Pearson New International Edition International pcl tp indd 1

the Lodging Industry.
FRONT OFFICE SEMANTICS
Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI):
Standard set of accounting procedures
used to record a hotel’s financial transactions and condition.
The USALI provides a consistent and easily understood roadmap to record rev-
enues and expenses and to report the hotel’s overall financial condition. (A copy can
be purchased at www.ei-ahla.org)
Hotel owners and managers want accurate financial data to help ensure good
decision making; however, they are not the only ones interested in consistent and
accurate reports of a hotel’s financial activity. There are others who want to know
about the financial health of the business. The following individuals and business
entities review the financial data of a hotel and count on the data to be collected
and reported in a way that yields accurate information about the hotel’s financial
position:
•
Owners. A hotel’s owners want to monitor the business’s financial condition.
They may be large or small corporations, partnerships of one or more individ-
uals, or even the hotel’s managers.
•
Investors. Savvy investors want to put their money in businesses that will grow
their wealth. To determine whether a hotel is doing (or can do) that, these indi-
viduals and organizations need accurate financial information.
•
Creditors. Those who lend money or extend credit require accurate, timely
information about a hotel’s financial condition. Then they can evaluate the
likelihood that debt can be repaid according to the terms of the loan or the
credit extended.
•
Hotel operators. In many cases, one hotelier reports financial data directly to
another hotelier. For example, the general manager of a single hotel in a
multiunit organization may report financial data to an area manager who is
responsible for several hotels in a specific geographic area. The area manager
may, in turn, summarize areawide information in a report to the regional
manager.
The FOM, as much as any other hotel manager, benefits from the consistent use
of accurate bookkeeping and standard accounting procedures in the front office.