What to do with a Cancelled Reservation that has a Deposit against it?

What to do with a Cancelled Reservation that has a Deposit against it?

When cancelling a reservation with a deposit on it, the invoice will become active. The credit will remain on the invoice until such time as the property resolves this. The credit will display on the Front Office Ledger under "Cancel" status and the deposit will be applied.

There are three options available should a Cancelled reservation have a deposit allocated against it. Please follow the below steps to a solution:
1. Deposit Reversal
  1. Select the the "Invoice" tab, select the invoice with the deposit on it and click on the "Payment" button.
  2. Select the currency and the payment code which will be used for refund/reversal, next enter the reference and the amount preceded by a minus (-), click on "Post Payment". Supervisors should enter their credentials if the user does not have the supervisor right to "Adjust Invoice Transactions".
  3. The deposit will now be reversed/refunded.
2. Cancellation Fee
  1. In some situations a reversal is out of the question and the deposit is kept as a Cancellation fee.
  2. To accomplish this in NebulaPMS select the "Invoice" tab, select the invoice with the deposit on it and click on the "Charge" button.
  3. Select the currency and the charge code which will be used for the Cancellation fee, usually this can be a specific charge code or accommodation charge code. Next enter the reference and the cancel fee amount or deposit amount and click on the "Post Charge" button.
  4. The deposit will now have been utilised and the total on the invoice will be zero if the full amount was utilised.
  5. If a portion was utilised and remainder needs to be refunded then a negative payment should be posted, if remainder will be kept as a credit follow steps below.
3. Credit for Future Reservation
  1. When a reservation is cancelled instead of a deposit being refunded or cancel fee being charged the property or client may want to keep the deposit as a credit for a future reservation.
  2. There are 3 Options available, Option 1 is highly recommended and preferred to ensure that the credit does not get used for anything else.
Option 1
  1. It is recommended that a Debtor Account is created for Deposits held as credits. If this is for an Agent or Company, their Debtor profile can be used.
  2. Assign the Debtor Profile for credits or if this is a Company or Agent, their debtor profile to the reservation and click save.
  3. Select the the "Invoice" tab, select the invoice with the deposit on it and click on the "Payment" button.
  4. Select the currency and the Debtors payment code, next enter the reference, add a comment and lastly the amount preceded by a minus (-), click on "Post Payment". Supervisors should enter their credentials, if the user does not have the supervisor right to "Adjust Invoice Transactions."
    1. Please Note, the comment will display on the Debtor statement, so make it descriptive.
  5. The credit will now display on the Debtor statement and the invoice will be closed after night audit.
  6. When the time comes for the deposit to be used, the invoice can be closed off to the debtor and assigned to the line item with the credit or the deposit can be posted on the reservation and the transaction reversed off the Debtor statement.
Option 2
  1. Open a House account and transfer the credit to the house account. Either a single house account can be created or a house account for each guest who will have a credit. A single house account can have multiple invoices on it for each guest.
  2. To Open a House Account navigate to Reception -> New House Account.
  3. Select the property, enter the details of the House account and click save. Take note of the reservation number and invoice number.
  4. Navigate to the cancelled reservation with the deposit on it and transfer the deposit to the house account which was created. Use the reservation number or invoice number to search for the reservation.
  5. If there was a cancellation fee and the remainder is used as a credit. Then a Guest Ledger Payment must be used, to transfer the balance of the invoice to the house account.
  6. The house account balance must be monitored at all times and there should be no movement on the house account unless when the deposit will be used on a future reservation. The Front Office Ledger with the status House/Active will assist with this.
  7. When the time comes for the deposit to be used, the deposit can be transferred when the guest checks in.
Option 3
  1. The last option is to leave the credit on the cancelled reservation and then transfer the credit to the new reservation when the guest checks in.
  2. If there was a cancellation fee and the remainder is used as a credit. Then a Guest Ledger Payment must be used, to transfer the balance of the cancelled reservation invoice to the new invoice when the guest is checked in.
  3. The cancelled invoices balance must be monitored at all times and there should be no movement on the invoice unless when the deposit will be used on a future reservation. The Front Office Ledger with the status Cancelled will assist with this.
As stated Option 2 and Option 3 the invoice balances must always be monitored for movement and should not be used for anything else other than transferring the deposit payment to a new reservation when the guest checks in.