System Type is a setting in RMS that classifies the type of property being managed, sets the property type sent to online booking channels, and activates industry-specific features for certain property types.

Overview

RMS supports a wide range of property types across the hospitality, accommodation, and facilities management industries. The System Type setting has two jobs: it sets the property type sent to connected online channels (such as Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo), and for some types it activates industry-specific features. System Type does not control terminology; the naming of accommodation units and fields is configured separately using System Labels.

Most RMS functionality is identical across all System Types. Some types (CRS, Storage, Lifestyle Villages) are classification labels with no functional differences, while others (College, Defence, Mining Camps, Shopping Centre) activate substantial industry-specific features.

Please Note! RMS is highly configurable. Some terminology, user access and permissions, images, labels, and functions used in this article may differ from your setup.

Important! Changing System Type on an active property may affect how features and terminology appear throughout RMS. Contact RMS support before changing the System Type on a live property.

Where to Find System Type

System Type is located at Setup > Property Options > General Information, under the Options section at the top of the page.

System Type Options

Each available System Type is described below with its key differences.

Apartment

• For serviced apartments and short-stay apartment properties.
• Functionally identical to Hotel and Motel apart from the property classification code used by the ATO Export.
• Unit naming (such as Apartment) is set via System Labels, not by this setting.

Caravan Park

• For caravan parks and holiday parks.
• Enables the Agree to Transfer Anonymous Property Data to CIA option on the Property record - an opt-in for the Caravan Industry Association of Australia (CIA) anonymous statistics programme. This option does not appear on any other System Type.
• The In/Out Movements print report gains an Electricity On/Off column.

College

• For universities, colleges, and student accommodation.
• Client records are managed as student records with additional detail tabs, Faculty and Subject lookup tables, and College-only reports (for example, Class List, Under 18 List, and Alumni).
• Reservations can be filtered by Semester, and statements can be produced per Semester.
• The reservation departure date defaults to the semester end date.
• On multi-property databases, a student holds a single client account across all properties.

CRS

• For hotel groups and chains managing centralised inventory and rate distribution across multiple properties using a Central Reservation System (CRS).
• This System Type does not enable or change any functionality in RMS - it is a classification label only.
• Connected online channels receive the standard hotel property type.

Defence

• For defence force accommodation facilities.
• Activates a military client data model: client fields are relabelled to Service/PMKeys No, Rank/Title, Base/Ship, and Unit/Section.
• Client Search and Reservation Search gain a Service/PMKeys search option.
• The In/Out Movements screen shows a Rank column.
• Dashboard arrival, departure, and in-house tiles count males and females instead of adults, children, and infants.
• The Workforce reports menu (shared with Mining Camps) plus the Defence-only Housekeepers by Charge Type and Client List reports become available.

Facility

• For event spaces such as banquet halls, meeting rooms, and conference centres.
• The reservation departure date defaults to the same day as arrival, suiting hourly and daily hire.
• Hourly and daily charging itself is configured through Category Classes and is available on every System Type.
• Uses the Facility Category Class and is compatible with the Event Management module.

Hotel

• For full-service hotels.
• Provides the standard hotel feature set and is one of the most commonly used System Types.
• Functionally identical to Apartment and Motel apart from the property classification code used by the ATO Export.

Letting Agency

• For property letting agencies managing residential or short-term rental properties on behalf of owners.
• This System Type does not itself switch on any features.
• The Trust Accounting and Owner Accounting capabilities used by letting agencies (3-way trust balancing, owner disbursements, commissions and letting agreements, and the end-of-month payment wizard) are provisioned as modules on the property.
• Keeping owner funds legally separate remains a regulatory requirement for property managers in several regions.

Lifestyle Villages

• For lifestyle and retirement village communities, such as over-55 communities and manufactured home parks.
• This System Type does not enable or change any functionality in RMS - it is a classification label only.
• Periodic billing for long-term stays is configured through rate and charge setup, which is available on every System Type.

Marina

• For marina and waterway berth management.
• The marina features in RMS - the Dock Category Class, boat details (Boat Type, Draft, Length, and Width), and the In House Dock List report - are available on every System Type.
• Selecting Marina classifies the property and does not switch features on or off.

Mining Camps

• For mining camps and remote workforce accommodation (for example, Fly In Fly Out).
• Activates the workforce contract model: a Contract Details tab on the reservation with contracts created automatically on save, plus the Bulk Contract Update screen.
• Batch invoicing gains a Grouped Invoice action.
• The Workforce reports menu becomes available (shared with Defence).
• Meal card numbers can be free-form rather than the standard 11-character format.

Motel

• For motels. Suited to drive-up and highway properties.
• Functionally identical to Hotel and Apartment apart from the property classification code used by the ATO Export.

Shopping Centre

• For shopping centres and retail property management.
• Each reservation automatically creates a shop licence record, and new reservations default to a Monday arrival with a 7-day licence period.
• A dedicated Shopping reports category appears in the Reports menu.
• Account screens display the group or company name as the account holder, and invoices use retail wording (for example, Adjustment Note).

Storage

• For self-storage facilities.
• This System Type does not enable or change any functionality in RMS - it is a classification label only.
• Periodic billing (typically monthly) is configured through rate and charge setup, which is available on every System Type.

Venue

• For event venues and conference centres offering whole-venue or large-space hire for events such as weddings, conferences, and gala dinners.
• Differences are in reporting: reports that clip a reservation to a reporting period count the event days inclusively (one extra day).
• Reservation reports show Event Name in place of Group Name, and the Reservation List report's Site Type Class filter offers Daily and Hourly options.
• Day-to-day reservation, rate, and billing behaviour is otherwise the same as other System Types.

Please Note! Properties using the Facility, Defence, Venue, Mining Camps, or Marina System Types are excluded from the automatic guest record purge.

Changing System Type

System Type is normally configured during initial property setup and is rarely changed on an active property.

1. Go to Setup > Property Options > General Information.
2. Under Options, select the required System Type from the dropdown.
3. Click the Save icon to apply the change.

Important! Changing System Type on an active property may affect how features and terminology appear throughout RMS. Contact RMS support before changing the System Type on a live property.