Advance Payments

All charges in advance folios are treated as advances. An advance folio can be created in three ways - through closing a deposit folio, the creation of an advance based on specific services and the creation of an advance based on an available payment. The available advances are used in the standard folios through a special negative value charge thus reducing the amount due for the specific services.

Advance Registration

Through a deposit folio

Use this method when the advance is intended for a large number of services and will be used at stages in different folios. To create an advance, it is necessary to have an open deposit folio:

• Locate and open the property for which you wish to register an advance (booking, company or event);
• Create an advance folio:
  • For Booking and Event, click the 'Add Deposit Folio' button from the 'Rate and Folios' section;
  • For Company, click the 'Add Deposit Folio' button in the Folios->Deposit section.
• If the customer has already paid the amount of the advance, reflect the payment in the deposit folio. The payment is not obligatory, so you can skip this step, directly issue a document regarding the advance and send it to the customer for payment. The unpaid advance documents are tracked in the Accounts Receivable report;
• Click the 'Convert to Advance button;
• Charge the respective number of advance services by specifying their exact amount and tax group. To optimise the charging process, you prepare the respective charge templates beforehand, as these templates should be of the 'Pre-Invoiced Deposit' revenue group;
• Upon reflecting the services, you can proceed through the 'Next' button;
• Select the document type you wish to issue and close the folio.

Based on specific services

You can apply this method in the cases when the advance will be used all at once for the services it is intended for. To register an advance based on specific services, it is necessary to have a standard folio and the respective services to have been already charged in it. The amount of the advance is calculated as a percentage of the selected services. Follow these steps:

• Open the folio with services for which you are to register an advance;
• In the 'Charges' row, click the 'Details' button;
• Tick the checkboxes of the services for which you are to register an advance. If the advance is for all services in the folio, proceed with the next step;
• From the 'Functions' button, select 'Create Advance Invoice', or from the 'Selected Charges' group, or from 'All Charges' group (depending on the advance type);
• Select the 'Percentage' option and enter the advance calculation percentage;
• Select a template to be used for the charges that will arise from the advance registration. The additional text is optional and allows you to enter a text to be used in the printout. Select the the document type and confirm its issue.
• The system creates a new Advance folio, as the selected charges are automatically copied in it with a new amount (depending on the selected percentage) and the 'Pre-Invoiced Deposit' revenue group. The texts and details of the original charges are preserved. With this method, the selected template is not applied to the charges in the advance folio, but to use in the folio with the services (see below). 
• Upon the registration of the advance, the system will redirect you to the main folio. In the upper part of the screen, a link appears that can be used for opening the advance folio, and if the amount has already been paid, you can register the payment.

Based on available payment

Use this method when the value of the advance invoice has to correspond to the specific amount paid, it is clear for which services it is intended for and is expected to be used all at once. To issue an advance invoice, first, open the folio with the services for which the payment is intended for. Follow these steps:

• Register the paid amount in the folio with the services;
• Access the screen with the charge details;
• Select the services for which the payment is intended for, e.g. only the nights (if the payment is for all the services in the folio, skip this step)
• From the "'Functions' button, click 'Create Advance Invoice'  (select the option depending on whether the payment is for specific services in the folio);
• Click the 'Existing Payment' option;
• Select the paid amount and proceed through 'Next';
• Select the template from which the text of the charges for the advance folio to be retrieved, you also have the option to enter an additional text  to be used in the printout;
• Select the document type and confirm the issue of the advance invoice.
• The system creates the new Advance folio, as the necessary charges are automatically reflected in it. The number of the charges in the advance folio depend on the tax groups of the services for which the advance is intended for (one charge per each tax group). The amount for each tax group is automatically calculated through the application of a ratio calculated as per a special algorithm. All charges are of the "Pre-invoiced Deposit" revenue group, and their texts are retrieved from the selected template.
• The payment from the folio with the services is moved to the advance folio, as all its details are preserved. The advance folios is balanced.

On the screen, you will see confirmation of the document issue, you can follow the link to open the document. 

Advance use

The deduction of the amounts paid in advance is initiated from the folio with the services, following these steps:

• Open the standard folio and click the 'Details' button in the 'Charges' row;
• Click the Functions->Deduct Advance Invoice button;
• An advance folio selection screen will load. First, select the folio payer:
  • Suggestions:
  • For a booking folio, here the current booking will load, as well as all of the rest of bookings having the same reference number along with the profiles of the Company and the Agent selected in the booking (if any);
  • For a folio of Company and Event, the respective Company and Event will be suggested;
  • Search - you have the option to look for an advance folio of another Company, Event or non-related booking. 

• After selecting the payer, the system will find the available advance folios  and suggest them for selection in the 'Folio' field. Click the advance folio and proceed through the “Next” button.
• On the next screen, the available advances in the folio will be shown, arranged by tax groups. Select the respective tax group. If necessary, correct what part of the amount you wish to use.
• Select the template to post the charges for reflecting the use of the advance in the folio with the services. The additional text is optional and is used in the folio printouts;
• Confirm through the 'Deduct' button.

The deducted amount will be registered in the folio with the services with the respective text (retrieved through the selected template) as a negative value charge. In the standard folio, you have clear information of which folio used the advance, as well as a quick access link.

Advances based on specific services and available payment

The use of advances is once again reflected through a negative value charge. To automate their handling, the system creates advance use in the folio as soon as an advance is registered. This way the possibility for missing an advance use is eliminated and the service folio closing process  is simplified. 

The charges related to the advance use are summarised by tax group. Their texts are retrieved from the template selected during the registration of the advance. 

Advance use voiding

Regardless of the way of creating and using the advance, as long as the containing folio is open, you can void the advance use at each point. To this end:

• Open the folio with the services and access the charge details;
• Find the services through which the specific advance has been used (negative value charges of the 'Pre-Invoiced Deposit' revenue group) and select them;
• Click the Functions->Void button.

The operation will remove the advance use and will restore amount available in the advance folio.

Advance Refund

Information of the state of the advance can be found in the advance folio. Here you can track all use, and, if necessary, you can refund the amount to the customer.

• Open the advance folio;
• In the 'Remaining Advance' row, you can find info of the unused amount. Click 'Return' button at the end of the row;
• On the next screen, you will see the remaining amounts of the advance by tax groups. For each of the tax groups, fill in the amount that is to be refunded to the customer.
• Select the template to be used for the charges in the credit document and confirm through the 'Return' button.
• The system will create a correction folio related to the advance advance folio, will charge the services for the specified amount and will issue the respective credit document.
• Add a negative payment to the advance folio to the amount of the refunded amount.