What is a hotel folio?
A hotel folio is a document that collects charges and payments incurred by a guest during their stay and helps a hotel accurately track these numbers. Historically, the word “folio” referred to a ledger or account book, and the hospitality industry is one of the few that still uses the term.
This is the definition of hotel folios, but what are hotel folios for? This detailed statement of all costs incurred by a guest during their stay – room, food and beverage, laundry, spa treatments – brings transparency to the relationship between a hotel and its guests.
Who manages guest folios? They are generated by the hotel throughout the guest’s stay. At the end of the stay, the folio is converted into an invoice that the guest reviews, then an invoice that the guest pays and a receipt that serves as proof of that payment.
What is the difference between folio and invoice?
A folio is a statement of charges updated in real time throughout a guest’s stay. An invoice is the final official document that brings together all these costs.
Is a guest folio a receipt?
No, a guest folio is not a receipt. As mentioned above, a guest folio is a detailed, live statement of charges, while a guest receipt is proof of payment for the finalized list of costs and costs.
In this guide, we’ll take a closer look at hotel folios to understand what they are, how they work, and how your property can better manage them.
What is a hotel folio used for?
Hotel folios allow properties to track charges incurred and payments made by a guest during their stay, to ensure the guest is accurately billed during and at the end of their visit.
Why is the hotel folio so important for billing and payment workflows?
A detailed hotel record is essential for billing and payment processes because it accurately tracks and organizes charges, avoids discrepancies, and can seriously streamline the check-out process.
Make your folios count with SiteMinder
Boasting an unrivaled number of booking connections and system integrations, SiteMinder allows you to maximize your customer acquisition and optimize your revenue and payment processes.
Learn more
Types of hotel folios
Although the term “hotel folio” is often used interchangeably with “guest folio,” there are other types of folios in the hospitality industry as well.
Guest folio
As mentioned above, this folio tracks all charges incurred and paid by a guest staying at your hotel.
Main folio
A master folio in a hotel consolidates the collective charges of a group or organization, covering multiple guests or even multiple events.
Uninvited Folio
This folio records the transactions of individuals or entities using hotel services without staying overnight.
Employee Folio
This folio tracks all expenses incurred by your staff.
What is included in the hotel folio?
A hotel folio includes all charges that may be incurred by a guest. This may include room charges, taxes, food, beverages, tours, service charges, payments and adjustments, as well as any additional costs incurred during the guest’s stay.
Example of guest folio in hotels
What does a hotel folio actually look like? Let’s bring some clarity to the concept with an example hotel folio:
Common issues when managing hotel folios
If you are not careful with hotel portfolio management, many problems can occur, including:
Data inaccuracies
Errors in hotel ratings – incorrect or missing charges, misapplied taxes – can lead to disputes and ultimately harm your hotel’s reputation.
Folio recovery issues
Delays or difficulty accessing folios can slow down the check-out process, wasting customer and staff time. This could be due to technical issues, poor collaboration between hotel departments, or a lack of worker training.
Manual processes
The more manual your folio processes are, whether it’s updating records, reconciling payments, or handling disputes, the more prone to errors and inefficiencies they are.
Hotel portfolio management strategies
To successfully manage hotel portfolios, you need to implement the right technology, provide the right training, and establish the right systems and processes:
Strengthening payment regulations in hotel portfolio management
When establishing your hotel portfolio management systems and processes, you must ensure that they meet all relevant regulatory requirements, from tax compliance to consumer rights.
Train hotel staff in effective folio management
The best hotel records management systems and procedures in the world won’t mean much if your staff isn’t trained in them. Make sure each team member knows exactly what they need to do, when and how they need to do it.
Leveraging Hotel Folio Data
Once you’ve established the basics, you can maximize the value you get from hotel folios by leveraging the data you’ve collected. You can create more personalized customer experiences, develop more engaging loyalty programs, and invest in the services that have proven most popular with customers.
Integrate folios with hotel systems
The best hotel portfolio management tools are typically cloud-based and mobile-optimized, so your staff can use them from anywhere.
They should also be easy to navigate, intuitive to use and, perhaps most importantly, they should integrate seamlessly with your other hotel tools, as this opens up opportunities for time-saving and minimizing automation errors.