Automatically close bills with unpaid Items and deposits FAQs

Automatic bill closure in Mews Operations converts balanced unpaid items and deposits on a reservation to a bill and closes the bill. Use it when you check out a guest with the Close balanced bills option selected, so you do not need to bill and close unpaid items and deposits manually. You select the option at check-out, and you can still manage unpaid items and deposits manually in the Billing screen. Automatic bill closure only applies when the unpaid items and deposits meet three criteria. If they do not, check-out is blocked until you close the bill manually.

 

In this article, you can learn about:

• What is automatic bill closure for unpaid items and deposits?
• What are the criteria to automatically close bills with unpaid items and deposits?
• Does automatic bill closure apply to all types of reservations?
• What happens if the criteria for automatic bill closure are not met?
• What does balanced mean?
• Is any setup required to activate automatic bill closure?
• Does automatic bill closure change how I use the Billing screen?

 

What is automatic bill closure for unpaid items and deposits?

Automatic bill closure is a Mews Operations function that converts balanced unpaid items and deposits on a reservation to a bill and closes the bill when you check out the guest with the Close balanced bills option selected. Balanced means that all unpaid items and deposits have corresponding charges or credits and the remaining amount is zero. Automatic bill closure saves you from manually billing and closing unpaid items and deposits for reservations without outstanding charges.

Note: Automatic bill closure only works when all three criteria are met: the unpaid items and deposits are balanced, a maximum of one reservation is associated with the unpaid items, and that reservation is the one you are checking out.

What are the criteria to automatically close bills with unpaid items and deposits?

Mews Operations automatically bills and closes unpaid items and deposits when you check out a guest with the Close balanced bills option selected and the unpaid items and deposits meet all of the following criteria:

• The unpaid items and deposits are balanced.
• There is a maximum of one reservation associated with the unpaid items.
• The reservation associated with the unpaid items and deposits is the one being checked out.

 

Does automatic bill closure apply to all types of reservations?

Automatic bill closure in Mews Operations applies to reservations that you check out manually, through the Mews Kiosk, or through customer online check-out.

 

What happens if the criteria for automatic bill closure are not met?

If the unpaid items and deposits do not meet all of the criteria, Mews Operations does not automatically bill and close them, and check-out is blocked. For example, if more than one reservation is associated with the unpaid items and deposits, Mews Operations does not close them automatically. To complete check out, move the unpaid items and deposits to a bill manually.

 

What does balanced mean?

In Mews Operations, unpaid items and deposits are balanced when all of them have corresponding charges or credits and the remaining amount is zero.

 

Is any setup required to activate automatic bill closure?

You do not need to set up anything to use automatic bill closure. Mews Operations applies the logic automatically at check-out when you select Close balanced bills and the reservation meets all three criteria: the unpaid items and deposits are balanced, a maximum of one reservation is associated with them, and that reservation is the one being checked out.

 

Does automatic bill closure change how I use the Billing screen?

Automatic bill closure does not remove manual options: you can still manage unpaid items and deposits manually in the Billing screen when necessary. Automatic bill closure reduces the manual steps required during check-out.