Adding charges when a reservation is made

Q: Can we have it add charges to a reservation when it's made, rather than when it's checked in?

A: Yes you can, but this will affect your reports.  Technically, the "income" is reported on the day you add charges (that's when the rent is deemed to have been "earned", since that's when it's put in as a charge to the customer).  Depending on how you do your accounting and which reports you use, this may or may not be an issue.  

So, you first need to decide how it will affect your accounting, including your reporting of state sales tax (or GST).  If you use the "Receipts by Category" report, for instance, this would not be a problem unless you take Deposits -- in which case the Deposit will immediately be applied to the Charges and Taxes (proportionally), and thus at least some of the income is earned on that day.  If you don't take Deposits, then it may be safe to add the charges early as long as you use one of the "Receipts" quick-reports for accounting, not the "Charges by Category" quick-report.  Also note that if you export to QuickBooks, charges are always reported the day they are entered -- the Export to QuickBooks function always assumes Accrual-based accounting, not Cash-based accounting, as far as when the amounts go into the corresponding Accounts or Items in QuickBooks.

OK, so if you decide to do this, here's what you need to know.  If you're using Auto-rates, simply change the option to auto-add charges when the reservation is Created, instead of when it's Checked In (see Maintenance / Program Options / Auto-Rates).  If you use Select Rates to add your rates manually, or if you just use the Charge button to add manual charges, then just remember that if you're adding them under Quote/Confirmation then they won't be saved.  Instead, go into Reservation Transactions (e.g. New/Edit Transactions under Reservation Details) when you add the charges so they're permanent.  Then you can print the confirmation letter from there (select the Confirmation Letter in the drop-down list above the "Print Reservation Receipt" button).