A deposit is the guest's money, sitting with you for a while. Zitlin keeps it apart from your takings, remembers who is still holding what, and reminds you before a guest leaves with money still on your books.
Deposits are one of the quiet ways a small property loses money and goodwill at the same time. Take a cash deposit at check-in, write it on a slip, and the slip travels: into a drawer, into somebody's pocket at handover, into a folder that nobody opens until the guest telephones a fortnight later to ask about their five thousand rupees. The money was never yours, but the awkward conversation is.
Zitlin treats a deposit as what it is — the guest's money, in your keeping, for a while — and keeps track of it until it goes back.
Two kinds, both remembered
Collected deposits are money you actually hold: cash at the desk, a transfer, a QR payment. It sits in the till or the account, so Zitlin counts it in the drawer.
Card holds are a pre-authorisation you take on your own terminal and never capture unless something goes wrong. No money moves, so nothing enters the drawer — but the hold has an amount and an expiry date, and both matter.
Either way it is recorded against the booking with the amount, how it was taken, who took it, and a note for what it covers — the room key, potential damage, a minibar float.
Never mixed up with your takings
This is the part that matters at the end of a month.
A deposit is held in custody, so it stays out of revenue entirely. It appears in its own register rather than in your income, and the reports keep the two apart: Security Deposits Held is a balance — what you are holding on the day you asked — not something earned in the period.
Retain part of a deposit against a broken lamp and that part, and only that part, becomes real money: it moves onto the folio as a prepayment and is taxed on the invoice like any other charge. The rest goes back to the guest and never touches your P&L.
The same care runs through the till. A cash deposit is in your drawer, so it is part of what you are expected to have at handover; it is the guest's money, so it is not part of what the property took. It gets its own line on the shift report for exactly that reason — the rows above the rule are what make the total below it, and without the separation the count would never agree with the notes in the drawer.
Take a deposit at the desk, return it from anywhere
Nobody leaves with your money by accident
When a guest checks out while you are still holding a deposit, Zitlin says so. It is a reminder, not a barrier — a guest with a taxi waiting should not be held at the desk while somebody finds a form.
If the deposit still is not settled, it does not quietly disappear. It stays on the exceptions report, listed against a guest who has already left, along with card holds that have reached or passed their expiry date. A lapsed hold protects nothing, so the report keeps asking until somebody deals with it.
A receipt at both ends
Taking a deposit produces a numbered receipt; returning it produces another. Print them, or send them — either way the guest has something showing what was taken and what came back, and you have a record that does not depend on anybody's memory.
For the accountant, the deposits export is a custodial register: number, date, guest, whether it was collected or a card hold, the amount, what was returned, what was retained, and who took and closed it. It ends with a reconciliation of the period — taken, released, still outstanding — so the closing balance can be checked rather than trusted.
Give it back before they ask
Deposits recorded against the booking, kept out of revenue, counted properly in the till, and flagged the moment a guest leaves with money still on your books.
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Who this is for
- Properties taking cash deposits at check-in, which is most independent hotels and guesthouses in South and Southeast Asia
- Serviced apartments and villas, where the deposit is larger, held longer, and the one thing guests chase
- Anyone running deposits on a paper slip today — the arrangement this replaces
- Owners who want their revenue figures to be revenue, without custodial money quietly inflating a good month
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a security deposit counted as revenue? No, and Zitlin is careful about it. A deposit is the guest's money held in custody, so it never appears in your revenue figures. If you later retain part of it against damage, that part becomes a prepayment on the folio and is taxed on the invoice like any other money you have earned. Only the retained portion crosses over.
How does a cash deposit affect the till count at handover? It is in the drawer, so it counts towards what you are expected to have — but it is not something the property took, so it gets its own line rather than being added to takings. Returning a deposit takes it back out the same way. Without that separation the drawer would never balance against the notes in your hand.
Can Zitlin take a card pre-authorisation? Zitlin records the hold rather than placing it. You take the pre-authorisation on your own card terminal as you do today, then note it against the booking with its amount and expiry date. Zitlin then remembers it, shows it on the folio, and tells you when the expiry is approaching or has passed.
What stops us forgetting to return a deposit? Two things. Zitlin says so at check-out, in the moment, if you are still holding one — a reminder rather than a block, because nobody should be kept waiting at the desk over paperwork. And the deposit stays on the exceptions report, listed against a guest who has already left, until somebody returns or retains it.
Does the guest get anything to show for it? Yes. Each deposit carries its own numbered receipt you can print or send, recording what was taken, how, and by whom — and a second one when it is returned. Both are also in the export your accountant gets, with a reconciliation of what was taken in the period, what has been given back, and what is still outstanding.