Tuesday, February 21, 2012

HOTEL ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT ORGANIZATION


There are many users of accounting and financial information. It takes quite a bit
of work to make sure that records are kept properly for all parties. Illustration 1-9
is an organizational chart of a full-service hotel. Some hotels may have a director
of finance, whereas others may have a controller; some of the other functions may
not exist in a hotel, such as a food and beverage department.For most limited-service
hotels, the general manager may assume the function of the controller, or that function
will be centralized at a district or regional office. Following is a short description
of some of the accounting functions in a hotel.
Director of Finance
For some hotels, the position of controller has been elevated to director of finance,
who is then also responsible not just for the accounting and purchasing functions
but also for information technology. This individual sits on the executive committee
of the hotel and works with the general manager and other executive committee
members to make decisions for the operation.
Assistant Director of Finance
This is similar to the assistant controller. In a big hotel you may see one or a few
assistant controllers. In smaller hotels, there may not be any.The controller divides
the various functions to be performed so that the workload will be even. For exworks on special projects, budgets, and the like.

Payroll
Payroll employees calculate the pay rate with the hours worked to generate the
payroll register so that paychecks are released on time. Payroll functions also include
filing all payroll taxes and tip credits for tipped employees, as well as keeping
track of vacation pay, sick pay, and other payroll-related deductions.
Accounts Payable
A key area in accounting, accounts payable ensures that all bills are paid on time
and that all discounts are taken, minimizing the costs of the hotel.Accounts payable
clerks work closely with the purchasing department to verify that all invoices to
be paid are indeed invoices of the hotel.
Paymaster/General Cashier
Pause for a minute and think how many cash banks there are in a large hotel: a
few at the front office, at least one in each of the restaurant outlets, at least one
in the gift shop, and so on. The general cashier, or the paymaster, is the person
who is in charge of all the cash banks in the hotel. He or she also makes all deposits
of checks and credit-card receipts.
Night Audits/Day Audits
Night auditors get their title because of the hours they work. At the end of the
day, after most hotel guests have retired, these auditors begin recording charges
to guests’ accounts and verifying the revenue for the hotel. However, with computers
and various technologies, the hotel industry can post charges instantaneously.
Some hotels actually have changed night auditors to day auditors.
Credit Manager
A big hotel may have its own credit manager, whose function is to check and grant
credit. In today’s business world, many transactions are done on credit rather than
cash or cashier checks. It is therefore the credit manager’s responsibility to conduct
investigations to ensure that a person or a company is creditworthy.
Accounts Receivable
Working under the credit manager are the accounts receivable (or A/R) clerks.
Some A/R clerks are responsible for the guest ledger that is associated with the
guests staying at the hotel, whereas other A/R clerks work with the city ledger,
which contains all other billings. It is important that the accounting department
have a person in accounts receivable working with the city ledger so that the hotel
is able to bill and collect revenues due on a timely basis. Some hotels have a
collection policy that states that for bills over a certain amount, for example, $25,000,
the invoice will be sent via express mail. In today’s hotel industry, where mixedused
hotel development is becoming more common, there may be A/R clerks who
work with the apartments and/or condominiums that are owned by the hotel.
Director of Information Technology
This position is still evolving in the hotel industry.While some information technology
(IT) directors report to the director of finance, some report directly to the general manager. They are in charge of all the property management systems and
point-of-sales systems and their integration with call accounting or any other automated
systems used in the hotel. Their scope of responsibility has grown in the
past decade at the property level as the use of technology has become more prevalent.
Especially in the past few years, when identity theft and data theft have
crippled hotels in their operations and compromised the security of guests, the
responsibility and importance of the IT directors also have increased. In smaller
hotels, the controller or an assistant controller may take on this responsibility.
Normally, this position is found at a district, regional, or corporate level.
Operations Analyst
This is a nice position to have in a hotel. An operations analyst performs analyses
to help managers operate the hotel more effectively. From guests’ statistics to
revenue trends, the operations analyst does it all. However, not all hotels are able
to afford an analyst on the payroll. If this is the case, an assistant controller often
performs these duties. For smaller hotels that do not have an accounting office on
the property, this function is done at the district or regional level.
Director of Purchasing
This person is often also known as the purchaser or the purchasing agent. He or
she negotiates for and buys everything the hotel needs. Although on a daily basis
it appears that all a hotel needs are food and beverage items, the fact is that there
are many other items that need to be purchased new or replenished and replaced,
from office supplies, to kitchen equipment, to bedding, furniture, decorative art
items, and many more.
Receiving Clerk
When any purchased items come in, they should be delivered to the back dock
area where the receiving clerks can check the delivered goods against the purchasing
orders to ensure that only the proper items will be received and accounted
for. More details of this function will be discussed in Chapters 9 and 10.
Storeroom Clerk
Once any goods are received, they are delivered either to the proper departments
or to the storeroom to be kept until they are requisitioned by the departments.
The storeroom clerk will ensure that the stock is being rotated. This is especially
crucial for food items so that current products will be consumed first, before any
new products that have just arrived.

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