How Rent Branson Scaled to 350 Units without Adding Finance Headcount

In 2006, Valerie Budd launched Rent Branson to address the high cost of premium resort accommodations in Branson, Missouri. Her practical solution—purchase vacation properties, use them when needed, and offset costs through rentals—planted the seeds for what would become one of Missouri's leading vacation rental management companies.

By 2022, Rent Branson managed 200 properties through Streamline, their property management system. But when Caleb Arnold returned to lead finance after a stint in corporate America, he discovered a critical gap: while Streamline handled work orders and property operations, every expense required manual re-entry to flow through to owner billing. With ambitions to reach 450-500 properties within a year, Rent Branson faced a critical decision: hire additional finance staff to manage the Streamline double-entry burden, or find a financial platform that could integrate seamlessly with their existing workflows.

When Manual Data Entry Hits Breaking Point

The Work Order to Billing Gap

When Caleb Arnold returned to Rent Branson as the solo finance leader—responsible for accounting, HR, business strategy, and even dispatch—he immediately ran into a fundamental integration problem. Streamline managed property operations well, but financial workflows lived separately.

“Finding a good corporate card policy that was affordable and connected to our systems was a real challenge,” Caleb recalls. “We were managing everything manually.” Every vendor payment for maintenance, supplies, or services had to be re-entered in Streamline to bill the correct property owner. The result: hours each week spent reconciling transactions instead of focusing on strategy. “It was really awful for me, I’ll be honest.”

The problem extended to property-level expense attribution. Work orders in Streamline didn’t automatically connect to vendor payments, forcing Rent Branson’s billing specialist to manually enter every invoice—26 or more on peak days—into Streamline. “Instead of pushing a button that automatically sends it to owner billing, she would go in and manually create an entry each time,” Caleb explains. For someone working only 1.5 days a week on billing, the manual data entry consumed nearly all her time.

Topkey: Purpose-Built for Property Managers

From Workarounds to Full Integration

Valerie Budd first met Topkey at an industry conference. The timing proved fortuitous—Rent Branson needed solutions that worked with Streamline, and Topkey offered deep PMS integration rather than generic business tools that required time-consuming manual workarounds.

Three capabilities immediately stood out. First, Topkey's corporate cards could connect directly to work orders in Streamline, enabling property-specific expense tracking. Second, the trust accounting offered substantially higher yields on owner funds. Third, Topkey's bill pay product promised seamless integration with Streamline for automated owner billing.

"It was super easy to implement, honestly, and super cost-effective for us. Most importantly, you guys understood how Streamline works and built your platform to work with it, not against it." Caleb Arnold

Unlike general industry solutions that required Streamline workarounds or manual exports, Topkey's approach felt natural to property managers already living in Streamline daily.

Collaborative Integration Development

What followed was a collaborative relationship focused on perfecting the Streamline integration. "We were part of the conversations to help build the Streamline integration for Bill Pay," Caleb explains. Rather than adapting generic payment tools, Rent Branson provided real-world feedback on how expenses should flow from work orders to owner billing.

Working closely with Topkey's team, they mapped out the ideal workflow: work order creation in Streamline → maintenance completion → vendor payment with property attribution → automatic expense push to correct owner billing in Streamline.

Caleb describes how Topkey's product is uniquely beneficial to property managers, "Topkey's CS team is incredible to work with; they are so responsive and always want to help. The Streamline integration wasn't perfect initially, but we worked together to make it exactly what property managers need."

This hands-on support proved crucial as they refined the integration to match Rent Branson's specific Streamline workflows and property attribution requirements.

The Benefits: Seamless Work Order to Owner Billing Workflows

One-Click Streamline Integration

The transformation in daily operations became immediately apparent. Where Rent Branson's billing specialist once manually entered every invoice into Streamline with property assignments, she now pushes a single button that automatically routes expenses to the correct owner billing. If they still operated on non-STR specific financial software, this would requires manual, error-prone workarounds and higher headcount.

This deep understanding of industry workflows create added efficiencies. When maintenance completes work orders, the related vendor payments in Topkey automatically inherit the property assignments. "She knows when the work's completed, she pays the vendor in Topkey, and it immediately appears on the right owner's statement in Streamline," Caleb explains.

"It's created a seamless process for us where the right person who actually knows what work was done pays the invoice, and it automatically flows to owner billing with the correct property assignment—no manual Streamline entry required."

Caleb maintains oversight through Topkey's dashboard without micromanaging Streamline entries. The system's integration means his review focuses on approving expenses rather than verifying property assignments and manual data entry accuracy.

Property-Specific Corporate Cards Connected to Work Orders

The corporate card transformation proved equally powerful when connected to Streamline workflows. Maintenance team members now carry individual cards that can be tied directly to specific work orders and properties. When gas, supplies, or materials are purchased for a maintenance job, the expense automatically connects to the relevant Streamline work order.

Documentation compliance improved dramatically through automatic processes linked to property operations. Every card transaction triggers an immediate text message requesting receipt upload, with automatic property attribution based on the associated work order. Rather than chasing receipts and manually assigning them to properties, documentation flows seamlessly into the correct owner billing.

"My documentation is better than it's ever been, and everything automatically goes to the right property owner. The connection between our work orders and expenses is seamless."

High-Yield Trust Accounts and Free Same-Day ACH

Within months, Rent Branson upgraded to Topkey’s high-yield¹ deposit accounts* and property-connected corporate cards, then quickly adopted AI-powered Bill Pay with full Streamline integration. The impact was immediate: work orders connected directly to vendor payments, which automatically flowed to the correct owner billing.

“Topkey’s Bill Pay platform and Streamline integration have been massively helpful for me,” Caleb says. “Our vendors love the free same-day ACH, and everything flows perfectly into owner statements.”

For property owners, the trust account upgrade delivered higher yields on funds. For vendors and contractors, free same-day ACH payments built stronger relationships and faster service delivery—creating a competitive edge in a market where speed matters.

The Impact: Integrated Financial Operations

Single Source of Truth Connected to Operations

Beyond individual feature benefits, Topkey's deep Streamline integration creates operational coherence that was previously impossible. Rather than managing separate systems for work orders, vendor payments, expense tracking, and owner billing, everything flows through connected workflows.

"It allows me to have complete confidence in our financial operations because everything connects to Streamline. Property assignments sync automatically, work orders connect to expenses, and owner billing reflects actual operational activity."

Trust accounts, corporate cards tied to work orders, bill payments with property attribution, and automated owner billing integration all work together within Streamline's operational framework. This creates unprecedented visibility into property-level financial performance.

Property-Level Financial Visibility

The integration delivers property-specific insights previously difficult to achieve. When maintenance work orders automatically generate properly attributed expenses in owner billing, Rent Branson can analyze profitability and costs at the individual property level. This granular visibility enables better pricing, maintenance budgeting, and owner communication.

Caleb describes the benefits of the integration, "the integration's been built out so well with Streamline. Property assignments automatically sync, work orders connect to expenses, and owner statements accurately reflect all property-specific costs without manual intervention."

Role-based access control within the integrated system enables appropriate delegation without sacrificing oversight. Team members can complete work orders and process related payments while maintaining automatic property attribution and expense categorization.

Scaling Financial Operations Without Headcount

The platform's Streamline integration becomes most evident when considering growth trajectory. Rent Branson has expanded from 200 to 350 properties—a 75% increase—without adding finance headcount, because work orders automatically connect to financial operations.

"I'm a solo act, honestly. Topkey makes it possible because I don't have to manage the connection between operations and finance manually anymore."

As the company pushes toward 450-500 properties, the integrated workflows are already in place to support that growth. More work orders simply mean more automated expense flows to owner billing—no additional manual intervention required.

Why The Topkey+Streamline Integration Changes Everything

Purpose-Built for Property Management Workflows

Caleb's perspective carries weight given his corporate finance background and experience with enterprise systems. His enthusiasm for Topkey stems from its deep understanding of Streamline workflows rather than generic business banking features.

He emphasized that few tools are built with property managers in mind: “There just aren’t many platforms that integrate this deeply with Streamline. Most  systems make you work around your PMS. Topkey is different—it works with it, and that makes all the difference.”

The alternative to integrated platforms is cobbling together point solutions that don't understand property management operations. Without Topkey's Streamline integration, every vendor payment becomes a manual exercise in property attribution and expense categorization.

Operational Efficiency Through Integration

Time bought back through integration directly enables growth. Rather than hiring additional staff to manage the manual connections between work orders and financial operations, Caleb can focus on strategic priorities: analyzing property-level profitability, optimizing maintenance costs, evaluating new markets, and preparing operational infrastructure for continued expansion.

As Caleb put it, “the ability to buy back time to focus in other areas is what everybody wants. For me, it means more time, more visibility, and more accountability.”

Integration-Enabled Scalability

The scalability factor becomes powerful when workflows connect seamlessly. The Streamline integration that efficiently handles 350 properties will continue functioning at 500 or beyond, because operational scaling automatically includes financial scaling.

Cost-effectiveness improves with scale when systems integrate properly. Rather than managing separate platforms that require manual connections, integrated workflows become more efficient as volume increases.

Looking Forward: Integration-Enabled Growth to 500+ Properties

Confidence Built on Integrated Infrastructure

Rent Branson's trajectory shows no signs of slowing, supported by Streamline integration that scales automatically. From 200 properties when Caleb returned in 2022 to 350 currently, the company has executed aggressive growth while maintaining operational efficiency through integrated workflows.

Caleb projected strong growth ahead: “We expect to be at 450 properties by this time next year, if not 500. Topkey makes that growth manageable because as operations scale, the financial side scales automatically with it.”

That confidence stems from integration infrastructure that eliminates manual scaling bottlenecks. More properties mean more work orders, but also more automated expense flows and owner billing—no additional manual intervention required.

Economics of Scale Through Integration

Each property added increases the ROI on integration investment rather than creating new manual work. The growth isn't just about quantity—Rent Branson maintains high operational standards that require sophisticated property-level financial management, all enabled through Streamline integration.

Caleb explained, “The way the platform works for us today—connecting work orders to expenses and then to owner billing—becomes more and more useful as we scale, because everything flows automatically.”

Instead of hiring additional staff to manage the manual connections between growing operational volume and financial operations, Caleb plans to rely on Topkey to scale without adding headcount.

The Strategic Advantage of Streamline-Integrated Financial Operations

Rent Branson's transformation demonstrates how Topkey's deep PMS integration changes property management economics. By connecting work orders to vendor payments to owner billing through seamless Streamline workflows, they've achieved growth without proportional administrative burden.

The most important outcome isn't measured in hours saved or expenses captured—it's measured in operational confidence. Confidence that work orders connect to accurate expenses. Confidence that owner billing reflects actual property operations. Confidence that financial scaling happens automatically as operations scale.

The Streamline Integration Advantage

For property managers operating in Streamline, Rent Branson's experience offers a clear lesson: financial operations can’t live in a silo. They need to be deeply integrated with day-to-day workflows, not patched together with generic tools and manual workarounds.

Platforms built specifically for property management enable companies to scale without the proportional complexity and headcount that plague manual systems. Operational efficiency becomes a competitive advantage when technology is designed to work the way property managers actually operate.

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* Topkey is a financial technology company and is not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC. FDIC Insurance available for funds on deposit through Thread Bank, Member FDIC. FDIC deposit insurance covers the failure of an insured bank. Certain conditions must be satisfied for pass-through deposit insurance coverage to apply. The Topkey Visa debit card is issued by Thread Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and may be used anywhere Visa (or Mastercard) cards are accepted. The Topkey Visa charge card is issued by Thread Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. and may be used anywhere Visa cards are accepted.

Your deposits qualify for up to $3,000,000 in FDIC insurance coverage when Thread Bank places them at program banks in its deposit sweep program.  Your deposits at each program bank become eligible for FDIC insurance up to $250,000, inclusive of any other deposits you may already hold at the bank in the same ownership capacity. You can access the terms and conditions of the sweep program at https://thread.bank/sweep-disclosure/ and a list of program banks at https://thread.bank/program-banks/. Please contact customerservice@thread.bank with questions on the sweep program. Pass-through insurance coverage is subject to conditions.

1 | The interest rate on the High Yield Deposit Account will be 3.12% with an Annual Percentage Yield (APY) of 3.17%. The interest rate on the Regular Deposit Account will be 1.61% with an Annual Percentage Yield (APY) of 1.62%. These rates are effective as of 9/18/2025. These are variable rates and are subject to change after the accounts are opened based on the Federal Funds Rate. Minimum opening deposit and average balance requirements may apply. Fees could affect earnings on the account.

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