How to Review and Understand Account Assignments in VRTrust
Account Assignments determine which general ledger (GL) accounts are used when specific transactions are created in VRTrust. Understanding these assignments is critical for accurate reporting, reconciliation, and statement generation.
This article explains where to find Account Assignments, how each assignment is used, and the account-restriction rules related to Operations Accounting (OPEX).
Where to Find Account Assignments
Go to Settings (bottom of the left-hand menu)
Select Accounts
View Account Assignments in the far-right column
When a VRTrust account is created, you inherit:
A default chart of accounts
A set of default account assignments
These defaults support standard short-term rental accounting workflows, including Operations Accounting if enabled.
What Are Account Assignments?
Account Assignments control:
Which GL account is used
For which transaction type
And how balances move as transactions are created, updated, or paid
Which Ledger (Trust or Operating) and Party (Owner or Manager) the resulting journal entry line carries, where applicable
Each assignment is tied to one or more transaction workflows (reservations, deposits, expenses, transfers, payouts, etc.).
Account Assignments Explained
Payout Distribution
Formerly labeled "Transfers"
Used for: Owner payouts, created when a payout is triggered from a published owner statement
Purpose: Records payments made to owners (or from owners, if the balance is negative) when a payout is created
Typically mapped to a bank account (Trust by default; can also be an operating account if OPEX is enabled)
Reduces the amount owed to the owner and supports owner payout tracking and reconciliation
Can be overridden per owner by:
Going to Owners
Selecting the owner
Editing the Payout Bank Account
Restricted to Classification = Asset or Liability, Account Type = Bank; since this line carries no party, mapping it to a revenue/expense account would orphan the amount
Suggested account classification: Asset (Bank)
Due to/From Trust (Operations Accounting)
Used for: Any transaction where cash in one ledger settles an obligation that lives in the other ledger. For example, an owner's expense paid from an operating account, or an owner payout paid from operating.
Purpose: Keeps the Trust and Operating ledgers each independently balanced when money crosses between them. VRTrust posts this automatically as an offsetting pair (one line in each ledger, tagged Party = Manager). You never post to it manually.
On the default chart of accounts, this activity lands in the Trust<->Operating Cash Adjustments account.
Suggested account classification: n/a (system-managed; not user-selectable in manual coding)
Deposit Reserve Account
Used for: Deposit transactions
Purpose: Tracks funds held in reserve on reservation lines
Commonly used when:
Deposits include reserves
Stripe transactions temporarily hold funds before release
Suggested account classification: Asset
Deposit VAT Account
Used for: Deposit transactions
Purpose: Tracks VAT tax withheld from deposits
Accounts Receivable
Used for: Reservation and deposit transactions
Purpose: Tracks money guests owe
Balance increases when:
A reservation is added
A reservation financial adjustment is added
Balance decreases when:
A deposit with a payment or refund is added
Unpaid reservations remain in this account until payment is received.
Suggested account classification: Asset
Accounts Payable
Used for: Expense transactions
Purpose: Tracks money owed to vendors
Balance increases when:
An unpaid expense is added
Balance decreases when:
The expense is marked as paid
Suggested account classification: Liability
Note: Accounts Payable posts to the Trust ledger when the expense is billed to Owner, and to the Operating ledger when billed to Manager (if Operations accounting is enabled).
See the OPEX Journal Entry Reference for the full posting ledger
Deferred Revenue
Used for: Reservation transactions
Purpose: Tracks timing differences between:
Default revenue recognition date
Reservation line revenue recognition date
These differences are recorded as deferred revenue.
Refer to the Revenue Recognition help article for configuration details.
Suggested account classification: Liability
Expense Sales Tax
Used for: Expenses, fees, and commissions
Purpose: Tracks taxes when:
A markup and markup tax are added to an expense
A tax rate is set on a fee or commission
Suggested account classification: Liability
Cancellation Revenue
Used for: Reservation transactions
Purpose: Records revenue retained from cancelled reservations
Used when:
A financial adjustment is added to a cancelled reservation
The adjustment type is not specified
Suggested account classification: Revenue
Expense Markup
Used for: Expense transactions
Purpose: Tracks revenue created from expense markups
When a markup is applied to an expense, the markup amount posts to this account.
See the Expense Markups help article for more details.
Suggested account classification: Revenue
Expense Reimbursement
Used for: Expense transactions
Purpose: Tracks revenue when:
An expense is added to an owner’s ledger
The expense is paid from a non-trust account (i.e., not one of your connected trust or operating bank/credit card accounts. This "non-cash" reimbursement path is unchanged by Operations accounting rulse)
See the Expense Reimbursements help article for setup guidance.
Suggested account classification: Revenue
Deposit Channel Fee
Used for: Deposit transactions
Purpose: Tracks channel fees included in deposits on reservation lines
Suggested account classification: Expense
Deposit Merchant Fee
Used for: Deposit transactions
Purpose: Tracks merchant processing fees included in deposits
Suggested account classification: Expense
Deposit Co-Host Payout
Used for: Deposit transactions
Purpose: Tracks payouts made to:
Co-hosts
Owners
Other entities paid from deposit activity
Restricted to Revenue or Expense classification (Party = Owner).
Opening Balance Account
Used for: Opening balance entries
Purpose: Records opening equity when establishing the beginning trust or operating account balance at Go-Live
Restricted to Revenue or Expense classification.
Note: With Operations Accounting, this assignment applies to both the Trust and Operating ledgers. Operating-ledger opening balances follow a separate, self-contained workflow. See How do I set opening balances for operating (OPEX) accounts in VRTrust?
Account restriction rules related to Operations Accounting:
To keep the Trust ledger an honest measure of what's owed, VRTrust restricts which accounts can be selected wherever an account is chosen: manual coding, reservation line-type mappings, fee/commission mappings, and assignment mappings.
Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable can never be selected manually anywhere.
The governing principle: on the Trust ledger, Owner party, the balance sheet is limited to six buckets:
Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Deferred Revenue (all via their assignments)
Lodging Taxes Payable
Security Deposits Payable
Owner Payables (revenue/expense accounts where party = Owner).
Anything else falls to Manager Payable on the Trust ledger, so it correctly moves the amount available to pay the manager rather than silently inflating or deflating that figure.
If an account looks greyed out when you're categorizing a transaction or setting up a mapping, that's this guardrail keeping your trust books clean.
Summary
Account Assignments in VRTrust:
Control how transactions post to the general ledger
Drive accurate statements and reporting
Work automatically with the default chart of accounts
Carry Ledger and Party implications under Operations Accounting
Can be reviewed and adjusted as needed for your workflows, within the account-restriction guardrails described above
Understanding these assignments ensures confidence in your accounting setup and month-end reconciliation.