# Bill a discovery or guest flight

> A guest has no account and no PIN, so a guest booking closes out in one step and Stripe emails them the invoice directly.

Source: https://www.aerscheduler.com/docs/billing/bill-a-discovery-or-guest-flight
Section: Billing and payments. For: Admins, Instructors.

A guest has no account, so there is no PIN and nobody signs off. Ramp out and ramp in as
usual, then click Close out & bill guest in the booking's Close-out section. Stripe
creates a customer for the guest and emails them the invoice with a pay link.

**Who can do this:** Admins, Instructors

> **Note:** To invoice a fixed discovery price when the booking is created, use
> [Charge a package price when booked](https://www.aerscheduler.com/docs/billing/charge-a-package-price-when-booked)
> on the calendar booking or on the public offering. On those bookings the close-out
> button says Close out (collect package) or Close out, because the invoice already
> exists. Close-out still records Hobbs and does not bill the hop a second time. The
> rest of this page is the bill-after path.

## Before the flight

The booking has to be a Guest reservation, and the guest record on it needs a name and an
email address. That is what the invoice is addressed to. Nothing checks it for you, so make
sure both are filled in before you close out.

A guest booking holds one guest, and the guest is the payer. Both the aircraft time and
the instruction land on their invoice: instruction is charged whenever there is an
instructor plus somebody to instruct, and a guest counts.

## Close out and bill the guest

1. **Ramp out**

   Open the booking on `Schedule` (web console) and click Ramp out in the Close-out
   section. Enter Hobbs out and Tach out.

2. **Ramp in**

   When the aircraft is back, click Ramp in and enter Hobbs in and Tach in, plus Instruction
   time (hrs) if you are charging for the lesson.

3. **Click Close out & bill guest**

   On a member booking this is where the pilots would confirm with a PIN. On a guest booking
   the Close-out section offers Close out & bill guest instead.

4. **Check the guest's details**

   The dialog shows the guest's name, email and phone. Correct anything that is wrong before
   you send, because this is where the invoice is going.

   ![Close out and bill guest dialog](https://www.aerscheduler.com/docs/close-out-bill-guest.png)

5. **Confirm**

   Click Close out & bill. The review is finalized and the invoice goes out.

> **Note:** Guests never enter a PIN. There is no pilot sign-off step on a guest booking at all, which
> is why this is a one-click close-out rather than the usual round of confirmations. The
> instructor on the booking can do it, not just an admin.

## What the guest receives

Stripe creates a customer record for the guest and emails them the invoice with a payment
link. Guest invoices are given 7 days to pay by default.

The guest does not get an AerScheduler account. They cannot sign in, and they see nothing
about your school beyond their own invoice.

## Guest invoices in the Billing list

The invoice appears on `Billing` (web console) alongside everything else, and the
instructor who flew it can open it from the reservation.

> **Careful:** On a guest invoice the Customer column shows a dash, and the invoice detail panel reads
> "No customer". The guest's name and email live on the booking, not on the invoice row.
> Identify a guest invoice by the linked flight in the detail panel.

## Reminders do not apply to guests

Send payment reminder is refused on a guest invoice: "Guest invoices are emailed by
Stripe". Chasing a guest happens in your own Stripe dashboard, where the invoice was sent
from.

## If the guest record is incomplete

> **Careful:** The close-out does not check the guest's details. With the name or the email missing,
> **Close out & bill** still succeeds, the booking locks as reviewed, and no invoice is
> raised. Nothing on screen tells you.

You cannot run the close-out a second time. It answers "This reservation has already been
reviewed", and the guest's details can no longer be corrected on the booking. Bill the
guest by hand instead, from Billing → New invoice with Guest recipient on (or the iOS Generate Invoice screen), where you can type
their name and email in directly.

## Billing a guest for something that is not a flight

The web console's New invoice dialog can only pick a member. To invoice a guest for a
headset, a photo package or anything else, use Billing → New invoice with Guest recipient on,
which has a guest recipient field. See
[Create a manual invoice](https://www.aerscheduler.com/docs/billing/create-a-manual-invoice).

## Related

- [Close out a guest flight](https://www.aerscheduler.com/docs/scheduling/close-out-a-guest-flight): The scheduling side of the same booking.
- [Mark paid, void or refund](https://www.aerscheduler.com/docs/billing/mark-an-invoice-paid-void-or-refund-it): What to do when the guest pays you in cash on the ramp.