The Liabilities report shows the money a property is holding on reservation accounts that has been paid but not yet recognised as revenue, as at a selected date.

Overview

The Liabilities report lists, as at a selected date, each reservation that has received payments which have not yet been fully recognised as revenue. For every reservation, it shows the Total Payment received, the Total Recognised as revenue, and the remaining Liabilities the property is holding. This is money paid in advance, such as deposits and prepayments, that stays a liability to the guest until the stay takes place and the revenue is recognised.

Whether a payment counts as recognised depends on the property's accounting method, set in Accounting Options: accrual properties recognise revenue when the charge posts, while cash properties recognise it when the payment is received. The report can be exported using the Export to CSV button.

Use Cases

• Period-end liability balance - At month-end or financial year-end, the accounts team runs the report with the period-end date to total the advance payments and deposits held as a liability before revenue is recognised.
• Audit and reconciliation - Finance snapshots the held-liability balance as at a date for audit, and cross-references it against the Advances Ledger movement on the Night Audit report.
• Deposit oversight - Operators review which reservations are carrying large unrecognised balances ahead of arrival.

How to Access

In the side menu of RMS, go to Reports > Management > Financial > Liabilities.

Report Options

The report options below control the date, the properties, and the account classes included. Additional options are available by clicking More Options on the report panel.

Report Columns

The columns below appear on the report output. Where a value depends on the property's revenue recognition, the Source / Calculation column points to Revenue recognition and held liabilities below.

Data Sources & Calculations

Revenue recognition and held liabilities

When a guest pays before their stay, the payment is received but the property has not yet earned it. Until the revenue is recognised, that money is a liability the property owes back to the guest. The Liabilities report reports this held amount for each reservation as at the selected date.

How much is recognised depends on the property's accounting method. Accrual properties recognise revenue when the charge posts to the account, so a payment stays a liability until matching charges are raised. Cash properties recognise revenue when the payment is received. The Total Recognised column reflects this, and the Liabilities column is the remaining unrecognised balance.

Related Reports

• Advance Deposit Report - lists advance deposits held against future reservations.
• Debtors Ledger report - shows account balances, including unallocated advance payments held in suspense.
• Night Audit report - its Advances Ledger movement reconciles against the held-liability balance.

Related Articles

• Guest Accounts in Credit