Glossary
Hotel words, in plain language
The terms that sales people and booking sites use, explained in a sentence or two. Every term has its own link you can share.
- PMS (property management system)
- A PMS is the main hotel software: bookings, rooms, check in and check out, bills and reports in one place. In Keyvasa this is the front desk, the calendar and the bills. Many owners simply call it hotel software.
- OTA (online travel agency)
- An OTA is a booking site such as Booking.com, MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, Agoda or Expedia. It sells your rooms to travellers and charges you a commission on each booking, under your contract with it.
- Channel manager
- A channel manager keeps your prices, rooms left and bookings in step across every booking site. When a room sells on one site it closes on the others, which stops double bookings.
- Booking engine
- A booking engine is the booking page on your own website. Guests pick dates and a room and pay you directly, so no booking site takes a commission on that booking.
- GST on hotel rooms
- GST on a hotel room depends on the price of the room per night, and rooms at higher prices pay a higher rate. Rates and conditions change, so read our GST guide and confirm with your chartered accountant.
- GSTIN
- A GSTIN is a business’s 15 character GST number. A bill to a company with a GSTIN may need an e invoice number (IRN) from the government system.
- E invoice (IRN)
- An e invoice is a business bill registered with the government system, which returns an invoice reference number (IRN) and a signed QR code to print on the bill.
- Form C (now Form III)
- Form C is the report a hotel sends to the immigration authorities when a foreign guest stays. Under the 2025 rules it is called Form III and is filed online within 24 hours of arrival.
- Guest register
- The guest register is the hotel’s record of who stayed, in which room, when, and with which ID. Police may ask to see it. Keyvasa keeps it digitally, with the last 4 characters of each ID.
- Check in before arrival
- Check in before arrival means the guest fills in their details, adds ID photos and signs on their phone before reaching the hotel, so the desk only checks the original ID and hands over the key.
- Night audit (day close)
- The night audit, or day close, ends the hotel’s business day: room nights are charged, the day’s bills are checked and locked, and the day’s reports are fixed.
- Folio (guest bill)
- A folio is the guest’s running bill for a stay: every room night, food charge, extra and payment. Keyvasa simply calls it the bill.
- KOT (kitchen order ticket)
- A KOT is the order a waiter sends to the kitchen. In Keyvasa it appears on the kitchen screen, and the food is added to the bill.
- ADR (average daily rate)
- ADR is the average price paid for a room night: room revenue divided by rooms sold. Keyvasa shows it as the average rate.
- RevPAR
- RevPAR is room revenue divided by all the rooms you have, sold or not. It combines how full the hotel is with the price you got.
- Occupancy
- Occupancy is the share of your rooms sold on a night, shown as a percentage. Keyvasa shows it as rooms filled.
- Upsell (extras)
- An upsell is something extra a guest can add to the stay, such as an airport drop or a late check out. In Keyvasa Concierge these are called extras and show the price first.
- Blind drawer count
- A blind count means staff count the cash in the drawer before the system shows what it should hold, so the count stays honest.
- Audit trail
- An audit trail records every change: what changed, who changed it and when. It makes quiet changes to bills visible.
- Walk in
- A walk in is a guest who arrives without a booking and books at the desk.
- No show
- A no show is a guest with a booking who neither arrives nor cancels.
- Rack rate
- The rack rate is the hotel’s standard published price for a room before any discount.
- Keyvasa Concierge
- Keyvasa Concierge is everything the guest uses on their own phone: check in before arrival, the room page with WiFi, chat and requests, extras, and the bill with payment. There is no app to download.
- Keyvasa Watch
- Keyvasa Watch is the CCTV add on. It checks the cameras you already have and sends a short alert with a photo when something looks wrong. ₹479 a camera a month, plus GST.
Updated by the Keyvasa team.
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