Check a hotel commission invoice against the reservations it covers

A commission invoice can look reasonable in total while charging the wrong amount for individual reservations. A shortened stay, a waived cancellation fee or a commission already withheld from a payout can disappear inside a monthly percentage calculation. Review the invoice at reservation level before deciding which amount is payable.

Obtain the channel statement, the final property-system record and the applicable commercial terms. Keep the reservation identifier, property, guest stay dates, invoice period and billing currency together. Guest names alone are weak matching keys: names can change, several guests can share a booking, and one person can make multiple reservations for the same dates.

The output is an invoice reconciliation. It should show accepted charges, specific differences requiring correction and amounts already settled. Marketing may use commission data to assess a channel's economics later, but that analysis cannot establish whether this particular bill correctly reflects the reservations and terms it claims to cover.

Read the agreement and approved rate arrangement for the reservation. Determine which room charges, packages, cancellation charges, taxes or other items enter the commission base. Do not assume a percentage applies to the entire guest folio. A restaurant charge posted to the same folio may have a different commercial treatment from the reserved room.

Oracle's OPERA commission-processing documentation distinguishes folio total, commissionable revenue, noncommissionable revenue and prepaid commission. It also describes commission codes associated with reservation rate codes or agent profiles. Those distinctions provide a useful review structure, but the property's actual configuration and agreement must determine the calculation.

Preserve the commission terms effective for the booking concerned. An agent's current profile may display a new rate that was negotiated after the guest booked or stayed. Ask the commercial owner which date controls under the arrangement and retain the relevant version. Recalculating historical invoices with today's default can replace a correct charge with an unsupported adjustment.

Check the recipient as well as the rate. An agent, a booking source and a payment intermediary can appear in related records without each being entitled to a separate commission. Explain any reassignment and ensure the original recipient's line was removed or corrected before adding the replacement.

Use the statement's stated period rule, which might reference departures or another agreed event. Compare that population with reservations from the property system on the same basis. Keep a booking created in one month, stayed in another and invoiced later connected without forcing all three dates into one reporting period.

For each reservation, retain original and final arrival and departure dates, the final room amount, booking status and change evidence. A room move should not automatically create a second commission-bearing stay. A multiroom booking may need room-level detail if only one room was canceled or shortened.

Booking.com's reporting documentation describes separate mechanisms for changed stays and guest no-shows, including whether no-show fees are waived. Its rules are specific to that platform and workflow. Use the current process applicable to the property and keep the accepted change response. An internal note saying the guest did not arrive does not establish that the channel received or accepted the same information.

Separate a missing reservation from a reservation deliberately excluded under the terms. The first may reveal an incomplete statement or an unrecorded liability; the second may be correct. A reconciliation should explain both, rather than deleting unmatched lines until the totals agree.

Consider a hypothetical agreement charging 12% on eligible room charges and a retained no-show fee, while excluding the other folio items in this example. Reservation A has $600 of room charges and $120 of separately excluded items, producing $72 of commission. Reservation B was shortened from four $150 nights to two, leaving $300 and $36 of commission.

Reservation C has a retained $200 no-show fee that the assumed agreement explicitly makes commissionable, producing $24. Reservation D was canceled with all charges waived and has no commission under these assumed terms. The supported total is $132: $72 plus $36 plus $24.

Suppose the statement instead uses A's full $720 folio, B's original $600 booking, C's $200 fee and D's original $400 room amount. At 12%, it totals $230.40. The $98.40 difference consists of $14.40 on A, $36 on B and $48 on D. Each item needs its own explanation and evidence; the combined difference is not a general discount to negotiate.

These are invented commercial terms for a calculation example. Another agreement might include additional charges, use a different rate or treat retained cancellation amounts differently. Use the example to test the structure of the reconciliation, then substitute the actual reservation facts and contractual basis.

Submit the disputed reservation, original statement amount, proposed amount and reason through the supported process. Attach the minimum evidence needed to demonstrate the change, such as the amended stay record or approved waiver. Protect unrelated guest and payment information when preparing the supporting file.

Record submission date, case reference, response and next action. A change entered in the property system may not modify an invoice already issued by the channel. Conversely, a channel credit may arrive without the internal commission schedule being corrected. Reconcile the two systems after the response rather than treating the submission itself as resolution.

Have the responsible commercial owner address ambiguous terms and applicable deadlines. Finance should not invent a blanket right to deduct disputed amounts from payment. Keep the accepted portion and disputed portion visible so the business can decide how to meet its contractual obligations while pursuing the correction.

When a credit arrives, apply it to the reservation and original invoice identified in the claim. A credit allocated only to the current month's expense can hide an old overcharge and make the new month appear unusually cheap.

Determine whether the arrangement uses a separate payment, a deduction from a guest-payment payout, an offset or another documented method. The existence of an invoice does not prove that a further cash payment is required. Reconcile payment and deduction references before putting the bill into an ordinary supplier payment run.

If the supported illustrative commission is $132 and $80 has already been withheld and confirmed against the same reservations, $52 remains before any other applicable adjustment. The $80 is a settlement movement, not a second commission expense. Keep it linked to the payout evidence and the invoice so another reviewer can reproduce that conclusion.

Review returned or reversed settlements separately. A commission payment that was created but rejected by the bank remains different from a cleared payment. Oracle's documented workflow distinguishes paid commission details, holds and payment status; use equivalent evidence in the property's own system rather than relying on a single paid flag.

For outsourced support, provide an agreed reservation population, final folios, commercial terms, statement detail and settlement exports. Specify who may contact channels, approve waivers and authorize payments. The preparer should identify discrepancies and assemble evidence without quietly changing guest or supplier records beyond the agreed authority.

Evaluate a sample that contains a shortened stay, a retained cancellation charge and an already deducted commission. Ask the provider to show how each line reaches its conclusion, including any unresolved interpretation. A spreadsheet with a single total and unexplained adjustment column is insufficient for a disputed bill.

Retain the accepted reconciliation with the corrected statement or credit, payment evidence and remaining cases. That file should let the next reviewer answer three questions directly: which reservations created the obligation, which changes were accepted, and how much of the supported balance has actually been settled.