Paid-outs (cash advances to a guest)

Cash the desk pays for a guest (a taxi, a delivery) comes out of the cashier's drawer and goes on the guest's folio, to be repaid with the bill.

Hospitality Cashiering
2 min read
Updated October 20, 2026

For Cashier Front desk Manager

When to use it

The desk pays cash on the guest's behalf: a taxi fare, a courier, a small purchase. The cash leaves your drawer and the amount goes on the guest's folio, so the guest repays it with the bill.

Pay out

Choose Paid out
Who
Cashier
Where
Folio > Paid out (or Paid out (cash advance) from the folio's menu)
Needs
The guest is in house, the folio is open, and your cashier shift is open.
Enter the Amount and the Reason
What changes
For example "Taxi fare paid on the guest's behalf". Local currency cash only.
Pay out cash
Approval
A manager approves the cash paid out (always, in a new hotel).
What changes
The cash leaves your drawer; a paid-out line goes on the folio.

What a paid-out changes

Area	Change
Cash drawer	Cash out of your shift; the shift's expected cash goes down
Folio	A paid-out line: the guest owes it
Invoice	Not on the tax invoice (it is not a sale), but the folio balance includes it
Guest account	The account owes the amount until the bill is paid

A paid-out is never voided: the guest pays it back with the bill.

Worked example: a taxi fare paid for a guest

A guest in room 204 asks the desk to pay a taxi driver 500. The cashier, with their shift open, chooses Paid out on the guest's folio, enters Amount 500 and the Reason "Taxi fare paid on the guest's behalf", and presses Pay out cash. A manager approves the cash paid out with their PIN.

Two days later the guest checks out. The stay's invoice is 12,430 and the guest paid a deposit of 5,000 before arriving.

	Amount
Charges on the folio (the invoice)	12,430
Paid-out line, repaid with the bill	500
Deposit already paid	-5,000
The guest pays at check-out	7,930

In the books the paid-out is a payment of 500 out of the cash account, the deposit and the check-out payment are receipts of 5,000 and 7,930, and the invoice is 12,430, with no tax on the 500. The guest's account owes 500 + 12,430 = 12,930 and has received 5,000 + 7,930 = 12,930, so it ends at zero. The cashier's expected cash went down by 500 when the paid-out was made and up by 7,930 when the guest paid in cash.

Common questions

Can I pay out in dollars?

No. Cash is paid out in local currency only.

"The stay is not in house: this cannot be done for it."

A paid-out is only for a guest in house, on an open folio, with your cashier shift open.

The guest does not want to repay it. Can I void the paid-out?

No. A paid-out is never voided: the guest pays it back with the bill.

Paid-outs (cash advances to a guest)

When to use it

Pay out

Common questions

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