Daily Balance Report
On this page
The Daily Balance Report lists the in-house guests of one day and how much each of them owes at the end of that day: the balance brought forward, the charges of the day, the payments, the discount and the new balance.
Purpose
Find the guests who have an unpaid balance (or who have paid in advance) before they leave, and see the total the hotel is owed by in-house guests.
Who uses it
- Night auditor: chases balances before departure.
- Front office manager: checks credit exposure.
- Accountant: ties the total to the guest ledger.
About this report on screen
Every report page has an About this report bar under its header (button Explain / Hide). It explains the report in plain words:
- Summary: Each in-house folio's balance after the day's charges and payments.
- What this report shows: For each room: previous balance, today's rent, other charges, discount, direct billing, advance deposit, total charges, total payment and the closing balance.
- How to read it:
- Closing balance = previous balance + today's charges - payments.
- A large positive balance means the guest owes money: ask for a deposit.
- Good to know:
- Include Deposit Payment also counts deposits taken before arrival.
Columns explained (the same text shows on the help icon next to a column title):
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Prev. Balance | The balance before this day's charges and payments. |
| Today's Rent | Room rent posted for this day. |
| Other Charges | Charges other than room rent (food, laundry, extra bed...). |
| Total Charges | Everything charged to the folio. |
| Total Payment | All payments received. |
| Discount | Discounts given on the bill. |
| Direct Billing | Charges billed to a company or channel account instead of the guest. |
| Balance | What is still owed: charges minus payments. Above zero = the guest or account owes money. |
Before you start
- It lists folios that are in house (checked in, not checked out) on the report day.
- Run it after posting the day's charges; the PMS date can still receive payments.
Step by step
- Click Reports in the left menu (or press Ctrl+K and type the report name). The report library opens at
#/reports. - Choose the category Daily Reports (or type in the search box) and click the card Daily Balance ("Opening and closing balance"). You can also open
#/report/daily-balancedirectly. - The report opens and runs once with its default criteria, so you already see data. Under Report criteria set From Date, Include Deposit Payment as you need (in a date calendar, Working Date jumps to the current business date).
- Click Show to run it again with the new criteria. The line under Results tells how many rows are shown.
- Read the result as a Table or as Cards (switch at the top right). Columns shows or hides columns and lets you drag them into another order; click a column title to sort. Hide criteria / Show criteria folds the criteria away; on a tablet or phone it folds by itself after Show and leaves a one-line summary.
- Click Export and choose PDF, Excel or Email (PDF). The button is always in the header but stays disabled until the report has rows.
Filters
| Filter | Meaning | Default / rules |
|---|---|---|
| From Date | The business day to report. | The PMS date. |
| Include Deposit Payment | Tick to count advance deposits as payments. Left unticked, deposits are not part of the payments. | Not ticked. |
Columns
| Column | Meaning and how it is calculated |
|---|---|
| Room Name, Guest Name | The room and the primary guest (blank when the folio has no guest name). |
| Date In, Date Out | Stay dates. |
| Prev. Balance | What the guest owed before today: (rent + tax + other charges of all earlier days) - (payments + discounts of earlier days). It is 0 on the arrival day. |
| Today's Rent | Rent of the report day, before tax. |
| Occupancy Tax | Tax on today's rent (the heading is your Occupancy Tax title). |
| Other Charges | Other charges of the day including their tax. |
| Total Charges | Today's Rent + Occupancy Tax + Other Charges. |
| Total Payment | Payments of the day that were paid by the guest (not by a Sales & Channel). |
| Discount | Discounts of the day. |
| Direct Billing | Payments posted to a Sales & Channel (company or agent). |
| Balance | Prev. Balance + Total Charges - (Total Payment + Direct Billing + Discount). A positive balance is owed by the guest; a negative balance is money paid in advance. |
Totals and grouping
No groups: one line per in-house folio and a Total row that adds all the money columns. The Balance total is what in-house guests owe the hotel at the end of the day.
How to read an example
On the PMS date the report lists 22 folios and the Total row shows Prev. Balance 14,050.00, Total Charges 75,496.00, Total Payment 19,207.60, Discount 500.00 and Balance 69,838.40. Check one line: room 107 (Billing One) has Prev. Balance 1,750.00 and Total Charges 3,080.00 with no payment, so Balance = 1,750.00 + 3,080.00 = 4,830.00. Room 201 (Priya Nair) shows a Total Payment of -2,290.00 (a refund) and a Discount of 500.00, so Balance = -1,290.00 + 0.00 - (-2,290.00 + 0.00 + 500.00) = 500.00.
The numbers come from the SunTatva Demo Hotel on the day this page was written; your own figures will of course differ.
Common questions it answers
- Who still owes money tonight?
- Which guests paid in advance (negative balance)?
- How much do in-house guests owe in total?
- Are there large balances before check-out?
Troubleshooting
| What you see | Why and what to do |
|---|---|
| Balance differs from the Guest Ledger | Daily Balance covers the folios in house on that day. The Guest Ledger lists all unsettled folios and ignores balances below 0.50. |
| A negative Total Payment | A refund or a deleted payment of that day; it increases the balance. |
| Deposits missing from payments | Tick Include Deposit Payment. |
| Export is greyed out | The report has no rows (No record found!), so there is nothing to export. Change the criteria and click Show. |
| You are signed out when the report opens | Your role does not have the privilege of this report. The screen checks the privilege when the address is opened and logs you out if it is missing. |
Messages you may see
| Message | Why it appears | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| No record found! | The report found nothing for the date or filters you chose. | Check the date (the first PMS date of the hotel is the earliest you can pick), the desk user and the other filters, then click Show. |
| Email sent successfully. | You chose Export > Email (PDF). The server built the PDF and handed it to the mail service. | Nothing. If the mail does not arrive, check the e-mail address of the property and the e-mail settings. |
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