Front Office PMS guide

No-Show and Cancellation Policies That Charge Correctly

Attach a cancellation policy to every booking, let the night audit apply no-show retention, and never post a charge you cannot collect.

Each booking carries a cancellation policy, your property default or the rate plan's. Its guarantee is worked out from the money actually received, not entered by hand.

When a guest cancels

The policy is applied automatically. Any retention is posted, any refund is posted as a payment with its method, then the room returns to sale, including on your channels within the same minute. Phone cancellations take one action on the booking card.

When a guest doesn't arrive

The night audit flags arrivals that did not turn up, once your desk confirms it, and posts whatever retention the policy specifies. It refuses two things:

Charging retention on a booking with neither a guarantee nor any payment. Money you can't collect isn't revenue, and posting it would inflate the day with income that never comes.
Marking a no-show before the day is over. The audit will not run on a day until the property's midnight has passed.

Keeping the OTA in sync

No-shows on OTA bookings are reported back to the channel. Their records then match yours, and you don't pay commission on a room nobody used.

Other Front Office PMS guides

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