Step 1

Login to Opera > Click on the Configuration button, and select the property code when prompted.

Step 2

Navigate to Rate Management > Rate Classifications > Rate Codes

Step 3

The rate code lookup window appears. Click on the New button.

Step 4

Fill in the Rate Code Header information.

Use the table below to understand the importance of each field and see how it can address your business needs.

Field Name	Details
Rate Code	Enter the rate code. That is less than 12 or less alphanumeric. In practice, hotels use only a short rate code. Max 6 digits would be perfect. Chain hotels maintain standards that help a rate code be more descriptive. For example, INTBB says it is a corporate rate for INTEL corp with bed & breakfast. Another practical reason for using shorter rate codes is that they can accommodate more codes in the Rate Querying screen. This not only makes the system more manageable, but also makes it easy to handle a larger number of codes effectively.
Description	Rate code’s description.
Rate Category	It can also be used to set rate restrictions on this category level instead of individually setting it up. For example, when you want to restrict bookings for less than two nights at a promotional rate, it is easier to apply the restriction on the category, which will apply to all rates under the category Promo.
Rate Class	Rate classes are also used to help structure rates. But mostly it is used by larger but local groups of hotels.
Folio Text	When accommodation charges are posted, this is the text that appears on guest folios. When you keep it empty, it prints the description of the room’s transaction code.
Begin Sell Date	Date when the hotel can start to take bookings for this rate code. It is not the guests’ stay dates. Stay dates are defined in the Rate Detail tab as you will learn later.
End Sell Date	When to stop taking bookings for this rate code.
Market	This is the segmentation. A crucial entry. When the hotel books a reservation on this rate, this code automatically populates on each reservation (the user can override it but recommended not to do it).
Source	Source of the booking. For example, when the Market is Government, the source can be a Finance Ministry.
Room Types	Drop down and select all room types that you expect to sell through this rate code. Note: Include the room type PM also here.
Package	What are the packages available through this rate code. For example, Bed & Breakfast. We have a comprehensive post on Opera PMS Packages.
Commission	If it is a travel agent rate, what is the commission percentage? It helps when processing travel agent commissions using Opera’s commissions module.
Min. Occupancy	Keep it “1”, unless you have a reason to increase.
Max. Occupancy	You may keep it blank.

Transaction Details: Each charge is posted to a guest’s hotel billing using a transaction code to differentiate the hotel’s revenue type and the department to which the charges should be contributed. For example, room charges are posted using transaction code 1010, and food & beverage breakfast are posted using 2010, depending on the hotel’s setup of transaction codes, and so on.

What is an example of a code rate?

Check the image for a better understanding of how rate code setup splits revenue internally:

Transaction Code	This is the room transaction code where the room revenue is posted. Internally, this revenue contributes to room department revenue.
Pkg. Tran Code	As you can see from the image above, this transaction code is automatically assigned and there is only one common such transaction code for a hotel. It works like an umbrella transaction code that holds room and food & beverage under one code for reporting purposes of Opera’s proprietary ledger, Package Ledger.
Tax Inclusive	Whether the tax defined in the transaction code setup is to be inclusive or exclusive. We have a separate post on Opera transactions and hotel billing with more details.

Components: This section sets the rate code’s type and other features. (there can be more or fewer options depending on the setup we discussed that are crucial).

Field Name	Details
Package	Shows if the rate includes packages.
Negotiated	Putting a tick here tells Opera that this rate code is used only as a negotiated rate (contracted). For this rate code, you must link a company, travel agent, or other type of profile. In our example, Intel Corp’s rate code is INT2024, so the company profile of Intel must be linked (we will see that below)
Suppress Rate	If you don’t want the rate to be displayed on screens. On Opera screens, “SR” is displayed in place of rates for users who don’t have permission to view Suppressed Rates.
Print Rate	Should the rate amount be printed or not on the guest stationery? For example, you wouldn’t want a guest from a tour operator or travel agent to know the room rate since the agent might have quoted them a different rate.
Discount	If discounts can be applied on rates of individual reservations.
Daily Rate	If rates need to be entered directly on the grid by dates. This makes administration easy as the user who works with rate codes, can directly enter different rates like in a spreadsheet.
Day Use	If this rate is going to be used for day-use, the same day the arrivel and departure.  Statistical reports only track the number of day-use rooms if such bookings are sold using this rate code.
Complimentary	Any complimentary reservations should be booked using this type of rate code. Statistical reports such as Manager Flash report only track the number of complimentary rooms if such bookings are sold using this rate code.
House Use	Any complimentary reservations should be booked using this type of rate code. Statistical reports such as the Manager Flash report track the number of House Use rooms only if such bookings are sold using these rate codes.

Step 5

Save Rate Code Header.

And, move on to the Rate Details tab.

Step 6

Enter the Rate Code Detail information.

Click on the New button to enter a new rate detail.

The rate code details tab is where you create different prices for different rooms and dates. Here, you can also add special packages that are available only for certain room types.

• You can add multiple records for different dates. For example, if you’re selling an STD room for $280 during January, and the same room is sold at $300 during February, you can add different records. One will cover the Jan rate, and the other will cover the Feb rate for the same room type.
• Similarly, a record for each room type should be provided if they have different rates.
• You can add one record for weekdays and another for weekends using the ‘day ticks.’
• You can use seasons instead of dates (season codes are set up separately in the configuration).
• As you can see on the screenshot, Market / Source segmentation and packages can be from one different room type to another.

Step 7

Save Rate Details.

And, move on to the Negotiated tab if you are creating a negotiated rate where you need to link the rate code with a company, travel agent, or another profile.

Step 8

Link a profile with the rate code.

Click on the New button, and a profile search window comes up. Look for a profile and attach it.

Rate code has been created.

Step 1

Login to Opera > Click on Configuration button.

Step 2

How do you start a simple report? In the menu, select Setup > Report Setup > Reports > New

All existing reports in Opera PMS display. Click on New to create your report and ensure Simple Report is ticked.

Step 3

Give your report a name

• Report Name: Type your report name here
• Simple Report: As soon as you tick here, the File Name field populates auto.
• Report Group: Select a group. You can select any, however for simplifying the search and keeping it organized, select a relevant group here.
• Keep everything else default and click on Customize.

Customize report output

You get the below tabs:

• Import: Instead of creating a new report, you can use this to import the report setup from a previously saved/exported file. These files have a .OSR extension. And, you use the same tab to export your report setup.
• General: Use this tab to set the report title, layout, and font size. Importantly, under Views, you tick which data set to use in the report. In our example case, we need guest information from Profiles and booking details from Reservations.
• Columns: Here, you select the columns for your report.
• Group by: If you want to group your data, such as the report to display all Deluxe rooms together, Standard rooms together, etc., and print a summary for each group.
• Order by: Order by column(s).
• Filters: You set your report filters and whether they should prompt user input.
• Preview: Finally, preview the report.

Step 4

General tab: Select report views

The report title is the report name from the previous step that comes by default which you can change. Keep the default setting for column labels. Your report deals with guest information and booking information, so tick Reservations and Profiles views here.

Step 5

Columns tab: Add report columns

On the left, you get the list of all available columns based on the views you selected in the previous step. Select the columns from the Available Columns list on the left and double-click or use the arrow button in the middle to add to Report Columns.

• Search columns by their names using the Like and Not Like fields. This is a wildcard search field, so you can type “name” and it displays all columns having “name” in them such as “first name”, “last name”, “name id”, “company name”.
• Use the Line No. button to add a sequence column.
• Use the Space button to add an empty space between columns.

Step 6

Change column settings

Click on any column under the Report Column (ones you have added) to set column-specific characteristics.

• Change the Column Label, Alignment, and Font size, if you need to.
• Set the column height and especially width according to the data it’s going to output.
• Finally, under Summary, you can add a calculated total (count, max, and min. If the column is number, sum and average also appear). This prints at the end of the report or each group.

Step 7

Group by tab: Add grouping (if needed)

Select your grouping here by finding the column under Available Columns and adding it under Group by.

• You can add multiple Group by columns to subgroup results. You don’t have to have the group by column under Report Columns.

Step 8

Order by tab: Add report sorting order

Same as you added the Group by, select your sort order here by finding the column under Available Columns and adding it under Order by. You can add multiple Order by columns here.

Step 9

Filters tab: Report criteria

This tab makes the Opera Simple Report writer powerful. Select a column from Available Columns and add it under Report Filter.

While you’re adding the column, the report builder shows various possible filters that you can apply to the column depending on the column’s data type such as text, number, date, etc. The filter column doesn’t have to be in the report.

You need to filter data based on:

1. The guests must be in-house.
2. Say, you want the user to select the date range for departure. So that the user can get a report of all guests checking out today and tomorrow or in the future.

Set the condition to filter checked-in guests: Add the ‘Reservation Status’ column. Drop down Default Value and select: CHECKED IN, DUE OUT, PENDING CHECK OUT, WALKIN. And, OK, save.

Set a departure date filter that prompts user entry: Add the ‘Departure Date’ column.

Since it’s a date-type column, there are different possible filter types.

As you want the user to enter from/to date ranges, select ‘Between’. Tick on the Parameter so that it prompts user entry for the filter. Notice Business Date is ticked to say From date has the default value of Opera business date.

Step 9

Preview tab: Preview your final output.

Opera Simple Report tips for advanced users

You can do more with OSR such as adding a column that is not listed under Available Columns, adding a calculated column, or you can also format an existing column.

You achieve this by adding Oracle SQL statements and PL/SQL functions under the Expression button explained under Step 6.

When you click on the button it looks like the below:

• Notice that ‘display name’ comes from the Profile view you select in the beginning, and it has an alias b. Similarly, ‘ROOM’ column comes from the Reservation view with an alias a.
• If you want the guest name to display as ‘Alan (Room: 1010)’, you would replace either column expression to (b.display_name ||’ (Roon: ‘||a.ROOM||’)’) – Notice all expressions should go within a bracket.
• Say you want to display the first 2 digits of the room numbers and call it Floor, you can enter (substr(a.ROOM,1,2))
• You can replace these functions under an existing column or even better add a Space column and add the function.
• To add sysdate, you can add, (select sysdate from dual)
• Every guest has a unique profile ID, “b.NAME_ID” and a unique reservation ID, “a.RESV_NAME_ID”.
• For instance, I want to know if the guest has requested turndown service in his reservation, and I don’t find this column in the report writer. Knowing which table holds this field, I can write the below query under Expression: (select turndown_yn from reservation_name where resv_name_id = a.RESV_NAME_ID)

Above are a few examples. However, the point is to show the possibilities so that you can explore more.

For a comprehensive user-guide from Oracle, here is the link