Key Notes
- Admin receives all payments: This includes both the deposit and the remaining balance.
- Who can submit properties: Admin can either allow specific owners to submit properties or allow all registered users to add listings.
Learn more: Allow Specific Users to Submit Properties - Property Owners: They manage booking requests and calendar availability from their user dashboard.
Learn more: How to Add/Delete Booked Periods
How a Booking Works
User Sends booking request
- Users must register/login to send a booking request.
Learn more: Why Register/Login is Required - If WooCommerce is enabled for payments, you can set a deposit and enable Instant booking for a listing. In this setup, the login/register and the payment for deposit are done at the same time. Learn more: WooCommerce and Payments Setup
Owner’s Actions on Booking Request
Booking Request Received
- When a user submits a booking request, the property owner will receive an email notification. The email will contain a link to their account where they can manage the request.
Example email notification:
“You have received a new booking request on [yourdomain.com]. Go to your account in the ‘Bookings’ page to see the request, issue the invoice or reject it!”
Managing the Booking Request
- Property owners can view all booking requests for their properties by going to User Dashboard > My Bookings.
Owner’s Actions From the My Bookings page, the owner can choose to:
- Reject the Booking: If the owner decides not to accept the booking, they can reject it. The booking will be deleted from both the owner’s and the user’s dashboards.
- Issue the Invoice & Approve the Booking: If the owner approves the booking, they will issue an invoice to the user. If a deposit is set by Site Admin, the payment of the invoice deposit will need to be paid for booking to be confirmed and block calendar.
- Cancel a Confirmed Booking: If a booking is already confirmed but needs to be canceled, the owner can cancel it. The booking will be deleted from both the owner’s and the user’s dashboards.
Invoice Tracking
- Once an invoice is issued, it will appear in the Admin Dashboard. This helps the admin track any deposits that have been paid.
Note: Rejected or canceled bookings will be deleted automatically from both the owner’s and admin’s systems, so the calendar is free to be re-booked.
User Notification
- If the booking is rejected or canceled, the user will receive an email notification informing them of the change. The booking will no longer appear in the user’s dashboard.
Booking Statuses – Clear Breakdown
Pending Booking Request
- This status appears when the invoice has been issued, but the user has not paid yet.
- The owner can either:
- Delete the invoice and issue a new one.
- Reject the booking request, which will remove it from both the owner’s and the user’s dashboard.
Confirmed Bookings
There are three types of confirmed bookings:
- The deposit fee (a percentage of the total) has been paid, but the full amount hasn’t been paid yet.
- Admin action: The site admin has set the deposit to be mandatory for booking confirmation (typically less than 100%).
- The remaining balance can be paid at any time through the theme, and this payment is optional. The money goes to the site admin.
Confirmed and fully paid:
- The full payment has been received by the admin, meaning the user has paid the entire amount for the booking.
- Status: The booking is confirmed and fully paid once the total amount is cleared.
Owner made confirmed bookings
- Owner can add booked periods to every property he submits from User Dashboard. Owner can DELETE these booked periods at any time.
- This feature works only with DAILY booking, not hourly booking.
- For more details on how to add or delete booked periods, you can refer to the help guide here: Add/Delete Booked Periods as Owner.
Approving or Rejecting a Booking Request (With Admin Service Fee and Deposit Fee Set to 0)
When a property owner receives a booking request, they have the option to approve or reject it. Here’s how the process works if Admin Fee and Deposit Fee are set to 0
Booking Request Received:
- The property owner will receive a notification of the booking request.
- The owner needs to go to their User Dashboard -> My Bookings to view the request.
Issue Invoice or Reject:
- The first step in confirming a booking is for the owner to issue an invoice or reject the request.
Admin Service Fee and Deposit Fee are set to 0:
- If the admin deposit fee and service fee are set to 0 by the admin, the issued invoice will show a Deposit of 0.
- The booking is confirmed when the property owner clicks on the Issue Invoice button. This means the booking is now officially confirmed by the owner.
Owner Actions:
- The owner can approve the booking request if they do not have Instant Booking activated.
- Upon receiving the booking request, the owner logs into their account and goes to MY BOOKINGS.
- The owner finds the booking and clicks ISSUE INVOICE to proceed.
Optional Steps:
- The owner can add manual extra expenses or manual discounts to the invoice if needed.
Confirm Booking:
- The owner confirms the booking by clicking the Confirm Booking button with No Reservation Fee Required.
Booking Confirmation:
- Once confirmed, the booking status will update as Confirmed after the page refreshes.
Approving or Rejecting a Booking Request (Deposit Fee Required)
If an admin deposit fee is required, the property owner must ensure the deposit is paid before the booking is confirmed.
Booking Request Received:
- When a booking request is received, the property owner can approve or reject it.
- If the admin requires a deposit, the property owner must issue an invoice for the deposit.
Issue Invoice or Reject:
- The property owner can issue an invoice for the deposit, add invoice details, or delete the invoice and generate a new one, all before payment is made.
Deposit Details:
- The deposit fee can either be a percentage or a fixed amount.
- The deposit may or may not include the admin service fee. Learn more about deposit and service fees here.
Owner Actions:
- The owner logs into their account and goes to MY BOOKINGS.
- The owner finds the reservation and clicks on ISSUE INVOICE.
Optional – The owner can add manual extra expenses or manual discounts before issuing the invoice.
Invoice Details:
- When the invoice is issued, the deposit will be visible in the invoice details as RESERVATION FEE REQUIRED.
- The owner can delete or modify manual extra expenses or discounts before finalizing the invoice.
Managing Invoices:
- The invoice can be deleted and generated again before the deposit is paid.
- All invoices issued by the property owner will be visible in the User Dashboard -> Invoices.
- The Invoice ID will be listed in the Booking Details.
Multiple Booking Requests for the Same Period
If two or more booking requests are sent for the same date and property, the theme will only allow the first payment to be processed. This means that even if multiple invoices are issued for the same dates, only the first payment will be accepted.
How to Pay Admin Deposit Request for Booking Confirmation (After Owner Approves Request)
Once the property owner approves the booking request and issues the invoice, the user who submitted the booking request will be notified to pay the deposit before the booking can be confirmed.
Payment Notification:
- The user will receive a notification that an invoice has been issued and that they must pay the deposit fee for the booking to be confirmed.
Deposit Reminder:
- If the deposit fee is required, the user will also receive a reminder email to complete the remaining payment before the booking begins.
Remaining Payment:
- The remaining payment can be made at any time through the My Reservations page, but paying the remaining invoice is optional.
- The remaining payment is sent to the admin.