MyVRZone.com Knowledge Base

Gold & Platinum Subscribers only

During setup, the payment and refund schedule as well as the amount of any security deposit can be set at Setup>Main >> Property>Payments. The amount is set for each property's currency that is accepted.

The system tracks the amounts due and payments made for the accommodation and options separately from the amounts and payments for any amount that will normally be refunded - in the setup there is a separate schedule for each.

When a payment is recorded for a reservation, if any portion of that payment is towards the refundable amount then it must be entered into the Refundable Portion field. The net (Total - Refundable Portion) amount is what will then contribute towards the regular payment.

Recording and Refunding a refundable amount (eg Security Deposit)

Each payment entry on the Reservations >> Payments tab can be recorded with a Refundable Portion of the total - this is the amount that goes towards the refundable amount owed.

So you can record:

• a security deposit credit card authorization with the refundable amount set to the total amount - it is all refundable. Be sure to set the payment method to CCard Auth and not CCard Charge
• a check for the security deposit with the refundable amount set to the total amount - it's a separate check
• a balance+security deposit check with the total set to the check amount and the refundable amount set to the security deposit amount - the one payment is split between the two

You can specify whether refundable amounts can be paid in cash and/or authorized via a Credit Card during setup.

When the stay is over:

• for any payment made in cash you'll need to enter a refund payment - the schedule you have set will determine when the return amount shows up as due
• for any payment made as a CCard Auth, you need do nothing - it will automatically expire in the system.
  NOTE: MyVRZone does not determine or set when the ability to make a charge against the transaction actually expires - that's detemined by the date of the transaction and the actual credit card used (typically 1 to 4 weeks) - see section below for more.
• Create a new Payment and add the total amount of the refund along with the Refundable Portion that is being included and set the Type to "To/Credit". If you do not set the Refundable Portion then the refund will look like it's a refund against the accommodation amount and will show up as an amount owed.

NOTE: All refundable amounts are excluded from tax calculations

Credit Card Authorizations

Authorizations via a Credit Card are often taken for security deposits as this involves less handling of cash and still provides coverage.

Processing an authorization

Sometimes the Credit Card is actually processed with an authorization in order to hold that amount available - there is often a short limit (1 to 4 weeks) on how long this authorization can be held except for PayPal that has a 60 day period. Be sure to set your payment schedule to prevent payment being too early if you do process the transaction. NOTE: The schedule settings in MyVRZone do NOT set the actual authorization transaction expiration - this is just for the owner and the guest.

Taking a paper authorization

In other cases the owner takes a signed authorization that does not get processed unless there is a problem - this avoids any short holding period and any fees that may be assessed for the Authorization transaction itself. Any signed authorization needs to ensure that there is sufficient liability coverage for damage above and beyond normal wear and tear.

The Guest Zone™ will show an Authorize Now button if the refundable amount can be taken via credit card when you have set your merchant account provider and allow payment by authorization. The Guest will be taken though the credit card processing pages and then to a final page for them to print, sign and mail/fax. You can set the Refundable Terms legal language used in the form during setup that will override the text that is put there by default.

Recording and Refunding

Record a payment with the Method set to "CCard Auth" to record this type of payment manually.

At the end of the stay, Authorizations are expired by the system automatically, so you do not need to create a specific refund payment. If the Method was set to "CCard Charge" then this will not expire automaticallyand you'll need to make a manual refund entry.