Integration Proposal
Automated, real-time synchronisation between your Property Management System and Shireburn Financial Manager — purpose-built for the Spinola Hotel and every property that follows.
The Challenge
Your current PMS, New Hotel, cannot produce the accurate, auditor-ready financial data Luxfair needs. Here are the specific pain points this proposal eliminates.
PMS figures and SFM figures require manual reconciliation. Discrepancies consume hours and erode confidence in your numbers.
Reservations spanning two months aren't split correctly. Revenue lands in the wrong period, distorting your P&L and complicating VAT returns.
Booking.com pays weekly for the prior week's checkouts. New Hotel cannot model deferred settlement — it assumes same-day payment, which is factually incorrect.
When auditors ask "what makes up this balance?", you can't produce a guest-by-guest breakdown of your Guest Ledger or City Ledger at a given date.
Every day, someone extracts data from the PMS, fills an Excel template, and manually uploads it to SFM. This is slow, error-prone, and unscalable.
With additional boutique hotels in the pipeline, the current manual process would need to be duplicated for each property — multiplying the workload and risk.
PMS Selection
Both platforms are cloud-based and offer core PMS functionality. The differences, however, are significant — particularly for independent and boutique hotels like the Spinola.
| Criterion | Cloudbeds | Eptera |
|---|---|---|
| OTA Channel Integrations | 300+ channels (Booking.com, Expedia, Airbnb, HRS, Agoda, and hundreds more) | ~40 channels — sufficient today but limits future distribution reach |
| Industry Recognition | Top-rated PMS, HMS & Channel Manager 2021–2026 (Hotel Tech Report). World's Best Hotel PMS 2022 (World Travel Awards). Deloitte Fast 500 (2024). 1,390+ verified reviews, 4.5/5 average. | No Hotel Tech Report recommendations recorded. Zero verified reviews on major hospitality review platforms. |
| Global Footprint | Trusted across 150+ countries. 650+ employees distributed globally. Dedicated partner ecosystem with 50+ API endpoints. | Primarily established in Turkey and select Middle Eastern/Eastern European markets. Limited Western European presence. |
| Target Market Fit | Purpose-built for independent hotels, boutique properties, and small groups — exactly the Luxfair profile. | Positioned for all property sizes including large chains and resorts. Not specifically optimised for boutique independents. |
| API & Integration Quality | Comprehensive RESTful API (v1.2/v1.3). Dedicated Accounting API with immutable transaction records. Webhooks for real-time event notifications. Full developer portal with guides, recipes, and changelog. | Open API advertised. No public developer portal, no published API documentation, no webhook system documented. |
| Accounting API Depth | Dedicated /accounting/v1.0/transactions endpoint. Custom GL codes. Deposit ledger, AR ledger, internal transaction codes. Immutable audit trail. |
Built-in accounting module (proprietary). No documented external accounting API for third-party integration. |
| Guest Experience Features | Booking engine, digital guest journey, upselling engine, reputation management, messaging — included in Experience tier. | Guest app, CRM module, online check-in available as add-on modules. |
| AI Capabilities | Cloudbeds Signals — hospitality's first foundation AI model for demand anticipation, pricing intelligence, and operational insights. | AI review summaries and recommendations mentioned. No proprietary AI model or industry benchmark data. |
| Multi-Property Support | Single account manages all properties. Organisation-level API keys. Centralised reporting across portfolio. | Multi-property management available. Centralised screen mentioned but no portfolio-level API documented. |
| SFM Integration Path | No native SFM integration — requires Born Digital middleware (this proposal). | Claims native SFM integration via their own technicians. Vendor-dependent — no flexibility for custom requirements. |
| Community & Support Ecosystem | 24/7 chat support, Cloudbeds University (training), active user community, annual UserCon conference, extensive help centre. | 24/7 support claimed. No public knowledge base, no training academy, no user community documented. |
Solution
A cloud-hosted middleware service connects Cloudbeds and SFM, automating every data flow that Jessica's team currently handles manually.
Pulls immutable transactional data daily — room revenue, taxes, payments, adjustments, and deposits — with full audit trail and custom GL code mapping.
Cloudbeds fires webhook notifications on reservation creation, status changes, check-in/out, and payment events. The middleware listens and queues for processing.
Maps Cloudbeds transaction codes to SFM nominal accounts, VAT codes, and ledger categories. Handles month-spanning revenue split, deferred OTA settlements, and multi-currency logic.
Guest master data and corporate accounts sync to SFM via the SBS Web API — creating and updating client records automatically.
Transactional data is written to SFM's Import Gateway format and delivered automatically — no manual Excel uploads, no human intervention.
On-demand and scheduled reports showing the exact guest-level composition of your Guest Ledger and City Ledger balances — ready for auditors.
What This Solves — Mapped to Your Requirements
Implementation
A structured, phased delivery ensuring accuracy and confidence before going live.
Confirm SFM hosting setup with Franco Galea (Shireburn). Map Cloudbeds GL codes to SFM nominal accounts, VAT codes, and ledger categories. Define OTA settlement rules (Booking.com weekly, Expedia, Airbnb, direct). Configure Cloudbeds API credentials and webhook endpoints.
📄 Mapping specification documentBuild the cloud-hosted middleware service. Implement Cloudbeds Accounting API integration, webhook listeners, transformation engine, and SFM Import Gateway file generation. Implement client/entity sync via SBS Web API. Build reconciliation reporting engine.
⚙️ Working integration in staging environmentParallel run: process live Cloudbeds data through the integration and compare output against manual SFM entries. Validate month-spanning revenue splits, deferred OTA payments, VAT accuracy, and ledger composition reports. Adjust mapping rules based on results.
✅ Signed-off test resultsSwitch from manual Excel uploads to automated sync. Monitor daily runs for the first two weeks. Resolve any edge cases. Handover documentation and training for the accounts team on reconciliation reports.
🚀 Live automated integrationInvestment
A transparent, predictable cost structure separating the one-time build from ongoing operational support.
Annual billing: €2,388/year. Three-year contractual commitment.
All prices exclude VAT. Cloudbeds subscription fees are billed separately by Cloudbeds and are not included above.
Multi-Property Growth Plan
The core integration is built once. Each additional property requires only configuration, mapping, and testing — not a rebuild. Here is your cost guide for planning future property onboarding.
| Item | Property 2 (e.g. 18–20 rooms) | Properties 3+ |
|---|---|---|
| Onboarding & Configuration Cloudbeds setup, GL mapping, SFM nominal configuration, OTA rules |
€1,450 | €1,200 |
| Testing & Validation Parallel run, data accuracy sign-off, training |
€550 | €450 |
| One-Time per Property | €2,000 | €1,650 |
| Additional Monthly Retainer Per additional property, added to existing retainer |
+€99/mo | +€99/mo |
Example — 3 Hotels by 2028: Total CAPEX = €3,950 + €2,000 + €1,650 = €7,600. Monthly OPEX = €199 + €99 + €99 = €397/mo (€4,764/yr). This gives you fully automated accounting synchronisation across your entire portfolio for under €5,000 per year in operating costs — replacing manual daily work across three properties.
Why Born Digital
We don't just build integrations. We operate them. Born Digital has been delivering technology solutions from Malta since 2008 — and we know SFM inside out.
Delivering digital, AI, and systems integration since 2008. We understand local systems, local compliance, and local business.
Including Government of Malta, Bank of Valletta, VisitMalta, Transport Malta, FrankSalt, Farsons, and many more.
We have built and operate Cloudbeds integrations for approximately ten hospitality establishments — connecting PMS data to accounting, reporting, and operational systems.
We have built and operate live integrations to Shireburn Financial Manager. Franco Galea at Shireburn can attest to this directly.
Our AI brand builds custom automations, intelligent document processing, and operational chatbots — capabilities available for Luxfair's future needs.
SFM Integration References
Born Digital built and maintains a live integration to Shireburn Financial Manager for MICAS, automating the flow of transactional and accounting data between operational systems and SFM.
Franco Galea at Shireburn can be contacted directly as a reference for the quality of our integration work with SFM. We have a strong working relationship with the Shireburn team and deep familiarity with the SFM Import Gateway, SBS Web API, and deployment configurations.
Terms & Conditions
Let's confirm the PMS decision and get the integration scheduled before summer. We're ready to start immediately.
Email Calvin +356 9949 5850