Turo & QuickBooks Accounting Glossary
A reference guide to the accounting and tax terms Turo hosts encounter when managing their books in QuickBooks Online.
A
- Accounts Receivable (AR)
- Money owed to you but not yet received. In Turo accounting, the gross trip earnings are initially recorded as Accounts Receivable — the amount Turo owes you before deducting the platform fee.
- Accrual Accounting
- An accounting method that records revenue when it is earned and expenses when they are incurred, regardless of when cash changes hands. Under accrual accounting, a Turo trip is recorded as income on the trip end date, not the payout date.
- Adjustment Entry
- A journal entry that corrects or supplements an existing entry. In CarShareBooks, adjustment entries are generated when the Turo CSV export reveals charges (extra mileage, cleaning fees, damage payouts) that were not in the original payout email.
C
- Cash Basis Accounting
- An accounting method that records revenue when cash is received and expenses when cash is paid. Under cash basis, a Turo trip is recorded as income on the payout date, not the trip end date.
- Chart of Accounts
- The complete list of financial accounts used by a business in QuickBooks Online. CarShareBooks maps Turo line items to specific accounts in your chart of accounts during the onboarding setup.
- Cleaning Fee
- A charge Turo may add to a guest's bill if the vehicle is returned in a condition requiring cleaning beyond normal use. Cleaning fees are paid to the host as a reimbursement and should be recorded as a separate income line item, distinct from the base rental income.
D
- Deferred Revenue
- Income received or recorded before it is earned. In accrual accounting, if a Turo trip spans two calendar months, the portion of income attributable to the second month is initially recorded as Deferred Revenue and recognized as income when that period arrives.
- Double-Entry Accounting
- The standard accounting system in which every transaction is recorded as both a debit in one account and a credit in another. QuickBooks Online uses double-entry accounting. CarShareBooks generates properly balanced double-entry journal entries for every Turo trip.
G
- Gross Earnings
- The total amount a guest pays for a Turo trip before Turo deducts its platform fee. Gross earnings include the base rental price plus any extras (young driver fee, delivery fee, etc.). CarShareBooks records gross earnings as the top-line income figure for each trip.
J
- Journal Entry
- A record of a financial transaction in an accounting system. In QuickBooks Online, a journal entry consists of one or more debit lines and one or more credit lines that must balance to zero. CarShareBooks creates one journal entry per Turo trip.
N
- Net Payout
- The amount Turo actually deposits into your bank account after deducting the platform fee from gross earnings. Net payout = Gross earnings − Turo platform fee.
P
- Platform Fee
- The percentage of gross trip earnings that Turo retains as its service fee. The platform fee varies based on the protection plan selected. CarShareBooks records the platform fee as a separate expense line item in each journal entry.
- Payout Summary
- A periodic email Turo sends to hosts summarizing the total amount deposited in a given payout cycle. CarShareBooks parses payout summary emails to verify that the sum of individual trip payouts matches the bank deposit.
R
- Reconciliation
- The process of matching your accounting records to your bank statement to confirm that every deposit is accounted for. In CarShareBooks, reconciliation means matching each Turo bank deposit to the corresponding trip journal entries in the Turo Clearing account.
- Reimbursement
- A payment from Turo to a host for an expense incurred during a trip — most commonly a toll charge, cleaning fee, or damage claim. Reimbursements are separate from trip earnings and are recorded as distinct income line items.
S
- Schedule C
- The IRS tax form used by sole proprietors to report business income and expenses. Most individual Turo hosts file a Schedule C to report their rental income and deduct vehicle expenses, depreciation, insurance, and platform fees.
T
- Trip ID
- A unique identifier Turo assigns to each rental trip. CarShareBooks uses the Trip ID as the primary key for matching email-parsed records to CSV export rows and bank deposits.
- Turo Clearing Account
- A dedicated QuickBooks liability or asset account used as an intermediary between trip income and bank deposits. When a trip is recorded, the net payout is credited to the Turo Clearing account. When the bank deposit arrives, it debits the Clearing account, bringing it to zero.