Pearson New International Edition International pcl tp indd 1

NIGHT AUDIT AND REPORT MANAGEMENT
559

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In addition to comparing registration card rates initialed by guests with the rates
programmed for posting by the PMS (or posted manually), night auditors compare
the housekeeper’s report of occupied and vacant rooms against the in-house list 
created by the PMS. The purpose is to look for rooms identified by housekeeping
as occupied but not so listed in the PMS, and to discover rooms that appear from
PMS data to be occupied but that are listed as vacant according to housekeeping
reports. In both cases, unless these rooms are identified, there will be errors when
reporting the day’s revenue. If occupied rooms are not charged, hotel revenues are
lost. If room rental charges are posted to folios associated with unoccupied rooms,
actual room revenue will be overstated because these dollars cannot be collected.
If done properly, a thorough bucket check allows the night auditor to improve
the accuracy of hotel room charges, reduces guest-initiated disputes about room rate
at check-out, and minimizes the potential for the fraudulent use of rooms by house-
keeping employees or other individuals.