Checking Out

You can check out a reservation from the right-click menu on the tab views, or from the Reservation Details dialog by clicking on the Checked Out check box. A checked-out reservation is treated differently in several ways, most of which were already covered in the Dynamic Interactive Reports section.  On the tab views, a checked-out reservation is always the same color, typically a dark gray.  There's also a Program Option to hide checked-out reservations completely, making the site available again (e.g. in case of early check-outs).

Normally you will check out a reservation on the day after its Last Night, since they would leave that morning.  If this is the case, you will notice that the right-click menu on the tab views will show "Check Out (this morning)" instead of just "Check Out".  That's a clue that the current Last Night will automatically be assumed when you perform the check out.  If this is not correct, you will need to adjust the Last Night to be correct first, and then check them out.  Note that this assumption is also true if checking out from the Reservation Details dialog, but there is no "this morning" indication -- it's up to you to verify that the Last Night is correct.

If the Last Night is not yesterday, you will get a warning that they are not scheduled to leave yet, or that they were scheduled to leave earlier.  If their Last Night is in the future, your only options are to cancel the check-out (presumably because it was a mistake) or make yesterday their last night.  In other words, you can't actually say that they left in the future.  However if their Last Night is in the past, you are given the choices similar to Check In -- abort, check out with yesterday's date, or check out without changing the Last Night.  Therefore if you forget to check out some old reservations, you can do it later and not affect their departure date.  Of course if they really are just leaving, you can have it automatically change the Last Night to reflect that.  As with the Check In function, it's a good idea to read all warnings carefully.

Now, once you've confirmed the check-out, the Transaction dialog will appear.  (This is an option that can be disabled -- if you prefer not to see the Transactions dialog automatically every time you do a check in, you can turn it off in Maintenance / Program Options / Prompts.)  You can verify that their balance has been paid and make adjustments or payments as needed, and print out a new receipt if they need one.

(You also have the chance to adjust the Last Night, just in case none of the previous choices were quite correct.)

If you check out a reservation by mistake (or if they change their mind and come back the same day), you can undo the check-out through the Reservation Details dialog.  Just click on the Checked Out box and confirm the prompt.  (You can then go into Transactions and make additions, etc.)  Manager access is required for this function.

Auto-Checkout today's departures (Bulk Checkout)

This function can be found on the right-click menu of the Departures tab view.  Selecting this option will check out all reservations currently checked in with a last night equal to yesterday's date (i.e. departing today), provided that their Paid-thru Date is set to their Last Night and they have a $0 reservation balance.  If the reservation has any Guest reservations, they must also have a $0 balance and be due out today or earlier, and the Guests will be automatically checked out also.