Overview
What a company is, how the city ledger bills it, who can do what, and which page to use for each company task.
This chapter covers companies that book with you: corporates, travel agents and government bodies. A company can pay at the desk like a guest, or stay now and pay later. When it pays later, Estatell bills it through the City ledger. Find it under Finance › City ledger, which has three pages: Companies, Invoices and Aging.
What a company is
| Type | Example |
|---|---|
| Corporate | A business that sends its staff to stay |
| Travel agent | An agent that books rooms for its clients |
| Government | A ministry, a council or another public body |
The type is a label only. Every type books, pays and gets invoices the same way.
How a company pays
Each company has one of two ways to pay. Set it on the company's Credit tab. See Companies.
| Way to pay | What happens | Credit limit and terms |
|---|---|---|
| Pay at check-out | The guest pays the bill at the front desk before leaving. Nothing is owed afterwards. | No |
| Direct billing | The bill goes to the company's account. Estatell makes an invoice, and the company pays later, within its payment terms. | Yes |
How the city ledger works
- Book. Pick the company on the reservation. Its company rates show only after you pick it. The company's charges go to the Master folio.
- Stay. The guests check in and out as usual. Estatell checks the company's credit limit at booking and at check-in. See Credit control.
- Settle. After every unit has checked out, select Settle to City ledger on the folio. The folio closes and an invoice opens for the company. See Settle to City ledger.
- Get paid. Record the company's payment, then allocate it to one or more invoices. An invoice is Settled when its balance is 0.00. See Record a company payment.
Which page do I need?
| I want to … | Page |
|---|---|
| Add a company, change its details, suspend it | Companies |
| Add many companies at once from a file | Bulk add companies |
| Give a company its own prices | Company rates |
| Move a booking to another company | Change the company on a booking |
| Understand invoices, credit notes and payments | AR invoices and payments |
| Bill a company for a folio | Settle to City ledger |
| Find, print or void an invoice | Invoices |
| Lower an invoice that is too high | Credit notes |
| Record money a company paid | Record a company payment |
| Match a payment to invoices, or undo a match | Allocate and reverse |
| Set a credit limit, or pass it with a reason | Credit control |
| See who owes what and for how long, or send a statement | Aging and statements |
| Enter what a company owed in your old system | Old system balances |
| Let a company book and check its account online | The company portal |
Who can do what
| Task | Permission | Owner | Manager | Front desk | Finance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| See companies, invoices, statements and aging | company.view | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Add, edit, suspend companies; set the portal login | company.manage | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Settle to City ledger, void an invoice | city-ledger.invoice | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Issue and void credit notes | city-ledger.credit-note | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Record and void company payments | city-ledger.payment | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Allocate payments, reverse allocations | city-ledger.allocate | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Pass a credit limit check with a reason | company.credit-override | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Add balances from the old system | folio.manual | Yes | Yes | No | No |
These are the default roles. Housekeeping has none of these. An owner can change them under Settings → Team. See Roles and permissions.
Special cases
| Situation | What happens | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A company pays at the desk this time | Pay at check-out companies never get an invoice. | Take the payment on the folio as usual. See Record a payment. |
| The company stops working with you | Companies are never deleted. | Suspend it. It can no longer be picked on a new booking. See Companies. |
| A charge turns up after the folio was settled | The closed folio takes no more lines. | Post it on a third-party folio and settle that one: the company gets a second invoice. See Settle to City ledger. |
| A company pays before check-out | It is an advance on the Master folio, not a company payment. | See Record a payment. |