Statement of account for travel agency customers

Regular customers (companies, sub agents, families who book often) rarely pay ticket by ticket. They pay when they can, in parts, sometimes in another currency than the one you sold in. After a few months nobody remembers the total. A statement of account fixes that: one page that shows what was sold, what was paid and what is still due.

What a statement must show

• Your agency name and contact, and the customer name.
• The period it covers (for example 1 October to 31 October), or "all entries".
• The currency. One statement per currency is the clearest way to avoid confusion.
• Opening balance: what the customer owed on the first day of the period.
• Every entry in date order: sales (invoices) and payments, each with a short description such as a route, passenger name or invoice number.
• Two money columns: Debit (the amount they owe grows) and Credit (it shrinks), plus a running balance.
• Closing balance, with words next to it: "Customer owes us" or "We owe the customer" or "Settled".
• The date the statement was made, so the customer knows how old it is.

Debit and credit in plain words

From your side, the customer is a debtor. A sale makes their balance bigger (debit). A payment, a refund or a credit note makes it smaller (credit). If the balance is positive, they owe you. If it goes negative, you owe them, for example after an overpayment or a refund not yet paid out.

Worked example

Sample customer, one statement in USD for October. All names and numbers below are sample data.

Check the arithmetic: 300 + 440 - 300 + 360 - 120 - 500 = 180. A customer can verify every line against their own records, which is the point.

If the customer deals in more than one currency

Do not add USD and AED into one total. Make one statement per currency. If the customer paid a USD invoice in AED, record the AED you received, the rate you used and the USD it settled, so the USD statement shows a USD credit. Keep the exchange rate visible in the entry text, for example "Payment AED 1,835 at 3.67 = USD 500". Our guide to multi-currency bookkeeping explains the records behind this.

How often to send it

Send the statement before you ask for money. A customer who sees the lines is more likely to agree than one who just hears "you owe 180".

How to send it

• As a PDF or a picture over WhatsApp. It opens on any phone and cannot be edited by accident.
• As a PDF by e-mail for companies who file it with their accountant.
• As an Excel file if the customer wants to check it against their own sheet.
• Printed and stamped for customers who come to the counter.

Hello Sample Customer, here is your statement for October.
Balance now: USD 180.00 due.
If any line looks wrong, tell me the date and I will check it the same day.
Thank you, Sample Travel Co

Mistakes to avoid

• Leaving out payments recorded late, so the balance looks higher than the customer expects.
• Mixing two currencies in one column.
• Descriptions like "ticket" with no route or passenger. The customer cannot match it.
• Changing old entries after the statement was sent. Add a correcting line instead.
• Sending a statement with no date or period, so nobody knows which one is current.

Making it in a spreadsheet or in Parvaz

In a spreadsheet, keep one sheet of entries with date, customer, currency, description, debit and credit, filter by customer and currency, and add a running total column. It works well for a few customers. In Parvaz, a customer is a party in the books, and the statement is made from the same sales and payments you already entered. It shows the opening balance, debit, credit and running balance for one currency, with your agency name and logo, and exports as PDF, picture, Word, Excel or print. See travel agency accounting software for the rest of the books, and the pricing page for the plan.