Reservations
Use this page to take a booking in the admin, check guests in and out, and record payment.
Quick steps
To take a booking:
- Click Lodging, open the Reservations tab and click New Reservation.
- Pick the Site Type. Leave Specific Site (optional) on Auto-assign, or pick a site.
- Set the Check-in Date, Check-out Date and Guests. Type the guest's name, phone and email.
- Click Create Reservation. The booking is Confirmed and the guest is emailed a confirmation.
When the guest arrives and leaves:
- Click the booking's confirmation number to open it.
- Click Check In Guest. The site shows Occupied.
- When they leave, click Check Out Guest. The site goes to cleaning.
- If money is owed, take it with the Room button on the register, or click Mark paid in full if they paid another way.
Clerks do walk-ins, check-in and check-out from the register instead. See Front Desk on the Register.
Common questions
The guest paid but the booking still says Owing. A payment only reaches the booking when it's taken through the register's Room button. If it was paid another way, click Mark paid in full.
The guest never came. Once the check-in date has arrived, open the booking and click Mark no-show. The site is freed. Nothing is refunded.
The guest arrived a few days early. The button reads Check in early and asks you to confirm. Only confirm if they're actually here.
How do I give a stay away free? Click Complimentary (no charge). The notes record what it was worth and who waived it.
Does cancelling refund the guest? No. Click Cancel Reservation, then refund any online payment through your card processor.
More detail: the reservation list and its warnings
A reservation is one booking: a guest, a site type (and usually a particular site), and the dates they are staying. This page covers working with reservations in the admin. Clerks do the same day-to-day jobs — walk-ins, check-in, check-out — from the register; see Front Desk on the Register.
Open Lodging → Reservations.
The Reservation List
The list shows bookings latest check-in date first, 25 to a page. The page links at the bottom take you to older bookings — or search for one, or narrow the list with the filters below.
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Confirmation # | The booking number, for example LDG-7K2M9QXA. Click it to open the booking. |
| Guest | The guest's name, or Walk-in Guest when none was given. |
| Site / Type | The site, or the site type if no site has been given yet. |
| Check-in, Check-out, Nights | The stay. |
| Status | The booking's status. See Booking Statuses. |
| Payment | Whether money is still owed. See below. |
| Total | The booking total. |
Finding a booking
- Search — type a guest's name or a confirmation number and click Apply. It also finds the other people named on a booking.
- Status — show only one status, for example Checked In.
- From / To — show stays that fall anywhere between the two dates. Fill in both.
Clear resets everything.
Warnings in the Status column
Two warnings in amber catch bookings that have been forgotten:
| Warning | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Never checked in | The check-in date has passed and the booking is still Pending or Confirmed. | If the guest is here, check them in. If they never came, open the booking and click Mark no-show. |
| Past check-out date | The guest is still checked in after their check-out date. | Check them out if they have left, or change the dates if they are staying on. |
A yellow Pay on arrival badge marks a guest who chose to pay at the property when booking online.
The Payment column
| Badge | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Paid (green) | Nothing is owed. |
| Complimentary (blue) | The stay was given free — nothing was ever charged. |
| Owing $X (amber) | Money is still owed on a stay that has not ended. |
| Owing $X (red) | Money is still owed and the guest has checked out, or should have. Chase these. |
| — | Cancelled. |
More detail: every booking field, and why a booking can be refused
Taking a Booking
Click New Reservation (on the list or the dashboard).
Booking Details
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Site Type | Yes | What the guest is booking. |
| Specific Site (optional) | No | Leave it on Auto-assign and the first free site of that type (by name) is given. Choosing a site first sets the type for you; choosing a type narrows the site list to that type. |
| Check-in Date / Check-out Date | Yes | They start as today and tomorrow. Check-out must be after check-in. |
| Guests | Yes | Everyone staying, not just whoever booked. |
| Guest first name / Guest last name | No | Just the guest's name. Anything else belongs in Notes. |
| Phone / Email | No | Give an email address and the confirmation email goes to that address. |
| Other guests | No | Appears when Guests is more than 1: a box for each other person, all optional. |
| Or link an existing customer | No | Pick an existing customer instead of typing a name. |
| Deposit ($) | No | The deposit you are asking for. Leave it blank to use the site type's deposit. See the note below. |
| Pets / Vehicles | No | Only shown when a site type charges a pet fee or an extra vehicle fee. Pets are charged at the type's pet fee; the first vehicle is included and each extra one is charged the type's extra vehicle fee. See Extra Charges. |
| Rental package | No | Only shown when you have rental packages. Leave it on None — charge the nightly rate, or pick a package: the check-out date is then set from the package length and the package price is charged. The package must belong to the chosen site type. |
Then Notes for anything else — requests, arrangements, internal notes.
If Seasonal / long-term contracts is switched on, a contract section follows. See Seasonal Contracts.
Click Create Reservation.
How the guest is matched to a customer
You do not need to look the guest up first. When you save, Brother POS matches them to an existing customer — by email if you gave one, otherwise by phone, otherwise by exact name — and creates a new customer record if there is no match. The stay then shows on that customer's record. If the matched customer has no email address on file, the one you typed is saved to their record.
What happens when you save
- The booking is Confirmed, and its price is worked out from the site type's rates. See Rates & Seasonal Pricing.
- The site is marked Reserved.
- The guest is emailed Booking Confirmed — [number] with their dates, the total, your cancellation policy and a Need to cancel? Click here link. It goes to the email typed on the form; with none typed, to the email on the customer's record, if there is one.
- Booked Via is recorded as Walk in.
Nothing is charged. See Collecting payment below.
An amount typed in Deposit ($) becomes the booking's deposit. Left blank, the deposit comes from the site type's Deposit (%) or Or Flat Deposit ($). Either way it is the deposit asked for — it is not recorded as paid until you click Mark paid in full or the guest pays.
Why a booking can be refused
The booking is not saved and the reason is shown at the top of the form. The common ones:
| Message | Cause |
|---|---|
| No available units of type '...' for the selected dates | Every site of that type is booked, in maintenance, or switched off. |
| Requested unit is not available for the selected dates | The site you picked is taken for some of those nights. |
| Maximum N guests allowed for this accommodation type | Guests is above the type's Max Guests. |
| Minimum N-night stay required for the selected dates | A seasonal rate covering the arrival date has a minimum stay. |
| This unit type is unavailable for the selected dates (blackout period: ...) | A blackout period. See Blackout periods. |
| Invalid rental package selected | The package you picked belongs to a different site type. |
| Pets are not allowed for this accommodation type | Pets is filled in but the site type does not allow pets. |
| [Site] is a [type], not a [other type]. Pick one or the other. | The site you chose does not belong to the site type. |
| Maximum stay is 365 nights | Stays are limited to a year. |
More detail: the reservation page
The Reservation Page
Click a confirmation number to open a booking. Its heading is Reservation and the number.
Across the top
The booking's status badge, then any warning — "The check-in date has passed and the guest was never checked in." or "The check-out date has passed — check the guest out if they have left." — then the buttons that fit its status:
| Button | Shown when |
|---|---|
| Check In Guest | Pending or Confirmed. When the check-in date is more than a day away it reads Check in early instead. |
| Mark no-show | Pending or Confirmed, once the check-in date has arrived. |
| Check Out Guest | Checked In. Metered sites show an End Meter (kWh) box and Check Out instead. |
| Cancel Reservation | Pending or Confirmed. A checked-in guest is checked out, not cancelled. |
Edit and Back sit in the page header.
Reservation Details
Check-in, Check-out, Nights, Guests, Nightly Rate, Total, the deposit row and Balance Due, then the payment buttons (see below), Booked Via and any Special Requests the guest typed online.
The deposit row reads Deposit (not yet paid) until money has come in, then Paid so far with the amount collected — an online deposit, a payment on the register, or Mark paid in full. Balance Due is the total minus what has been paid so far; until anything is paid it is the whole total.
Site Info and Guest Info
Site Info shows the site type and the site (click it to open the site).
Guest Info shows the Booking number with a Copy button, the guest's name, and — when the booking is linked to a customer — their email and phone. Customer Account is shown too when the account holder is someone other than the guest.
Guest documents
When the guest has uploaded documents on their trip details page — a photo ID, a boating licence — a Guest documents card lists each file with its size and upload date. Click a file's name to open it. See The trip details page.
More detail: checking in, no-shows and the guest folio
Checking a Guest In
Click Check In Guest. The booking becomes Checked In, and:
- If no site was chosen, a free site of the right type is given now.
- The site is marked Occupied.
- On a metered site, the site's current meter reading is recorded as the starting reading.
- A guest folio is opened — a running bill for anything the guest buys during their stay — as long as a cash drawer is open on one of your registers. With no drawer open, the guest is checked in without a folio.
Check-in can be refused:
| Message | Cause |
|---|---|
| [Guest]'s stay starts [date]. Check in early only if they have actually arrived. | The check-in date is more than one day away and the early check-in was not confirmed. Use Check in early (see below). |
| Liability waiver must be signed before check-in... | Your store requires a signed waiver and this booking does not have one. See Liability Waivers. |
| No available units of type ... for check-in | No site was chosen and none of that type is free. |
Early arrivals
When the check-in date is more than a day away, the button reads Check in early. Clicking it asks "This stay starts [date]. Check the guest in early anyway? Only do this if they have actually arrived." — confirm to check them in. It is the same override as the register's Check in anyway.
No-Shows
Once a booking's check-in date has arrived and the guest has not been checked in, the booking shows Mark no-show. Confirm "Mark this guest as a no-show? The site becomes free for these dates." The booking becomes No Show and the site is freed. Nothing is refunded.
The Guest Folio
While a guest is checked in and has a folio, the reservation page shows Guest Folio with every charge on it and its total.
To add a charge, click one of the quick buttons — they fill in a description and amount — or type your own Description, Amount ($) and Qty, then click Add. The quick buttons depend on your property type. A campground gets Firewood Bundle ($8.00), Extra Vehicle ($10.00), Ice Bag ($4.00), Late Check-Out ($25.00) and Laundry ($5.00); a hotel gets Room Service, Minibar, Parking (Daily), Late Check-Out and Laundry.
Items rung up on the register can go on the folio too. See Front Desk on the Register.
More detail: checking out and electric meters
Checking a Guest Out
Click Check Out Guest. The booking becomes Checked Out, the site goes to Cleaning, and a Checkout clean task appears on the Housekeeping board for that site.
Electric meter sites
On a campground site with a meter, enter the reading in End Meter (kWh) and click Check Out. The guest is charged for the kWh used, minus the type's Free kWh per Night for each night they actually stayed, at the Rate per kWh, and the charge is added to the booking total. The reading also becomes the site's current reading for the next guest.
Unpaid folio charges
If the guest's folio has unpaid charges, the reservation page warns you before check-out: "The folio has $X of unpaid charges. Checking out here adds them to the balance; checking out on the register rings them up there."
Checking out in the admin moves each unpaid folio charge onto the booking as a line named Folio: and the item — for example Folio: Firewood Bundle — in the Add-Ons panel, and adds it to the balance. The message after check-out says how much was moved. Collect it with the Room button on the register, or click Mark paid in full if it was paid some other way.
Checking out on the register instead loads the folio's items into the cart there, so you can take payment on the spot. See Front Desk on the Register.
More detail: payment, Mark paid in full and Complimentary
Collecting Payment
A booking can be paid in four ways:
| How | What to do |
|---|---|
| Online, when they book | Nothing — the deposit (or the full amount, if they chose) is recorded against the booking automatically. See Online Booking. |
| At the register | Use the Room button on the register's cart to bring what the booking owes into the cart and take payment. The payment is recorded on the booking. See Front Desk on the Register. |
| Paid some other way | Cash in hand, a cheque, an e-transfer: click Mark paid in full. |
| Not charging at all | Click Complimentary (no charge). |
Mark paid in full
Mark paid in full appears under Reservation Details on any booking that still owes money. After you confirm "Record this booking as paid in full?", the whole balance is recorded as paid: Paid so far becomes the total, Balance Due becomes $0 and the list shows Paid. The panel then reads Paid in full. The register's Mark paid in full does exactly the same.
Mark paid in full only records the payment. It does not ring up a sale or put anything in a cash drawer.
Complimentary
Complimentary (no charge) waives the whole stay — for a staff member, a prize, a stay the club is covering. After you confirm "Waive the whole amount? The guest will owe nothing and their confirmation will say the stay is covered.":
- The nightly rate, total, deposit, fees, add-ons and any electric charge are all set to $0.
- A line is added to the booking's notes recording what it was worth, who waived it, and when — for example "Complimentary — $240.00 waived by manager@example.com on 3 Jul 2026."
- The booking shows Complimentary in blue, on the list and on the page.
Neither button appears on a cancelled booking.
Pay on arrival
A guest who chose to pay at the property when booking online shows Payment: Pay at property and Due at check-in — the amount to collect when they arrive.
More detail: add-ons, damage holds and waivers
Add-Ons
The Add-Ons panel lists any extras on the booking, with a Subtotal. To add one, pick it from Add an extra, set the Qty, and click Add; Remove takes one off. Adding or removing an add-on changes the booking total straight away.
When you have no add-ons set up, the panel reads "No add-ons configured yet." with a Create your catalog link. See Add-Ons.
Damage Hold
When the site type had a Damage Deposit Hold ($) at the time of booking, the booking shows a Damage Hold panel: "Pre-authorize $X on the guest's card. Capture or release at check-out."
A hold needs a card saved on file, which happens when the guest pays their deposit online. Without one, the panel says "No saved card on file. The guest's card is saved automatically when they pay the rental deposit through the storefront checkout." and there is nothing to click.
| Step | What to do | Status shown |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Put the hold on | Click Authorize $X hold. The money is held on the guest's card but not taken. | Authorized |
| 2a. Damage found | Enter the Capture amount (up to the hold) and click Capture damage. Any amount you do not capture is released. | Captured or Partially captured |
| 2b. No damage | Click Release hold and confirm. The hold is dropped and the guest is not charged. | Released |
If the card is declined, the status shows Failed — "Authorization failed. Verify the card on file is still valid, or collect a new one."
Liability Waivers
The Liability Waivers panel lists every waiver sent for this booking, and Send new waiver starts one already filled in with the guest's details. See Liability Waivers.
More detail: changing or cancelling a booking
Changing a Booking
Click Edit to change the site type, site, dates, guests, names, contact details, deposit, notes or contract details, then Update Reservation.
- Changing the dates works the nightly rate out again for the new dates. Add-ons stay on the booking; ones charged per night or per guest are re-priced for the new stay.
- Changing the dates, Guests, Pets or Vehicles works the extra-guest, pet and extra-vehicle fees out again.
- The rental package is chosen when the booking is made and cannot be changed on Edit.
- A new site or new dates are still checked against other bookings on that site; a clash is refused.
- A booking on a site type or site that has since been switched off keeps its own type and site in the lists, so it can still be saved.
Cancelling
Click Cancel Reservation and confirm "Cancel this reservation? This cannot be undone." The booking becomes Cancelled and the site is freed. The button is only shown on Pending and Confirmed bookings — a guest who is already checked in is checked out instead. For a guest who never came, use Mark no-show.
Cancelling does not refund anything. If the guest paid online and is owed money back, refund it through your card processor.
Guests can also cancel a booking themselves from the link in their confirmation email, up to their check-in date. See Online Booking.
More detail: the calendar
The Calendar
Click Calendar on the Reservations list for Reservation Calendar — a month grid with a row for every active site and a column for every day. Each booked night shows the first letters of the guest's name, coloured by status:
| Colour | Status |
|---|---|
| Yellow | Pending |
| Blue | Confirmed |
| Green | Checked In |
| Grey | Checked Out |
| Red | Cancelled / No Show |
When a cancelled booking and an active one fall on the same site and night, the active one is shown. Today's column is highlighted. Hover a cell for the guest's name and booking number; click it to open the booking. Previous and Next move a month at a time, and List View goes back to the list.
On a phone, the calendar becomes a list of days, each with its bookings and a count of sites occupied.
More detail: troubleshooting and best practices
Troubleshooting
A guest arrived early. When the check-in date is more than a day away, the button reads Check in early and asks you to confirm. Only confirm if the guest is actually here — it takes the site out of the pool. Or change the booking's dates to today with Edit.
There is no Guest Folio on a checked-in booking. No cash drawer was open when the guest was checked in, so no folio was opened. Open a drawer before checking guests in.
The guest paid at the register but the booking still says Owing. A payment only reaches the booking when it is taken through the Room button. If it was rung up another way, click Mark paid in full on the booking. If something was added after the payment — more add-ons, moved folio charges, extra nights — that is a new balance to collect.
Best Practices
- Always take an email address. It is how the guest gets their confirmation, their cancel link and their arrival reminders.
- Work the Never checked in and Past check-out date warnings daily. Each one is a site that might be sold, or blocked, by mistake.
- Record every payment. Either take it through the register's Room button or click Mark paid in full — otherwise the list keeps showing the booking as owing.
- Use Complimentary, not a $0 edit, when giving a stay away, so the notes record what it was worth.
What's Next?
- Front Desk on the Register — walk-ins, check-in, check-out and payment at the till.
- Seasonal Contracts — long-term stays.
- Housekeeping — what happens after check-out.
- Online Booking — bookings that come in from your website.