Folio and payments

A folio charge has a service date, description, amount, posting state and linked reservation. A payment record has its own amount, receipt time, reference and confirmation state. Finance Officer reviews those sources separately before explaining the account at departure. A draft or voided charge does not carry the same meaning as a posted one, and a pending payment is not confirmed money.

• Charges. Prepare dated folio entries against the correct stay and review posting state.
• Receipts. Keep payment confirmation and refund state with the reservation.
• Reconciliation. Compare posted charges with confirmed receipts before check-out.

Decide who may prepare a charge, who reviews a correction and how a void is documented. Define the payment service or manual receipt evidence that establishes confirmation. Finance Officer needs a way to distinguish a pending provider response from a successful receipt. Agree who acknowledges an outstanding account when departure proceeds with money still due. The reviewer should see the specific charges and receipts supporting that decision.

A checked-in stay has a posted nightly charge and a second draft service charge. A payment arrives with a reference but is still pending. Finance Officer excludes the draft charge from the posted total and does not call the pending payment collected. When the charge is reviewed and posted and the provider confirms the payment, the officer reconciles the amounts. If a balance remains, Operations Reviewer examines the evidence and authorizes the eligible departure outcome with that balance explicit. A later refund changes net collection and must be traceable to the same stay.

Before releasing that stay, compare the payment reference and receipt time with the provider result. If the provider has not confirmed the receipt, leave it pending and explain the open amount to the reviewer. Keep a voided charge in the history so the team can see why the current total differs from an earlier draft. This gives the front desk a specific account decision to use at departure rather than a balance that changed without explanation.

For each departure, Finance Officer should open the reservation before comparing amounts. A charge with the right amount but the wrong stay is still an account error. Check the service date and description, then follow the payment reference back to its confirmed result. Operations Reviewer can use that linked evidence to decide whether the guest leaves with a settled or acknowledged outstanding account. Front Desk Agent should see that decision before changing the stay status. Keep later refunds tied to the original reservation so the next review explains why the collected amount changed.

• Draft folio charges — Charges that still need review before posting.
• Pending payments — Receipts awaiting confirmation or investigation.
• Departure review — Checked-in stays ready for financial review.

See folio and payment review and departure and turnaround.