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Training Kit: Folios and Invoices

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Beni
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This training kit covers the basics of working with folios and invoices. It is especially useful for the Apaleo user roles Front Desk, Senior Front Desk, and Reservation Manager.

Topics covered:

Lesson 1: Work with Guest, Booking, and External Folios

1A: What you need to know

Different types of folios in Apaleo  

  • Guest folio: The FOLIOS tab of a reservation shows all folios from that reservation. By default, all charges from a reservation are posted to Folio 1. You can add additional folios by clicking on + Add a new folio. You can find all guest folios in the Finance module > Folios > RESERVATIONS tab.
  • Booking folio: The BOOKING FOLIO tab of a booking shows the booking-level folios that can be used for routing or moving charges from guest folios that are expected to be paid not by the guest of each reservation but by a group organizer, employer, etc.
  • External folio: External folios allow you to post charges and payments for customers who aren't staying at your hotel. You can find external folios in the Finance module > Folios > EXTERNAL tab. To create one, click + Create external folio and specify whether it will be billed to a customer or a company. 
  • House account: You can find the house account in the Finance module > Folios > HOUSE tab. It allows you to move charges from any guest folio. An example use case is when a service has been consumed but will not be charged to the guest due to a complaint. Check with your Apahero if and how the house account will be used in your hotel. 

1B: Practice

  • Exercise 1: Create an additional guest folio Create an additional guest folio in any reservation. Try finding the folio in the finance module. 
  • Exercise 2: Create an external folio Create an external folio for a customer and fill out the billing address.

1C: Apahero trainer notes

  • Unlike an external or guest folio, the house account does not show where charges have been moved from. The use of the house account is thus only recommended for specific cases in which a charge is temporarily moved until it can be dealt with.  Please discuss exactly if/how it will be used with your accounting department, as using it without a clear process in place can lead to very messy accounting records.
  • External folios can either be billed to a customer or a company. The option to bill to a company only appears if companies have been set up. 

Lesson 2: Manage Folio Charges

2A: What you need to know

How to add charges

  • Click + Add charge > Charge and select from the list of services in the pop up window. You can still change the price. If the list of services does not appear, it means that no services have been set up for this property. 
  • At the bottom of the list of services, there is an option to add charge manually. Be sure to enter the correct service and VAT types if using this option. 
  • Note: adding a charge to a folio posts it immediately. To add charges which will be consumed in the future, use the EXTRAS tab of the reservation, so that the services will be posted with the correct business date.

How to move charges  

  • Click the 3 dots (⋮) next to the charge and select move to. 
  • Specify the destination folio, which can be a guest folio, booking folio, external folio, or the house account.
  • Bulk moves: select multiple charges > Actions (next to the filter) > move to.

How to refund or split charges (requires Senior Front Desk user rights)

  • Refund charges: Click the 3 dots (⋮) next to the charge and select refund. You can select whether to give a full or partial refund. 
  • Bulk refunds: select multiple charges > Actions (next to the filter) > refund.
  • Split charges: Click the 3 dots (⋮) next to the charge and select split. This will refund the original charge, and create two new charges. 
  • Note: When you split a charge, the two new charges will be posted with today's business date.

2B: Practice

  • Exercise 1: Add and move a charge Add a charge to a guest folio and then move it to an external folio.
  • Exercise 2: Split and move a charge Split a charge on a guest folio and move 30% of it to a second folio. 
  • Exercise 3: Partially refund a charge Refund 2 Euros of a charge on any folio. 

2C: Apahero trainer notes

  • Transitory charges: when you click + Add charge the option to add transitory charges also appears. Here's more information on what transitory charges are and how to use them.
  • Routings: this lesson covers manual movement of charges from one folio. Only charges which have already been posted can be moved in this way. For more complex use cases, such as moving multiple charges in a group booking or moving unposted charges, routings are a better option.
  • A common mistake to avoid: certain user roles have the option to post global allowances (i.e. discounts), using the Actions button at the top of the folio. This function only exists for very specific accounting use cases, and should not be used for regular refunds of charges.  

Lesson 3: Manage Folio Payments

3A: What you need to know

How to add payments

  • Click + Add payment and select a payment method.
  • Note on payment methods: All payment methods listed under "Other" are manual payments which do not initiate any real payment process. The remaining payment methods available depend on how payment is configured in your hotel, as well as what type of folio you are in. Payment account and payment link only appear if you use Apaleo Pay, and Payment terminal only appears if you have an Apaleo Pay terminal (also, unless you have a test terminal, this payment method will not appear in your training hotel).  Payment accounts can only be used in guest folios. 
  • If your hotel has automatic fiscalization (Germany and Austria only), you will need to select the charges to which the payment corresponds. If you do not have fiscalization, you can directly specify the payment amount. 

How to move payments

  • Click the 3 dots (⋮) next to the payment and select move to. 
  • Specify the destination folio, which can only be a payment within the same booking. 

How to refund or split payments  

  • Refund payments: Click the 3 dots (⋮) next to the payment and select refund. You can select whether to give a full or partial refund. 
  • Split payments: Click the 3 dots (⋮) next to the payment and select split. This will refund the original payment, and create two new payments. 
  • Note: When you split a payment, the two new payments will be posted with today's business date.

3B: Practice

  • Exercise 1: Add a payment via payment link Add a payment via payment link to an external folio. Hover over the posted payment link to copy it and open it in a new browser tab.
  • Exercise 2: Partially refund and move a payment Add a payment via payment account to a guest folio. Once the payment is posted, refund 50% of it and then move it to a new folio in the same reservation.

3C: Apahero trainer notes

  • The exercises in this lesson requires test payment to be enabled in your training hotel, which you can request from Apaleo in a support ticket. Here is a list of test credit cards which you can use once test payment is enabled.
  • A common mistake to avoid: certain user roles have the option to post global refunds, using the Actions button at the top of the folio. This function only exists for very specific accounting use cases, and should not be used for regular refunds. A refund done in this way is not linked to a specific payment, and no real transaction takes place.  

Lesson 4: Manage Invoices

4A: What you need to know

How to create an invoice

  • For a guest folio: you can generate invoices from the folio (click on Invoices) on the check-out day, when the folio is fully paid and the billing address is filled out.
  • Ahead of this time, you can see a preview invoice when you click on Invoices.
  • For an external folio: you can generate an invoice as soon as the folio is fully paid.

How to create a prepayment notice (Guest folio only)

  • Click on Invoices > Prepayment notice. 
  • Select the charges to be prepaid. You can filter them by business date or service type.
  • Click on Create prepayment notice to view and download the prepayment notice.
  • The prepayment notice is not stored in Apaleo and can be recreated at any time.

How to create an advance invoice (Guest folio only)

  • You can generate an advance invoice when at least one payment and one future charge is selected, and the selected payments and charges balance to 0. 
  • Click Advance invoice
  • Select the payments and charges, and click on Create advance invoice to preview or create the advance invoice.
  • You can view (and cancel) the created advance invoice in the INVOICES tab of the reservation. 

4B: Practice

  • Exercise 1: Create an invoice Create an external folio, add charge and payment to it, and generate an invoice.
  • Exercise 2: Create a prepayment notice Find or create a reservation with stay dates in the future and generate a prepayment notice for it. 
  • Exercise 3: Create and cancel an advance invoice Find or create a reservation with stay dates in the future, add a payment, and generate an advance invoice. Find the advance invoice and cancel it.

4C: Apahero trainer notes

  • Invoice formats in Apaleo vary by country, as well as the user-defined invoice settings. If you have multiple properties in different locations, it is best to have multiple training hotels with the correct countries.   
  • A common mistake to avoid: Do not manually post open charges in advance, in order to issue an invoice. Invoices should not be issued until the services have been consumed. If a guest requests an invoice in advance because they have prepaid, please make sure to only issue a preview or advance invoice. 
  • Accounts receivables (AR) invoices: In addition to the options covered in this lesson, Apaleo gives you the possibility to close a folio on AR. You can find more information on this in our guides on AR invoices and accounting for AR invoices.

Lesson 5: View Folio Logs

5A: What you need to know

How to view logs for a specific folio

  • Click on Actions and select Jump to folio log.
  • The most recent actions are listed at the top.
  • Expand each log action (>) to see full details. 

How to view all folio logs

  • Open the Folios section of the Audit/Logs module.
  • Use the filter to sort by User, App, Action, or Date.
  • Use the three dots(⋮)next to each action to jump to the folio.

5B: Practice

  • Exercise 1: See the the history of a specific folio Open any folio and jump to the folio log. Find out which user made the first action on this folio. 
  • Exercise 2: See all your folio actions In the Audit/Logs module, filter by User to view all actions taken by you. Expand a few to see the details. 

5C: Apahero trainer notes

  • Only the user roles Reservation Manager, Property Admin, and Account Admin have the full permissions needed for this lesson.

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