Overview

A booking’s folio is the running bill that tracks every charge and every payment for that stay. When a booking is created, accommodation charges are generated automatically based on the nightly rate snapshot. Beyond that, your front desk and other departments add charges throughout the guest’s stay — minibar consumption, restaurant meals, spa treatments, and anything else the guest uses.

Vesta offers two ways to add charges: product charges (selecting from your pre-configured catalog) and manual charges (entering a custom description and amount). Most day-to-day charges should come from the product catalog for consistency and reporting, but manual charges give you flexibility for one-off situations.

Automatic Accommodation Charges

The system generates accommodation charges automatically — one line item per night of the stay. These charges come from the rate snapshot that was locked in at booking time, so they reflect exactly what was quoted to the guest.

How automatic charges work:

• One charge per night, showing the date and the calculated price for that specific night
• If the booking dates are changed, the accommodation charges are recalculated automatically
• In the staff UI, accommodation charges cannot be deleted — they are managed by the system
• The prices come from the rate snapshot, which means later changes to your rate plans do not affect existing bookings

:::info If you need to reduce what the guest owes for the stay, avoid adding a negative charge (manual charges cannot be negative). Instead, adjust the booking’s stay details or apply an approved voucher/discount workflow for your property. :::

Adding a Product Charge

Product charges pull from your product catalog, which means the name, category, price, and pricing type are pre-filled. This is the fastest and most consistent way to add charges.

1. Open the booking detail page
2. Go to the Folio tab
3. Click Add Charge
4. Choose From Catalog
5. Choose a product from the dropdown — you can type to search by name
6. Set the quantity (for per-night and per-stay products, Vesta calculates quantity automatically from the stay)
7. Select the charge date and time — this is when the service was consumed, not when you are entering it
8. Click Add

How the total is calculated depends on the product’s pricing type:

:::tip When adding minibar charges, some properties find it helpful to add all items at once during the morning room check rather than one at a time. You can add multiple charges in succession — just click Add Charge again after each one. :::

Adding a Manual Charge

Manual charges let you bill for items that are not in the product catalog, or for one-off situations like damages, custom services, or credits.

1. Open the booking detail page
2. Go to the Folio tab
3. Click Add Charge
4. Choose Manual Entry
5. Fill in the details:
   • Description — a clear explanation of what the charge is for (e.g., “Late check-out fee” or “Broken lamp replacement”)
   • Unit Price — the amount per unit
   • Category — select the most appropriate: Food, Beverage, Service, Minibar, or Other
   • Quantity — defaults to 1
   • Charge Date and Time — when the charge was incurred
6. Click Add

:::warning Manual charges bypass the product catalog, so they will not appear in product-level reporting. If you find yourself adding the same manual charge repeatedly, consider creating a product for it instead to keep your records consistent. :::

Editing and Deleting Charges

Manual and product charges that were added by staff can be deleted:

1. Find the charge on the Folio tab
2. Click the delete (trash) icon to remove a charge entirely

If you need to correct a staff-added charge, delete it and add it again with the correct details.

Accommodation charges cannot be deleted from the staff UI. They are managed by the system and recalculate automatically when booking dates change.

:::info Taxes are calculated automatically based on your property’s tax configuration and the charge category. On the folio, you will see tax line items under each charge (and a tax breakdown in the summary). :::

Understanding the Folio Balance

The folio balance is the amount the guest still owes (or is owed, if they have overpaid):

Total charges minus Total completed payments = Balance due

A positive balance means the guest still owes money. A zero balance means the account is settled. A negative balance means the guest has been overcharged or overpaid.

You can view the current balance at the top of the Folio tab on any booking.

Related Articles

• Managing Products — set up the product catalog that charges pull from
• Recording Payments — record payments against the folio balance
• Viewing Booking Details — navigating the booking detail page
• Understanding Rate Plans — how accommodation prices are calculated

:::permissions

• invoices:view — view folio charges on a booking
• invoices:create — add new charges (product or manual)
• invoices:edit — modify existing manual charges
• invoices:delete — remove manual charges :::