Bill guest stays with folios, create invoices, and track deposit payments.
Overview
A folio is the guest bill for a booking. It lists every charge – room nights, extras, and any post-stay items you add – before you turn it into an accounting invoice. Folios move through Draft, Open, Invoiced, and Closed states.
Access folios under Hotel → Finance → Folios. Managers also use Invoices (folio) and Deposits / Guarantees for posted accounting documents.
How It Works
From a confirmed booking, click Create folio to generate a folio with room and extra lines copied automatically. The folio opens for review; you can add or edit charge lines before invoicing.
Each booking may have only one folio. When ready, click Create invoice on the folio to post a customer invoice using the property’s revenue account and default taxes. The folio status becomes Invoiced.
Deposits are handled separately on the booking – see Cancellations & Deposits. Deposit invoices appear under Deposits / Guarantees, not on the folio invoice list.
Step-by-Step Guide
- Open a confirmed booking with room lines and applied rates.
- Click Create folio. Room charges (nights × unit price) and extras are copied to folio lines.
- Open Hotel → Finance → Folios or use Open folio on the booking.
- Add any additional charges on the folio lines tab (minibar, late checkout fee).
- Click Open folio if still in draft – status becomes Open.
- Click Create invoice to generate the customer invoice (Hotel Manager).
- Review the invoice under Finance → Invoices (folio).
- When the stay is fully settled, click Close on the folio.
- For advance payments, use Create deposit invoice on the booking instead – track under Deposits / Guarantees.
Fields Table
| Field Name | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
Folio – Reference |
Auto-generated folio number |
FOL/2026/00056 |
Booking |
Linked reservation (one folio per booking) |
HB/2026/00128 |
Guest |
Bill-to contact from the booking |
Jane Smith |
Property |
Hotel on the folio |
Grand Plaza Hotel |
Folio – Status |
Draft, Open, Invoiced, Closed |
Open |
Line – Description |
Charge label on the folio |
HB/00128 – 301 (3 night(s)) |
Line – Quantity |
Units charged (often nights) |
3 |
Line – Unit price |
Price per unit |
149.00 |
Line – Subtotal |
Quantity × unit price |
447.00 |
Untaxed total |
Sum of folio line subtotals |
492.00 |
Invoices |
Customer invoices linked to this folio |
INV/2026/0088 |
Field Explanations
Folio – Reference
Unique folio ID for internal tracking and guest inquiries at checkout.
Booking
The stay this folio bills. Cannot create a second folio for the same booking.
Guest
Copied from the booking. Becomes the invoice partner when you create the customer invoice.
Property
Determines which revenue account and taxes apply when invoicing.
Folio – Status
- Draft – just created.
- Open – active bill being built.
- Invoiced – invoice posted.
- Closed – archived after payment.
Line – Description
What appears on the guest invoice line – room stay, extra, or manual charge.
Line – Quantity
For room charges, usually equals number of nights. For extras, the count sold.
Line – Unit price
Nightly rate or per-item price before taxes.
Line – Subtotal
Line total before tax. All subtotals roll up to untaxed total.
Untaxed total
Full folio amount before taxes. Useful for quick checkout review.
Invoices
Links to posted accounting invoices. Open from here to send or register payment in Odoo Accounting.
Tips
- Create the folio at check-in and add charges during the stay so checkout is a single invoice click.
- Ensure the property has a room revenue account set – invoicing fails without it.
- Deduct deposit payments manually in Accounting when settling the final invoice – the deposit invoice is a separate document on the booking.
Common Mistakes
- Invoicing empty folio Add at least one charge line before creating an invoice.
- Creating folio without room lines The booking needs room lines first – otherwise folio creation is blocked.
- Confusing deposit and folio invoices Deposits are on the booking; stay charges are on the folio. Reconcile both at checkout.