How do I take a deposit and balance for a direct booking?
Last updated:
Short answer
Set the terms once, per property: a deposit percentage that holds the dates, one to three instalments, how many days before arrival the balance is due, an optional breakage deposit, and which currencies you accept. Then every booking gets the same schedule without you recalculating it.
Send the guest one document that shows the stay, the cost breakdown, the dated payment schedule and your bank details, so they know exactly what to pay and when. In Stayem that document is a pro-forma invoice shared by a secure link; the money goes to your own bank account — Stayem records payments rather than processing them.
The terms to decide once
These are commercial choices, and worth making deliberately rather than per booking:
- The deposit: a percentage of the total, taken to hold the dates. Common practice is 25% to 30%, but it is your call.
- The balance: due a set number of days before check-in, so a late payer is visible while you can still act.
- Instalments: for a long or expensive stay, splitting the balance in two is easier for the guest.
- A breakage deposit: refundable after checkout, and stated plainly up front.
- Your cancellation and refund terms, written down before you take money.
What the guest should receive
A confirmation that leaves nothing to interpret prevents most payment chasing:
- Who it is for, which property, and the exact stay dates.
- The cost broken down: rent, extras, any breakage deposit, and the total.
- Each amount with the date it is due, not just a total.
- How to pay — your bank transfer details, given the same way every time.
- What happens if they cancel.
Keeping track once money starts arriving
The work is not taking the deposit; it is knowing, in August, which of eleven bookings still owes a balance. Record each payment as it lands, against the booking and the instalment it settles, and keep a shortfall visible when someone pays a little less than asked.
In Stayem each booking carries its schedule; you tick payments as received, short payments stay visible, extras are tracked apart from rent, and a booking reads as settled only when everything is in. When a stay is fully paid, the pro-forma becomes a receipt: the bank details drop away and each line shows the date it was paid.
Extras, and platform bookings that only involve extras
Extras — pool heating, a late checkout, an airport transfer, extra guests — are worth billing separately from rent so your revenue stays readable. Stayem keeps your own catalogue with default prices, and can price an extra differently in winter or on a short stay.
It also covers the case where a platform collected the rent and you collect only the extras: the document reads as a stay confirmation with accommodation marked as paid through the channel, carrying just your optional-extras menu, with no empty payment schedule.
Common questions
How much deposit should I ask for?
Most owners ask 25% to 30% of the total to hold the dates, with the balance due two to six weeks before arrival. The right figure depends on your season, how far ahead you are booked and your cancellation terms — it is a commercial decision, not a rule.
Does Stayem take the payment?
No. Stayem produces the schedule and the document with your own bank transfer details, and records what arrives. The money moves between your guest and your bank, so there is no payment commission in between.
What if the guest pays less than the amount due?
Record what actually arrived. The booking keeps showing the shortfall rather than reading as settled, so it surfaces before check-in instead of at the end of the year.
Can I send the payment schedule in the guest's language?
Yes. The shared pro-forma link shows in the guest's own language, and needs no account or app.
One schedule per booking, sent in a tap
Set your terms once and let every booking follow them. Free to start, no credit card.
Get started for free