Understanding canceled reservations in accounting folios and owner statements

Learn how canceled reservations impact your accounting folios and owner statements in Guesty, and how to manage adjustments, refunds, and reports.

When a reservation cancels, its representation in your accounting folio and owner statement depends on your listing’s cancellation policy, your business model setup, and the timing of the cancellation.

Cancellation fee transactions are recognized on the exact date of cancellation. If a reservation has no cancellation fee, it follows your standard business model accounting logic.

Cancellation fees originate from your listing's cancellation policy, or by a fee being added manually to a reservation.

How an accounting folio handles a cancellation depends on whether the guest cancels before or after check-in.

Reservation canceled prior to check-in

When a guest cancels before check-in, Guesty automatically adjusts all guest folio line items to zero. For example, if the accommodation fare is $1,000, an adjustment of -$1,000 applies to bring the balance to zero.

• No cancellation fee charged: Accounting folios zero out automatically.

• Cancellation fee charged: A "Cancellation fee" entry appears as a journal entry in the accounting folio. The revenue split between the PMC and owner relies on your "cancellation fee" business model setup, and revenue is recognized on the reservation cancellation date.

Reservation canceled on or after check-in

When a guest cancels on or after check-in, no changes occur in the guest folio. The revenue split between the PMC and owner in the accounting folio follows the "canceled reservations" rules configured in your net rental income calculation setup.

Canceled reservation in the owner statement

Owner statements process canceled reservations based on when the cancellation occurs relative to statement generation and statement settings:

• Canceled before statement generation: The statement displays the updated revenue automatically.

• Canceled after statement generation and business model trigger: The statement shows either the full amount or the cancellation fee, depending on your setup.

• Canceled with no refund due: The statement already reflects the full reservation revenue.

• Canceled with partial or full refund due: Regenerate the owner statement to reflect reduced or zero revenue.

Remove canceled reservation from owner statement

Follow the instructions below to remove a canceled reservation from an owner statement. The required process depends on whether you refunded the guest payment.

Generate a canceled reservations report

Follow the steps below to create a custom report for canceled reservations.

Step by step:

1. Sign in to your Guesty account.
2. In the side navigation menu, click Reservations.
3. In the top-right corner, click Filters.
4. Apply the following filters: 
   • Listing: Check the relevant listing's box.
   • Check-in or Check-out: Select the relevant dates.
   • Status: Check the Cancelled box.
5. Click Apply changes.
6. In the top-right corner, click Columns.
7. Add the following columns by checking the boxes:
   • Total paid
   • Total payout
8. Click Save.
9. Click Save as to save the custom view.
   

Check any reservations with a 0 total paid amount to confirm whether they should appear on the owner statements.

If removal is needed, reverse the transactions from the reservation and regenerate the statement.

Regenerate owner statement for a refunded reservation

Follow the steps below to regenerate an owner statement for a refunded reservation.

Step by step:

1. Sign in to your Guesty account.
2. In the side navigation menu, click Accounting to open the dropdown menu.
3. Under Owner accounting, select Owner statements.
4. In the far right column next to the relevant owner statement, click the three dots to view more options.
5. Click Regenerate.

Cancellation charge waived for guest

If you waive a cancellation fee charged by your business model:

1. Reverse the transaction for the cancellation fee by following these steps.
2. Regenerate the owner statement as described above.