---
title: Corporate Housing Glossary: 40 Terms Explained | Staylio
url: https://staylio.co/glossary/
description: Plain-English definitions of corporate housing terms: ALE, ADR, RevPAR, master leases, proration, the 30-day rule, PCS and TDY, W-9s, 1099s and more.
---

# The corporate housing glossary.

The words, numbers and acronyms of corporate housing, defined in plain English.

In short

Corporate housing has its own vocabulary: proration, master leases, the 30-day rule, ALE, ADR and RevPAR, PCS and TDY, W-9s and 1099s. This glossary defines each in a sentence or two, with links to the guides that go deeper.

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**Additional living expense (ALE)**

Insurance coverage, part of the loss of use coverage in many homeowner's, condo and renter's policies, that pays the extra cost of living elsewhere, including temporary housing, while a home is repaired after a covered loss. [Insurance housing guide](https://staylio.co/blog/insurance-housing-ale-placements/).

**Autopay**

An arrangement where a resident or client's saved card or bank account is charged automatically when each invoice falls due.

**Average daily rate (ADR)**

Rental revenue divided by occupied unit-nights for a period. Used with occupancy to compare pricing across units and months. [Occupancy guide](https://staylio.co/blog/corporate-housing-occupancy-rate/).

**Average length of stay (ALOS)**

Occupied unit-nights divided by the number of stays in a period. Corporate housing stays are long, often two to three months on average.

**Backup withholding**

Federal income tax a payer must withhold, currently at 24%, from reportable payments to a vendor who has not provided a valid taxpayer identification number. [1099 guide](https://staylio.co/blog/1099s-for-corporate-housing-operators/).

**Break-even occupancy**

The share of nights a unit must be booked to cover its costs: monthly cost divided by monthly rate. [Master lease guide](https://staylio.co/blog/master-leases-in-corporate-housing/).

**Certificate of insurance (COI)**

A document from an insurer showing a business's coverage. Corporate clients and apartment communities ask operators for one, and operators ask vendors for theirs.

**Corporate client**

The company, agency or insurer that books and pays for a stay on behalf of the person staying, often for several residents at once.

**Corporate housing**

Furnished apartments or homes rented for stays of usually 30 nights or longer, mostly to people traveling or relocating for work, often paid for by their employer. [Corporate housing vs hotels and Airbnb](https://staylio.co/blog/corporate-housing-vs-airbnb-vs-hotel/).

**Corporate Housing Providers Association (CHPA)**

The industry association for corporate housing providers and their partners, known for its conferences and member directory.

**Credit memo**

A document that reduces what a client owes, issued instead of editing or deleting an invoice, so the change is recorded properly.

**Deferred revenue**

Money billed or received for a period that has not happened yet, such as rent billed in advance. It is recognized as revenue when the period is earned. [Accounting in Staylio](https://staylio.co/platform/accounting/).

**Direct bill**

Billing the company that books a stay rather than the person staying, usually on payment terms such as net 30.

**Dunning**

The sequence of reminders sent to collect overdue invoices.

**Early departure**

A resident leaving before the agreed move-out date. Agreements set out the notice required and how the final invoice is calculated.

**Extended stay**

Lodging for longer stays, from weeks to months, usually with kitchens and weekly or monthly rates. [Extended stay operators](https://staylio.co/solutions/extended-stay-operators/).

**Extension**

Lengthening a stay past its original move-out date. In corporate housing extensions are common and should update the invoices that follow.

**Furniture package**

The standard set of furniture, housewares and linens for a unit of a given size, used to furnish every unit consistently. [Furniture guide](https://staylio.co/blog/furniture-setup-and-teardown-for-furnished-rentals/).

**General ledger (GL)**

The complete record of a business's accounts, built from journal entries, from which the balance sheet and profit and loss are produced.

**Housing stipend**

A sum an employer or agency pays a traveler toward housing, which the traveler then spends on their own accommodation, common with travel nurses.

**Lodging tax**

A tax on short stays in hotels and other lodging, also called hotel occupancy tax, transient occupancy tax or room tax. Many places exempt stays of 30 consecutive days or more. [The 30-day rule](https://staylio.co/blog/lodging-tax-30-day-rule/).

**Master lease**

A lease an operator signs with an apartment community or owner, usually for 12 months, permitting corporate occupants, so the operator can furnish the unit and rent it for shorter stays. [Master lease guide](https://staylio.co/blog/master-leases-in-corporate-housing/).

**Mid-term rental**

A furnished rental of roughly one to six months, usually booked and paid for by the traveler. [Mid-term rentals vs corporate housing](https://staylio.co/blog/mid-term-rentals-vs-corporate-housing/).

**Move-out inspection**

A room-by-room check of a unit at the end of a stay, compared with the move-in photos, to record damage and missing items. [Checklist](https://staylio.co/blog/corporate-housing-move-in-move-out-checklist/).

**Normal wear and tear**

The gradual deterioration that comes from ordinary use, which is not charged to a resident. [Wear and tear vs damage](https://staylio.co/blog/security-deposits-and-damage-charges/).

**Notice to vacate**

A resident's or client's written notice of the date they will leave, given the number of days the agreement requires.

**Occupancy rate**

Occupied unit-nights divided by available unit-nights, as a percentage. [Occupancy calculator](https://staylio.co/tools/occupancy-rate-calculator/).

**Owner statement**

A periodic report to a property owner showing the rent collected, the expenses paid and the amount due to the owner.

**PCS and TDY**

Military terms: a permanent change of station (PCS) is a move to a new duty location; temporary duty (TDY) is a short assignment away from the home station. Both often need furnished housing. [Military housing](https://staylio.co/solutions/military-housing/).

**Permanent resident exemption**

The common name for the rule that exempts a guest from hotel occupancy tax once they have the right to occupy a room for a set number of consecutive days, usually 30.

**Proration**

Charging the share of a period's rent for the nights actually stayed, for example from a mid-month move-in. [How to prorate rent](https://staylio.co/blog/how-to-prorate-rent/) and the [calculator](https://staylio.co/tools/prorated-rent-calculator/).

**Relocation management company (RMC)**

A company that manages employee moves for employers, including buying temporary housing from approved suppliers. [Relocation companies](https://staylio.co/solutions/relocation-companies/).

**Rent to property**

The rent an operator pays the community or owner it leases a unit from, whether or not the unit is booked.

**Revenue per available night (RevPAR)**

Rental revenue divided by available unit-nights, equal to average daily rate times occupancy.

**Schedule board**

A timeline view of every unit and every stay across days or months, showing bookings, gaps and turns at a glance. [The Staylio schedule board](https://staylio.co/platform/bookings/).

**Teardown**

Removing the furniture and housewares from a unit when it leaves an operator's inventory.

**Turn**

The work between one stay and the next in a unit: inspection, cleaning, repairs and resetting the furnishings.

**W-9**

The IRS form a vendor or landlord gives a payer with their legal name, tax classification and taxpayer identification number, used to decide who gets a 1099.

**30-day minimum**

The minimum stay most corporate housing providers require, which also often lines up with local rules on short-term rentals and lodging taxes.

**1099-NEC and 1099-MISC**

IRS information returns. 1099-NEC reports payments to non-employees for services; 1099-MISC reports rents and other payments. For payments made in 2026 and later, the threshold for both is $2,000. [1099 guide](https://staylio.co/blog/1099s-for-corporate-housing-operators/).

Beta launching January 1, 2027

## Run your whole portfolio from one screen.

The Staylio beta opens to corporate housing operators on January 1, 2027. Get on the list, or see it first on a demo.

[Join the beta](https://staylio.co/beta/)

[Request a demo](https://staylio.co/demo/)

Beta launches January 1, 2027