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Working in a hotel finance department can be very
much different from the typical finance or accounting
type atmosphere. Many financial jobs, especially accounting
are often associated with a more impersonal setting,
where people in cubicles crunch numbers quietly or
filter through gobs of data to analyze revenue. With
hotel finance, there are similarities to typical finance
roles, however; there are some dramatic differences
as well.
It is impossible to give you a detailed description
of how each hotel or hotel chain chooses to employ
their finance team’s talents, since many hotels
utilize their financial employees in different ways,
and hotels of various sizes have differing department
structures. Instead, I will try to provide a broad
overview of the hotel finance environment as a whole
based upon my experiences at a director of finance
and by focusing on the more important aspects of the
work.
YOUR ROLE
In many hotels, the finance department’s manager
is typically the controller or director of finance.
This person normally reports to the general manager
and, as the title recognizes, has the main responsibility
of controlling or directing the overall financial
security of the hotel. In such a position, you will
likely be working with almost every department within
the hotel as you oversee F & B charges and payments,
the payment of bills for departments throughout the
hotel, and meet with the sales department to discuss
incoming groups, forms of payment and issuance of
credit.
A background in finance or accounting can be quite
helpful in moving into such a position, but is not
always necessary. With some hotels, you might find
that half your work is dealing more with customer
service issues and questions, and the other half is
actual finance or accounting related work. Since major
hotel chains typically have a corporate office that
deals with a large portion of the accounting and finance
work, you may find that they absorb a large amount
of the more in-depth and complex financial and tax
aspects for the hotel.
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE
Expect to find that most general managers will list
the accounts receivable aspect of your work as one
of the most important areas. If you aren’t sure
what this means, accounts receivables are the outstanding
debts owed to the hotel from various groups and guests
who have yet to pay their bills. In many hotel environments,
business travelers, short-term guests, and similar
individuals or small groups will tend to pay up front
with a credit card or cash. However, in cases of larger
groups or events held at the hotel, where bills might
be running into the tens or even hundreds of thousands
of dollars, hotel credit might be requested. If that
credit is approved, as the director of finance, you
will be in charge of seeing that the money is collected
in a timely manner. Expect that you will be reporting
weekly, if not more often to your general manager,
and on a monthly basis to your regional or area VP,
regarding the status of these outstanding amounts.
GUEST SERVICE
Working in hotel finance, you may have to be prepared
to spend a large portion of your time dealing with
guest service issues. Unless you are working in a
mega-hotel and have a large staff to buffer you from
such issues, you will likely find yourself answering
questions regarding billing issues, mistakes, debit
and credit card questions, tax and tax exemption issues,
as well as resolving billing errors and questions
from the front desk staff. Find
a Hotel Management Program in your state.
AUDITS, TRAINING, & MONTH
END REPORTS
Other major aspects of your work revolve around hotel
audits, training, and month end reports. Counting
food and beverage and front desk cashier banks, updating
employees and management on the newest rules, regulations,
and changes in policy, and conducting self and department
audits, will be part of your routine. You will also
probably spend time meeting with sales and food and
beverage staff to discuss groups that are arriving
and attending ‘resume’ meetings pertaining
to upcoming groups and events where you will obtain
pertinent billing information. View a complete list
of online
accounting schools.
At the end of each month, be prepared to spend a
day or two preparing a multitude of files and reports
to submit to your general manager and corporate office,
as well as working to balance and reconcile bank deposits,
reviewing revenue numbers, determining any accruals,
and investigating discrepancies found in the expense
ledger.
So if you enjoy problem solving, helping people,
and you’re looking for a job in which you get
finance experience but that still offers plenty of
personal interaction, you might want to consider a
career in hotel finance.
If the hotel business sounds like it might be right
for you, check out the Hospitality
Schools directory today!
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