The start of the year 2020 has certainly earned its place in the history books. The pandemic outbreak has impacted essentially every industry and needless to say the hard toll falls on the hospitality industry – hotel, leisure, and travel companies.
The travel restrictions and government guidance on social distancing have resulted in the postponement or cancellation of many trips, events and holidays which are speculated to bring thousands of exhibitors, tourists and attendees contributing revenue to restaurants, hotels, and other venues to the host cities.
But there’s a ray of hope in the gloom, as the global lockdown concludes without prior steady and healthy income growth, more people will be cautious on their spending and potentially embrace frugality and thrift. Unless, you belong to the highest earner group that would likely spend on holidays, travel and experiences. The hotel and leisure sector is anticipating the upswing recovery on the market over a period of time.
It would be the best opportunity to set up and integrate Accounting and Operating Systems for the upcoming demands. Here are some important areas to be considered by hospitality industries
DATA Automation
Automation means employing artificial intelligence software to mechanise various business processes. Accounting system tool offers an intuitive interface, the flexibility to customise according to finance teams requirements. Integrate your Property Management System (PMS) and get all your sales, receivables, and statistics data into the accounting software automatically.
Accounting Automation
Upload your Customer/Vendor invoices with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) scanning and automate the bill entry process, with just a few clicks using the accounting software. The reduction of the time spent in performing repetitive tasks and linking it to data analytics and artificial intelligence to perform other work would be cost-efficient.
Point of Sale (POS)
A computerise POS system allows terminals at the points of sale to communicate directly with a computer system which helps front office staff to create a well-documented folio statement with a minimum number of errors. The method of accounting must make sure that all charged purchases at these points of sale are posted to the correct guest or non-guest account.
Credit Monitoring
To ensure that customer credit limits are within the acceptable range, your Accounting system must be able to set parameters to monitor guests and non-guest accounts. It helps to identify which are floor limits or high balance guests in the hotels. Additionally, the system should be able to extract daily monitoring reports of high, mid and low balances customer accounts that would help management identify key risk areas.
Financial Reporting
Seamlessly, you can generate required reports such as Financial Position, Financial Performance, and Cashflow Statement of your group hotels, and inter property transactions on the go using your accounting system. It allows the management to have more control over process data which can significantly be a time saver, improved efficiency and cost reduction allowing for the finance team to focus on more valuable tasks.
Internal Control
Auditing is a process of verifying the accounting system records for accuracy. An ideal internal control in the accounting system must be able to keep track of the documentation, be able to verify the accounting entries and balances as well as identifying vulnerabilities within the system.
Management Reporting
A comprehensive reporting structure helps the Chief Finance Officer plan their budget accordingly. The use of your an accounting system in generating Forecast and Budget reports, Key Performance Indicators report and other managerial reports gives you insights by analysing and interpreting such as data, letting you make informed business decisions.
Setting up the right accounting system is important because it provides the organisation to see the current position and how it is performing financially. The availability of the valuable information in a matter of the click of a button creates efficiency and would greatly form a part of the risk management system.
CRESCO Accounting is a chartered firm providing accounting and audit services in various industries. The team composed of Certified Public Accountants that continuously working together with in-house IT specialists in offering innovative accounting software solutions and streamlining business operations such as the hospitality industry. They are dedicated to helping companies, whether small or big, SMEs, individual business owners as well as large subsidiaries. The company’s services are designed based on the goal of providing proficient and cost-effective accounting solutions to offshore and onshore clientele while guiding and helping them achieve their full business potential.
For more information, you can chat with our live online customer support. We can also set-up a video conference call with our accounting team based in F02-04, Oceanic House Providence Estate, Mahe, Seychelles.
