What is a Booking Statement (and how does it work)?

This article is for: Managers

The Booking Statement is a PDF document that provides all critical information about the booking to your guest.  It includes the following information:

• Guest and booking details
• Property manager (or owner-manager) name and contact information
• Rental Terms (provided these have been supplied to us)

Once the booking is Accepted, the following information can also be found in the Booking Statement:

• Quoted charges (if a quotation exists for this booking)
• A Payment Schedule showing when payments are due

Then, if any Charges or Payments are recorded on the booking the following information also appears in the Booking Statement:

• A Payment Summary showing the total charge, what’s been paid so far, and the balance remaining
• Record of Charges and Payment information.

Booking Statements can be sent as a PDF attachment on any emails you send via the Bookabach NZ website (tick the box in the “Attach” section when you’re on the Send Email page).  You can also download the Booking Statement (you’ll find the link in an opened booking) and send it via Outlook or any other email software. 

Renters can also view/download the Booking Statement themselves by going to My Bookabach > Bookings > Booking Statement: view/download.

How do Quotations work?

This article is for: Managers

To enable the Quotations function, please:

1) Go to http://manage.bookabach.co.nz and log in.
2) Go to My Settings > Advanced feature settings.
3) Tick the “Enable Quotations and Payments” box and click the “Save” button.

The website automatically creates a quotation whenever a rental booking is created.  It does this for bookings received via the website and bookings you add manually.  The quotation is based on:

• Your rental tariffs over the booking dates from information you’ve provided in Listing > Edit Pricing
• Included, Optional and Required Extras from Listing > Edit Pricing > Extras.   You’ll need to delete any Optional Extras that don’t apply for the booking.
• Any applicable discounts based on Special Deals information you’ve provided in Listing > Edit pricing/Deals

To edit a Quotation, open the relevant booking and click the “Quotations” tab.  You’ll find links to edit, delete or add pricing information.

This Quotation will initially appear as ESTIMATED.  It won’t appear on your guest’s Booking Statement until it’s been VALIDATED (approved) by you and the booking status is “Accepted”.  You can make any changes to the quotation; edit line items; and new line items.  After you’ve validated the quotation it becomes available to your guest as part of the the Booking Statement. 

You can manually override the quotation using the “Override” link, and specify a single quoted value.  “OVERRIDDEN” will show on the quoted value if this is done.

Calculations are automatically performed on any booking less than 31 days long.  “TOO LONG” will appear on bookings too long to calculate.

When you accept a booking you have the option to validate the quotation and convert the quotation to a charge all in a single step.

NOTE: If you edit dates on a booking, then you’ll have to manually re-set the quotation as our system doesn’t automatically do this.

How do I edit, update or change a booking?

This article is for: Managers

To edit a booking:

1. Go to http://manage.bookabach.co.nz and log in.
2. Find the booking using the search field at the top of the page, or by going to the Bookings page.  Click the down arrow in the date range box and select the required time frame.
3. Click the “Open Booking” link for the entry.
4. Click the Edit booking link (located under the renter’s name).
5. Make your changes and click the “Save” button.

If you can’t edit a Confirmed in-progress booking, please contact us or put in a support request before the scheduled departure date and we’ll make the changes for you.

Note that if you are using Payment Tracking (Quotations and Payments) and you change dates, then you will need to re-quote (reset the quotation) to calculate the new charges.

How do I cancel a booking? (owners/property managers)

This article is for: Managers

Should you have a cancellation please take time to cancel the booking. To do this:

1) Go to http://manage.bookabach.co.nz and log in.
2) Click the Bookings tab.
3) Find the booking in question by using the search facility at the top of the page, or by clicking the down-arrow in the date-range box and selecting “All future bookings”.
4) Click the “Cancel booking” link on the right-hand side of the entry.

We do not charge Performance Plan success fees on stays that do not go ahead but you need to cancel the booking before the scheduled departure date.  If you can’t cancel a Confirmed in-progress booking, please notify Bookabach before the scheduled departure date and we’ll do it for you.

If you didn’t cancel a Performance Plan booking before the scheduled departure date, we can cancel the success fee invoice for you, but charge a manual transaction fee to do this.

How do I set up a Rental Terms (a rental agreement)?

This article is for: Managers

To define your Rental Terms:

1) Go to http://manage.bookabach.co.nz and log in.

2) Go to My Settings > Rental Terms. 

3) Select the online Rental Terms option and complete the basic questionnaire. 

Once you save the questionnaire form, the following information is created:

* Payment Terms: What portion of the payment should be paid when (e.g. deposit vs. balance)

* Cancellation Terms: Settings associated with how you handle cancellations. 

* Cancellation Charges: What amounts are forfeited when a booking is cancelled.

* Other Rental Terms: Any other Rental Terms you want to include in your agreement. For example you may have a policy on pets, or on-site camping.

Once you’ve created your Rental Terms, you need to validate them before they can be used.  Once they have been validated, they’ll be included on a Booking Statement (see the separate help article on this).

Note that we snap-shot your Rental Terms on each booking request.  So,  if you make changes over time you still have a record of what terms applied when a booking was lodged.

How do I recover a deleted booking?

This article is for: Managers

Bookabach lets you recover bookings that were either declined or cancelled (deleted). To do this:

1) Go to http://manage.bookabach.co.nz and log in.

2) Go to the Bookings Tab.

3) Click the down arrow in the date-range box and select the required time period.

4) Tick the “Show deleted (Declined/Cancelled)” check-box (located under the “Table View” button) to display deleted bookings (shown in pink).

5) Use the “Recover booking” link for the entry you want to recover.

Rental bookings that are recovered are shown in the “Requested” state.  From there you will need to Accept/Confirm/Complete them as required.

How do I Confirm an Accepted booking?

This article is for: Managers

You should confirm bookings once a deposit has been received as security.  To convert an Accepted Booking to a Confirmed Booking:

1. Go to http://manage.bookabach.co.nz and log in.

2. Click the Bookings Tab

3. Find the booking using the search facility at the top of the page, or by clicking the down arrow in the date-range box and selecting “All future bookings”.

4. Click the “Confirm booking” link (on the right-hand side).

We give you the option to send an email to your customer indicating that the booking has been confirmed.  Confirmed bookings show as red (booked) on your calendar and red (booked) on your listing.

How do I manage bookings on Bookabach/Bookastay?

This article is for: Managers

Bookabach helps you keep track of the state of your bookings.  For rental bookings the following states apply:

REQUESTED > ACCEPTED > CONFIRMED > COMPLETED

1) When you receive a booking request, the entry will show in the REQUESTED state (shown in YELLOW)

2) After vetting the person, you will decide whether or not you wish to rent to them.  Should you decide to go ahead and accept the booking, the state becomes ACCEPTED (shown in BROWN).  An Accepted booking is one where you have both committed to the rental, but you have not yet received a deposit to secure the booking . 

3) Once you have received the deposit, you should confirm the booking to block off the dates on the listing availability calendar.  The booking then shows in the CONFIRMED state (shown in RED).

4) After the scheduled departure date has passed for a CONFIRMED booking, it shows in the COMPLETED state (shown in BLUE) - you don’t need to do anything for this to happen.

If you decline a booking, or if the booking is cancelled, it shows as DECLINED or CANCELLED (shown in GRAY).  Note that declined and cancelled bookings won’t show on your calendar by default - you’ll need to click the “Show deleted” check-box to reveal them.

How do I Accept or Decline a Booking Request?

This article is for: Managers

When someone enquires about a stay at your property, you will receive a booking request via email.  The same information shows up on your bookings calendar as an entry with status REQUESTED.  You will also find a link to a Requested booking in the Notifications section of the Dashboard page.  It is up to you to vet the enquirer for suitability.  After you’ve done this, you need to make a decision on whether you want to accept or decline this booking request.

To ACCEPT the booking request:
Once you both agree on terms of rental, you can accept the booking.  To do this:

1. Locate the booking on your Calendar by either:
* Clicking the link in the email you’ve received; or
* Going to http://manage.bookabach.co.nz and logging in, and using the link in Notifications; or
* Using the booking search facility at the top of the page and typing in their name; or
* Clicking the “Bookings” tab, clicking the down-arrow in the date-range box and selecting “All future bookings”.

2. Click the “Accept booking” link on the right-hand side of the entry.  Please note that you can click the “Open Booking” link to expand the entry and find more options to update it.

To DECLINE the booking request:
If you don’t want to accept the request, locate the booking as above and decline it by using the “Decline booking” link.

In either case, the system will then give you the option to send an email to the renter.  Any emails you send via the site appear in the History section of the opened booking.

I’m using Payment Tracking.  How do I change a due date on an individual payment?

This article is for: Managers

If you are using Payment Tracking a Payment Schedule for a booking is set-up automatically when you accept the booking. The expected payment dates are derived from the information your supply in your Payment Terms (in your Rental Terms).  However, you can change these dates if you need to for individual bookings.  For example, perhaps you’ve made an agreement for balance to be paid on arrival, rather than in advance. To change the payment schedule dates associated with an individual booking:

1) Find the booking and open it.

2) Click the Charges & Payments tab.

3) Use the edit link next to the payment you want to re-schedule in the Payment Schedule table.

How do I convert a question into a booking?

This article is for: Managers

To convert a question into a booking:
1) Log in and go to Bookings > Questions.
2) Use the “Convert to Booking Request” link beneath the question.
3) Define dates, number of people staying etc. and submit this.

The system gives you the option to send an email to your rental guest.

What if I receive a long term rental while I’m on the Performance Plan?

This article is for: Managers

Bookabach charges a maximum of 14-nights success fee on any one booking. On these longer term rentals the success fee is billed after the 14th night stay.

How do I add my own rental bookings?

This article is for: Managers

We encourage you to manually add any rental bookings you have received from other sources to your Bookabach calendar.  The more up-to-date your calendar is, the more useful it is for people visiting the website.

To do this:

1. Go to http://manage.bookabach.co.nz and log in.

2. Click the Bookings Tab.

3. Click the green +Add booking button.  You’ll find it on the right hand side of the screen.

4. Select the dates, select the booking type, enter the booking details and click the “Save” button.  You only need dates and a first/last name - but can add more information if it’s useful for you, in which case use the “Save & Edit” button.

Note for Performance Plan customers: We DO NOT charge Performance Plan success fees on externally generated rental or manually added bookings, only on rental bookings you receive via Bookabach.