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Checkout on AR with Apaleo

Checkout on Accounts Receivable (AR) allows company bookings to be settled by invoice instead of guest payment. When set up correctly, guests on a company booking complete the Pre-Check-In Flow without being asked to pay, and the Folio is closed automatically on accounts receivable at Check-out. Your team only needs to send the invoice to the company.

1. Feature Overview​

Many Properties work with companies (Debtors) that pay for their employees' stays by invoice. Without Checkout on AR, the standard behaviour of the Digital Guest Journey applies: the Booking must be paid in advance, at the latest during the Pre-Check-In Flow.

With Checkout on AR enabled for a company, the experience changes on both sides:

  • 🛎️ Guests on a company booking complete the Pre-Check-In Flow without a payment step for the covered Charges.
  • 👤 Staff no longer need to collect payment from the guest. At Check-out, the Folio is closed automatically on accounts receivable, and your team simply downloads the invoice and sends it to the company.
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Which Charge types are covered by AR (for example Accommodation, City Tax, Food and Beverages, Other) and whether the amounts are hidden from the guest is configured per Property by LIKE MAGIC. To adjust this configuration, request the change via a Support Ticket.

2. Key Concept (The Folio Billing Address Decides)​

This is the single most important rule of the feature and the most common source of confusion:

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Whether a guest is asked to pay is decided by the company linked to the Folio billing address: not by the company on the Reservation, and not by the corporate rate code.

A Reservation is treated as a Debtor booking only when both conditions are met:

  1. The Folio billing address is linked to a company profile in Apaleo.
  2. That company has the checkbox "Can check out on accounts receivable" enabled.

If a corporate rate code is used or a company is attached to the Reservation, but the Folio billing address still points to the guest, the system treats the guest as a self-payer and requests payment in the Pre-Check-In Flow.

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A corporate rate code alone does not link the Folio to the company's Debtor account. The company assignment on the Folio is currently a manual step performed by your reception team after the Booking is received.

3. Set Up a Company in Apaleo​

To prepare a company for Checkout on AR, set it up once in Apaleo:

  1. Create a company profile in Apaleo.
  2. Optionally, define a corporate code and select the rate plans the company can book.
  3. ✅ Enable the checkbox "Can check out on accounts receivable" on the company profile.

🌐 For details on company setup, see the Apaleo Help Center article on company guarantee and accounts receivable.

4. Assign the Company to a Reservation​

For each Debtor booking, make sure the company is linked correctly:

  1. Open the Reservation in Apaleo.
  2. Open the Folio and set the company as the billing address (choose the correct company profile: for example, "Example Corp AG").
  3. Verify that the selected company has "Can check out on accounts receivable" enabled.

✅ Once the Folio billing address points to an AR-enabled company, the guest can complete the Pre-Check-In Flow without a payment step for the covered Charges.

💡 Assign the company on the Folio directly after the Booking is received. This ensures the guest never sees a payment request, even if they start the Pre-Check-In Flow early.

5. What Happens at Check-out​

When the Reservation is checked out, the Folio is closed automatically on accounts receivable. No payment is collected from the guest.

To track and settle the open invoices in Apaleo:

  1. Open the invoices view in Apaleo and apply the filter "Only AR, Unpaid" to see all open Debtor invoices.
  2. Download the invoice and send it to the company.
  3. Once the company has paid, mark the invoice as paid in Apaleo.

6. Troubleshooting​

The guest is asked to pay although the booking is a Debtor booking​

This is the most frequent case. Check the following, in order:

  1. Open the Folio of the Reservation in Apaleo and check the billing address. ❌ A company attached only to the Reservation (or only implied by a corporate rate code) is not enough.
  2. Verify that the company set as the Folio billing address has "Can check out on accounts receivable" enabled.
  3. Correct the Folio billing address to the right company profile. The payment request disappears once the assignment is correct.

The guest is asked to pay for extras only​

The Charge types covered by AR are configured per Property. If guests should not pay for certain Charge types (for example City Tax or breakfast), request a review of your Property's configuration via a Support Ticket.

The Folio was not closed on AR at Check-out​

Verify that the Folio billing address was set to an AR-enabled company before Check-out. If the assignment was made after Check-out, close the Folio manually in Apaleo and correct the assignment for future Bookings of this company.

7. FAQs​

Do I need a corporate rate code for Checkout on AR?

No. A corporate rate code is convenient for rate management, but it is not required and on its own it does not activate AR. The Folio billing address with an AR-enabled company is what counts.

Can the company assignment happen automatically based on the corporate rate code?

Not at the moment. The company assignment on the Folio is a manual step for your reception team. If automatic recognition is important for your operation, raise it via a Support Ticket so it can be tracked as a Feature Request.

Can guests see the amounts even though they do not have to pay?

This is configurable. LIKE MAGIC can hide the covered amounts from the guest in the Digital Guest Journey. Request this for your Property via a Support Ticket.

Does this also work for bookings made through the Booking Engine with a corporate code?

Yes. The same rule applies. The Booking is created with the corporate rate, but the reception team still needs to set the company on the Folio billing address for the guest to skip payment.

8. Conclusion​

Checkout on AR removes the payment step from the Digital Guest Journey for company bookings and closes the Folio automatically on accounts receivable at Check-out. The golden rule: the company on the Folio billing address (with "Can check out on accounts receivable" enabled) decides whether the guest pays.

If a guest is unexpectedly asked to pay, the Folio billing address is almost always the place to look. Configuration changes (covered Charge types, hiding amounts) are requested via a Support Ticket.

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