1. Guesty Help Center
  2. Listings
  3. Tasks & cleaning status
  4. Auto-tasks & Calendar-based tasks

Managing tasks

Use tasks to efficiently organize and manage property operations, including housekeeping, maintenance, check-ins, and other operational activities.

Task types

Guesty offers two distinct types of tasks:

Comparison criteria Auto-tasks Calendar-based tasks
Purpose Tasks dependent on guest reservation events.  Tasks for regular maintenance or periodic activities related to the property.
Trigger Specific events in a reservation lifecycle, such as check-in or check-out.  Specific calendar dates or days, which can be one-time or recurring.
Scheduling Dynamically adjust with reservation changes.

Scheduled for specific dates or days and assigned to a property. 

If edited for a specific reservation, timing won’t change with reservation adjustments.
Creation A two-step process from the property's page: create a task template, then configure the task scheduling. Directly created from the calendar.
When to use Use when tasks should depend on reservations and automatically adjust if dates change.  Use when tasks need to occur on specific dates, regardless of guest bookings.
Examples
  • Clean the property after guest check-out.
  • Inspect the property before guest check-in.
  • Hand off the key to an arriving guest.
  • Inspect the property's pool monthly.
  • Complete quarterly maintenance.
  • Set up seasonal property activities, such as holiday decorations.

Manage calendar-based tasks

Calendar-based tasks help you manage regular maintenance and periodic activities for your properties by scheduling tasks on specific dates or days.

Create a calendar-based task

When you create a recurring task, a series of instances is generated six months ahead, with new instances added daily. Tasks assigned to multiple properties create separate instances for each property. The latest instance you see is always up to six months ahead.

Users with restricted property access only view tasks associated with their assigned properties. Tasks not associated with any properties are hidden from these users.

Follow the steps below to create a one-time or recurring calendar-based task.

Step by step

  1. Sign in to your Guesty account.
  2. At the top-right corner of the dashboard, click the circle plus icon  and select New task.
  3. Fill in the relevant information:
    • Timing: When selecting "flexible," assignees can complete the task anytime between "Can start from" and "Must finish before" dates.
    • Accounting users (only): Adding an expense helps you manage your Accounting folio by linking an expense to the task.

    • Assignee: When assigning a task to a group, all members can view the task, but once claimed by one member, it becomes invisible to others.

    • Applies to: When assigning the task to a property, select from the following options:
      • All: Applies to all current and future properties. You can exclude specific properties.
      • By rule: Applies to properties matching specific criteria. You can exclude specific properties that meet the criteria.
      • Specific: Applies to selected properties (maximum 150).
  4. Click Save.

Edit or delete calendar-based tasks

When you edit a field in a task instance, that field "detaches" from the series. Updates to this field for the series won't apply to the edited task instance.

If you modify the timing of a task series, upcoming instances that have not yet started are deleted, and new instances are generated based on the new timing.

Follow the steps below to edit or delete an entire task series or an instance within the series. 

Step by step

  1. Sign in to your Guesty account.
  2. From the top navigation bar, click the mode selector and select Operations mode.
  3. Click Field operations, then select Tasks.
  4. Select the relevant task instance.
  5. At the top-right, click Edit.
  6. From the dropdown menu, select Edit one task or Edit task series.
  7. Adjust the relevant information, or click Trash icon in the top-left corner to delete.
  8. Click Save, and in the pop-up, click Save again.

Manage auto-tasks

Auto-tasks help you manage reservation-dependent operations by automatically creating tasks triggered by specific events in a reservation lifecycle.

Create an auto-task in two steps: 

  1. Set up a task template that includes all the details your team needs to complete the task.
  2. Configure the task's scheduling to align with specific reservation events.

Auto-tasks automatically generate instances for all existing and future reservations.

You can automatically change a listing's cleaning status after an auto-task completes.

Scheduled tasks not assigned to a user appear as "Unassigned" until a group member accepts them via the Guesty mobile app, but they remain linked to the reservation.

Follow the steps below to create an auto-task.

Create a task template

Follow the steps below to create an auto-task template.

Step by step

  1. Sign in to your Guesty account.
  2. In the top navigation bar, click the mode selector and select Operations mode.
  3. Click Properties.

  4. Click the relevant property.

    For a multi-unit, manage this feature via the main unit to apply the setting to all sub-units. Alternatively, configure the settings for a specific sub-unit. Click the main unit or the specific sub-unit.

  5. In the left-side menu, select Task templates.
  6. Click Create a task template.
  7. Fill in the relevant information.
    • Accounting users (only): Adding an expense helps you manage your Accounting folio by linking an expense to the task.
    • Checklist: Create a to-do list of items needed to complete this task.

    • Assignee: Choose between assigning to an individual team member or a group. Group assignments allow any member to claim the task.

    • Attachments: Upload relevant files. To remove an attachment, hover over it and click the trash icon in the top-right corner.
  8. Click Save.
  9. In the pop-up, select either Continue to automate tasks or I'll do it later.

Edit or delete a task template

Editing a task template

Auto-tasks update automatically when you modify the corresponding task template or when reservation check-in or check-out times change.

When you edit a field in a specific instance, it "detaches" from the template, so future updates to the template won’t update it.

Deleting a task template

When you delete a template, the associated tasks without expenses (past or future) are also deleted. Tasks with expenses won't be deleted, but they won’t be associated with any task template.

To remove the scheduling of the auto-task, but retain the task template for future scheduling, delete the auto-task itself.

Follow the steps below to edit or delete a task template.

Step by step

  1. Sign in to your Guesty account.
  2. In the top navigation bar, click the mode selector and select Operations mode.
  3. Click Properties.

  4. Click the relevant property.

    For a multi-unit, access the main unit’s settings or click a sub-unit.

  5. In the left-side menu, click Task templates.
  6. Next to the relevant template, click Edit and make the relevant changes. Alternatively, click Trash icon and Delete to remove the template.
  7. Click Save, and in the pop-up, click Save again.

Create an auto-task

Once the task template is created, create the auto-task to set up the scheduling. You can configure the task to change a listing's cleaning status after it completes. Auto-tasks can be customized for guest or owner reservations.

Managing Task Timing

When defining the timing of the auto-task, determine when the assignee should start the task based on the reservation’s lifecycle. For example, "At check-out" or "2 hours before check-in”.

Flexible timing allows the assignee to complete the task within your set window.

You can schedule auto-tasks based on a guest's estimated time of arrival (ETA) or departure (ETD). If you haven't added these times to the reservation or collected them through the check-in form, the property's default check-in or check-out times will be used instead.

To create an auto-task, follow the steps below.

Step by step

  1. Sign in to your Guesty account.
  2. In the top navigation bar, click the mode selector and select Operations mode.
  3. Click Properties.

  4. Click the relevant property.

    For a multi-unit, manage this feature via the main unit to apply the settings to all sub-units. Alternatively, configure the settings for a specific sub-unit. Click the main unit or the specific sub-unit.

  5. In the left-side menu, click Automation, then select Auto-tasks.
  6. Click Create auto-task.
  7. Enter the relevant information.
  8. Click Save, and in the pop-up, click Done.

Edit or delete an auto-task

If you edit a specific field in an instance, it "detaches" it from the template, so future updates to the template won't update it.

Deleting an auto-task only affects future reservations; tasks for existing reservations remain. To delete all tasks generated by an auto-task, delete the auto-task at the property level. Otherwise, tasks will continue to be generated for new reservations. Deleting a template deletes all tasks for future reservations.

If you want to remove the auto-task but keep its template for future use, simply delete the auto-task as described below.

Step by step

  1. Sign in to your Guesty account.
  2. In the top navigation bar, click the mode selector and select Operations mode.
  3. Click Properties.

  4. Click the relevant property.

    For a multi-unit, manage this feature via the main unit to apply the settings to all sub-units. Alternatively, configure the settings for a specific sub-unit. Click the main unit or the specific sub-unit.

  5. In the left-side menu, click Automation, then select Auto-tasks.
  6. Next to the relevant auto-task, click Edit and make the relevant changes. Alternatively, click Trash icon and Delete to remove the task.
  7. Click Save.

How reservation changes affect tasks

Auto-tasks are linked to reservations, and reservation changes affect these tasks as follows:

  • Auto-tasks update if reservation schedules change (for check-in, check-out, ETA, ETD).
  • If you have manually edited a generated task's schedule, future reservation changes won’t affect that task.
  • If a reservation is canceled, the associated auto-task is also canceled.
  • Changing a reservation to another listing cancels tasks for the old listing and creates new ones per the new listing’s auto-task settings.

How owner stay tasks work

Owners can stay at their properties by blocking dates on the calendar via Guesty's Owner's Portal.

When an owner makes a change to their scheduled stay, the timing of the task is automatically updated. If an owner's stay is canceled, so is the auto-task.

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