Advance Deposit Activity .ng | HotelKey Knowledge Base

Advance Deposit Activity Report Overview

Parent Hub: 💰 Finance & Accounting Reports

Category: ⚖️ Ledgers & Trial Balance / 💳 Payments & Transactions

Target Roles: Directors of Finance & Controllers, Night Auditors, Accounting Managers & Clerks, Front Office Managers

Key Value: Provide complete unearned revenue governance by tracking advance deposit collections, utilization transfers, and roll-forward balances across transient guest stays, group master blocks, and house accounts, complete with payment tender breakdowns.

Executive Summary

The Advance Deposit Activity Report is a primary unearned revenue auditing tool within the ⚖️ Ledgers & Trial Balance and 💳 Payments & Transactions modules. Designed for strict accounting compliance and deposit roll-forward governance, it tracks pre-arrival guest payments and event prepayments held in the advance deposit ledger before services are rendered.

By dividing activity into six explicit operational perspectives—transient pre-arrival stays (Reservations), group block commitments (Groups), non-guest administrative prepayments (House Accounts), consolidated net totals (Net Totals), sub-ledger trial balance roll-forwards (Balances), and daily payment method breakdowns (Payment Types Summary)—this report enables controllers and night auditors to audit daily deposit collections, track applied deposit transfers at check-in, and ensure zero-variance trial balance reconciliation.

Key Capabilities

Six Operational Audit Perspectives: Fully itemizes unearned revenue across transient bookings (Reservations), group master blocks (Groups), administrative accounts (House Accounts), consolidated subtotals (Net Totals), master ledger continuity (Balances), and tender channel metrics (Payment Types Summary).
Strict Unearned Revenue Roll-Forward: Tracks mathematical continuity (Opening Balance+Today’s Net Change=Closing Balance) across all three prepayment sub-ledgers.
Complete Deposit Lifecycle Tracking: Monitors initial pre-arrival collections (Deposit Collected Today / Until Date), same-day service posted charges (Today's Charges / Until Date), and deposit offsets applied upon guest check-in (Deposit Used / Charges Used).

Report Views & Functional Breakdown (All 6 Sections)

The Advance Deposit Activity Report presents unearned revenue data across six structured operational sections:

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   ADVANCE DEPOSIT ACTIVITY REPORT                      │
├──────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────┬──────────────────┤
│ 1. Reservations          │ 2. Groups                │ 3. House Accounts│
│    (Transient Stays)     │    (Group Blocks)        │    (Non-Guest)   │
├──────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│ 4. Net Totals            │ 5. Balances              │ 6. Payment Types │
│    (Consolidated)        │    (Master Roll-Forward) │    Summary       │
└──────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────┴──────────────────┘

1. Reservations

Itemizes individual transient guest pre-arrival deposits, mapping confirmation numbers, rate plans, stay dates, card tokens, and daily deposit activity.

Primary Use: Reconciling individual guest advance purchase bookings, tracking credit card deposit prepayments, and auditing deposit application upon check-in.
Key Metrics: Confirmation Number, Guest Name, Company Name, Check In Date, Check Out Date, Rate Plan Code, Rate Plan Name, Payment Method, Last 4 Digits, Due Date, Deposit Collected Until Date, Deposit Collected Today, Deposit Used, Charges Until Date, Today's Charges, Charges Used, Opening Balance, Today's Net Change, Closing Balance.

Image 8-23-26 at 5.47 PM.png — Reservations Section

2. Groups

Isolates pre-paid event deposits, convention block prepayments, and master folio wire transfers held for group contracts.

Primary Use: Auditing group room block deposit schedules, verifying event prepayments prior to group arrival, and tracking master deposit transfers.
Key Metrics: Group Code, Group Name, Group Contact Name, Company Name, Start Date, End Date, Rate Plan Code, Rate Plan Name, Payment Method, Last 4 Digits, Due Date, Deposit Collected Until Date, Deposit Collected Today, Deposit Used, Charges Until Date, Today's Charges, Charges Used, Opening Balance, Today's Net Change, Closing Balance.

Image 8-23-26 at 5.53 PM.png — Groups Section

3. House Accounts

Tracks advance deposits, retainer holds, and pre-paid balances logged for internal, administrative, or corporate house accounts.

Primary Use: Reconciling corporate retainer prepayments, banquet house account deposits, and internal event funds.
Key Metrics: House Account Code, House Account Name, Company Name, Start Date, End Date, Deposit Collected Until Date, Deposit Collected Today, Deposit Used, Charges Until Date, Today's Charges, Charges Used, Opening Balance, Today's Net Change, Closing Balance.

Image 8-23-26 at 5.56 PM.png — House Accounts Section

4. Net Totals

Aggregates today's deposit collections, deposit utilizations, current day charges, opening balances, net shifts, and closing balances across all account types.

Primary Use: Rapid night audit verification of daily aggregate shifts within the advance deposit ledger.
Key Metrics: Subtotals for Reservations, Groups, and House Accounts across Deposit Collected Today, Deposit Used, Today's Charges, Charges Used, Opening Balance, Today's Net Change, and Closing Balance.

Image 8-23-26 at 6.00 PM.png — Advance Deposit Activity

5. Balances

Delivers a macro-level ledger roll-forward establishing strict closing balance continuity for each of the three advance deposit sub-ledgers.

Primary Use: Finalizing night audit trial balance verification and confirming that advance deposit liability balances tie into the General Ledger.
Key Metrics: Opening Balance, Today's Net Change, and Closing Balance broken down for Advance Deposit (Reservations), Group Master, and House Account.

Image 8-23-26 at 6.02 PM.png — Balances Section

6. Payment Types Summary

Itemizes daily advance deposit receipts categorized strictly by payment tender method and credit card brand.

Primary Use: Reconciling credit card gateway batch deposits, cash drop envelopes, and wire receipts specifically associated with advance deposit prepayments.
Key Metrics: Date, Payment Type, Credit Card Type, Actual Today, M-T-D, LY-M-T-D, Y-T-D, LY-T-D.

Image 8-23-26 at 6.05 PM.png — Payment Types Summary Section

Data Dictionary (Comprehensive Column Mapping Across All 6 Sections)

Customize your default view using the Configure (⚙️) icon on the report page. Below is the full data dictionary representing every column across all 6 sections of this report:

💡 Tax Treatment Note: Advance deposit balance figures (Opening Balance, Today's Net Change, Closing Balance, Deposit Collected Today, and Actual Today) represent Gross Cash/Credit Prepayments (Includes Taxes & Fees) held in liability.

Column Name	Section(s) Where Column Appears	Description	Data Source / System Mapping	Includes Taxes & Fees?
Confirmation Number	Reservations	Unique system confirmation code assigned to the individual booking.	System Reservation ID	N/A
Group Code	Groups	Unique master identifier code assigned to the convention group block (e.g., `WA1`, `JS6`).	`Group Profile > Group Code`	N/A
House Account Code	House Accounts	Unique master identifier code assigned to the internal house account.	`House Account Profile > Code`	N/A
Guest Name / Group Name / House Account Name	Reservations, Groups, House Accounts	Name of the primary guest, group event block, or internal house account.	Master Profile Title	N/A
Group Contact Name	Groups	Primary client contact person responsible for the group block.	`Group Profile > Contact Name`	N/A
Company Name	Reservations, Groups, House Accounts	Contracting corporate account or agency sponsoring the booking/account.	`Company Profile > Name`	N/A
Check In Date / Start Date	Reservations, Groups, House Accounts	Scheduled check-in date for reservations or start date for group/house accounts.	`Profile > Start / Check In Date`	N/A
Check Out Date / End Date	Reservations, Groups, House Accounts	Scheduled departure date for reservations or end date for group/house accounts.	`Profile > End / Check Out Date`	N/A
Rate Plan Code / Name	Reservations, Groups	Contracted rate code identifier and rate plan description (e.g., `AP14` / ADVANCE PURCHASE 14).	Rate Engine Configuration	N/A
Payment Method / Payment Type	Reservations, Groups, Payment Types Summary	Primary tender method backing the deposit (VISA, Wire Transfer, CASH, LDB).	Payment Gateway / Tender Engine	N/A
Credit Card Type	Payment Types Summary	Specific credit card network brand (VISA, MASTER, AMEX, OTHER).	Card Processing Gateway	N/A
Last 4 Digits	Reservations, Groups	Masked credit card account digits used for transaction verification.	Payment Gateway Token	N/A
Due Date	Reservations, Groups	Contracted deadline date for advance deposit payment collection.	Deposit Policy Engine	N/A
Deposit Collected Until Date	Reservations, Groups, House Accounts	Cumulative historical gross deposit collected prior to the current business day.	Prior Period Ledger Log	🟢 Yes
Deposit Collected Today	Reservations, Groups, House Accounts, Net Totals	Gross advance deposit funds processed and collected during the current day.	`SUM(Day's Deposit Receipts)`	🟢 Yes
Deposit Used	Reservations, Groups, House Accounts, Net Totals	Gross deposit funds transferred or offset against folios upon check-in/service rendering.	`SUM(Day's Applied Deposits)`	🟢 Yes
Charges Until Date	Reservations, Groups, House Accounts	Cumulative historical charges posted to the account prior to today.	Prior Period Ledger Log	🟢 Yes
Today's Charges	Reservations, Groups, House Accounts, Net Totals	Gross charges posted directly to the advance deposit account during the current day.	`SUM(Day's Direct Charges)`	🟢 Yes
Charges Used	Reservations, Groups, House Accounts, Net Totals	Gross charges offset against deposit balances during the current day.	Ledger Transfer Log	🟢 Yes
Opening Balance	Reservations, Groups, House Accounts, Net Totals, Balances	Liability balance carried forward at the start of the operational day.	Prior Business Day Closing Balance	🟢 Yes
Today's Net Change	Reservations, Groups, House Accounts, Net Totals, Balances	Net financial movement occurring during the day (`Deposits Collected - Deposits Used`).	`Day's Net Activity`	🟢 Yes
Closing Balance	Reservations, Groups, House Accounts, Net Totals, Balances	Calculated gross liability balance at business date close (`Opening Balance + Net Change`).	`Opening Balance + Today's Net Change`	🟢 Yes
Date	Payment Types Summary	Business date associated with the payment summary metrics.	System Business Date	N/A
Actual Today	Payment Types Summary	Gross advance deposit prepayments collected today for the specific tender type.	Day's Tender Posting Engine	🟢 Yes
M-T-D / LY-M-T-D	Payment Types Summary	Month-to-date advance deposit collections for current vs. prior year period.	Historical Performance Log	🟢 Yes
Y-T-D / LY-T-D	Payment Types Summary	Year-to-date advance deposit collections for current vs. prior year period.	Historical Performance Log	🟢 Yes

Customization & Platform Features

User & Property Preferences

Personal Preference: Tailor your individual view by hiding or dragging columns. Your preference saves automatically for future sessions.
Property Defaults: System Admins can configure standard default layouts across all property users to streamline operational reporting. To maximize audit efficiency, group the columns into the below logical blocks:
- Section 1: Reservations
  - Reservation & Guest Identifiers (Cols 1–3): Confirmation Number | Guest Name | First Name |Last Name |Company Name
  - Stay Window & Rate Metadata (Cols 4–7): Check In Date | Check Out Date | Rate Plan Code | Rate Plan Name
  - Payment Guarantee & Due Dates (Cols 8–11): Payment Method | Last Four Digits | Due Date | Deposit Collected Until Date
  - Deposit Activity & Charges (Cols 12–15): Deposit Collected Today| Deposit Used | Charges Until Date | Today's Charges
  - Ledger Roll-Forward & Balances (Cols 16–19): Charges Used | Opening Balance | Today's Net Change | Closing Balance
- Section 2: Groups
  - Group & Account Identifiers (Cols 1–4): Group Code | Group Name | Group Contact Name| Company Name
  - Group Event Window & Rate (Cols 5–8): Start Date | End Date | Rate Plan Code | Rate Plan Name
  - Payment Guarantee & Due Dates (Cols 9–12): Payment Method | Last Four Digits | Due Date | Deposit Collected Until Date
  - Deposit Activity & Charges (Cols 13–16): Deposit Collected Today| Deposit Used | Charges Until Date | Today's Charges
  - Ledger Roll-Forward & Balances (Cols 17–20): Charges Used | Opening Balance | Today's Net Change | Closing Balance
- Section 3: House Accounts
  - Account Identifiers (Cols 1–3): House Account Code| House Accoutn Name | Company Name
  - Account Active Window (Cols 4–5): Start Date | End Date
  - Deposit Activity & Dates (Cols 6–10): Deposit Collected Today| Deposit Used | Charges Until Date | Today's Charges
  - Ledger Roll-Forward & Balances (Cols 11–14): Charges Used | Opening Balance | Today's Net Change | Closing Balance
- Section 4: Net Totals
  - Module Classification (Col 1): Type
    
    Module Deposit Activity (Cols 2–5): Deposit Collected Today| Deposit Used | Today's Charges | Charges Used
    
    Module Ledger Roll-Forward (Cols 6–8): Opening Balance | Today's Net Change | Closing Balance
- Section 5: Balances
  - Ledger Reconciliation Item & Amount (Cols 1–2): Balance Item Description | Amount
- Section 6: Payment Type Summary
  - Tender Method & Date (Cols 1–3): Date | Payment Type | Credit Card Type
  - Deposit Collection Production (Cols 4–8): Actual Today | M-T-D | LY-M-T-D | Y-T-D | LY-T-D

Advanced Controls

Exporting & Audit Delivery: Download in Excel or PDF format to support end-of-month unearned revenue tie-outs, general ledger balancing, or night audit documentation.
Filtering: Filter data by specific Payment Method, Rate Plan Code, or non-zero Today's Net Change entries.
Highlighting (Conditional Formatting): Apply custom rules to automatically highlight overdue deposits (Due Date < Today) or high-value advance prepayments.

Within ⚖️ Ledgers & Trial Balance & 💳 Payments & Transactions:

Trial Balance Report – Translate advance deposit liability totals into formal General Ledger control accounts.
Day End Summary Report – Review consolidated daily revenue, tax, payment, and deposit blueprints at business date close.
Payment Activity Overview – Audit tokenized credit card transaction approvals for advance deposit prepayments.
Control Report – Reconcile daily cashier shift drops and merchant processing gateway credit card batches.

Cross-Pillar Deep Dives:

👥 Group Blocks: To inspect group room block pickup and contracted deposit schedules, cross-reference Group Allocations and Reservations.
📬 Billing & Receivables (AR): To inspect corporate prepayments transferred to city ledger billing, review Direct Bill Reconciliation Report.
📈 Forward Revenue & Analytics: Looking for forward-facing revenue projections or macro performance metrics (like RevPAR or ADR)? Please visit the [📈 Revenue & Analytics] reporting hub.