What it answers

Five questions your own records already answer

Nobody is going to tell you the answers. They are sitting in four systems that never compare themselves to each other. Send CactusStay one month of exports and it answers these five for that month — and every one of them traces back to something the vendor documented itself.

One past month free, for every property in your organisation. No card needed, and the findings and evidence packs are yours to keep whether or not you go any further.

1. 01

   Are there Expedia Collect virtual cards from the month you send that were never charged?

   On an Expedia Collect booking, Expedia charged the guest and owes the property a net remittance — but the property has to actively claim it by charging a single-use virtual card. Nothing chases this for you. If the card was never charged, the stay looks complete in every system except the one that holds the money. One month of exports answers this for that month; a twelve-month sweep needs twelve months of exports.

   Records compared

   Departed Expedia Collect stays in the PMS against Gateway settlement records

   If the answer is yes

   Still recoverable, until the twelve-month window closes. After that the obligation is gone entirely.

   Deadline

   Twelve months after checkout

2. 02

   Were you invoiced commission on a cancelled or no-show booking at the booked amount rather than the penalty you actually charged?

   On Hotel Collect, the property collects from the guest, so Expedia does not know what was actually charged on a cancellation or no-show. The property has to reconcile the reservation and state the penalty amount. Miss the window and, in Expedia's words, the invoice includes the booked amount — commission assessed on revenue that was never collected.

   Records compared

   Commission invoice line against The penalty actually posted to the folio

   If the answer is yes

   A disputable invoice line, and a recurring process gap worth closing before the next month end.

   Deadline

   The 4th of the month after checkout

3. 03

   Did Booking.com bill commission on a fee you waived, or a no-show you correctly marked without charging?

   Booking.com commission is decoupled from whether the guest stayed: it accrues on non-refundable bookings either way, and on cancellation and no-show fees the property actually charges. But it is not chargeable where the property waived the fee, correctly marked a no-show without charging, or reported the card invalid. That gap is the disputable signature.

   Records compared

   Booking.com commission invoice against Reservation status and postings in the PMS

   If the answer is yes

   A commission line the vendor's own documentation says should not have been charged.

   Deadline

   The invoice dispute window

4. 04

   Does your gateway's settled total actually tie to your bank deposits?

   A successful batch close is not proof of funding. Elavon states it outright: a batch response does not indicate that transactions were funded properly or completely, and the only way to confirm funding is bank deposit information. A virtual card can authorise cleanly, batch cleanly, and never fund — and nothing in the PMS or the OTA statement is wrong when it happens.

   Records compared

   Gateway settlement batches against Bank deposits

   If the answer is yes

   Money you have already counted as received. This is the class no single-source report can surface.

   Deadline

   Next business day

5. 05

   Where the OTA kept its commission, does what landed match what your folio said it should be?

   The commission percentage is not in your system of record — Cloudbeds documents that its PMS does not receive or calculate it. So a virtual card that arrives short has to be explained against a documented list of causes: taxes on commission, tax-inclusive versus exclusive configuration, service or occupancy fees missing from the rate setup, extra-person rules, promotions, rate-plan mapping, conversion and rounding. That list is explicitly incomplete.

   Records compared

   Amount settled against The net your folio and rate configuration imply

   If the answer is yes

   Either a recoverable shortfall or a configuration error quietly repeating on every booking of that rate plan.

   Deadline

   No clock — but it repeats every month until it is fixed.