Travel Agent
The travel agent function in roomMaster is used to track commissions due to a travel agent once the guest has left. (See below for more information about travel agent commissions due at time of reservation).
Before a guest has checked in, a Travel Agent record must be created and assigned to the reservation or guest properties. The travel agent must also be setup for a proper commission type and rate. If a travel agent is assigned but no commission information is setup, no travel agent detail records will be created. Travel agent detail records (commission payment records) are created during the dayend close on all checked out guests.
You can setup the commission type and rate on the Billing/Commission Info tab of the travel agent profile. (Select Back Office >Travel Agent File).
Note: Travel Agent Commissions are based on any Room Revenue account codes (located in Account Code Setup) that are posted on the guest folio and sub-folios.
Manually adding commissions after guest has left
You do have the ability to manually add commission payment records to a travel agent by clicking on the travel agent and then selecting Change, browse to the Detail Tab and then Insert. However, it is highly recommended to make all changes to Travel Agent commissions directly by pulling the folio from history and making any adjustment OR attaching the Travel Agent if it was not put there in the first place.
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If you are manually entering a Travel Agent commission done on another system, manually add it on the Travel Agent Detail tab
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If you are manually entering a Travel Agent commission from a folio already in roomMaster, pull the folio from history, attach the proper Travel Agent and the commission will be created properly during the next Dayend Close.
NOTE: You must be Supervisor or Manager to pull a folio from history as well as have the ability to add, change or remove Travel Agent ID's from History folios. This is for security purposes.
It is possible to have two Travel Agents per Record. Folios can be setup with a primary and secondary Travel Agents specified and roomMaster can calculate different commissions for each.
Once the guest checks out and the dayend is completed, a commission record is created. At the end of the week or the end of the month (or whenever you decide to make payments), you can run the Travel Agent Billing Report which is located on the Owner Commissions and Travel Agents Tab of the reports menu. Only payments due will appear on this report. (If no report prints, there are no amounts due).
As each check is written and sent, it must be individually recorded on the travel agent Detail screen. (Select Back Office > Travel Agent File and then Change on the travel agent selected). Press the Detail Tab and change each record being paid by pressing the Insert button.
Once you have pressed the Insert button a new Change Detail Record window will appear with two sections requiring input from you.
The Personal Information section contains fields that require you to enter the Guest's First and Last name, the amount of commission due to the travel agent and the Guest's CheckIn and CheckOut dates.
The Payment Information section contains fields that require you to enter details about your payment to the travel agent for this guests stay. You will need to enter the Paid date, the amount that was paid to the travel agent and the check number used to pay the travel agent. If you are paying the travel agent outside of roomMaster then you can prefill the Paid Date and Amount Paid fields by pressing the Pay button. You will still need to enter the check number used for payment in the remittance field.
You can have the Payment Information section prefill for you if you use the travel agent check printing features in roomMaster.
The Commission on Hold checkbox will place that specific payment on hold so that a check is not created for payment when using the Travel Agent Printing feature.
Automatic payment of commission during booking
If a travel agent makes a reservation and takes their commission right away, you can handle this by entering two transactions in the deposit form on the reservation. You should first create an account (Setup, Configuration, Guest Ledger, Account Codes) and call it "Travel Agent Commission". This account should be marked as a payment and setup as a Credit. Next, when entering a reservation, you would enter two transactions ... One for the amount of the check (Account 201) and the other for the amount of the commission being held. The combination of the two would be the amount the guest has on deposit. This is automatically transferred to the guest bill at checkin time.
Shown in Deposit Transactions in reservation form:
| Account | Type | Amount | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201 | Check | $45.00 | $45.00 |
| 250 | Travel Agent Commission | $4.50 | $49.50 |
If a travel agent deducts commission from bookings, you should set the commission amount as 0% so the system does not pay the commission after the guest checks out. (double paying)