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Resort Data Processing, Inc. Providing
Quality Hospitality Software for Vacation Rentals, |
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| Search | Hotels/Resorts | Vacation Rentals | Condo-Hotels | Timeshare/Fractional | Internet Reservations | Travel Services | Support | Contact Us | ||
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RDP was founded in 1981 to develop software for Vacation Rentals
and Condo-Hotels. We now have over 1000 customers and 26 years
experience with the complex world of reservations and owner trust
accounting. This section describes our Vacation Rental and
Condo-Hotel features, designed for managing individually owned homes
or condominiums that are rented on a short term and/or long term
basis (daily, weekly, monthly or yearly). Please see our
Product
overview page information on our products for hotels, timeshare,
and campgrounds. |
| Click any box for topic details. |
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A wide variety of data flows automatically into the owner statement, as represented by the diagram below. Features include:
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Information flows automatically from Reservations, Work Orders and Housekeeping to the Owner Statement and Trust Accounting system as follows:
| General Ledger Chart of Accounts
and Transactions
Trust Accounting |
Add your general ledger (G/L) account numbers to the
RDP chart of accounts. G/L account numbers are assigned to transaction codes. Transactions are posted to reservations, owners, travel agents,
groups, work orders, and other RDP system entities. Every transaction creates a balanced entry in the RDP Trust G/L
(debits=credits). Once a day or once a month, the totals for all RDP G/L accounts are
automatically transferred to any
supported
non-RDP accounting system, which then produces the final income
statement and balance sheet. |
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| Add Rooms | Each managed property is entered into the system. Properties can be made available for any managed rental (short or long term) or non-rental properties. A complete description, pictures, and inventory are available for each room/property, including virtual tours. Lock-off units are allowed. |
| Assign Owners | Owners are assigned to rental units when appropriate. Each owner
can be paid a different percentage of any reservation revenue. An owner
can own more than one unit, and a unit can be owned by more than one
owner. All owner history is
retained when units are sold, and 1099's can be printed for both the old
and new owners. In addition to these features for whole ownership, please see Timeshare System Overview. |
| Reservations | Reservations can be made for all units: both owned and not owned. The ownership status of a given unit is transparent to the reservationists. The system can equalize owner rental revenue. Owners can reserve units and view calendars on the Internet. All charges, deposits, and payments on reservations automatically flow to the owner statement and trust accounting system. |
| Guest History | Guest history and reservation history is stored forever based on storage
capacity. See Guest History and Marketing and Guest Rewards Program - Customer Relationship Management. |
| Owner Reservations | Owners can reserve their unit for themselves or guests using
the Internet. They can also inquire on their calendar and other
information. See Sample Internet Reservation Screens. |
| Integrated Email | E-mail confirmations and marketing is fully integrated into the system.
Confirmations can be e-mailed automatically. See Integrated E-mail. |
| Guest Internet Reservations | Guests can make direct , commission-free reservations 24 hours a day, 365 days a year using RDP Internet Reservations system. |
| Travel Agents | Travel Agent reservations can be made using the Internal RDP reservation system or entered directly with the Internet. |
| Groups | Group reservations can be made using the Internal RDP reservation system or entered directly with the Internet. See Group Reservation and Billing Overview. |
| Rates and Packages | The system can automatically calculate the rental amount for all reservations based on the dates, number of people, and many other factors. Each unit can have different rates. Packages can be created for the guest that include items other than room rent such as golf, food, or other activities. See Rates and Package Overview. |
| Additional Reservation Charges | In addition to calculating the rent amount and package components, the system can calculate additional reservation charges such as booking fees, security deposits, travel insurance, cleaning fees, cancellation charges, and much more. The system can be configured to pay the owner a share of the rental amount but not additional package activities or reservation charges. See Additional Reservation Charges. |
| Guest Itinerary and Activities | The system can build a complete guest itinerary for activities and services. Coupons or tickets can be printed and reconciled for each activity. The owner can receive a portion of some of the charges (room) and not other. See Guest Activities and Itinerary. |
| Owner Statement | The system automatically itemizes each reservation on the Owner Statement each month or billing period. |
| Work Orders | Work Orders for rental and non-rental units can be entered from any workstation or by the owner using the Internet. Charges and descriptions for work orders automatically flow to the owner statement. Work order vendors can be paid using the system. |
| Housekeeping | Charges to the guest or owner for Housekeeping are automatically calculated based on unit # and appear on either the guest rental contract or owner statement. Housekeeping scheduling and forecasting is available, as well as tracking payment to outside housekeeping companies. |
| Trust Account and General Ledger | Transactions can be posted to one owner, all owners, or to all owners of a specific unit type. The system immediately updates the owner's balance due and automatically updates the Trust Accounting System and General Ledger. |
| Pay Bills for Owners | Bills can be paid for owners such as cable, electric, gas, etc. The system can print checks to the vendors and bill the owners on the owner statement. See . |
| Over 300 Reports | Over 300 reports are available showing reservations, work orders, housekeeping, accounting, and much more. See Sample Screens, Sample Reports, and Crystal Reports Overview. |
| Owner Statements and Checks | The Owner Statement is created each month. It can be printed and mailed to the owner. All past owner statements are available for the owner to view or print via the Internet with a proper password. Checks to owners are printed from the RDP system. Month-to-date and Year-To-Date totals per owner are available. |
| IRS 1099s | Owner 1099 Statements can be printed each year or distributed on magnetic media. |
| Owner History | Owner history is maintained forever and is only limited by available disk space. For example, reprint an owner statement from last month, last year, or five years ago. All work orders and housekeeping information is available for historical inquiry and on various reports. |
| Track Sold Units | When a unit is sold, assign the new owner to the unit while keeping the old owner's information and history in the system. For example, when a unit is sold on May 31st (mid-year), the system can print 1099 Statements for the old owner and the new owner. |
| 24 Hour Support | RDP Support is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. |
RDP software helps equalize rental revenue for all owners and takes into account reservation length, seasons, property type, property location, owner use, guest of owner, and reservation cancellations. Various reports are available to show revenue per unit each month and year-to-date. Available units are displayed in "turn to be rented order" but still allow reservationists to select any available unit based on guest preferences to keep guests happy. See Sample Availability Screen below.
The RDP rental equalization logic is time tested, as it has now been in use for 26 years. Long standing RDP customers have analyzed the results and determined rental revenues fall within a few percentage points for similar units, while still allowing flexibility to select units based on guest preferences.
Increase revenue beyond the management fee with additional reservation charges that are automatically calculated. These fees can be shared with the owner based on a unique percentage per owner or held 100% by the management company. Examples of Additional Reservation charges include:
The system includes an online reservation board ("Tape Chart"). All new reservations, changes, and cancellations made using the internal RDP Reservation system or by guests/owners using the Internet appear immediately on the Tape Chart . Dates, room numbers, and other reservation information can be changed graphically using the Tape Chart. See "Reservations Overview".
RDP can make reservations for a wide variety of rental units in the same system.
For example, its possible to manage rental condominiums, non-rental units, hotel
rooms, houses, timeshare units, campsites, and rental boats all in the same system.
The reservationists simply make reservations for the various rental units, and the
system tracks the owner payment on individually owned units. All features
in RDP's hotel/resort system are available for use to our vacation / condo rental
customers.
See Hotel / Resort Feature
Overview (all features available to condo/vacation rental customers)
See RDP Timeshare
module (more than one owner of each unit)
RDP hosts a customer conference in Vail, Colorado to plan future research and development strategy based on customer feedback. In recent years, the focus has been to answer the question, "How can we use the Internet to make life easier and more profitable for our customers?”. The answer is three-fold:
| Guest Direct Internet Reservations (IRM) | Guests can book directly into the RDP system using our commission free Internet Reservation Module. See Internet Reservations Module. |
| Interface to Global Distribution System (GDS) | In addition to the commission free Internet Reservation Module, RDP offers an interface to the Global Distribution System (GDS) to load reservations from thousands of websites. See RDPConnect. |
| Owner Internet Access | RDP's capabilities for Owner Internet Access are explained below. |
The goal of RDP’s Owner Internet access is to identify all requests from owners that generate calls to management and move these functions to the Internet. Owner Internet access capabilities include:
| Owner Internet Access Capabilities |
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A few sample screens from the Internet Reservation Module appear below. For additional information, please use the following links:
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Internet Reservation Info & Demos:
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E-mail is one of the most powerful and least expensive marketing tools available and has been fully incorporated into the RDP system at no additional charge. E-mail features included:
See
Overview of E-mail
Marketing for additional information
E-mails can be sent to all owners in a matter of minutes with either a hand-typed
message or an attachment (such as a Word or Adobe document).
| Sample Mass E-mail to Owners |
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| RDPWin E-mail Monitor Configure to Automatically Send E-mail Confirmations from RDPWin, IRM, DOS, and/or GDS |
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| Sample Guest Confirmation Attach Maps, Policies, etc., as Word or Adobe Attachments |
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The following links are available for documents related to e-mail and Resort Data Processing:
The system is designed for either short-term or long-term rentals or a combination of both. Reservations can range from one day to several years. The reservation process is identical for both, which simplifies training for reservationists. Rooms can be rented both short term and long term or even removed from the rental program for selected periods.
Charge a different management commission based on the length of the reservation. For example, a three-day reservation may have a management commission of 35%, while a six-month reservation may be at only 10%. Additionally, the owner can be paid only once on the three-day reservation and each month on the six-month reservation.
The system can automatically adjust the tax rate based on the length of stay. For example, a three-day reservation may have a 9% tax, while a six-month reservation is non-taxable.
The system supports lock-offs (commonly encountered at condominium and timeshare properties). An example of a lock-off is a three bedroom unit that can be rented as either three one-bedroom units, a two-bedroom and a one-bedroom unit, or a three-bedroom unit. The system calculates rates based on the configuration of the unit. An example follows:
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| 34A-Single, $100/Night | 34B-Single, $100/Night | 34C-Single, $100/Night |
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Many of RDP's customers use the system to manage homes or condominiums that are not in the rental pool. Features include:
RDP software includes much more report writing capability than First
Resorts. RDP uses Crystal Reports
as the basis for over 300 Reports.
During installation, RDP modifies those reports and creates new ones to meet the
unique requirements of each customer. After installation, customers
can create custom reports or modify system reports using Crystal Reports Version
10 Standard Edition. Crystal Reports is a full Windows product and allows the use
of graphics, colors, charts, and fonts that improve the look of all guest correspondence.
Please use the following links for more information:
Key concepts of the Work Orders & Asset Management module include:
| Work order, Asset Management and Inventory Control Diagram |
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To illustrate the functions of the Work Orders and Asset Management module, consider the following example:
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Guest Reports Problem |
A guest discovers that the toilet is broken in the master bedroom and calls the management office. Any employee can enter the work order from any workstation using RDPWin and assign a priority (Low, High, etc.). |
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Assign Maintenance Person to Work Order |
All new work orders immediately appear on the Work Order Monitor screen as a new work order with details such as "Fix the toilet in Room 101.” The maintenance department can then assign the work order to a third-party vendor such as Bob's Plumbing or to an internal maintenance employee. Work Orders entered from workstations at the property can assign the work order when during the initial entry. |
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Notification to Cell phone or E-mail |
A text e-mail can be automatically sent to the cell phone of the maintenance employee. For outside vendors, an e-mail can be sent to request the work to be completed. The e-mail acts as a purchase order for services. E-mails to outside vendors are designed using Crystal Reports. See RDP E-mail Capabilities for more details. |
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Work Order Monitor Screen Track Open Work Orders |
The Work Order Monitor then tracks the "open, assigned" work order.
Any workstation can access the Work Order Monitor to track the
progress of all work orders regardless of status based on level of access.
Work order history is tracked for each outside vendor or maintenance employee. All work orders for any owner can be displayed. Repairs to specific assets are tracked such as all work to the pool heater. See Work Order Overview to view sample screens. |
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Work Order Completed |
When the assigned person completes the work order, change the status to closed and add any comments needed. The work order can track all time spent as well as all inventory items used (such as spending 45 minutes fixing the toilet; new toilet seal installed). |
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Pay Outside Vendor |
Work orders can automatically pay a vendor. For example, call Bob’s Plumbing to fix the toilet at a cost of $75, post the charge to the work order, and print a check to the vendor. A full statement is available for the vendor showing all repairs. All charges flow through the trust accounting system to provide a complete audit trail. |
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Bill the Guest, Group or Owner |
The cost plus any mark-up of a work order can be charged to a guest, group, or owner. For example, pay Bob’s Plumbing invoice of $75, but charge the charge the owner $95. The extra $20 represent management revenue. |
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Owner Statement |
Charges for work orders appear on the owner statement with a full description of the work performed. See sample owner statement. |
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Asset Management |
A complete history of all repairs for each "fixed asset" is available. Enter the "pool heater" as an asset including the serial number, description, which vendor to call for repair, and various other information. Each time a work order is generated for the pool heater, the vendor can be automatically notified by e-mail. The history of all repairs each asset is available. |
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Inventory |
The system can maintain a list of inventory items. For example, you may have five toaster ovens in storage. When a toaster oven is removed from storage to replace one in a unit, inventory is tracked. When cost information is on the asset record, the owner or guest can be charged accordingly. A complete list of all inventory items is available. |
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Trust Accounting |
All charges related to the work order (payments to vendors, charges to owners, inventory cost of items used, etc.) flow automatically to the Trust Accounting System. |
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Batch Process Work Orders for Owners |
In addition to billing owners individually for work orders, the system allows batch processing of all open work orders for all owners. The system can display all “work orders not charged to owners yet” to streamline billing owners for all unbilled work orders with just a few clicks. |
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Accounts Payable for Vendors |
Vendors can be paid immediately for a completed work order with a check printed by the system. Alternatively, the system allows for accounts payables to be paid in batches, where numerous invoices from the same vendor can be paid periodically using only one check. All accounts payable information automatically feeds the Trust Accounting System. |
The RDP system includes a very powerful housekeeping system which is designed to forecast housekeeping requirements, provide a daily cleaning schedule, and offers complete history by housekeeper and room.
| Forecasted Housekeeping Requirements |
The housekeeping module is designed to forecast the total number of housekeepers needed each day in the future based on current guests in-house and expected arrivals/departures. For example the forecast report may indicate that a total of 124 rooms will be dirty tomorrow for a total cleaning time of 101 hours. The following day shows 214 dirty rooms with a total cleaning time of 194 hours. Use this information to plan the work schedules for housekeepers to make sure there are not too few or too many housekeepers each day. Features include:
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| Daily Housekeeping Schedule |
The housekeeping module can automatically create a cleaning
schedule each day for each housekeeper based on the number of dirty
rooms, estimated clean time per room, and number of housekeepers.
A "housekeeping status screen" is the core element which tracks each
housekeeper and auto-refreshes as rooms are cleaned, inspected, and
other tasks are performed. Features include:
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| Housekeeping History Housekeeper Performance Reports |
The third major element of the housekeeping module is
historical reporting. It is possible to measure the performance
of each housekeeper by tracking the estimated clean time and actual
clean time, as well as variance. You can also track each time a room
was cleaned and by whom. For example, if a guest checks in to
a dirty room, you can determine which housekeeper erroneously marked
the room as clean. Features include:
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For more details please see
Housekeeping Forecast, Scheduling, and History
See RDP Owner Accounting Overview
When a guest calls the reservation department at the property or your central reservations office, the reservationist has four choices:
Reservation Quotes,
Wait List, and Denial Tracking
Reservation Overview
Yield Management
Internet
Reservations
Central
Reservations
The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) module is designed to track all relationships with guests to improve guest service and marketing. All guest visits are tracked from one or more RDP systems. Points can be awarded for each reservation. The number of points can be different for different seasons, room types, total dollars spent, and other variables. Guests can make reservations by redeeming points. Restrictions can be applied to control when "point reservations" are allowed. A complete history is kept of all point reservations. Mass E-mails can be sent with attachments.
Customer
Relationship Management Overview
RDP Guest History
System
E-mail
Marketing
The Travel Agent and Wholesalers system is completely integrated with the owner billing module. Travel agent commissions are automatically deducted from the owner statement. Various methods for calculating owner portions of the commission are allowed, including:
In addition to paying for work orders, it is possible to pay bills for owners and guests, such as cable TV, Electric, Gas, etc. The system can print checks to the vendors and bill either the owners on the owner statement or the guest on the reservation folio. The types of bills that can be paid for owners and reservations is as follows:
| Type of Bill | Explanation |
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| Work Order | A work order can pay the vendor who performed the works as well as generate a charge on the owner statement, including an optional mark-up. For example, if "Bob's TV Repair" fixes the owners TV for $100, you can pay the Vendor $100 and bill the owner $120, all from one screen. Checks can be printed for Vendors. See "Work order Overview". |
| Recurring Monthly Charge | Accounts can be set up for recurring monthly charges that you pay on behalf of the owner. Examples include cable TV, electric bill, water bill, gas, etc. You can "batch process" the invoices each month from one screen. For example, if you receive 100 different electric bills for 100 owners, the system will display a screen of all 100 accounts and all you have to do is enter the amount for each account#. The system can then pay the electric company for all 100 invoices with one check AND charge each of the 100 owners. All from one screen - see sample below. |
| One Time Payment for Owner | One time bills can also be paid for owners that are not related to a work order. For example, you may agree to pay an electric bill one time only for an owner. |
| Tasks for Reservations | It is also possible to have tasks on reservations, such as "purchase food and stock the refrigerator", and then charge the reservation and pay the Vendor. |
| The screen below shows the ability to pay a batch of Owner Electric Bills at the same time from one screen |
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The system automatically transfers gross reservation revenue and the management commission to the owner statement. In addition, transactions can be posted directly to the owner. The total of these charges is then deducted from the net reservation revenue. Charges can be posted to one owner at a time, or the system can automatically post the same charge to all owners. Charges can even be posted to all owners of the same unit type.
Most management companies operate on a monthly owner billing cycle. However, the system can be used for any billing cycle. Owner statements can be printed once a week, once a month, every two months, once a quarter, etc. You can even mix billing cycles, so that one owner is paid once a week, another once a month, and a third only once a quarter.
The system can split room revenue from the same reservation across two or more months. For example, if a reservation arrives 7/25/2008 and departs 8/6/2008, the owner could be paid July's portion in July and the remainder in August. Alternatively, all of the revenue can be paid to the owner in the month of checkout. Long term rentals can pay the owner at the end of each month.
The system produces a month-to-date and a year-to-date recap report per owner as part of the owner statement process. This report includes a total of room revenue, management commission, travel agent fees, credit card fees, and a sub-total for each direct expense category.
Owner statements can be reprinted for any past month or billing cycle: forever. For example, if an owner requests a copy of his statement from last March, it can be reprinted in seconds. Owner reservations, management commissions, travel agents fees, and all direct charges can also be instantly displayed for any time period.
The system can generate and print a check for the net amount due the owner each billing cycle. However, if the owner has more expenses than revenue, the system tracks this as an open receivable.
An owner's check may be held "on account" to offset future expenses. For example, one RDP customer has several owners who live in Mexico. These owners request that management hold their checks during the busy season to offset maintenance expenses during the slow season. These owners are marked as "generate checks=NO" during the busy season, preventing the system from automatically distributing a check each billing cycle.
One of the most important elements of Vacation Rentals and Condominium Hotels is Trust Accounting and General Ledger. The RDP system includes a full trust accounting system, which can be used as the only accounting system or in conjunction with another accounting system. Please see: Overview - RDP Trust Accounting for details.
RDP interfaces with a wide variety of third party devices. Please use the links below for details.
If the owner statement calculation produces a balance due to the management company, the system creates an owner accounts receivable (A/R). The A/R report is aged at 30, 60, 90 and 120 days. This report is available in a "one line per owner" format, or in a detail format showing each open item.
If owners have not paid the amount due, the system can automatically post a late charge. Additionally, the system can print overdue notices, either on paper for mailing or sent to the owners via E-mail.
E-mail
Marketing
Crystal Reports
The system automatically generates IRS 1099 reports at year-end. These reports show total revenue booked for each owner for the calendar year. Year-end reporting on magnetic media is required for larger properties and is available at no charge.
A room move can be performed using RDP's powerful online Tape Chart. For reservations moving between individually owned units, rental revenue for each owner is automatically calculated. For example, if a guest stays three nights in Room 101 and moves to Room 453 for two additional nights, RDP automatically pays Owner 101 for three days (minus management commission) and Owner 453 for two days.
RDP has integrated yield management with the reservation system. When combined with a careful study of the property's history and training of employees, yield management can significantly increases occupancy and average daily rate (ADR). Small increases in ADR can drastically increase property profit.
Yield Management Overview
Hotel / Resort Feature
Overview (all features available to condo/vacation rental customers)
RDP supports both sharewith folios and one guest with multiple folios. A sharewith occurs when more than one guest is in the room and they wish to split the bill. For example, four guests could stay in a two-bedroom unit, with four different folios. Up to 99 sharewiths can split the charges for one room. One guest can also have multiple folios. For example, the room charges can go to Folio A and incidentals to Folio B. Room charges can be billed to the group master and incidentals for the guest. Please use the following links for more information:
Front Desk and Night Audit Overview
Sample Guest Folio
Group/Company
Billing Overview
RDP Owner Accounting Overview
The system can automatically adjust the tax rate based on a variety of factors, including:
The system can handle a wide variety of timeshare / interval ownership concepts, including "point based", fixed week, floating week, quarter-share, eight-share, and a wide variety of other ownership situations. Combinations of these methods are possible, and it is possible to combine timeshare, whole ownership, and hotel rooms in one system. An example follows:
| Timeshare / Interval Ownership Topics - See Timeshare Overview | |
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See
RDP Timeshare module, where there is more than one owner of each unit.
See Hotel / Resort Feature
Overview (all features available to condo/vacation rental customers).
Please note that all features in our Hotel/Resort system are available for use with condominium, timeshare, and vacation rental systems.
