ADR (average daily rate)
Room revenue divided by the number of room nights sold in a period. It shows the average price guests paid per night. See occupancy, ADR and RevPAR.
Advance
Part of the price a guest pays to confirm a booking, with the balance paid at check-in or check-out.
Blocked dates
Nights a room is closed for repairs, owner use or because another site sold it. Blocked nights can't be booked.
Booking engine
The tool that lets guests book directly on a property's own website. See PMS vs channel manager vs booking engine.
Calendar sync (iCal)
A free way for booking sites and software to share booked dates through calendar links ending in .ics. Updates take minutes to hours. See calendar sync.
Channel manager
Software that connects to booking sites through official connections and updates availability and prices in both directions, usually within seconds.
Credit note
A document that reduces or cancels an invoice already issued, for example after a refund.
Direct booking
A booking made with the property itself, by phone, WhatsApp, email, walk-in or its website, without a booking site's commission.
Double booking
Two guests holding the same room for the same night. See how to avoid double bookings.
Extranet
A booking site's partner portal where properties manage rooms, prices, availability and bookings.
FRRO
Foreigners Regional Registration Office, part of India's Bureau of Immigration.
Form B
The guest register accommodation providers in India keep for Indian and foreign guests, formerly called Form F. See the guest register.
Form C (Form-III)
The online report a host files for each foreign guest within 24 hours of arrival on indianfrro.gov.in. See Form C.
GSTIN
The 15-character Goods and Services Tax identification number of a registered business.
Hold
A room kept for a guest for a set time, such as 24 hours, while they pay the advance. In InnRow unpaid holds release automatically.
Homestay
Rooms let to travellers in a home where the owner usually lives, typically up to five or six rooms under Indian state schemes.
Input tax credit (ITC)
GST paid on purchases that a registered business can offset against the GST it collects. Rooms up to ₹7,500 a night are taxed at 5% without ITC.
OCI
Overseas Citizen of India card holder. Hosts report OCI guests through Form C since the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025.
OTA
Online travel agency, such as Booking.com, MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, Agoda, Expedia or Airbnb. See OTA commissions.
Occupancy rate
Room nights sold divided by room nights available, as a percentage.
PMS (property management system)
The software that runs a property's front desk: calendar, reservations, check-in, billing and housekeeping.
RevPAR
Revenue per available room: room revenue divided by room nights available, or occupancy multiplied by ADR.
SAC code
Services Accounting Code used on GST invoices to classify a service. Accommodation services generally fall under 9963.
Tape chart
A grid of rooms and dates showing which nights are booked, the traditional hotel view of availability. See booking calendar.
Walk-in
A guest who arrives without a booking and asks for a room.