About Deposit Schedules
You can set up Deposit Schedules to define the rules surrounding when you collect deposits and balances due for your products. Deposit amounts and balances due appear on guest confirmation emails.
- You can set deposit schedules at different levels and some levels take precedence over others.
For example, you can set a deposit schedule that applies to a specific supplier and all the products they sell. That means that every time a product in that supplier’s inventory is purchased by a customer, the customer must pay a deposit and balance due according to the deposit schedule rules defined.
However, if you set up a separate deposit schedule for a specific product within a supplier’s inventory, that deposit schedule takes precedence over the deposit schedule set for the entire supplier.
In addition, if that same product is included in a promotion or package which also has a separate deposit schedule, the deposit schedule set for the promotion or package takes precedence over both the product-specific and supplier deposit schedules.
- If multiple deposits are scheduled to process within three days or fewer of one another, the system combines those deposits and schedules them to be due on the date of the earliest of the multiple deposits.
For example, if a guest reserves an item on January 1 and plans to arrive on January 3, and that item has a deposit schedule of 50% due at the time of booking and balance due on arrival, then the system collects 100% at the time of booking because the two deposits are due within fewer than three days of each other.
Note: Deposit schedules previously used on any reservation CANNOT be modified or deleted. Any attempt to modify or delete an “in-use” deposit schedule results in an error message. To update an "in-use" deposit schedule, create a new deposit schedule with a similar date range (for example, starting a day later) than the "in-use" schedule.
More About Deposit Schedule Levels
Deposit Schedules can be set in the Inntopia system at the following levels:
- CRS: Sales Channel – apply to a specific sales channel
- CRS: Supplier Override – apply to a specific supplier which overrides a sales-channel-specific schedule
- CRS: Package (Promotion) – apply to an individual package (promotion)
- RMS: Company (Supplier) – apply to a single supplier and their entire inventory
- RMS: Reseller Override – apply to a specific reseller which overrides a company- (supplier-) specific schedule
- RMS: Product – apply to an individual product
- RMS: Promotion – apply to an individual promotion
The following tables show the order in which deposit schedules apply.
| Order of Application with Supplier Precedence | Order of Application with Reseller Precedence | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deposit Schedule | Order of Precedence |
|
Deposit Schedule | Order of Precedence |
| Package (Promotion) Specific | 1 | Package (Promotion) Specific | 1 | |
| Product Specific | 2 | Product Specific | 2 | |
| Supplier/Reseller Specific | 3 | Supplier/Reseller Specific | 3 | |
| Supplier Default | 4 | Reseller Default | 4 | |
| Reseller Default | 5 | Supplier Default | 5 | |
About Non-refundable Deposits
At the time an itinerary is booked, the deposits due are calculated (before tax) according to the price of the item and the deposit rules in place. The deposits are then recorded with the date each individual deposit item is due.
When an itinerary item is cancelled, the item status becomes “Cancelled” and all related notifications are sent to customers and suppliers. If a non-refundable deposit applies to the cancelled item and the cancellation policy states that the non-refundable deposit applies, the deposit, or a portion thereof, is used to automatically pay the cancellation fee.
When a customer cancels a reservation in which a non-refundable deposit applies, the system assumes the deposit has been collected and the itinerary shows a credit for the canceled item plus a new item called Non-Refundable Deposit (the system calculates the total deposit amounts attributable to the item that are not refundable). This new itinerary item is associated with the supplier of the cancelled item. Accounting for non-refundable deposits depends on whether the item is a reseller-collect or pass-through item.
There is a product category for non-refundable deposit products. As with all other product categories, you can specify a special commission rate for this category and can also enter supplier-level overrides. Whenever a deposit schedule item is entered and the item is specified as non-refundable, a non-refundable deposit “product” is automatically added to the supplier’s product table if one does not already exist.
Note: The automated cancellation fee feature must be activated by Inntopia staff. To request that this feature be activated in your system, contact Inntopia Partner Services.
Reseller Collect
The customer’s account is credited for the amount due on the item and charged back for the non-refundable deposit amount associated with the item. A single charge for the non-refundable deposit is posted to the customer account receivable for the itinerary and offsets the credit recorded for the cancelled item. Depending on the non-refundable product-category commission settings, the payable account for the supplier of the item is charged back for the net price due on the cancelled item and an invoice is recorded for its portion of the non-refundable deposit.
Reseller Direct Bill
The supplier is credited for the commission on the price of the cancelled item. The commission due on the non-refundable deposit itinerary item is billed to the supplier based on the commission billing rules in effect for the reseller. The commission rate used to calculate the commission due is based on the supplier commission settings in effect.
POS (Point-of-Sale)
POS always uses the system default deposit policy, which is 100% at the time of booking refundable no matter what the reseller default or supplier specific override might be. Pass-through reservations taken at POS use the supplier's deposit policy.
About Automated Cancellation Fees and Non-Refundable Deposits
Because the system permits BOTH non-refundable deposits and cancellation fees to apply to an individual itinerary item, there are two ways the two “fees” can interact. The method used depends on the Non-refundable Deposit Applies setting associated with a cancellation fee:
- Yes – the total cancellation charge-back to the customer is the GREATER of either the amount of the non-refundable deposit or the cancellation fee, but not both.
- No – the total cancellation charge-back to the customer is the SUM of the non-refundable deposit and the cancellation fee.
Examples
|
Non-refundable Deposit Applies Setting |
Cancellation Fee | Non-refundable deposit | Customer Charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | $50.00 | $100.00 |
$100.00 non-refundable deposit No cancellation charge |
| Yes | $150.00 | $100.00 |
$100.00 non-refundable deposit $50.00 cancellation fee in excess of non-refundable deposit Total = $150.00 |
| No | $25.00 | $100.00 |
$100.00 non-refundable deposit $25.00 cancellation fee Total = $125.00. |
FAQ
I am attempting to edit a deposit schedule. Why can't I change anything?
The system prohibits modifying or deleting schedules with which reservations have already been made. Any attempt to modify or delete an “in-use” deposit schedule results in an error message. To resolve this, create a new deposit schedule with the desired settings.
I am attempting to add a new schedule that has the same dates as an existing schedule. Why do I keep getting an error message?The system does not allow you to enter another deposit policy with the same begin and end dates if a policy already exists with the same dates and has previously been used to book itineraries.
