Skip to content
SimpleERP
Start free trialTalk to us
SimpleERP
Sign inStart free trial

Travel agencies

Accounting software for travel agencies and tour operators

See the advances you are holding, what you owe each hotel and transporter, and how much of this season's income is commission, without waiting for the accountant to post a month of entries.

Start free trialTalk to us

In short

SimpleERP is accounting software for travel agencies. Invoices, purchase bills, advances and supplier payments post journals as you work, so the trial balance, profit and loss and tax registers are ready on any date.

Illustration: saving invoice INV-2026-0213 moves stock, posts the customer ledger, records tax and updates the dashboard in one step.

An accounting day at Table Bay Holidays

At the end of October, Table Bay Holidays is holding $25,000 in customer advances for holiday-season trips that have not left yet. It also owes a Garden Route hotel $9,800, a Kruger lodge $5,200 and its shuttle transporter $3,900, and it is waiting on booking commission from two hotel chains.

The accountant used to rebuild all of this from a cash book and a chat group every quarter. In SimpleERP each receipt, purchase bill and payment has already posted its own journal, so on the first of the month the owner opens the trial balance instead of a shoebox of vouchers.

Ledger

Which ledger accounts does a travel agency use?

The chart of accounts is seeded when you sign up. A travel agency mostly works in a handful of them, and every one is filled by the documents you already post rather than by journal entries.

AccountFilled byWhat it tells you
Accounts receivablePackage invoices, customer paymentsWho still owes for a trip
Customer advances on accountPayments received before an invoiceMoney held for trips not yet billed
Accounts payableHotel and transporter purchase billsWhat you owe each supplier
Sales incomeInvoice linesPackages and commission, by the service on each line
Output and input taxInvoices and purchase billsTax to pay after what you reclaim
Accounts that move most in a travel agency

Illustration: saving invoice INV-2026-0213 moves stock, posts the customer ledger, records tax and updates the dashboard in one step.

One posted document writing its journal lines.

Commission

How do we record commission a hotel pays us?

When a hotel or airline owes you commission for bookings, raise an invoice to it for the commission as a service with its tax rate. The receivable sits against that hotel like any customer, and the payment clears it when the money arrives.

  • One party record for a hotel that is both a supplier you pay and a customer you bill for commission.
  • Statements on each side to agree balances with the hotel before you settle up.
  • Sales by service separates commission lines from package lines in the sales register.

Month end

What should we check before closing the month?

Three checks catch most mistakes in a travel business: advances that should have been applied to posted invoices, supplier deposits that were never matched to a hotel's bill, and bank balances that do not match the statement.

  • Receivables ageing with unapplied advances showing as credit balances.
  • Payables ageing with deposits paid to hotels still on account.
  • Lock date set once the month is checked, so nobody posts into it later.
  • Profit and loss for the season, with tour guide salaries and driver claims included.

Illustration of a profit and loss statement for Jan–Jun 2026 with net profit of 4,691, a tax summary and the lock date.

Profit and loss for the period from posted documents.

One system

Where the books get their entries

Sales, purchases, payments, payroll and expense claims each post their own journal, so the ledger is a result, not a second job.

Honest limits

What accounting for travel agencies leaves out

  • No bank feeds: bank entries are recorded and reconciled by hand
  • No multi-currency; every document is in your base currency
  • Tax returns are not filed and e-invoices are not issued from inside the product
  • No forex purchase or sale, and no margin scheme calculation for tour packages
  • No profit per tour or per traveller; profit is reported for the business and by period

Getting started

Start with accounting

  1. Sign up with your email

    Name, email and a password. No card for the seven-day trial.

  2. Tell us about the business

    Pick your country and, if you are registered, type your tax number. Accounts, tax rates, units, roles and numbering are seeded for that country.

  3. Enter opening balances

    Enter what customers owe, advances already received, what you owe hotels and transporters, and your bank and cash balances on the start date.

  4. Run the trial balance

    Every posted document is already in the ledger; the trial balance and P&L are ready on any date.

FAQ

Questions, answered

Can our accountant work in SimpleERP directly?

Yes. Invite your accountant by email with the Accountant role. They work in the ledger, journals, reports and tax registers you already post to, so there is nothing to export and send.

We pay a lodge a deposit before the season. Where does it go?

Record it as a payment to the lodge. With no bill yet it stays on account, and when the lodge's bill is entered you apply the deposit to it.

Can we delete a wrong receipt?

No. Posted documents are never deleted. Cancel the receipt and its journal reverses, then record it again correctly; both stay in the audit history.

Do we get profit and loss by month and for the season?

Yes. Profit and loss, balance sheet and trial balance run for any date range, so you can look at a month or the whole October to January season.

Related

See how accounting works in SimpleERP for travel agencies

Seven days free. No card. Your first invoice in minutes.

Start free trialTalk to us