Pearson New International Edition International pcl tp indd 1

NIGHT AUDIT AND REPORT MANAGEMENT
Section Summary:
The night auditor updates and confirms balances in the guest
and city ledgers. To balance each guest ledger, the following formula is used: end-
of-day department revenue recorded 
⫺
paid-outs 
⫽
net revenue; net revenue 
⫺
total cash received 
⫽
amount to transfer to accounts receivable; accounts receiv-
able 
⫺
accounts receivable transfers 
⫽
0.
To balance the city ledger portion of the hotel’s accounts, the following formula
is used; yesterday’s accounts receivable balance 
⫹
today’s accounts receivable
transfers 
⫽
total accounts receivable; total accounts receivable 
⫺
payments
received on accounts receivable 
⫽
today’s accounts receivable balance.
Night auditors must complete credit limit reports to compare guests’ folio bal-
ances with the amount of credit established for them. When a guest’s balance
exceeds the credit limit, an additional amount should be authorized on the guest’s
payment card. If this cannot be done, it may be necessary to ask the guest to make
at least a partial payment on the account. Decisions about extending credit limits
relate to factors such as the extension amount, potential cost to the hotel if not
paid, hotel occupancy level, the guest’s history with the hotel, and the guest’s affil-
iation, with a specific organization if the guest is a business traveler.
Trial balances are typically run to establish that the debits that were posted
equal the credits that were posted. If not, the trial process helps to identify where
potential errors might be located.
In addition to reconciling revenue accounts, night auditors may be responsi-
ble to balance their own cash drawers, match housekeeping and PMS reports
about room status, conduct bucket checks, and manually post information from
noninterfaced systems. Bank deposit slips may also be balanced to verify cash and
check revenue receipts, and credit and debit card charges are typically batched
for submission to the hotel’s merchant service providers.