1. Purpose & Scope
The Booking Order feature in the Property area under Sales allows you to manage billing documents generated from booking transactions that were imported as Receivables. Unlike invoices, Booking Orders cannot be created manually — they are always generated from the Sales → Validation workflow, making it essential to understand how they originate before working with them here.
CONTENT OF ARTICLE
3.1 How Booking Orders Are Generated: Two Paths
3.1.1 Option 1 — Generate As Draft
3.1.2 Option 2 — Generate and Submit
3.2 Managing a Draft Booking Order
3.2.1 Editing the Draft Header
3.3.1 Where Line Items Come From
3.3.4 Editing or Deleting a Line Item
3.6 Finalising the Booking Order
3.6.1 Booking Order Number Format
3.6.2 Post-Finalisation Page State
3.7.1 All Approvers Can Approve
3.8 Status Transition: Outstanding and Overdue
2. Pre-Requisites
Every area listed below must be correctly configured before a Booking Order can be generated and progress through its full lifecycle. Missing or incomplete configuration in any of these areas can cause a Booking Order to move to Suspended status or prevent it from generating entirely.
| Area | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Sales → Validation | This is where Booking Orders originate. The transaction must have been imported as a Receivable and processed here before it appears in Sales → Booking Order. |
|
Smart Contracts
|
The Setup Status must be set to Completed. This is checked both at draft creation and on an ongoing basis. |
| Setting → Brand (Property Area) | The property logo or favicon used on the PDF is retrieved from here. |
| Balance → Overview | Currency details displayed on the Booking Order are retrieved from this area. |
3. Generate Booking Orders
This page lists all Booking Orders that were converted from booking transactions in Sales → Validation. A transaction appears here when it was imported as a Receivable for the Property and then processed through the Sales → Validation flow. The list covers both single and batch transactions.
3.1 How Booking Orders Are Generated: Two Paths
When processing transactions in Sales → Validation, the user selects one of two execution options. The option chosen determines what state the Booking Order is in when it first appears in Sales → Booking Order.
3.1.1 Option 1 — Generate As Draft
When As Draft is chosen, the system creates a Booking Order in Draft status. A Draft ID is assigned to each transaction at the moment of creation and appears on the resume page. In this mode, the Booking Order is editable — you can update header details, add line items, and generate a PDF preview before finalising.
3.1.2 Option 2 — Generate and Submit
When And Submit is chosen, the system skips the Draft stage entirely. A full Booking Order ID is assigned immediately, and the Booking Order is automatically created with all line items pre-populated from the Sales → Validation data. The Booking Order moves directly through the same status logic as a Draft that has been finalised, without requiring any manual intervention.
3.2 Managing a Draft Booking Order
3.2.1 Editing the Draft Header
Clicking the Edit Draft button opens the Edit Draft popup. This allows you to change two key fields on the Draft Booking Order.
The popup contains the following fields:
| Field | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Document Type | Pre-selected as Booking and cannot be changed. |
| Currency | Displays the currency chosen at creation. The user may change it from the available list. |
| Partner ID | Displays the Partner ID chosen at creation. The user may change it using the same rules as at creation. |
| Cancel | Closes the popup without saving any changes. |
| Save Button | Available only if a change has been made. |
3.2.2 Deleting a Draft
Clicking the delete button opens a confirmation popup.
- Delete: Permanently deletes the draft and returns the user to the resume page. The progressive ID number assigned to this draft is not reused or affected by the deletion — the sequence continues from where it left off.
- Cancel: Closes the popup without taking any action.
3.3 Line Items
The line item table is the core of the Booking Order. Every row represents a booking included in this order.
3.3.1 Where Line Items Come From
For Booking Orders generated via the Generate As Draft path, line items come from two sources:
- Pre-populated rows — If rows were already present when the draft was created, they are pulled automatically from the Sales → Validation booking data.
- Manually added rows — Additional rows can be added using the Add button.
3.3.2 Adding a Line Item
- Clicking the Add button opens the Add Item popup.
- Complete the fields as described below:
| Description | Rules |
|---|---|
| Booking ID | Any value accepted, maximum 150 characters. |
| Nights | Values from NA to 999. Default is NA. |
| Check-in | Past 5 years to future 2 years. If no date is applicable, select checkbox. |
| Guests | Values from NA to 999. |
| The booking amount before tax. | Numbers only (comma or dot accepted), maximum of 999,999,999.00. |
| Rate | Select from either 1/1 (No split), 1/2, 2/2. |
3. Once you have completed filling the details in, select Add to confirm the changes.
3.3.3 Tax Calculation Logic
Tax amounts are calculated automatically based on the tax configuration set in Setup → Property → Taxes, specifically the rows selected for the Receivable booking type.
The system applies each active tax row as a percentage multiplied against the Amount Before Tax for each line item. For example:
Amount Before Tax: 120.00 Tax Row 1: City Tax 15% → 120.00 × 15% = 18.00 Tax Row 2: Resort Fee 10% → 120.00 × 10% = 12.00 Tax Row 3: Cleaning Fee 12% → 120.00 × 12% = 14.40 Total Tax (Point 32): 18.00 + 12.00 + 14.40 = 44.40 Amount After Tax (Point 33): 120.00 + 44.40 = 164.40
If multiple line items are present, the tax breakdown per tax type sums the individual calculations across all rows:
Two rows with City Tax (15%): Row 1: 120.00 × 15% = 18.00 Row 2: 115.40 × 15% = 17.31 Point 37 for City Tax: 18.00 + 17.31 = 35.31
Tax description and breakdown is taken from your Smart Contract terms
3.3.4 Editing or Deleting a Line Item
Clicking the edit icon on any row will open a small menu with two options:
- Delete Row: Removes the row immediately.
- Edit Row: Opens the Edit Item popup, which pre-fills all fields with the current values from that row. The fields and rules are identical to the Add Item popup.
3.4 PDF Preview
Once at least one line item exists in the table, the PDF button becomes available. Clicking it generates and opens a PDF preview of the Booking Order.
3.5 Suspended Status
After a Draft Booking Order is created, the system continuously checks three conditions. If any of these fail, the Booking Order status changes from Draft to Suspended.
| Condition Checked | Suspension Message Shown |
|---|---|
| Partnership Status (Connect → Property) must be Completed | Status Partnership issue |
| Setup Status (Setup → Property) must be Completed | Status Setup issue |
| Account Settings Status must be Completed | Account Setup issue |
Multiple suspension reasons can appear simultaneously if more than one condition has failed. When a Booking Order is Suspended:
To resolve a Suspended Booking Order, identify which condition has failed from the suspension message, correct the configuration in the relevant area, and then verify the Booking Order status updates automatically.
3.6 Finalising the Booking Order
When the Booking Order has at least one line item and is not Suspended, Finalise button becomes clickable. Clicking it opens the Send Booking Order confirmation popup:
Once the Booking Order is finalised, Booking Order number is generated and assigned.
3.6.1 Booking Order Number Format
The Booking Order number follows this structure:
BO-[PropertyCode]-[ProgressiveID] Example (Draft): BO-HTL231.1-DRAFT-112 Example (Final): BO-HTL231.1-112
-
BO— Fixed prefix for Booking Orders. -
HTL231.1— The property code. -
DRAFT— Present only while in Draft status; removed upon finalisation. -
112— A progressive number unique to that property code and document type, starting from 1. Deletion of a draft does not reset or reuse this number.
Two different properties can have the same progressive number, because the counter is based per property code:
BO-HTL212.1-112 ← Property HTL212.1, document #112 BO-HTL231.1-112 ← Property HTL231.1, document #112 (separate counter)
3.6.2 Post-Finalisation Page State
Once confirmed, the Manage page transitions to the finalised view. Key changes include:
- Finalised Booking Order Number
- Timeline to indicate a list of events
3.7 Approval Workflow
Whether an approval workflow applies depends on the settings configured in Setting → Approval. The system checks this automatically when a Booking Order is finalised.
Three approval modes are available: No Approval is Required, All Approvers Can Approve and Multi-Level Approval.
If any approval is required, here will be the workflow your booking order goes through:
- Status update: The Booking Order status changes to Under Approval. This is reflected on both the Manage page and the resume page.
- Timeline update: A new entry is added to the timeline with a fixed sentence that reads: "Booking order currently under approval.", along with the timestamp, IP address, and map icon.
- Event log entry: An event is added with the fixed sentence: "The booking order has been submitted for approval", along with the timestamp, IP address, and map icon.
3.7.1 All Approvers Can Approve
When this option is active, all configured approvers receive the request simultaneously. Any single approver can take action independently. A unique 24-character alphanumeric Transaction Approval ID is generated for each Booking Order and each approver. This ID is referenced in emails, notifications, and the approver list.
If email notification is enabled, an approval request email is sent from noreply@paydocker.com with the subject "Transaction Approval Request" to all approvers listed in the approver table. Otherwise, an In-app notification will appear for each approver on their account.
- The notification reads: "Your approval is required for the transaction ID [Transaction Approval ID]".
When an approver's status is Pending, the Remind button is available on that row. Clicking it resends the email (if enabled) and/or notification to that approver, and updates the Last Reminder date.
3.7.2 Multi-Level Approval
When Multi-Level Approval is active, the approval flow is identical to All Approvers Can Approve, with one key difference: approval requests are sent one level at a time, starting from the highest level number.
The approver table on the Manage Booking Order page displays the level number next to each approver (Point M for Level 1, Point N for Level 2, and so on), rather than NA as in the All Approvers mode. Approvers are only listed in the table as their level becomes active.
3.7.3 No approvers required
If no approvers are required, the Booking Order will automatically be sent.
3.8 Status Transition: Outstanding and Overdue
Here are some of the key changes:
-
Once all approvers have approved the Booking Order (or if no approval rules are set), the Booking Order transitions out of Draft/Under Approval status. The new status depends on whether the due date has passed
Condition Status Assigned Due date is in the past (based on master account GMT) Overdue Due date is today or in the future (based on master account GMT) Outstanding -
Payment section: The payment section becomes visible.
- Event log entry: "The booking order has been sent to [Property Name]" (Points 6A–6B), with timestamp (Point 7A) and the server IP address (Point 8A, since this action is performed by the system, not a user).
- Tracking ID: A unique 24-character alphanumeric ID created for this Booking Order.
-
Property-side notification: All active team profiles connected to the property receive an in-app notification: "A new payment request for the booking order ID [ID] has been created in your account" (Points 3A, 4A, 3B–3C). Clicking the notification redirects the user to the Manage Booking Order page at the property side.
A notification email is also sent to all team members (including master) who have opted in to receive payment notifications (Setting → Notifications), fromnoreply@paydocker.com, with subject: "Your booking order #[OrderNumber] from [Company Legal Name]".
3.9 Send Booking Order Email
Available only when the Booking Order status is Outstanding or Overdue. Clicking opens the Send popup.
3.10 Comments
The comment section allows operators to add notes and file attachments to a Booking Order at any stage. These comments are internal, allowing communication to happen within your team.
1. Scroll down and click the + Comment button to open the popup.
2. Fill in the popup with the relevant information
3. Click Post to post the comment.
4. Troubleshooting
| Issue | Likely Cause | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| Booking Order shows status Suspended with "Status Partnership issue" | The Partnership Status in Connect → Property has changed to a non-Completed state after the draft was created. | 1. Go to Connect → Property for the relevant property. 2. Review and resolve the reason the status changed. 3. Set the status back to Completed. 4. Return to Sales → Booking Order and verify the Suspended status has cleared. |
| Booking Order shows status Suspended with "Status Setup issue" | The Setup Status in Setup → Property has changed to a non-Completed state. | 1. Go to Setup → Property. 2. Review all required setup steps and complete any outstanding items. 3. Confirm status returns to Completed. 4. Return to the Booking Order and verify the status has updated. |
| Booking Order shows status Suspended with "Account Setup issue" | The Account Settings Status in Setting → Account is no longer set to Completed. | 1. Go to Setting → Account (Property Area). 2. Review Business Details and ensure all required fields are completed. 3. Confirm the status returns to Completed. 4. Return to the Booking Order and verify the status has updated. |
| Buttons 21 and 22 are greyed out and cannot be clicked | No line items exist in the table, or the Booking Order is Suspended. | If no rows exist, add at least one line item using the Add button. If Suspended, resolve the relevant condition as described in the rows above. |
| The Save button in the Edit Draft popup is greyed out | No changes have been made to the currency or Partner ID fields. | Make at least one change to either field before attempting to save. If no changes are needed, use the Cancel button to close the popup. |
| Tax amount is not calculating as expected | The tax rows in Setup → Property → Taxes may not be correctly configured for the Receivable booking type, or the tax rows are not selected for this property. | 1. Go to Setup → Property → Taxes. 2. Confirm that the relevant tax rows are set to apply to the Receivable booking type. 3. Return to the Booking Order and verify the calculation updates on the next add or edit action. |
| The Booking Order number on the Manage page still shows DRAFT in its label | The Booking Order has not yet been finalised. The DRAFT label is removed only after clicking the Generate/Send button and confirming in the popup. | Review the confirmation popup, and click Confirm. The page will update and the DRAFT suffix will be removed from the order number. |
| An approver is not receiving email notifications | The email notification checkbox at Point 5 in Setting → Approval may be unchecked, or the approver's email address is incorrect in the approver list. | 1. Go to Setting → Approval and verify the checkbox at Point 5 is checked. 2. Verify the approver's email address in the approver table. 3. If sending a reminder does not resolve it, check spam filters on the approver's email account. |
| The Notify Update button does not appear on an approver row | The approver has not yet set their status to Update Request. The Notify Update button only appears when that specific approver's status is Update Request. | Confirm with the approver that they have submitted an Update Request on their Manage Approval page. Once they do, the button will appear on the corresponding row in the Manage Booking Order approver table. |
| The Send button in the Send Email popup cannot be clicked | Either no valid email address has been entered in the To field, or one or more addresses in the To or CC fields has an invalid format (shown with a red background). | Ensure at least one valid email address is present in the To field and that all entered addresses in both the To and CC fields pass the format check. Remove or correct any red-highlighted entries. |
5. FAQs
Q: Why can't I create a Booking Order manually the way I can with an Invoice?
Booking Orders in the Property area are specifically designed to represent billing transactions that originated as Receivables imported through the Sales → Validation workflow. As they are tied directly to real booking data — check-in dates, guest counts, rates, and pre-calculated tax figures — the system requires that data to exist before a Booking Order can be created. This design ensures every Booking Order has a verifiable audit trail from the original booking through to the billing document.
Q: If I delete a Draft Booking Order, will the ID numbers on future drafts be affected?
No. The progressive ID counter is not affected by deletions. Once a Draft ID number is assigned, it is permanently reserved for that document — even if the document is later deleted, that number will not be reused. This is intentional: it prevents gaps in the numbering sequence from being misread as missing documents during an audit, and it ensures that any external reference to the deleted draft ID cannot be accidentally matched to a new document in the future.
Q: What is the difference between the Booking Order status showing Overdue versus Outstanding, and does it affect what the property can do?
Both Overdue and Outstanding indicate that the Booking Order has been fully approved (or required no approval) and has been sent to the property for payment. The difference is purely based on the due date: Outstanding means the due date has not yet passed, while Overdue means it has. The distinction exists primarily to help both sides (the partner and the property) understand the urgency of the outstanding payment at a glance, and it is reflected on the resume page so that overdue documents can be easily identified and prioritised.