Setup

This guide is aimed at operators and office staff setting up LiteLog for their vacation rentals or serviced apartments.

1. Create an account & get started right away

Register at portal.litelog.de/signup. There are no setup fees — you start immediately with a 14-day free trial and can use all features without restrictions.

Details: Registration, Onboarding

2. Map your structure: buildings and apartments

LiteLog works with a two-level hierarchy: a main category (level 1) and the properties below it (level 2). If you chose the industry "Vacation rentals / serviced apartments" during onboarding, the two levels are already called "Building" and "Apartment" — nothing to rename. For vacation rentals, this split works well:

Each building is created as a level-1 entry.
Each apartment is created as its own property and assigned to its building. All checklists, tasks, times and reports are linked to the respective apartment.

This lets you filter by building in the portal while still keeping track of every single apartment.

Details: Managing properties, Customer list

You create each apartment individually in the map wizard (Location → Details → Area). There is no import of property master data from Excel; if you want to take over many apartments from a property management system, use POST /v1/properties of the REST API.

Recording tenants

There is no separate tenant database. Create tenants in the customer list as private customers, with name, phone, email and address, and give them the customer category "Tenant" (customer categories). The buildings stay business customers; the toggle at the top of the list switches between buildings and tenants. Because this list is the first hierarchy level, rename the level to something more general, e.g. "Buildings & tenants" (see below). The tenant is not linked to the apartment, though, and details from the handover protocol are not taken over automatically. Do not create tenants as employees: employee accounts count towards the licence, private customers do not.

Connect the booking calendar per apartment

So that LiteLog creates the cleaning per departure on its own, connect the booking calendar per apartment: open the apartment → panel entry Bookings (switch the module on if greyed out) → Connect calendar → enter the iCal link from Airbnb, Booking.com, Hospitable or your rental software → in the Task per check-out card set template, assignee and time. For many apartments at once, switch the module on under Features (/apps) on the Bookings card. Procedure and rules: Guide for the office → Bookings, Bookings (property)

Renaming the hierarchy levels (only if you chose another industry)

If you chose a different industry during onboarding, the main category is called "Customer" and the subcategory "Property" by default. In that case rename the two levels under Settings → Hierarchy & roles:

Main category: Choose Custom and enter e.g. "Building".
Subcategory: Keep "Property" or choose your own term such as "Apartment".

The renaming applies throughout the system — in lists, filters and even in the permission names. You can also rename with the vacation rentals industry, e.g. the first level to "Buildings & tenants" if you keep tenants in the customer list.

Details: Hierarchy & roles

3. Form templates: activate the supplied drafts or reuse your own checklists

The five supplied templates

With the industry choice "Vacation rentals / serviced apartments" during onboarding, LiteLog automatically creates five form templates as drafts. Drafts do not count against the template quota; you activate only what you need:

Template	Content
Liegenschafts-Stammdaten (property master data)	Master data sheet per apartment: identification, building, insurance, technology, access and contacts
Reinigungscheckliste (cleaning checklist)	Cleaning per room with mandatory photos and completion report to the handover team
Housekeeping-Abnahme (housekeeping inspection)	Cleaning acceptance, furnishings, technology & access, defects and release before every handover
Übergabeprotokoll Einzug (move-in handover protocol)	OK/defect per room (note and photo mandatory on defect), meter readings with photo, inventory and key check, pre-existing damage, digital signatures
Rücknahmeprotokoll Auszug (move-out return protocol)	The same positions as at move-in, meter readings with photo, key return, field "Open defects from the move-in protocol", inventory check, deposit settlement — both protocols can be compared in the report

This is how you activate a template:

In the portal, go to Settings → Form templates and look for the templates with status Draft in the In use tab
Open the template via Edit in the full-page editor and adjust it if needed: add or remove checkpoints, set photo requirements and help texts on fields (help texts are shown while filling in)
Release it with Save & publish — or set the Status in the list from "Draft" to Active. Only then does the template appear in the LiteLog app

If you chose "Hotel" or another industry, these five templates are not created. In that case add them via Add from library (section "Vacation rentals").

:::tip Repeatable rooms The handover and return protocols use repeatable blocks for room types that occur more than once (e.g. bathroom). While filling in, the entries are called "Bathroom 1", "Bathroom 2" and so on. You can also place a checklist (field Task) inside a repeatable block; with the option "Creates a real task on submission", one task per entry is created, e.g. "Bathroom 2 – rework". :::

Reuse your own checklists via AI import

If you already have your own cleaning and inspection checklists as an Excel file or PDF, you do not have to rebuild them: LiteLog imports them via AI import as digital form templates.

In the portal, go to Settings → Form templates and click Create template
In the start step, use the plus button on the input box to pick Upload PDF or Upload Excel/CSV
The fields are recognized and transferred automatically
Fine-tune in the full-page editor: set required fields, photo requirements (e.g. mandatory photo on "defect") and conditions

If your own move-in and move-out protocols are to be comparable, the checkpoints in both templates must carry the same field IDs — easiest by using the supplied templates as a starting point.

Recipes for the cleaning checklist

Photo required only on defect. A photo per checkpoint costs time; often it should only be mandatory when something is not in order. The form editor offers two ways:

On the field of type OK/defect, switch on the option Require on defect and tick Photo (and/or Note). With "OK" you continue without a photo, with "defect" the app demands the photo.
Place a separate Photo field below the checkpoint and give it the condition Required when — e.g. "Required if Bathroom = defect". With Visible when you additionally hide the field while everything is in order. This route fits when the photo should depend on a different answer than the checkpoint itself.

Counting towels (or bed linen, keys). Create a field of type Number ("Towels present", with validation minimum 0) and next to it a field of type Photo ("Photo of towel stack"). If the stock must be proven, set the photo field to Required; if it should only be mandatory on a deviation, use Required when with the condition on the number (e.g. "less than 4"). The number appears in the report and, when comparing two protocols, with the difference.

Check first, then photograph. Enable Camera only on photo fields if the picture must be taken on site; gallery and file upload are then blocked.

Details: Form templates, Form editor

4. Set check-in and check-out methods per apartment

You define per property how your teams check in and out. For vacation rentals, these methods work well:

Method	How it works
QR code	A printed QR code in the apartment (e.g. in the hallway or storage room) is scanned with the app
Location suggestion	If the cleaner is within the apartment's property area, the app highlights the property as a suggestion — one tap is enough
Beacon	A Bluetooth beacon in the apartment; when the smartphone is in range, the app suggests checking in — always confirmed with a tap

:::info No automatic clock-in Location and beacon suggestions save your teams the property search — but there is no automatic check-in or check-out in the background. The suggestion is always confirmed by the person themselves. :::

Details: Check-in methods, Check-in / check-out method on the property, Beacons

Location check (optional)

Optionally choose the location check "GPS zone" in the "Proof" section of the property's time tracking: checking in and out is then only possible inside the drawn apartment area — outside, the app blocks the booking. Regardless of this, the system marks every booking as ONSITE (on site) or OFFSITE (outside).

Details: Location check (GPS zone)

5. Create persons & assign roles

Create your persons under Master data → Employees. A name is all that is required — an email address is optional. Import several persons via CSV file; this is the only import in LiteLog (properties are not imported). It also works on the go: in the LiteLog app under More → Settings → Persons you create a person with role, language and apartments and link their NFC card or QR code right away, see Administration in the app.

:::info Persons only see their assigned apartments For every person you define whether they see All properties or only specific ones. A cleaner to whom you assign two buildings sees only the apartments of those buildings in the app — tasks, checklists and check-in are limited to them. Office accounts usually get "All properties". When you create a new apartment, assign the responsible persons to it, otherwise the apartment stays invisible to them. :::

Typical roles for vacation rental operators

Role	Permissions
Office	Full access: tasks, reports, exports, configuration
Cleaner	Check in at the apartment, fill in forms, create incident reports
Housekeeping / handover team	Fill in forms, create and assign tasks, send reports
Caretaker	View and complete assigned tasks

Who may assign a task to whom? Roles in LiteLog have a rank. The assignee picker of a task lists all persons with a role of equal or lower rank — two office accounts with the same role can therefore assign tasks to each other, and housekeeping assigns to the caretaker. Nobody sees upwards: a cleaner cannot assign a task to the office. The management list under Employees shows equal-rank accounts as well, but view-only — editing, locking or archiving is limited to roles below your own.

:::tip Portal and app access can be combined Each custom role can be granted the portal login and app login permissions individually or combined. A housekeeping lead can, for example, inspect in the app and manage tasks in the portal — with a single account. :::

Details: Managing accounts, Roles & permissions, Administration in the app

Your teams install the LiteLog app from the App Store (iOS) or Google Play Store (Android). Depending on your setup, they sign in with a QR code, username + password or NFC chip.

Which device for handovers?

A smartphone is enough for everything, including the guest's signature. For handovers a tablet is more comfortable, because the guest signs on the large screen and the protocol is easier to read. If you want a ready-configured device, the LiteLog shop offers the Samsung Galaxy A16 LiteLog Edition; it has NFC and an ultra-wide camera. A tablet does not need a SIM card if the apartment has Wi-Fi. So that the tablet connects quickly in every apartment, put up a Wi-Fi QR code there; most Android devices connect as soon as you scan it with the camera. Also store the credentials in the apartment's documents. Without a network you can still fill in the protocol; the app transfers it as soon as a connection is back (offline mode). A SIM card is only worth it for apartments without Wi-Fi.

For photos in small bathrooms the wide angle (0.5×) helps. The app only offers it, however, if the device has its own ultra-wide camera, and many low-cost tablets lack one. Check the data sheet before buying.

Pass the appropriate guide on to your teams:

Details: Mobile app

What does not exist (and what to do instead)

Wish	Does not exist	Instead
Target photo per room — the app shows a reference photo at the checkpoint of how the room should look	There is no image field in the template that displays a target photo next to the checkpoint	Describe the target state in the field's help text ("cushions stacked, blanket folded at the foot end, remote on the bedside table") — it appears directly below the field while filling in. Store reference photos as a document in the apartment's Documents; the cleaner opens them in the app under Documents. Details: Property documents
Defect collection point as a field type of its own — an area where all defects of the apartment come together	There is no field type "defect list"	Build a block "Defects" at the end of the checklist with a free text field and a photo field (up to 8 photos). For several defects per run, make the block repeatable ("Defect 1", "Defect 2" …). Everything marked as "defect" at a checkpoint is visible in the report anyway; and in the next protocol the field Open defects pulls in the not yet fixed defects from earlier protocols of the same apartment. The actual collection point across all apartments is the task list in the portal, filtered by building
Import property master data from Excel	There is only the CSV import for persons	Create apartments individually in the map wizard or take them over via the REST API `POST /v1/properties` from the property management system
Check-in without a device (the apartment "notices" that someone is there)	There is no attendance without a smartphone and without confirmation	Scan the QR code in the apartment or confirm the location/beacon suggestion with a tap
Status board "move-in ready" per apartment	There is no dedicated traffic light per apartment	Filter the task list and the reports by apartment: cleaning done, inspection on file, no open defect task — then the apartment is move-in ready

Checklist: Setup complete?

Pass it on

Pass the guide for cleaners on to your cleaning team
Pass the guide for housekeeping on to your handover team

1. Create an account & get started right away​

2. Map your structure: buildings and apartments​

Recording tenants​

Connect the booking calendar per apartment​

Renaming the hierarchy levels (only if you chose another industry)​

3. Form templates: activate the supplied drafts or reuse your own checklists​

The five supplied templates​

Reuse your own checklists via AI import​

Recipes for the cleaning checklist​

4. Set check-in and check-out methods per apartment​

Location check (optional)​

5. Create persons & assign roles​

Typical roles for vacation rental operators​

6. Download the app​

Which device for handovers?​

What does not exist (and what to do instead)​

Checklist: Setup complete?​

Pass it on​

Related pages​