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Reference Accounts

Learn how to create and use Reference Accounts in VRTrust

Updated this week

What is a Reference Account?

In VRTrust, a reference account is used to capture amounts that come from the PMS but should not be recognized as revenue or expenses. They are used for tracking, reporting, and calculations — not for debits, credits, or financial statements. This is useful for certain items like Booking.com commissions or data-only adjustments and keeps reporting clean without distorting the books.

In summary: VRTrust uses reference accounts to ensure statements show the full picture even when PMS data is inconsistent.

Create a Reference Account

  1. Under Settings, go to Accounts

  2. Click the blue +Add Account button in the upper right hand corner

  3. Under Type, select Reference from the dropdown

  4. Give the reference account a descriptive name (for example: Booking.com Channel Commission – Reference)

  5. Select the appropriate classification (Asset, Expense, Liability or Revenue)

  6. Select the appropriate category

  7. Save the account

This account will record inactive GL entries and will not impact financial results.

Map Reservation Lines to Reference Accounts

Next, map the reference account to the relevant reservation line type

  1. Under Settings, go to Reservations

  2. Locate a reservation line in the table that you'd like to map to a reference account, for example, a Booking.com Cancellation Guest Fee

  3. Under the Account dropdown, select the appropriate Reference account

In the example,

  • The host channel fee line type represents the booking channel commission

  • Previously, this line type was excluded everywhere

Update the mapping so that:

  • Booking.com host/channel fees → Reference Account

  • Airbnb commissions → Channel Commissions (ledger account)

This will ensure that:

  • Booking.com fees are captured for reference only

  • Airbnb fees continue to post to the general ledger and affect totals

Summary

Using a reference account allows you to:

  • Capture exact booking channel fees from your PMS

  • Exclude those fees from reservation totals

  • Avoid formula-based estimates

  • Power accurate Fees & Commissions setups

This approach is especially useful for Booking.com and Vrbo, where channel fees are not included in customer invoices but still need to be tracked and applied correctly.

Related Help Articles:

  1. Reference accounts for booking channel fees

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