Glossary · Front desk and rooms

What is a city ledger in a hotel?

The city ledger is the set of accounts a hotel bills after the guest has left — companies, travel agents and other bill-to accounts that settle on credit — as opposed to the guest ledger, which holds the bills of guests still in the house.

Also called Company accounts, Bill-to accounts, Hotel accounts receivable · Front desk and rooms · Last reviewed 25 September 2026

How it works

When a company books a room for an employee on credit, the guest does not pay at check-out. The balance on the folio moves to the company's account in the city ledger, the hotel sends a statement or invoice, and the payment arrives later by bank transfer.

Three things matter in a city ledger: who owes what, how old each amount is (ageing — 0–30 days, 31–60, 61–90 and older), and what has come in. Money in the city ledger is revenue already earned and not yet collected, so it must never be counted as cash in the drawer — and an account that keeps growing is a cash-flow problem long before it is a bad debt.

Travel agents who send guests are often city ledger accounts too, with their commission agreed per booking.

Example

An engineering firm sends three engineers for four nights at ₹2,500 — ₹30,000 on its account. At check-out the balance moves to the firm's city ledger account. Twenty-five days later ₹30,000 arrives by bank transfer and the account is clear; until then it sits in the 0–30 day column.

How Nivasik handles it

Nivasik's City Ledger lists the companies and travel agents billed instead of the guest: what each one owes, how old it is, and what came in. A travel agent carries its commission rate, and company-account settlements are kept apart from the cash drawer and the day book's cash, because a settlement is not cash.

See it on your own place, free for 45 days.

We set it up for you — your rooms, menu or stock list, your staff and your prices — and walk it end to end on your phone. No card, and we invoice only if you stay.