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The front desk

The guest who paid the OTA

Balance from the OTA is the stay; balance from the guest is zero. Collect nothing at the desk, and the invoice is still in the guest's name.

A guest who booked on Go-MMT, Agoda or Desiya and paid the OTA owes the desk nothing. The OTA owes the hotel, less its commission, and pays later. The card and the bill are built to say exactly that, so the desk does not ask the guest again — which is what frustrated guests at both hotels in September.

What the card shows

A Go-MMT guest's card after check-in: Paid ₹8,400 by Go-MMT, Balance from Go-MMT ₹8,400, Balance from guest ₹0.
A Go-MMT guest's card after check-in: Paid ₹8,400 by Go-MMT, Balance from Go-MMT ₹8,400, Balance from guest ₹0.
  1. Paid reads the OTA's figure "· by Go-MMT" once the guest is in.
  2. Balance — from Go-MMT is what the OTA will remit.
  3. Balance — from guest is what to ask the guest for: ₹0.

Two balance rows whenever the bill is routed to an OTA:

Before check-in the OTA figure is what the stay will come to. At check-in the stay is settled to the OTA's account — the guest's bill carries "Paid to Go-MMT — prepaid stay", *Paid* reads the figure "· by Go-MMT", and the same amount appears on Owed → City ledger under the OTA, where its remittance lands when it arrives. Check-out finds nothing owing.

The tax on the card

The card shows Room charges, GST, Total, Paid, Balance, with the tax in the last three — the same figures the bill will carry. A channel that stated its tax has it recorded beside ours, and where the two disagree by more than rounding the card says so.

Agoda states its tax as zero. That means the price *includes* GST, and it is posted that way: base and tax that add up to Agoda's figure, to the rupee. The room revenue reports read the base.

The invoice

An OTA booking's tax invoice is never made out to the OTA. The supply was to the guest; the money side is a receivable from the OTA. So the invoice is in the guest's name (B2C), or — if the guest is travelling for a company and gives its GSTIN at the desk — in the company's name with the guest named under it (B2B). The AxisRooms payload carries no company and no GSTIN, so that is asked at the door.

Pay-at-hotel is different

A Booking.com guest who chose to pay at the hotel is billed to the guest like a walk-in, and the card shows one balance. A part-prepaid stay is billed to the guest too; the prepaid part shows as an advance.

When the OTA figure looks wrong

Open the booking's history: the channel's gross, net and tax are kept as sent. If the OTA sold the room for less than the rate sheet says, that is the price the guest holds a confirmation for. Nothing at the desk changes it.

More in The front desk

Arrivals, in house, departuresThe day lists under Reports → Front office operations, and what the Rate and Payment mode columns mean. Checking a guest inRoom, identity, and the folio opens. What stops a check-in and what to do about it. Aadhaar, PAN, passport and Form CWhat identity the law wants, what the system checks, and where Form C is filed. Form C for foreign guestsRecording a passport and visa, raising the form, reading out what the portal asks for, and the register. The folioOne guest, one stay, every charge and payment on it — and what its balance means. Sending money backHow a refund is recorded, who may authorise one, and the four things that will stop you. Posting a chargePost a charge on the folio, choose what it is for, and it lands with your name on it. Taking a paymentTake a payment on the folio: method, amount, reference. It is the reference that saves you later. Splitting a payment across methodsOne settlement, several methods, checked against the folio as one movement. The registration card (GRC)Print it from the booking card. It carries the guest details, the stay, and the declaration they sign. Reprinting a registration cardReprints are allowed and counted. The second onwards is stamped COPY. Advances and depositsMoney taken before the charges exist, held against the stay and applied when they do. Correcting an invoice that has already been issuedDo not reopen the bill. Issue a credit note if the value falls, a debit note if it rises. The deadline for reclaiming tax on a credit noteTax may be adjusted until 30 November after the invoice financial year. After that, the money is credited and the tax is not. Voiding a posting, writing off a balanceNothing is deleted. A mistake is reversed with a reason, and both lines stay visible. Checking out, and the tax invoiceSettle the folio, print the invoice, and the room goes dirty for housekeeping. Checking a company's GST registration before the invoiceThe panel on the Invoices tab lists the companies on your bills and bookings, and says when each GSTIN was last checked. Search for one that is not there yet. Splitting a stay across several invoicesRoom, food and spa on one bill or three — the guest decides, and you tick the lines. Proforma invoice — a bill before the stayWhat a company needs to raise a purchase order. Not a tax invoice, and it says so. Billing a company: the city ledgerA folio routed to a company instead of collected, and the ageing that follows it. Money owed and open balancesThe list that stops a hotel losing money quietly, and the red dot that counts it.