Overview

A refund is an account action used to record the return of a payment previously received. Refunds are applied when:

• A payment is returned

• There is an outgoing exchange of funds previously paid

• Recording payments linked to a corresponding credit

• Returning a security deposit or bond

By importing refund data, properties ensure that all transactions are accurately captured and properly recorded in RMS.

Import Information

Information on the requirements for a refund import in RMS.

• Transactions can only be imported after Reservations have been created or imported in RMS.

  • If the Legacy ID/Legacy ID Type in the file does not match an existing Reservation, Guest, Company, Travel Agent, Group Reservation or RMS Account (depending on the Legacy ID Type), the refund transaction for that line will fail validation and will not be imported.

• The import file must be in a comma-delimited .csv format (Field Delimiter). See the refund import template at the bottom of this article.

• If a data field within this file contains commas, it should be surrounded with "double quotes" (Text Delimiter).

• Microsoft Excel is able to save using a .csv format that should match these requirements.

• RMS is able to determine whether the first record is a header record.

• Guest Accounts cannot be imported for RMS Central (Enterprise) databases.

• Transactions will show as being created by the user System Import.

Import Field Order

Legacy ID Type Values

A Legacy ID is a unique identifier that tells RMS which account the refund belongs to. It is usually:

• An ID that was imported from a previous system, or

• An ID that already exists in RMS (for example, an RMS Account ID).

The Legacy ID Type tells RMS what kind of ID you are providing so it can find the correct account for the transaction. The Legacy ID Type must be imported using one of the following numerical values:

• 1 – Res (Reservation ID)

• 2 – Guest

• 3 – Company

• 4 – Travel Agent

• 5 – Group Res (Group Reservation)

• 6 – RMS Account ID (use when the Legacy ID column contains an RMS Account ID instead of a legacy system ID)

   

Account Type

The Account Type determines which revenue/charge account in RMS the refund will be posted against. The Account Type must be imported using one of the following numerical values:

• 1 – Accom
  Accommodation charges, such as room/site revenue.

• 2 – Extras
  Ancillary charges, such as parking, cots, rollaway beds, equipment hire, etc.

• 3 – Phone
  Telephony / call charges.

• 4 – Gas
  Gas usage or gas supply charges.

• 5 – Electricity
  Electricity usage or supply charges.

• 6 – Water
  Water usage or supply charges.

• 8 – Internet
  Internet / Wi‑Fi charges.

Choose the Account Type that matches the original charge being refunded.

Refund Type

The Refund Type corresponds to the Refund Type field (field 7) in the import file and is the method in which the payment was refunded. The Refund Type must be imported using one of the following numerical values:

• 1 – Cash

• 2 – Cheque

• 4 – EFTPOS (electronic card refund; requires a valid CreditCardType in the import file)

• 5 – Journal

• 8 – Direct Credit

• 12 – Other Cash

• 13 – Other Cheque

• 16 – Direct Credit2

• 17 – Direct Credit3

• 18 – Cash 3

• 19 – Cash 4

• 20 – Cash 5

• 21 – Cheque 3

• 22 – Cheque 4

• 23 – Cheque 5

• 24 – Direct Credit 4

• 25 – Direct Credit 5

These additional Cash, Cheque and Direct Credit values (for example, Cash 3, Direct Credit 5) are extra mapping options that can be configured in RMS to represent different banks, tills or refund methods used by your property.

Date Formats

All date fields must be imported using the DD-MMM-YYYY format, for example:

• 25-JAN-2026

Import Validation

To ensure that your data is clean, consistent, and ready for the Live production environment after it has been validated and imported into the Training environment, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Reservations > Reservation Search for data review.

2. Select a Search On field.

3. Input the Search Criteria.

4. Select the Search icon.

5. Select the Account Number to open the reservation account.

6. Review the Refund amount and type in the reservation account.
   
    

7. Review the Refund amount and type in the reservation account.

Downloadable Import File

The attached import file below contains the required file format for a refund import. Download the file and review the column headers. Populate the file with the refund amount, ensuring that each line contains an existing Legacy ID in RMS.

Next Article: Data Validation & Trial Imports