Pearson New International Edition International pcl tp indd 1

Ledger Management
The hotel’s ledgers must be brought into balance each day. Each hotel or PMS may
have its own format for balancing the night audit; however, each uses the same basic
process. Consider Charles Lohr, the night auditor for the Altoona Hotel. Each day,
Charles uses the proper financial procedures to balance the night audit.
NIGHT AUDIT AND REPORT MANAGEMENT
Section Summary:
The night auditor has the primary responsibility for posting
charges to guest folios. However, other staff such as the front desk agent can also
post charges. Today’s interfaced and computerized PMSs credit and debit postings
automatically as they occur. A properly designed guest folio accurately indicates
the source and amounts of all guest charges and the date amounts of all payments.
The night auditor uses a bucket check process to ensure that all folio postings
are correct. The process serves several purposes: (1) makes sure that each guest
pays the proper room rate; (2) ensures that rooms identified by housekeeping as
occupied are, in fact, entered in the PMS; and (3) identifies rooms that are vacant
according to housekeepers but shown as occupied by the PMS.
Night auditors are responsible for no-show billings, and these must be done
carefully to minimize successful guest challenges to the billings. The night auditor
must also balance the revenue of each department in the hotel and post totals for
the Manager’s Daily report. These postings must be in balance with guest folios
before the night auditor can run the audit.