Month-end close for travel agencies: a checklist that catches missing money

A month-end close for a travel agency means reconciling every account to its statement, then locking the month. Match processor payouts to bank deposits, check the trust account if your state requires one, and tie supplier payments to bookings. Then age commission receivable against supplier statements, and settle disputes, advisor pay and traveler deposits before you lock the books.

Close the month and you find the money while you can still claim it. Here is what a close is, a nine-step checklist with what each step catches, a monthly calendar, how long to keep records, and the gaps agencies miss most.

This is general information, not accounting or tax advice.

What is a month-end close?

A month-end close is the routine that makes last month's numbers final. Xero describes it as the series of tasks you complete at the end of each month to ensure your accounts are accurate. Its list runs from coding transactions and reconciling bank accounts to a final review, approval and locking the period.

For most businesses, it's quick. Xero says a three to five day close is realistic for many small businesses.

Travel agencies need more than the generic list. Money arrives months after the booking, passes through processors and host agencies, and sometimes sits in trust for the traveler. Each of those handoffs is a place where money goes missing.

Month-end close checklist for travel agencies

Work the steps in order. Each one names what it catches.

1. Reconcile bank deposits to processor payouts

Match every deposit in your bank account to a payout report from your card processor. One deposit is rarely one payment. On Stripe, automatic payouts can include funds from multiple transactions, and each payout is made of balance transactions such as charges, refunds and Stripe fees.

If you send payouts manually, Stripe can't identify which transactions are included in each payout. Reconciling them is on you.

What it catches: payments that never landed, refunds you forgot to book, and processing fees recorded as revenue. For tracing one payment end to end, see tracing a payment.

2. Reconcile the trust account, if your state requires one

Some Seller of Travel states require client money to sit in trust. Check the account against your client ledger every month, even where the rules don't spell out a schedule.

Washington. A seller of travel must deposit client money held for more than five business days into a trust account and shall not in any manner encumber the amounts in trust. The rules require bank trust account records and, for each client, the name, amount and date payment was received and disbursed. Every withdrawal must be identified to a specific transaction. If the bank charges fees on the account, you must reimburse them within 10 banking days after receipt of the monthly statement. Washington also allows a surety bond of $10,000–$50,000 in place of the trust account, with director approval.

California. A seller of travel must deposit 100 percent of all sums received for travel into a trust account at a federally insured institution, unless an exemption applies. The Attorney General or a district attorney can examine and obtain copies of all business records, including trust account records.

What it catches: client money spent on operating costs, withdrawals you can't tie to a booking, and unreimbursed bank fees. This is a summary, not legal advice.

3. Match supplier payments to bookings

Every payment to a hotel, cruise line or tour operator should point to one booking and one traveler. Washington's rule that trust withdrawals be identified to a specific transaction is a good standard even if you don't sell there.

What it catches: double payments to a supplier, deposits paid on cancelled trips, and supplier refunds that never came back.

4. Age commission receivable against supplier statements

List every commission you expect, with its expected pay date. Then compare it to what suppliers actually paid and reported.

Hotel chains pay after the stay and in batches. Marriott pays on consumed reservations, with one weekly payment and statement. Hilton says payments should generally be received 2–3 weeks after checkout and takes a 3% processing fee, so a $100 commission pays $97. Book the fee, not the gross.

Claim windows close. Marriott takes missing-commission inquiries only between 45 days and 12 months after guest departure. Hilton wants them within 365 days of checkout.

What it catches: stays that were never paid, short payments, and claims about to expire. For timing by supplier type, see supplier commission. To chase what's late, see unpaid commission recovery.

5. Review open disputes and chargebacks

List every open dispute, its deadline and its status. On Stripe, the response window is usually 7 to 21 days, depending on the card network. Miss it and you automatically lose the dispute.

A dispute is money already gone. By the time it is formal, the issuing bank has already refunded the account owner. Stripe never returns the dispute received fee unless your contract says otherwise. Book both the disputed amount and the fee in the month they hit.

What it catches: deadlines about to lapse, and revenue that is still on your books but no longer in your account. See chargebacks in travel.

6. Settle advisor commission payable and payroll

Work out what you owe each advisor on commissions you actually received, not on bookings. Then run payroll and tax deposits on time.

For employees, a monthly depositor must deposit employment taxes on payments made during a month by the 15th day of the following month. Semiweekly depositors have shorter deadlines. Contractors paid on a Form 1099-NEC get their forms by January 31. For which form applies, see W-2 and W-9 tax forms.

What it catches: advisors paid on commission that was later recalled or never arrived, and late tax deposits.

7. Separate unearned revenue for future travel

Money a traveler paid for a trip that hasn't happened isn't earned yet. Under accrual accounting, QuickBooks says you must record unearned revenue as deferred revenue (a liability) until the goods or services are provided. On a cash basis, revenue is considered earned when the cash is received.

What this means for agencies: a big deposit month can look like a great month when most of it belongs to suppliers and to trips months away. Ask your accountant which basis you use and how deposits should be booked.

What it catches: profit that isn't profit yet, and deposits you may owe back if a trip cancels.

8. Accrue sales and business taxes where they apply

Tax on travel services depends on the state. Washington taxes travel agents through its business and occupation (B&O) tax, a gross receipts tax, not sales tax. The rate is 0.275% if your taxable amount last calendar year was $250,000 or less, and 0.9% if it was more. New York concluded in a 2024 advisory opinion that sales tax is not imposed on one travel planner's fees. The opinion is limited to the facts set forth therein and binds the department only for that business.

Check your own state's revenue department and set aside what you owe each month.

What it catches: a year-end tax bill nobody saved for.

9. Lock the period in your books

Once everything ties out, lock the month so nobody changes it by accident.

QuickBooks Online. Turn on Close the books and enter a closing date. Then pick a security level. With the warning option, users see a warning but can still make changes. With the password option, users must enter a password to make changes, so use that one. Intuit also says to reconcile your accounts up to your lock date first.

Xero. Xero's close guide ends with lock the period to prevent changes, because it protects your audit trail and ensures consistency in reporting.

What it catches: edits to a month you already reported, filed or paid tax on. If your bookings feed your ledger, see QuickBooks and Xero sync.

A monthly close calendar

A suggested schedule for a small agency, inside Xero's three to five day range:

How long should a travel agency keep records?

Keep the longest period that applies to you. The IRS says to keep records for 3 years in most cases. Longer periods apply in some situations:

Common gaps in a travel agency close

These are the places money most often slips through, based on the steps above.

• Reconciling net payouts only. If you book the deposit, not the gross sale minus fees and refunds, revenue and costs are both wrong.
• Counting commission at booking. Hotels pay after checkout, and Hilton deducts a fee. Booked commission is a forecast until it lands.
• Paying advisors before the supplier pays you. If the commission is recalled or never arrives, you've funded it yourself.
• Letting claim windows run out. Marriott's 12-month window starts at departure, not at booking.
• Treating deposits as income. Future-travel money belongs to the trip until it's delivered.
• Never locking the period. An unlocked month can change after you've filed.

Close the month with clearer payment data in Tripdash

With Tripdash Pay, you can trace each payment from the traveler to the exact supplier that received the funds, and to the bank account it was paid out to. Weekly payouts go directly to your bank account, and you can set how members are paid and export payroll as CSV. See how Tripdash Pay works.

If you're still setting up the agency, start with how to start a travel agency.

Sources

1. Xero. Month-end close process: how to streamline it as your business grows, July 25, 2026.
2. Stripe. Payout reconciliation, accessed October 2026.
3. Stripe. Respond to disputes, accessed October 2026.
4. Washington State Legislature. RCW 19.138.140, Trust accounts, accessed October 2026.
5. Washington State Legislature. WAC 308-129-300, Required records and WAC 308-129-310, Administration of nonexempt funds, chapter 308-129 WAC, accessed October 2026.
6. California Legislature. Business and Professions Code section 17550.15, as reproduced in the California Attorney General's Seller of Travel statute compilation, accessed October 2026.
7. Marriott. Commission FAQs, accessed October 2026.
8. Hilton. Centralized Commission Processing (CCP): quick reference for travel agents in the Americas, updated August 2026.
9. Internal Revenue Service. Employment tax due dates, updated April 21, 2026.
10. Internal Revenue Service. How long should I keep records?, updated June 30, 2026.
11. Intuit QuickBooks. When is revenue considered earned?, updated August 5, 2026.
12. Intuit QuickBooks. Lock your books in QuickBooks Online, accessed October 2026.
13. Washington State Department of Revenue. Travel agents and tour operators, accessed October 2026.
14. New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Advisory opinion TSB-A-24(1)I,(7)S, July 16, 2024.
15. Washington State Legislature. RCW 82.04.260, chapter 82.04 RCW (Business and occupation tax), accessed October 2026.
16. Washington State Department of Revenue. Business and occupation tax, accessed October 2026.