The Deposit Audit section of Daily Activity Entry (DAE) is where you reconcile the deposits reported by your PMS against the actual deposits captured by the bank and credit card processors. The goal is to verify that the money your PMS says was collected actually made it to the bank. Any differences between the two must be explained before the day can be approved.
How It Works
The Deposit Audit compares two numbers for each deposit type (Cash & Checks, Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, Discover, etc.):
PMS Total – This figure pulls automatically from the Payment section of Daily Activity Entry, which is populated from your PMS Daily Closing Reports. It represents what the PMS says was collected for that deposit type.
Actual – You enter this amount manually based on the bank deposit ticket (for cash/checks) or the credit card transmission report (for card types). It represents what actually settled at the bank or processor.
The system calculates the Variance (PMS Total minus Actual Bank Deposits). If there is a variance, it must be explained using the Deposit Audit Collections Detail section before the manager can approve the day.
Completing the Deposit Audit
Navigate to Accounting > Daily Activity Entry.
Click the Select button in the top-left corner of the screen.
From the dropdown, select the property E/HID.
Select the appropriate Date. The system defaults to the oldest unapproved day.
In the Daily Activity screen, click the Deposit Audit tab.
The Deposit Audit section lists each deposit type the property accepts (Cash & Checks, Visa, Mastercard, AMEX, Discover, etc.). Each row shows the PMS Total, Actual Bank Deposits Captured, and Variance columns.
Click the + icon on the deposit type row to open the Deposit Audit detail screen.
The PMS Total field auto-populates if the Payment section of DAE has already been completed. If it shows zero and you have already entered payment data, go back to the Payment section and verify the entries.
Enter the actual deposit amount in the Actual Bank Deposits Captured field. For cash and checks, use the amount from the bank deposit ticket. For credit cards, use the amount from the credit card transmission report.
The Variance field calculates automatically. If the PMS Total and Actual match, the variance is $0.00 and the field remains neutral.
If there is a variance, the field highlights in red.
Reconciling a Variance
If the Variance field shows a non-zero amount, you must explain the difference using the Deposit Audit Collections Detail section. You cannot approve the day until all variances are reconciled.
Click the Add Explanation link located below the red variance field. This opens the Deposit Audit Collections Detail screen.
Fill in the Explanation (a description of why the variance exists), the GL Account to post the adjustment to, and the amount of the variance.
Enter the amount as a positive number if the actual deposit was higher than the PMS total (an addition), or as a negative number if the actual deposit was lower (a reduction).
Repeat steps 11 through 13 to add additional explanation lines if the variance is caused by multiple items. The total of all Collections Detail entries must equal the Variance amount for the deposit type to be considered reconciled.
Once the variance is fully reconciled (Collections Detail total equals the Variance), click Save Changes.
Repeat steps 7 through 15 for each deposit type listed in the Deposit Audit section.
Common Variance Causes
Variances between PMS totals and actual bank deposits are normal and usually have straightforward explanations:
Credit card processing fees – The processor withholds fees before depositing, so the actual amount is slightly less than the PMS total.
Chargebacks – A guest disputed a charge and the processor reversed it.
Timing differences – A deposit was batched after the cutoff and will appear on the next day's bank statement.
Cash overages or shortages – The physical cash count does not match what the PMS recorded.
Tips or gratuities – Additional amounts settled with the credit card batch that were not in the PMS total.
IF PRO TIP: When reconciling credit card deposits, pull the figures for the Actual Bank Deposits Captured field from the credit card transmission report (sometimes called a batch settlement report or merchant deposit report). The name of this report varies by PMS and processor. If you are unsure which report to use, check with your credit card processor or your Inn-Flow implementation specialist.