What does travel agency software need to handle?
A travel agency buys services from operators and wholesalers and sells them to the passenger, often in two currencies and in instalments. A management system has to follow that whole path, without the team copying data by hand from one spreadsheet to the next:
- The booking, with its passengers, flights, hotels and other services, each with its operator, what is paid to it and what is charged to the passenger.
- The collection, with each passenger's balance per currency and the instalments falling due.
- The payment to the operator, to know how much of the cash belongs to third parties.
- The electronic invoice, issued with ARCA from what was collected.
- VAT and the books, with the invoices issued and the suppliers' invoices.
- Commissions for the sellers, worked out with a fixed rule.
When a system covers only one part (invoicing, say), the rest goes back to spreadsheets and each booking's profit is still worked out by hand.
Which criteria are worth comparing?
| Criterion | Why it matters | What to ask the vendor |
|---|---|---|
| Bookings with services and operators | Profit comes from what is paid to each operator and what is charged to the passenger, service by service. | Does each service carry its operator, its currency and its amounts? |
| Pesos and dollars | The agency collects and pays in both currencies; adding converted balances distorts the cash. | Does it keep separate balances per currency and save each payment's exchange rate? |
| ARCA electronic invoicing | The invoice has to carry the right letter and tax status, and its CAE. | Does it issue A, B and C invoices and credit and debit notes? Can you test in homologation? |
| Receiver's VAT status | Since RG 5616/2024, every electronic voucher reports it. | Does it ask for it when issuing and send it to ARCA? |
| VAT and the books | Invoices issued and received are the basis of the VAT return. | Does it build the VAT sales and purchases books and export the data for the accountant? |
| Role-based permissions | Not everyone on the team needs to see the cash, the costs or the commissions. | What does a seller see, what does the back office see, and what does the accountant see? |
| Loading bookings | Typing each wholesaler confirmation takes hours and creates errors. | Does it import bookings from the confirmation's PDF or photo? |
| Data and security | The agency handles passengers' personal data, protected by Ley 25.326. | Is each agency's data isolated? Is there a record of who changed what? |
| Price and trial | Without a public price, comparing means asking each vendor for a quote. | Is the price published? Can you try it without a card? |
Web-based or installed software?
A web-based system runs in the browser, with no servers or installs of your own, and the whole team works on the same data from the office or from home. An installed one depends on one of the agency's computers or servers, on its backups and on its updates.
For a small or mid-sized agency, the practical difference is who keeps it running: with a web-based system, the vendor.
How do you test software before signing up?
A trial is useful when it runs on the agency's real data. One orderly way to do it:
- Enter two or three real bookings, with services in pesos and in dollars.
- Record an instalment payment and a payment to an operator, and see how the cash and the passenger's balance end up.
- Issue a test invoice in homologation and check how the amounts are split.
- Create a seller user and look at what it can see.
- Ask your accountant to check what data can be exported for VAT.
How does Tripwise handle it?
Tripwise is web-based management software for travel agencies in Argentina that covers the whole path: bookings with their services and operators, collections in instalments with a payment receipt, cash flow in pesos and dollars, ARCA electronic invoicing from the booking, VAT books for sales and purchases, and seller commissions.
It imports bookings from the wholesaler confirmation's PDF or photo with AI, has roles and permissions per user (including one for the accountant), keeps a field-by-field change history and publishes its pricing, with a free trial and no card.
Sources
- Factura electrónica · ARCA, checked on October 29, 2026
- ARCA, Resolución General 5616/2024: condición frente al IVA del receptor y comprobantes en moneda extranjera · Boletín Oficial de la República Argentina, checked on October 29, 2026
- Ley 25.326 de Protección de los Datos Personales · Argentina.gob.ar, checked on October 29, 2026