The current invoices don’t do a good job of handling security deposits. For example, here is an example of an invoice from the current application:
The invoice is for 2 nights at $350.00 a night (plus tax) with a $100 security deposit. Thus the total amount due is $842.00. The guest has paid the $842.00. In the current invoice there is an “Overall Summary” section. It states that the remaining balance is $0.00. This is true, but no where does the invoice detail that the guest has a $100.00 security deposit which is due back to them if they meet the terms and conditions of the rental agreement when the stay is complete. In reality, the charges balance of the invoice is $0.00 and the other deposits balance has a credit balance of $100.00, which means the guest is owed that money after the completion of the stay.
The current invoice really butchers this process and it needs to be fixed. With the new invoice being launched this week, the “Overall Summary” section is being removed. Additionally, the “Charges Summary” section is redundant and it was removed. The resulting invoice is easier to understand and less cluttered.
Here is an example of what the same reservation looks like using the new invoice:
The Charges section is largely the same. The Other Deposits section is largely the same, except it will now show the original security deposit amount and detail any allocations of the security deposit to breakage / fees. The Transaction History area has changed significantly. There are now three columns (two if other deposits are absent) displayed. These columns are meant to show changes in the balance of accounts.
Thus in the new invoice, you can clearly see that this reservation, which begins on 1/29/2010, has a “Paid-in-Full” status. This means that all rentals charges and security deposits have been paid. There is a remaining balance of $0.00. However, if you look in the Transaction History area, it is clear that there is a credit balance of $100.00 in the Other Deposits column. When the reservation is complete, the status will change to “Refund Owed” and show a credit balance of $100.00.
Now let’s assume that there was damage to the unit that resulted in the property owner withholding $50.00 of the $100.00 security deposit. That $50.00 now becomes income to the property owner, therefore it must be added as a fee to the invoice and it must reduce the credit balance of the security deposit by $50.00.
The new invoicing system allows a property owner to assign how a new fee is to be paid. If no security deposits are present on the invoice, then the property owner won’t be given a choice. The new fee will simply become an additional rental charge. However, if a security deposit is present, then the property owner will have the choice of assigning the fee to the security deposit or assigning the fee as an additional rental charge.
Now let’s take a look at the invoice after a $50.00 breakage fee has been added to the invoice. The property owner added the fee, and assigned it to the security deposit. Thus, of the original $100.00 security deposit, only $50.00 remains. The other $50.00 was re-allocated from the security deposit balance to the rental charges balance and used to pay the $50.00 breakage fee. In the invoice below, under the transaction history, you can clearly see how the charges balance was increased by $50.00 and then decreased by $50.00 resulting in a zero balance. While the security deposit balance was reduced from a $100.00 credit balance to a $50.00credit balance.
All that remains for this invoice is for the PO to refund the remaining $50.00 which will reduce the other deposits balance to $0.00. The invoice will not switch to showing a status “Refund Due” until the checkout date of the reservation.
The new invoicing system allows a property owner to apply refunds to either the rental charges balance or the security deposit. This functionality helps keep the invoice all tidy. Once the $50.00 refund has been applied to the security deposit, both the charges balance and the other deposits belance are at zero and this invoice is history!
Al of these changes are also updated on the PDF invoices generated from with the Communications tab of the Guest Control Panel as well.
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