A school bus pulls in, the coordinator checks the group in, and an hour later someone notices the reservation was booked as a general adult tour instead of a school group. Now the attendance report, the education department’s numbers, and possibly the pricing are all off, and the group type field won’t let you change it.
That’s expected behavior, not a glitch. In Altru, a group sales reservation gets much harder to edit once it has been checked in, and group type is one of the fields that is effectively locked at that point. Below is why, what your realistic options are, and how to catch the mistake before check-in next time.
Why the group type stops being editable
Group type isn’t just a label. Depending on how your group sales are set up, it can drive which price lists and event options are available, how the reservation shows up in group sales and attendance reporting, and sometimes how revenue is categorized. Check-in is the point where the reservation becomes a record of what actually happened: who arrived, how many, and what was paid. Altru protects that record so attendance and revenue don’t silently change after the fact.
Exactly which fields stay editable after check-in can vary with your Altru configuration and the state of the reservation (deposits, payments, invoices). If you’re not sure what your instance allows, try the change on a test reservation in your sandbox before experimenting on a live one.
Your options, from least to most disruptive
1. Reverse the check-in, if your setup allows it
Some organizations can undo a check-in on a reservation, make the correction, and check the group in again. Whether that’s available, and to which security roles, depends on your configuration and permissions. If you have it, this is the cleanest fix because the reservation, its history, and its payments stay intact. Do it the same day while the details are fresh, and add a note on the reservation explaining what changed and why.
2. Cancel and rebook under the correct type
If the check-in can’t be reversed, the usual workaround is to create a new reservation with the right group type and retire the wrong one. Before you do this, think through the money:
- Payments and deposits. Work out how the original payment will move to the new reservation, or whether it needs a refund and a new payment. Talk to whoever owns reconciliation before you touch it.
- Batches. If the original revenue has already been committed in a batch, a correction may need finance involved rather than a front-line fix.
- Attendance. Make sure the visitors aren’t counted twice, once on the canceled reservation and once on the new one.
This route takes more time and leaves more of a trail, so it’s worth it mainly when the group type affects pricing, revenue reporting, or something a funder or board will see.
3. Leave it and correct the reporting
If the price was right and the only problem is how the group is categorized, it’s often reasonable to leave the reservation alone. Add a clear note on the reservation, and if you report on group type regularly, keep a short list of known misclassified reservations that you adjust for when you pull numbers. A constituent or reservation attribute can also work as a flag, if your team already uses attributes that way.
This is the least elegant option, but for a single field trip that was labeled wrong it’s usually the most proportionate one.
4. Ask Blackbaud support
If a reservation is tied to significant revenue or grant reporting and none of the above fits, open a case with Blackbaud support. They can tell you what’s possible in your specific version and setup, and whether a back-end correction is an option. Have the reservation details and the correct group type ready.
Catching it before check-in
Since fixing it afterward is awkward, most of the real work is prevention:
- Confirm group type at booking. Whoever takes the reservation should ask the group leader directly rather than infer it from the group’s name. A booking under a teacher’s personal name can easily be a school group.
- Show it on the confirmation. If group type appears on the confirmation or invoice the group leader receives, they’re likely to flag mistakes for you.
- Run a pre-arrival check. A simple query of upcoming reservations for the next week, showing group type, group size, and price list, takes a few minutes to scan and catches most errors while they’re still easy to fix.
- Keep your group types few and distinct. If staff regularly choose between near-duplicates like “School” and “School Tour,” consolidate them. Fewer, clearer choices mean fewer wrong picks.
- Tell desk staff what to check. A one-line reminder at check-in (“confirm the group type matches who’s standing in front of you”) gives staff a chance to raise it before the record locks.
Quick answers
Does changing the group type change the price already paid?
Not on its own. If the correct type would have used a different price list, you’ll need to decide whether to refund, charge the difference, or leave it, and handle that as a separate transaction.
Can I bulk-fix group types on past reservations?
We’re not aware of a supported way to do this for checked-in reservations, and it isn’t something to experiment with on live data. Ask Blackbaud support what’s possible for completed reservations before attempting any mass change.
