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Security deposits

Creating security deposit policies

Deposits are used to cover any damage guests accidentally or willfully cause during their stay. Security deposit policies can be set up to automatically apply and charge required security deposits for incoming reservations. Like other costs, different security deposit policies can be created to apply to different types or channels.

Setting up a security deposit policy

  1. Go to 'security deposit policies' in the Setup module. Click 'New'.

  2. Add a descriptive internal name for your overview, and a regular name to be shown on the reservation invoice.

  3. Use the type and channel applicability settings to differentiate applicable security deposit amounts. Note that if a reservation falls within the scope of more than one security deposit policy, these deposits will all be applied and charged.

  4. Set the desired security deposit amount.

  5. Determine when the guest should pay this security deposit.
    Combine it with either the first or last payment installment according to the payment policy, create a separate payment installment to be paid X days before check-in, or have the guest pay in person on arrival.

    There is an email template 'Payment notification one day before a security deposit deadline expires' that can be sent as a reminder, but only for deposits that are set up as a separate payment installment. If a security deposit is combined with a regular payment installment, the regular reminder templates apply.

  6. If no damage is reported, the deposit is automatically released for refund X days after check-out. Determine how many days after check-out that should be.

  7. Optionally, engage the auto-refund functionality to also automatically pay deposits back to guests. This will only be done if you use BEX Payments, and the deposit was automatically released as set above.

  8. Set the validity period of the security deposit policy over time. Editing an active security deposit policy to set it to 'Never' means that is no longer applied to new reservations, but existing security deposits can still be fully handled until claimed or released.

  9. Click 'Save' to finish.

Even though deposit policies can be synced with channels to inform guests, guests will have to pay the deposit themselves. This cannot be added to the channel invoice.

Deposits in the reservation

Security deposits are shown in a separate section in the reservation order, because it is not a regular cost item or invoice item. You can access and manage a reservation’s deposits here.

What happens after check-out

The security deposit policy determines how many days after check-out the deposit is automatically released, provided there were no damage reports. When this happens, the deposit amount moves to the payment balance of the reservation order and invoice. The amount can now be refunded via Invoices to pay in the Financial module.

  • If there is a (claimed) damage report, any automatic release is blocked. For a partially claimed deposit, the remaining amount must be manually released for refund. For an over-claimed deposit, there will be another amount due from the guest and a new invoice can be created and sent to the guest.
    Read more: Making and claiming damage reports for deposits

  • If a booking is cancelled after the deposit was already paid, the deposit will also need to be released for refund manually.

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