Last updated: Aug 12, 2026, 5:27 PM
This glossary applies to hotel operators and staff who are new to Toast and are learning how Toast terminology relates to standard hospitality vocabulary.
This glossary applies to hotel operators and staff who are new to Toast and are learning how Toast terminology relates to standard hospitality vocabulary.
As you get started with Toast at your hotel, you may find that some Toast terms don't immediately match the language you're used to whether from your property management system or day-to-day hospitality operations. This glossary provides a side-by-side reference of common Toast terms alongside their hotel industry equivalents, so you can quickly connect what you already know to how Toast works and get up and running with confidence.
| Toast Terminology | Hotel Equivalent | What it refers to in Toast |
| Location / Toast Web Account | Revenue Center or Outlet | A specific food and beverage (F&B) venue on the property — for example, a restaurant, bar, or marketplace. For example, as a food hall has vendors, a hotel has outlets. |
| Toast Revenue Center | Service Area/Dining Area | An area within an F&B outlet such as the dining room, bar, or patio that are all located within the same F&B concept. This could also be In-Room dining operating out of the F&B outlet. Note: Not all PMS can support Toast Revenue Centers at this time. |
| Guest Count | Covers | The number of guests at a table for a given check. |
| Non-Residential Charge / Toast Payments / Credit Card Payment | Non-Residential Charge / Non-Folio Charge / Non-Room Charge | A charge that is not a room charge. Examples: Cash, Credit card, gift card, etc. This is part of a full GL/Revenue push |
| Business Day Cutoff | End of Day / EOD / Day End | The point in time when Toast closes out the current business day and begins a new reporting period. |
| House Account | House Account | An account used to record hotel-absorbed expenses, such as complimentary meals, service recovery charges, or staff meals. PMS Specific House Accounts are processed through Toast as Room Charges. Note: House Accounts can be utilized in both Toast and certain PMS platforms. There are no PMS integrations that support the use of native House Accounts. |
| Guest Record - PMS / Room Info | Guest Folio | The record associated with a checked-in hotel guest in the PMS. When a guest pays with a room charge on the Toast POS, the charge posts to this record. |
| Deposit Sales Collected / Paid in Total / Deferred Revenue | Advanced Deposit / Pre-paid / Deferred Revenue | Revenue that has been collected before a service is provided, typically for packages or reservations paid upfront. |
| Hours / Services / Service Period | Hours of Operations / Open Hours / Service Hours Meal Period | The time ranges during which a Toast location or dining area is open and accepting orders or specified time ranges to distinguish between different Meal/service periods. Example:
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| Room Charge / Other payments | Room Charge | A payment type available on the Toast POS that posts a guest's check directly to their room account in the PMS. |
| Toast Flex terminal | Workstation / POS / terminal | The physical point of sale hardware — for example, a Toast Flex terminal at a restaurant station or bar. |
| General Ledger (GL) | GL / Full Revenue Push / Itemized PMS reporting | Toast automatically pushes all daily financial data—including guest room charges and direct non-residential sales—directly into the PMS General Ledger for unified accounting. |