Applies to:          Stayntouch PMS          

The Journal

The Journal functions much like a report and lists all the property’s financial transactions based on when End of Day was last completed. (Locate the Journal under Settings > Financials > Journal.) The Journal is a succinct overview of the total revenue generated and every payment posted and refunded at the property. Different ledgers on the Journal can be run for a single date or multiple date ranges with the calendar icon (located in the upper left hand corner of the page). 

Permission to View: Users must be assigned the Access Journal permission from Settings > Hotel & Staff > Permissions to access the Journal.

OVERVIEW

The Journal automatically opens to the SUMMARY view. This page includes the day’s deposit balance, guest balance, and A/R balance. On the revenue and payment tabs, the Journal displays balance information (also commonly referred to as ledgers), which represents the property’s financial activity. 

LEDGERS 

• DEPOSIT BALANCE: Any payment made to a reservation prior to the reservation's arrival/stay date is a considered “advanced pay” and appears under the Deposit Balance. You may choose to view an expanded list of all the day’s postings by clicking the orange chevron arrows. 

  • Opening: Opening balance from the previous business date.

  • Debit: Charges posted to future reservations. 

  • Credit: A summary of payment(s) transferred from the deposit balance once a guest checks in. Includes payments made on in-house reservations. 

  • Closing: The closing balance from the previous day. 

• GUEST BALANCE: Any payments posted during the guest’s stay or to an account will be recorded under the Guest Balance. You may choose to view an expanded list of all the day’s postings by clicking the orange chevron arrows.

  • Opening: Balance for all checked-in guests, in-house guests, and accounts. 

  • Debit: Charges posted to the reservations at check-in, including in-house reservations. 

  • Credit: Payments transferred from the deposit balance when a guest check-ins. This includes payments made to in-house reservations. 

  • Closing: Final balance for all checked-in guests, in-house guests, and accounts. 

• A/R BALANCE: The A/R balance is a list of all charges that were direct billed to an A/R account. This includes all payments on the A/R account.  

  • Opening: Opening balance for all A/R accounts from the previous business date.

  • Debit: Any direct bill payment received on the business date that matches the reservation’s arrival date. 

  • Credit: Any direct bill payment transferred to A/R on the business date that matches the reservation’s arrival date. 

  • Closing: The A/R closing balance indicates the A/R balance at the close of the previous business day. Once the End of Day sequence is complete, this number will appear as the next day’s “opening balance”.  

OTHER TABS

• REVENUE: The total revenue generated for each charge group configured for your property. Within Stayntouch PMS, multiple charge codes can be grouped under a unique charge group, such as room, tax, food, payments, etc. 

• PAYMENTS: A running list of all your property’s configured payment types. Each payment type will list the total amount collected for a date or date range. 

  • Total: All the payments for the date/date range selected. 

  • Pre-Stay: All payments that would be placed under deposit summary (i.e., prior to check-in). 

  • In-House: Payments collected for in-house reservation, checked-out reservations, or accounts. 

  • Post-Stay: Payments must have been collected after check-out for A/R accounts. 

• BALANCE END OF DAY: From the BALANCE END OF DAY tab, you'll see purple download buttons next to each ledger. This allows you to download the EOD REPORT for each of the ledgers (DEPOSIT LEDGER, GUEST LEDGER, and A/R LEDGER) for the DATE selected at the top left corner of the screen. The EOD reports downloaded will be in CSV format. You'll also see the following information:
  • CLOSING BALANCE: This represents the closing balance for the selected date.
  • EOD REPORT BALANCE: This represents the EOD report balance for the selected date.
  • BALANCE CHECK: This represents the difference between the CLOSING BALANCE and the EOD REPORT BALANCE. If out of balance, it will show a value in red. If everything is in balance, then you’ll see a green checkmark. 

• CASHIER: A place for tracking cash and check payments submitted at the end of a front desk agent’s shift.  

The above article illustrates how to use the Journal in Stayntouch PMS. For more information, view this video or contact Customer Support.