Two group sales statuses that sound almost the same cause a surprising amount of confusion: “finalized” and “complete.” New group sales coordinators tend to treat them as synonyms, pick whichever one is closer to the mouse, and move on. Six months later the reports don’t line up, and nobody can say which school trips actually happened.
The short version: they mark two different points in a reservation’s life. One is about locking in the plan. The other is about closing out the visit. The details below describe how most Altru organizations use them. Because behavior can vary with your configuration and Altru updates, confirm the specifics in a test reservation before you write them into your procedures.
Finalized: the plan is set
Think of finalizing as the point where the group and your organization agree on what the visit will be. Headcount, date and arrival time, programs or add-ons, and pricing are settled. For most teams this happens some days before the visit, often tied to a final-count deadline in the group’s confirmation letter.
What finalizing usually signals to your staff:
- The itinerary is no longer a draft. Front-of-house, education, and food service can plan around it.
- The amount the group owes is known, so a deposit or final invoice can go out against real numbers.
- Changes after this point should be the exception and go through the coordinator, not whoever picks up the phone.
What finalizing does not mean: the group has visited, or the balance is paid.
Complete: the visit is over and closed out
Complete belongs at the end. The group has arrived (or definitively not arrived), any day-of changes like extra chaperones or a smaller bus load have been recorded, and payment is reconciled. Marking a reservation complete tells everyone that this record is history, not work in progress.
That matters for reporting. If your monthly group attendance or group revenue reports filter on status, reservations left sitting in “finalized” after the visit date can be left out or counted as future business, depending on how the report was built.
A simple way to keep them straight
| Finalized | Complete | |
|---|---|---|
| When | Before the visit, after details are agreed | After the visit, once it’s reconciled |
| Answers the question | “Is the plan locked?” | “Is this done?” |
| Balance | Known, may still be owed | Should be settled or written off |
| Who usually sets it | Group sales coordinator | Coordinator or whoever reconciles group revenue |
Test it before you rely on it
Rather than trusting anyone’s summary, including this one, spend twenty minutes in a sandbox or on a throwaway reservation and answer these questions for your own database:
- What can still be edited? After finalizing, try changing the headcount, swapping a program, and adjusting a price. Then do the same after marking it complete. Note which edits are blocked and which are only discouraged.
- Can you go backward? See whether a complete reservation can be reopened, and what that does to its payments.
- What happens to money? Check whether either status affects how revenue posts or how the reservation shows up in batches and deposits. If you’re unsure, ask your finance contact to look at the result with you.
- What do your reports filter on? Open the group sales reports and queries your team actually uses and check which statuses they include.
If something behaves differently than you expect, Blackbaud support can confirm whether it’s intended. Write the answers down; they’ll save the next coordinator from guessing.
Habits that keep statuses honest
Tie each status to a trigger
Finalize when the final count comes in or the final-count deadline passes, whichever is first. Mark complete when payment is reconciled after the visit. A trigger is easier to follow than “when it feels done.”
Run a weekly cleanup query
Build a query for reservations with a visit date in the past that are not marked complete or canceled. Work that list every week. It catches no-shows, unpaid balances, and plain forgetfulness before they distort month-end numbers.
Watch the other direction too
A second query for reservations visiting in the next two weeks that are still not finalized gives your coordinator a call list for missing counts.
Decide what to do with no-shows
Whether a no-show group ends up canceled or complete is a policy choice, and it changes your attendance reporting. Pick one, document it, and apply it consistently.
Quick answers
Do I have to finalize before marking a reservation complete?
Many teams do it that way as a matter of practice. Whether Altru enforces that order in your setup is worth checking in a test reservation.
Which status should end-of-year group reports use?
For visits that happened, complete. If reports include finalized reservations too, make sure past-dated finalized records have been cleaned up first, or you’ll mix real attendance with plans.
