Hotel City Ledger Reconciliation
Reconcile group masters, direct bill accounts, and BTC settlements between the PMS and the AR sub-ledger. Terrace ties every open account to its contract, payment history, and aging.
- less time on city ledger aging
- 70%less time on city ledger aging
- faster AR collection
- 20%faster AR collection
- of group masters reconciled
- 100%of group masters reconciled
Group billing, direct bill, BTC — one workflow.
Terrace ingests city ledger aging, group masters, payments, and sales contracts and reconciles them against the GL. Collectors and AR accountants focus on real action items instead of rebuilding the aging summary.
- Aging-to-GL automatic tie-out
- Group master validation against contract
- BTC payment matching to folios
What is hotel city ledger reconciliation?
Hotel city ledger reconciliation is the process of tying a hotel's accounts receivable sub-ledger — which holds group master folios, direct bill accounts, travel agent BTC settlements, and other post-stay AR balances — to the AR balance on the GL, and ensuring every open balance has documented activity, payment history, and an aging treatment that matches policy.
Group billing reconciliation is a subset: validating that each open group master folio's routing rules, posted charges, payments, and final balance match the original sales contract. Hotel city ledger reconciliation software like Terrace AI automates the aging tie-out, group master validation, BTC payment matching, and write-off workflow so AR accountants spend their time collecting rather than building schedules.
- Aging total matches AR on GL
- Group masters tie to sales contracts
- BTC payments applied to folios
- Routing rules verified per master
- Aged accounts have follow-up activity
- Write-offs documented in audit trail
Why hotel city ledger reconciliation is painful for accounting teams
Group masters split charges across guests
A single group master may pay for some guests' room and tax while individuals pay incidentals, creating routing rules that must reconcile exactly.
Direct bill aging gets stale fast
Direct bill accounts often go uncontacted for weeks past due, and aging summaries in the PMS may not reflect recent payments.
BTC settlements arrive in batches
Bill-to-company payments often clear in batches with little per-stay detail, so application to individual folios is manual.
Group master closes when stays end, not when paid
Group masters can be closed in the PMS before payment is collected, moving the balance to AR with limited supporting detail.
Multi-property group contracts complicate AR
Sales-led contracts that span multiple properties create AR balances that must reconcile per-property and at the group level.
Write-offs and disputes lack documentation
Write-off requests and disputes often lack a supporting trail tying the AR balance to the original contract, stay, and payment history.
What data is matched in hotel city ledger reconciliation?
- Account
- Invoice
- Days outstanding
- Master folio
- Routed charges
- Payments
- Customer
- Credit terms
- Balance
- Contract
- Block
- Rate
- Cutoff
- Reference
- Amount
- Posted date
- Account
- Posting
- Balance
Common hotel city ledger reconciliation exceptions
A group master is still open in the PMS more than 30 days after the last departure date with no payment posted.
A bill-to-company payment was received but not applied to specific guest folios within the group master.
A charge routed from a guest folio to the group master is missing on the master folio.
The total city ledger aging does not equal the AR balance on the GL.
A direct bill account has aged past 90 days with no payment or correspondence on file.
Posted revenue on a group master differs from the contract value due to attrition, cancellation, or actualized changes.
How hotels manually reconcile the city ledger
- 1
Pull the city ledger aging summary from the PMS for the period.
- 2
Pull the AR balance on the GL for the same period.
- 3
Tie aging total to the GL receivable balance, investigating any variance.
- 4
Pull each open group master from the PMS and verify routing rules and posted charges.
- 5
Match BTC payment receipts to specific group masters or individual folios.
- 6
Identify aged accounts (60+, 90+ days) and document follow-up activity.
- 7
Coordinate write-off requests with controller and document supporting evidence.
- 8
Close city ledger reconciliation for the period and store the audit trail.
Automated hotel city ledger reconciliation with Terrace AI
Terrace ties aging to GL, validates every group master against contract, matches BTC payments to folios, and surfaces aged accounts for collection.
Aging tie-out
Aging-to-GL automatic tie-out
Terrace ties the city ledger aging total to the AR balance on the GL each period, with drill-down to per-account detail.
Group masters
Group master validation
Every group master is checked for routing completeness, payment status, and variance against the original sales contract.
BTC matching
BTC payment matching
Bill-to-company payments are matched to group masters or individual folios using reference numbers and stay dates.
Aging insights
Aging escalation and insights
Aged accounts are surfaced with their full payment history, contact log, and dispute notes so collectors prioritize the right accounts.
Multi-property AR
Multi-property direct bill management
Direct bill accounts that span multiple properties roll up to a corporate view so sales contracts can be reconciled at the customer level.
Write-offs
Write-off workflow with audit trail
Write-off requests are documented with the supporting contract, stay records, and payment history attached for approval.
Put hotel revenue on autopilot
From OTA statement to GL posting — faster cash, accurate books, and less manual reconciliation.
Frequently asked questions
Hotel city ledger reconciliation is the process of tying the property's accounts receivable sub-ledger — which holds group master folios, direct bill accounts, and bill-to-company balances — to the AR balance on the accounting GL, and ensuring every open balance has current activity, payment history, and supporting documentation.
Continue exploring AR reconciliation workflows
Browse every hotel reconciliation workflow Terrace AI automates.
Match in-house guest balances and routed charges to the GL.
Tie cash, AR, advance deposits, and accrual accounts each month.
Verify guest folios balance per stay before checkout.