Settling a Reservation Account Balance

A reservation account balance must be settled on check out of the reservation; unless the reservation is checked out with Open Folio, allowing charges to be posted to the reservation in a checked out status.

Reservation account settlement involves the posting of payment(s) for the balance due in each sub account (billing window); a folio is generated for each billing window and available in Folio History. Each folio is assigned a bill number according to the Fix Bill Reservation and Fix Bill Window OPERA Controls. Custom reference numbers can be configured to generate on the folio when the Custom Numbers OPERA Control is active. For more information, see Configuring Custom Numbers.

For a reservation balance to be transferred to Accounts Receivable a Direct Bill or City Ledger pseudo-payment method is posted when the payee profile linked to the billing window has an AR account setup. By default, the balance payable is displayed masked ##### , click View Folio Balances to unmask the direct bill amount. City Ledger (transfer) settlement is always a complete bill and not a standalone payment; as such if you need to partially settle a balance to cash or other payment type, first post the cash settlement and the remaining balance can then be settled to direct bill / city ledger.

To settle the reservation account and checkout a reservation earlier than the expected departure date an Early Departure settlement option is available; the reservation departure date is updated and rooms management is alerted of the unexpected early departure. For more information, see

Checking Out Reservations Early.

You can also settle a reservation account balance without checking out the reservation using one of these options:

Interim Folio - Interim settlement allows you to process payment for a reservation account and generate a folio (bill) without checking out the reservation.
Advanced Folio - While the Interim Bill option covers the current balance due, an Advance Bill allows you apply charges for the current night, several nights, or the entire stay.

When the eFolio Export OPERA Control is active you may be prompted to select a delivery method for an eFolio, based on the payment method selected.

When the Fiscal Folio Printing OPERA Control is active additional options for generating a special fiscally compliant folio may occur. For more information, see Oracle Hospitality Localization Center for Hotel

Interim Folio Settlement

Select Interim Folio to process payment for a reservation account balance and generate a folio (bill) without checking out the reservation.

From the OPERA Cloud menu, select Front Desk, and then select In House.
Enter search criteria then click Search.
Select the reservation from the search results and click I Want To. . . and select Billing.
On the Manage Billing screen:
1. Click I Want To . . . and select Interim Folio.
2. Select the Billing Window then enter the payment details. For more information, see Posting Payments to a Reservation Account.
3. Click Settle and Send Folio.
4. Select the folio print options. For more information, see Generating a Folio for a Billing Window

Advanced Folio Settlement

Select Advance Bill to process payment without checking out the reservation. All anticipated fixed charges (such as room and tax or service charges) will be posted.

Note:

The transaction date for all charges paid by Advance Folio — including package and allowances and associated taxes (inclusive and exclusive) — is the date when the Advance Bill is generated. However, revenue for these charges is not recognized until the business date for which the charge is applicable. For example, assume a reservation staying 3 days, JUN 1 through JUN 3, has a breakfast allowance of 20.00 plus a 6% tax for a total of 21.20 per day. The guest requests an Advance Bill on the first day of the stay. The guest ledger for JUN 1 will show a 63.60 charge for the breakfast transaction code. However, revenue accounting will show 21.20 for JUN 1, another 21.20 on JUN 2, and another 21.20 for JUN 3.

When the Generate Zero Bill OPERA Control is active and there is a zero balance due OPERA Cloud will prompt you whether you want to generate a zero-balance folio.

From the OPERA Cloud menu, select Front Desk, and then select In House.
Enter search criteria then click Search.
Select the reservation from the search results and click I Want To. . . and select Billing.
On the Manage Billing screen
1. Click I Want To . . . and select Advance Folio.
2. Select an option:
  1. Tonight: Current date only
  2. Nights to Charge: Enter a number of nights to charge
  3. Entire Stay.
3. Click Apply Advanced Charges.
4. On the Folio Settlement page, enter the payment details payment details.
5. Click Settle and Send Folio.
6. Select the folio print options. For more information, see Generating a Folio for a Billing Window

Departure Settlement

To settle a reservation account balance to an AR account, the AR Account profile must be selected for the Billing window using reservation routing . To reverse a direct bill settlement, see Reversing Direct Bill Settlement

From the OPERA Cloud menu, select Front Desk, and then select In House.
Enter search criteria then click Search.
Select the reservation from the search results and click I Want To. . . and select Billing.
On the Manage Billing screen, click Checkout.
1. On the Folio Settlement page, review the Billing windows with a balance due; click View Folio Balances to display amounts currently masked.
2. Select the Billing Window then enter the payment details.
3. Click Settle and Send Folio.
4. Select the folio print options. For more information, see Generating a Folio for a Billing Window.
5. Repeat for the next Billing Window.
6. When the reservation account balance is zero for all windows, click Checkout Now.