Unreleased cancellations will remain in BookingTrust under “Cancellations” until they are resolved and all bookings are released. The following instructions will guide you through this process.
The objective is to determine how much money is still allocated to the cancelled booking and who should receive it.
We will cover the following scenarios:
- Full refund: The amount paid for this booking has been refunded in full.
- Partial refund: The remaining balance is divided between the owner and property management.
- Transaction fee (Stripe fee): The amount refunded is slightly higher than the amount received.
1. Full refund: The amount paid for this booking has been refunded in full.
The amount received = the amount refunded (as on the example below).
To start: open booking details by clicking on + sign
First, remove any charges applied to the booking (if necessary):
- Click on the Cancel button and then on the Save on the next screen - this will remove the charges.
Click on the "view details" link to go back to the booking.
There is no need to remove fees, as these funds will be cleared when the booking is released.
At this point, the booking should have the status “Fully Paid”.
However, if there’s still an outstanding Balance that doesn’t match any fees or charges, click on the balance amount to open the Add Transaction screen. Then, without making any changes, simply click Save. This will clear the incorrect balance.
To return to this booking, click View Booking.
We can now transfer this booking to the Cancelled Bookings ledger (1) and release it (2).
(1) Transfer to Cancelled bookings:
- Click on the Transfer button
- Under the Transfer Details section, select Cancellation account (you can type the word “cancellation” to find the account).
(2) Release booking - click on the red Release button.
Your cancelled booking will now be resolved and removed from the list of Cancellations.
2. Partial refund: The remaining balance is divided between the owner and property management. (Also applies when there is no refund).
To start: open booking details by clicking on + sign
Remove any charges applied to the booking (if necessary):
- Click on the Cancel button and then on the Save on the next screen - this will remove the charges.
Click on the "view details" link to go back to the booking.
Fees will be automatically calculated based on your setup. You can review all fees by clicking on the Fees button.
The example above shows the following breakdown:
- Amount received = $908.46
- Amount refunded = $454.23
The outstanding balance is $454.23, which is divided as follows:
- Management fee = $99.93
- Owner’s payout = $354.30
If you're happy with the above, click the red Release button to release the funds to the management account and the owner's ledger.
3. Transaction fee (Stripe fee): The amount refunded is slightly higher than the amount received.
Stripe fees are collected at the time the payment is made. The amount the guest pays for the booking, minus the Stripe fees, is recorded as money received.
When property managers process a refund, the full amount originally paid by the guest is refunded. Part of this refunded amount includes the Stripe fees, which were never deposited into the Trust account. As a result, the refund amount is higher than the payment received.
This results in an outstanding negative balance on the booking. The outstanding Stripe fee is shown in red under the Balance section. The same amount is also shown under the Return section.
To release the funds, the booking must be fully paid. In the example below, there is an outstanding balance of $-40.78 that still needs to be balanced.
Click on the red amount to open the Add Transaction screen. Then, without making any changes, simply click Save. This will clear the balance and change the booking status to Fully Paid.
To return to this booking, click View Booking.
The booking is now Fully Paid.
The fee can either be covered by the property manager or passed on to the owner:
- Fee covered by the property manager account
- Fee charged to the owner
Fee covered by the property manager:
To ensure that the Stripe fee is charged to the property manager, transfer the booking to the Cancelled Bookings account (1), and then release it (2).
(1) Transfer to Cancelled bookings:
- Click on the Transfer button
- Under the Transfer Details section, select Cancellation account (you can type the word “cancellation” to find the account).
(2) Release booking - click on the red Release button.
Your cancelled booking will now be resolved and removed from the list of Cancellations.
Fee charged to the owner
To charge Stripe fees to the owner, release the booking as usual. The Stripe fees will then be displayed on the next owner’s statement.