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The front desk

Waiving a small balance at check-out

A guest owes ₹150 and has their bags in hand. The desk may forgive it up to the hotel's limit, with a reason and their name on it — the money is not taken out of the till.

The guest is at the counter and the card says a small amount is still owed — a rounding of GST on a channel price, a bottle of water nobody will argue about. Until September the software refused the check-out and the only ways past it were an administrator's: route it to the city ledger as a debt with no debtor, or write it off. What happened instead was what always happens with a reduction that cannot be recorded: it was recorded as something else — a short till, a payment that was never made.

The booking card of a guest in house with ₹150 still owed: the balance row, the Check out button, and Folio.
The booking card of a guest in house with ₹150 still owed: the balance row, the Check out button, and Folio.

Do this

  1. The Balance row says what is still owed. If it is small, decide whether the hotel is going to collect it.
  2. Press Check out. If the balance is within the hotel's limit the desk is asked *Waive ₹150 and check out?* — type why (a reason is required) and the guest is checked out in the same click.
  3. The waiver is on the bill as an allowance, with your login and the reason in its description — open Folio to see it. It is not a payment (no money came in) and not a void (the charge was right).

The limit

The hotel's ceiling is on Hotel details (₹500 unless the account administrator changes it). Up to it, anyone at the desk may waive. Above it the check-out says so — *The guest owes ₹1,240, which is more than the ₹500 this hotel lets the desk waive at check-out* — and a manager, whose login can write off a balance, can waive it instead. A hotel that wants a manager for every rupee sets the limit to 0.

What is not waived

A bill that a company or an agent pays on account is invoiced to them, not forgiven. A bill in credit is the opposite question — see A guest who paid for more nights than they stayed. The GST is not touched: a goodwill reduction after the stay does not reduce the taxable value, so the allowance carries no tax line. A discount agreed before the stay belongs on the rate or on the bill's Give a discount tab, where it does move the GST.

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. Early check-in and late check-out chargesWhat the hotel charges for a guest who arrives before check-in time or leaves after check-out time, who decides, and who can waive it. The guest who paid the OTABalance 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 payment is trusted first, and verified afterA deposit recorded against a booking is paid from that moment. It also goes to the accountant, who confirms the money arrived or rejects it with a reason — and only then does it come off the bill. A date change inside the cancellation window is a question, and the policy's charge goes on the bill. A booking cancelled by mistake is put backA cancelled or no-show booking is found with Find and put back with one press and a reason. Before the night audit anybody at the desk can; once the audit has closed a night of the stay, the administrator can. The nights the audit passed over go on the bill. 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. Giving a discount on the billThe folio's fourth tab: a percentage or an amount off the whole bill, the room, the food, or one line — with the GST reduced to match, a reason, and a name on it. The GST number says who the company isType a guest's GSTIN on the card: the company is looked up, added to the CRM if it is new (pay at checkout, no credit), and the bill is made out to it. 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. A guest who paid for more nights than they stayedAt check-out the bill may hold more than it owes. You are asked: keep it, or send it back — and the guest leaves either way. Proforma invoice — a bill before the stayWhat a company needs to raise a purchase order. Not a tax invoice, and it says so. The day book: opening, closing, expenses and the bankOne row per day of the month, cash opening to closing carried day to day, the bank receipts ticked when the bank shows them, and the till's expenses written where they happened. Undo a mistake the desk made todayThe administrator takes back the last thing done to a booking — check-out, check-in, cancellation, a charge — as long as the night audit has not closed the day. The administrator corrects any booking — and the log is the priceAn account administrator may correct a booking that is audited, in house, departed or billed: its dates, room, guests, rate or status. Every correction is recorded with login, time, machine and reason. Reopening a settled billA bill closed at zero or in credit is reopened only by an account administrator; then a charge can be voided, money refunded, and the bill closed again — every step with a name on it. 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.