The Company Software Reservations ~
Back-end Accounting
SECTION ONE ~ General Overview
~ What is an escrow account?
*An escrow (trust)
account is a bank account that holds other people’s money…
~ What is the difference between an operating
account and an escrow account?
*An operating account is
your money; escrow is other people’s money…
~ What is the
difference between income and expense in an escrow account?
*Income is money
deposited into the escrow account.
Expenses are dispersals of the money deposited.
~ How does TCS
help you manage your trust account?
1) It
provides a Balance Sheet
2) It
provides a way to receive money
3) It
provides a means to disperse funds from the escrow account
4) It
provides several ways to track those dispersals
~ What is on a
Balance Sheet?
*Assets: Cash On Hand ~ Cash in Bank
*Liabilities: Damage Deposits, Prepayments, and Money Due to Owners, Vendor Accounts, and Tax Payables
~ What are sources
of income to an escrow account?
*From a Guest ~ Damage
Deposit, Prepayment, Balance Payment
*From
an Owner ~ Owner Paid On Account
~ How is the
Income expensed out of the escrow account?
*Various functions to
disperse monies, similar to the list of liabilities, e.g. Damage Deposit
forfeiture and refund of the balance to the guest, etc.
~ What is my goal
in escrow accounting?
*To successfully collect
and categorize the income and to successfully disperse that income to the right
account.
The Company Software Reservations ~
Back-end Accounting … page 2
SECTION TWO ~ Setting up TCS to handle your accounting
~ Vendors
Your management company
is a Vendor to the Escrow account. E.G.
management fees are an expense to the escrow account.
~ Tax
Authorities/Groups
Each unit is taxed
according to its location. Each tax
group is made up of each authority that receives money from that area…
~ Chart of Accounts
Properly configuring if each
account is Income/Expense, Applies To Vendors, Owners, or Taxes, and which tax
group if it’s a taxed account…
~ Credit Card Fees
This is only used if you are charging owners their
commensurate share of the credit card charges…
~ Owners
Why are Owners are
separate from Vendors? Unit, rather
than Owner organizes this system. This
allows for each unit to have several owners, and each owner can own a different
percentage. A check can be cut for each
owner of one unit, the check size depending on the share of ownership. Payables to Vendors are paid from a
different screen.
~ Rates/Specials
Overview…
~ Default Deductions
Create a Pick List for
Unit Setup. This list would include any
charge (flat fee or percentage of unit’s gross rents) that is consistently
charged to each unit every month. You
can have units in accounting that are not On Program (rental program) for the
purpose of monthly homeowner fee billing if you are managing a complex.
~ Units
ü
Selecting default “Account to Use When Charging
Rent”
ü
Selecting default Damage Deposit Accounts
ü
Selecting Rate Type
ü
Setting the Commission
ü
On Program, On Web, Show in Accounting
ü
Selecting Owner(s) and their percent of ownership
The Company Software Reservations ~
Back-end Accounting … page 3
SECTION THREE ~ Receiving/Depositing Money
~ Receiving Money From the Guest
Damage Deposit
Held
separately from pre-payments and after check-in payments because they are
usually refunded
Pre-payment
Any
payment made prior to check-in, even if it’s a total balance payment
Rent Received
Payments
made after check-in for balance dues, or payments for additional nights added
after check-in
~ Receiving Money From an Owner
You need an Owner Paid-in Account and
then add it as a credit to the Owners Statement
~ Point of Sale
Best added to a
reservation rather than using Point of Sale
~ Making the Bank Deposit
1) Separate
the deposit: Cash/Checks ~ Visa ~ MC ~
Amex, etc.
2) Set
dates, picking items to deposit
3) Record
deposits
4) F2
to remove items from your deposit and adjust your balance
5) You
should record deposits as they actually go to the bank
~ Keeping Records of Deposits (your paper
trail)
Cash Drawer Report
Printing
Records of Deposits
Printing
the Balance Sheet
The Company Software Reservations ~
Back-end Accounting … page 4
SECTION FOUR ~ Dispersing Money
~ Damage Deposit Refunds and Forfeitures
Use the Forfeit button
on the Deposits screen to make the forfeiture, FIRST
Print
Checks or Refund the balance from the Client Ledger
Post
the Checks
~ Pre-payment Refunds and Forfeitures
Use the Forfeit button
on the Prepayments screen
Post
the Checks
~ Other Guest Refunds
Done from Client Ledger
~ Enter a negative Guest Charge and then a negative Receive Payment
~ Owner Accounts
Add Charges/Credits
Add
Owner Deductions
Print
Trial Statements
Print
Checks
Post
Checks
Balance
Forward
~ Vendor Payables
Select the Vendor to pay
~ Your management company is the main vendor (commissions, cleaning fees, other
guest and owner charges, etc.)
Print
Checks
Post
Checks
~ Tax Payables
Use the Process Button
(after you click the button, it will ask you for date perimeters)
Print
both reports ~ Taxable Accounts is what you should have collected; Report is
what you actually did collect.
Compare
reports
Print
Checks
Post
Checks
The Company Software Reservations ~
Back-end Accounting … page 5
SECTION FIVE ~ Tools and Procedures
~ Organize by Unit rather than Owner
The owner could change,
but the unit could still be on your program…
~ Bank Ledger
Auditing
Credit
Card Fee Adjustments
Reconciling
~ Audit Report
~ Credit Card Lookup
USED TO LOOK UP
INFORMATION… Only one person in the company should have access to this screen.
~ Deleted
Transactions
USED TO LOOK UP
INFORMATION…
~ Timetable for
Reports:
Cash Drawer
Bank Deposits
Balance Sheet
Deposit Refunds
Prepayment
Refunds
Vendor Payables
Owner Charges
Owner
Statements
Owner Profit
and Loss Statements
Bank Statement
Reconciliation