Overview
How a reservation's bills work, what posted and scheduled mean, and which page to use for each billing task.
This chapter covers the guest's bill: charges, discounts, who pays what, payments and refunds, and the printed invoice. All of it happens on the Folio tab of a reservation.
How billing works
A folio is one bill. A reservation can have several, and each one has its own payer.
| Folio | What it is | Made when |
|---|---|---|
| Master | One bill for the whole reservation. A group or a company often pays here. | A group with two or more rooms, or a reservation with a company |
| Unit | The bill of one room or bed. | The first charge or payment for that room |
| Third party | A bill paid by someone else, such as a travel agent or a friend. | You make it. See Routing. |
Each charge goes to one folio. Routing decides which one: by default a room's charges stay on its own unit folio, and the billing mode or a routing rule can send them to the Master or a third-party folio.
Posted and scheduled
| Row | What it is | In the Balance? |
|---|---|---|
| Posted | A line the guest has been charged for, or a payment. It never changes. To fix it, Estatell adds a reversal line. | Yes |
| Scheduled | A night or add-on that will post later, at the night audit or at check-in. It can still change. | No |
Balance is what the payer owes for the posted lines. Projected total adds the scheduled rows: it is what the bill will come to if nothing changes. See The figures.
How a folio changes status
A folio opens with its first charge or payment. It closes only at a balance of 0.00. Closing gives it an invoice number. See Close and reopen.
Which page do I need?
| I want to … | Page |
|---|---|
| Read a bill, find a line, check a balance | The Folio tab |
| Add a charge, or reverse a wrong one | Post charges |
| Give a discount on a bill | Folio discounts |
| Send some charges to another payer | Routing |
| Move charges that have already posted | Move charges |
| Close a bill, or open it again | Close and reopen |
| Print an invoice or a voucher | Invoices and vouchers |
| Enter a paper bill, or fix lines with a reason | Manual Folio Editor |
| Take a deposit, an advance or a payment | Record a payment |
| Give money back, or undo a payment | Refund or void a payment |
| Know which payment purpose to use | Payments at a glance |
Who can do what
| Task | Owner | Manager | Front desk | Finance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Read the Folio tab | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Post a charge, apply a discount, print | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Record a payment, refund to the payment's own method | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reverse a line | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Move charges, routing, third-party folios | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Refund to another method | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Use the Manual Folio Editor | Yes | Yes | No | No |
These are the default roles. An owner can change them under Settings → Team. See Roles and permissions.
Special cases
| Situation | What happens | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A guest cannot check out | The unit folio balance is not 0.00. | Take the payment, refund the credit, or move the charges. See Check out. |
| A charge went to the wrong folio | Posted lines never move by themselves. | Use Move charges. A new routing rule changes only later charges. |
| A company pays the bill | The company is billed through the city ledger. | See the Companies chapter. |