Settling a Reservation Account Balance

A reservation account balance must be settled at check out unless the reservation is checked out with an Open Folio, which allows you to post charges 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.

To transfer a reservation account (folio window) balance to an Accounts Receivable account, a Direct Bill or City Ledger pseudo-payment method is posted. The payee profile linked to the billing window must have an AR account setup in order to post Direct Bill settlement. You must be granted the Override Flagged Account Direct Bill task to post Direct Bill settlement to a restricted AR Account. By default, the balance payable is displayed masked #####, click View Folio Balances to unmask the direct bill amount. Direct Bill (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 then you can settle the remaining balance to Direct Bill.

To settle the reservation account and check out 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 to 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 the 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 entire stay.

When the eFolio Export OPERA Control is active, you can 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, an additional options for generating a special, fiscally compliant folio can occur. For more information, see Oracle Hospitality Localization Center for Hotel.

Interim Folio Settlement

Select Interim Folio to process the 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 and then click Search.
Select the reservation from the search results, click I Want To. . . and then select Billing.
On the Manage Billing screen:
1. Click I Want To . . . and select Interim Folio.
2. Select the Billing Window and 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 a payment without checking out the reservation. All anticipated fixed charges (such as room and tax or service charges) get 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 three 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 a zero balance is due, OPERA Cloud prompts you to select whether 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, 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.
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, 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 and click View Folio Balances to display amounts currently masked.
2. Select the Billing window and 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.