your company is and point the way.