Pearson New International Edition International pcl tp indd 1

Debit (accounting)
Accounting transaction that records a change on the left side of a T
account in an asset, liability, or owner’s equity account.
GLOSSARY
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GLOSSARY
Debit card
Payment system in which money collected by a merchant (e.g., hotel) is auto-
matically (electronically) deposited into the merchant’s local bank account. As with credit
and T&E cards, merchants accepting the cards are assessed a fee for the right to do so.
Decentralized accounting system
Financial management system that collects accounting
data from an individual hotel site and combines and analyzes that data at that same site.
Deeded interest (time-share)
Ownership in perpetuity that can be sold or passed on to the
owner’s heirs.
Deep cleaning
Intensive cleaning of a guestroom, usually including thorough cleaning of
drapes, lamp shades, carpets, walls, and other room fixtures and furnishings.
Defect
Outcome arising from a failure to meet standards. A defect can be as simple as an
accounting error by a front desk agent or as significant as an agent’s failure to take proper
action when an obviously intoxicated guest is observed in the hotel’s public areas.
Defibrillator
Machine used to deliver an electrical shock to the heart in case of cardiac
arrest (i.e., a heart attack) in efforts to reestablish a normal heartbeat.