When owners of guesthouses, homestays or mini hotels switch software, they usually worry most about two things: the guests staying in their rooms at the time of the switch, and the deposits from guests arriving next week or next month. The room list and rate table can be re-entered at any time. But an occupied room that gets missed, or a deposit nobody remembers, will surface exactly when the guest is standing at the desk.
This article covers just one day: the day you switch from old software, installed on a computer or used online, to new software. The general process of moving to the cloud is covered in the article moving your hotel management software from a computer to the cloud; if your hotel keeps its records in Excel, see the article on moving data from Excel into software. And as for whether to switch at all, the article on maintenance fees for old hotel software helps you work that out first.
Part 1: Choose a software switch day with few in-house guests
The number of occupied rooms at the switch time is exactly the number of rooms that have to be copied and checked by hand. The fewer in-house guests on switch day, the fewer places where things can go wrong.
- Open the booking calendar for the next two weeks. For each day, count two numbers: the rooms with guests staying on from the night before, and the guests arriving that day. Pick a day where the two add up to a low figure, outside public holidays, Lunar New Year, the wedding season and local festival seasons.
- Avoid days when a long-stay guest's weekly or monthly payment falls due. That room has both charges already posted and new charges arising, and they are easily mixed up.
- Set the switch time after the midday check-out and before the afternoon check-in. This window usually has the fewest rooms with charges in progress during the day: departing guests have paid, arriving guests have not yet come.
- Two people on duty at the switch time. One reads, one enters or checks. Do not leave one person both welcoming guests and entering data.
Part 2: In-house guests — make a list, room by room
Just before the switch time, print or copy from the old software a list with one line for each occupied room. This is the master copy for checking after data entry.
| Column | What to record | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Room number, guest name, phone number | The person the room is registered to | Find the right guest at check-out |
| Arrival date, expected departure date | As in the old software; ask the guest again if in doubt | Hold the right room for the remaining nights |
| Rate per night, nights already charged | State clearly up to which night charges have been posted | No night charged twice or missed |
| Services used | Drinks, food, laundry, vehicle hire, surcharges | The items most often forgotten in a switch |
| Amounts paid | Split into deposit, cash, bank transfer, paid via channel | Know how much the guest still has to pay |
| Balance due | Charged minus paid | The figure to compare after data entry |
Agree a rule before the switch time: nights already stayed are charged according to the list taken from the old software, and the remaining nights are charged in the new software. For a guest who has paid everything in advance, the balance due is 0, but still record the full line so that the front desk does not collect twice. Walk round or ask housekeeping to make sure the list matches the rooms that are actually occupied.
Part 3: Future bookings and deposits by source
The second list is every booking from switch day onwards. For each booking, the key question is not just "how much was the deposit" but "where is the money now". Grouping by source lets you check each group against the right records for that group.
| Deposit source | Check against | Record in the new software |
|---|---|---|
| Bank transfer to the property's account | Bank statement | Amount, date received, attached to the right booking |
| Bank transfer to the owner's personal account (if any) | Personal account statement | As above, with a note of the receiving account |
| Cash at the desk | Receipt book, receipts, the person who received it | Amount, date received, name of the person who received it |
| E-wallet | The wallet's transaction history | Amount, date received, transaction reference |
| Guests who booked through an online channel and prepaid | The channel's admin page | Record as "paid via channel" with the channel's booking reference; do not record it as money the property holds |
| Room held without a deposit, pay on arrival | Messages, calls agreeing the booking | Still enter the booking, deposit 0, with the hold deadline |
The "paid via channel" group needs to be kept separate because money guests paid to the channel may not have reached the property's account by switch day. Mixing it into deposits received makes the total deposits in the new software larger than the money actually held. A tidy way to take deposits in the busy season is described in the article on avoiding double bookings in the peak season.
Part 4: Check deposits against the bank statement
Do this one or two days before switch day, then update it on the morning of switch day.
- 1. Filter the statement from the earliest deposit date of bookings not yet arrived, up to the morning of switch day.
- 2. Mark each incoming payment with the booking it belongs to. Where a line can be matched, write the booking code or guest name right next to it.
- 3. Make three mismatch lists:
- Money that has arrived but cannot yet be matched to any booking.
- Bookings marked as deposited where the money cannot be found.
- Cancelled bookings whose deposit has not been refunded and has no agreement to be kept.
- 4. Resolve each mismatch before the switch time. Message the guest to confirm, look again at the transfer screenshots, ask whoever was on shift that day. Any item still unclear goes on a separate "to be clarified" sheet, with a person responsible and a deadline, rather than being parked on some random booking.
- 5. Add up. The total of payments marked as deposits for bookings not yet arrived must equal the total deposits attached to bookings, plus the items on the "to be clarified" sheet.
Part 5: Regular guests and companies that still owe
Guesthouses and mini hotels often have a few regular guests and a few companies that send people to stay and pay later. On switch day you do not need to carry over every old charge, just the balance of each person and each company at the switch time.
- One line per regular guest or company: name, phone number, amount still owed.
- Send each of them that figure and ask them to confirm it. A confirmation message today saves an argument three months from now.
- If someone still owes and is also staying in a room, keep the two apart: the charges for this stay belong in the Part 2 list, the old debt belongs here.
- The details of each old charge are kept in the data export in Part 7.
Part 6: Enter the data into the new software and re-check every room
- Enter in-house guests first. The front desk needs these rooms straight away for the afternoon shift.
- Next, bookings for the next seven days, then bookings further out. If you are interrupted halfway, the urgent part is done.
- For every booking with a deposit, enter the deposit at the same time as the booking, rather than entering deposits separately in a later round.
- Re-check every room. Open each occupied room in the new software and put it next to the Part 2 list: one person reads out the room number, nights charged, services, amounts paid and balance due; the other ticks them off. If a line differs, fix it immediately.
- Check the totals. Total deposits in the new software must equal the total deposits attached to bookings in Part 4. Items "to be clarified" are not entered yet; "paid via channel" amounts are added up separately.
- Check the room map. The rooms shown as occupied in the new software must be exactly the rooms with people in them.
Once the checks are done, the person in charge signs the master list and writes the time on it. From that moment, every new payment is recorded in the new software and nowhere else.
Part 7: Keep the old data export for reference
- Export before switching: the past guest list, stay history, the receipts and payments book, monthly revenue reports, receivables details. Spreadsheet files are good; if not, save them as PDF.
- Store it in two places, one of which is not the front desk computer.
- Store the signed master lists from Parts 2, 4 and 5 with it.
- Do not uninstall the old software or close the old account until the reconciliation is finished and the accountant, if you have one, confirms nothing more needs to be looked up.
Part 8: Software switch-day checklist
| When | Task | Done when |
|---|---|---|
| 3–7 days before | Choose the switch day and time; assign the two people on duty; new software accounts ready; room list and rates entered | Everyone knows the switch time |
| 1–2 days before | Check deposits against bank statements, the receipt book and e-wallets; ask regular guests and companies to confirm what they owe; export the old data | The three mismatch lists are resolved or moved to "to be clarified" |
| Morning of switch day | Add newly received deposits; remind everyone not to take deposits in the old software after the switch time | Deposit list finalised as of that morning |
| Switch time | Print the in-house guest list; enter in-house guests, bookings for the next seven days, then the rest | Every room checked and matching; total deposits matching |
| Evening of switch day | Compare the money collected for the day in the software with the cash in the till plus bank transfers; tomorrow's arrivals list matches the channels | The person in charge signs the master copy |
| 3 days later | Review the "to be clarified" sheet; check that each departing guest paid the right balance | The "to be clarified" sheet is nearly cleared |
DiCloud is cloud-based hotel management software for guesthouses, homestays, mini hotels and 1–3 star hotels. The hotel needs no server; the software opens on the front desk computer and on a phone, so on switch day the owner can still see which rooms are occupied without standing at the desk. When a citizen ID card (CCCD) is scanned, the system stores just the extracted information; guest stay reporting data is exported as a file in the required format for front desk staff to submit to the reporting portal. The subscription is based on the number of rooms.
🏨 A hotel with 50 rooms or more, or a chain with 2 or more properties? At this scale, switch day also involves agreeing opening balances with the chief accountant, a signed record and detailed statements. See the companion article on the DiHotel Blog: switching hotel software — agreeing opening balances for the chief accountant, which also covers DiHotel's Zero-Cost Switch package.
Chosen your software switch day?
Send the DiCloud team your number of rooms, your planned switch date and what your old software can export. We will send back a room-by-room list template, a deposit reconciliation template and a switch-day checklist tailored to your property.
Get a free switch-day template packFrequently asked questions
Which day of the week should I switch software?
Pick the day with the fewest occupied rooms and the fewest arrivals over the next two weeks, usually a midweek day outside the peak season. The switch time should fall after the midday check-out time and before the afternoon check-in time.
For guests part-way through their stay, which software are the charges calculated in?
Agree a rule before the switch time: nights already stayed are charged according to the list taken from the old software, and the remaining nights are charged in the new software. When entering the guest into the new software, record the room charges already posted, the services used and the payments already made, so that at check-out the balance due comes out right.
Do deposits paid into the owner's personal account need to be entered?
Yes. Every deposit must be attached to the right booking in the new software, with a note of the account that received it. If one is missed, on the guest's arrival day the front desk will collect too little or collect it a second time.
Do I need to re-enter the whole guest history from the old software?
Not necessarily. On switch day, what must be exact is the live data: in-house guests, future bookings, deposits and the amounts owed by regular guests and companies. The old history is kept in the data export for reference.
Can DiCloud be used on a phone on switch day?
Yes. DiCloud is cloud software that needs no server and opens on the front desk computer and on a phone, so the owner can see the room situation without being at the desk.
Conclusion
Guesthouses and homestays can switch software safely when switch day is prepared like a special shift: choose a day with few in-house guests, list every room, group deposits by source and check them against bank statements, ask regular guests to confirm what they owe, enter the urgent items first, re-check every room, and keep the old data export for reference.
DiCloud is cloud AI hotel management software within the DiHotel Solutions Corps ecosystem, a company with more than 20 years of developing hotel software, serving more than 300 accommodation properties in Vietnam and Japan. As online AI hotel management software, DiCloud removes the on-site server entirely; it is online hotel management software that opens on the front desk computer as well as on the owner's phone.
For 5-star hotels, resorts and chains, DiHotel, the AI hotel management software, is the original platform, running in the cloud, on premise or as a hybrid.