Billing discrepancy · Deposits and prepayments
Was your deposit credited on the final hotel bill?
A deposit is the one line on a master bill that should work in your favor. When it is missing or short, the balance due is too high, but the contract alone can't tell you by how much.
The short answer
Check three different things, in order: the deposit the contract required, the deposit you actually paid, and the deposit the final bill credits. Only the second and third can be compared as money. If you paid $5,000 and the bill credits $2,000, the $3,000 gap is supported by your payment record. If all you have is the contract's deposit schedule, the gap is a question for the hotel, not a confirmed amount.
Deposits go missing for ordinary reasons: a payment posted to a different account, a deposit applied to an earlier invoice, or a prepayment held by the sales office and never transferred to the group's master account.
What to check
Keep these three amounts separate. They are often different, and only one of them proves money changed hands.
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1. Deposit required by the contract
The deposit schedule: amounts, due dates and whether each deposit is refundable. This tells you what was due. It does not prove anything was paid.
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2. Deposit actually paid
Your payment receipt, bank or card record, the hotel's deposit receipt, or your accounts payable ledger. This is the evidence that a deposit exists.
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3. Deposit credited on the final bill
Look for credit lines labeled deposit, advance payment, prepayment or payment received, usually at the end of the master account summary.
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Which account received it
A deposit paid by a different entity or card may sit on a separate account or a guest folio. Ask which account number it posted to.
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Partial applications
If the deposit was used against an earlier invoice (for example a cancellation fee or a pre-event AV order), the remaining credit should be shown, with the earlier invoice referenced.
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Currency and fees
A wire in another currency or with bank charges can arrive slightly short. Compare the amount the hotel received, not only the amount you sent.
How FolioMatch checks it
FolioMatch reads the deposit schedule in the contract and every credit line on the final bill, and records the page for each. If you upload a payment record, it compares the amount paid with the amount credited and shows the difference with both sources.
Fact: what the contract required and what the bill credits. Inference: that a deposit was paid, when the only evidence is the contract. Unknown: whether a payment was received, when no payment record was supplied. In that case the finding is marked Needs review and no dollar amount is presented as confirmed.
- 01
Hotel or event agreement
The signed contract and its schedules set the base terms: rates, percentages, minimums, formulas and concessions.
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Amendments and signed changes
A signed addendum or change order replaces the contract term it amends, and only that term.
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BEOs and revised BEOs
Banquet event orders set the operational detail: counts, times, staffing and menus. The latest approved revision is used, and earlier revisions are kept for comparison.
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Supporting evidence
An aggregate hotel pickup report showing room-night totals, when the bill includes an attrition charge. It supplies actual figures, never contract terms. Do not upload guest names or a guest-level rooming list.
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Final invoice or master bill
Each billed line is compared with the terms above. Where the documents don't explain a charge, it becomes a finding with the pages behind it.
Findings are labelled as a possible discrepancy, needs review, matches the agreement or insufficient evidence. FolioMatch doesn't make legal determinations; it shows what the supplied documents do and don't support.
Sample finding: deposit credited short, with payment record
Sample figures. Fictional event, not a real audit.
Illustrative example — sample data
Agreement
- Deposit schedule, p. 6
- Deposit 1: $5,000 due 90 days prior
- Applied to master account
Payment record
- Wire confirmation
- Amount sent: $5,000.00
- Reference: group master account
Final bill
- Master account summary, p. 14
- Deposit received: ($2,000.00)
- Balance due: $41,850.00
FolioMatch finding
Likely $3,000 credit missing
The wire confirmation shows $5,000 paid toward the master account. The final bill credits $2,000.
The $3,000 difference is supported by the payment record. The hotel may have applied part of it elsewhere, so ask which account or invoice received the remainder.
- Paid (wire confirmation)
- $5,000.00
- Credited on final bill (p. 14)
- $2,000.00
- Credit not shown
- $3,000.00
Evidence
- Agreement · Deposit schedule · page 6
- Wire confirmation · page 1
- Final Invoice · Master account summary · page 14
Same bill, without a payment record
Sample figures. The same event, but only the contract and final bill were uploaded.
Illustrative example — sample data
Agreement
- Deposit 1: $5,000 due 90 days prior
Payment record
- Not supplied
Final bill
- Deposit received: ($2,000.00)
FolioMatch finding
Needs review: deposit amount unconfirmed
The contract required $5,000. The bill credits $2,000. Without a payment record, FolioMatch cannot tell whether $5,000 was paid, so it shows no confirmed amount.
Upload the payment receipt or ledger entry and run the analysis again to turn this into a supported figure.
Evidence
- Agreement · Deposit schedule · page 6
- Final Invoice · Master account summary · page 14
Checking it by hand
- 01
List every payment you made to the hotel
Deposits, prepayments and any pre-event invoices you paid, with dates and amounts from your own records.
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Find every credit on the final bill
Usually in the account summary. Note the amount, date and description of each.
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Match them one by one
Pair each payment with a credit. Anything left unpaired on your side is the question for the hotel.
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Check what earlier credits paid for
If a credit was used against another invoice, ask for that invoice and confirm the remaining amount.
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Ask, with references
Send the payment date, amount and reference, and the bill page showing the credit. That is usually enough for accounting to trace it.
Related guides
Deposits are checked during the line-by-line method in hotel master bill reconciliation, and they are one item on the post-event reconciliation close-out. For everything a full audit covers, see hotel master bill audit, or open the sample review to see how findings are presented.
Questions
The contract says a deposit was due. Isn't that enough?
No. A deposit schedule shows what was due, not what was paid. FolioMatch marks the gap as Needs review until a payment record supports an amount.
What counts as a payment record?
A bank or card statement line, a wire confirmation, the hotel's deposit receipt, or an entry in your accounts payable ledger. Any of these can be uploaded with the event's documents.
What if the deposit was non-refundable?
Non-refundable usually means it isn't returned if you cancel. If the event went ahead, it is normally still applied to the final bill. Check the deposit clause wording.
Related
Missing concessions
A concessions ledger: what was negotiated, and whether it reached the bill.
Attrition charges
Room-night commitment, allowed attrition, pickup and the formula used.
Food and beverage minimum
Qualifying spend, the shortfall calculation and rental waivers tied to the minimum.
Back to all hotel billing discrepancies or the hotel master bill audit guide.
Which side of the bill are you on?
You negotiated the deal. Make sure you got it.
Upload the agreement, BEOs and final bill. FolioMatch checks what you negotiated against what you were charged and shows the evidence behind each finding.