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Daily Procedures Guide: Hotel

A Guide for Recommended Daily Procedures in the Hotel Industry.

 

Overview 

The Daily Procedures Guide outlines best practices for using RMS features and reports on a daily, weekly, monthly, end-of-financial-year (EOFY), and ongoing marketing and accounting basis.

For your marketing and accounting reports, we recommend Scheduling them to be automatically sent to the relevant individuals, departments, or stakeholders.

At the end of this guide, you'll find a downloadable copy that you can customise to suit your specific needs.

All underlined Blue Hyperlinks will take you directly to the corresponding Help Centre articles for more detailed support.

 

Glossary of Terms

In this guide, we have used generalised terminology that may differ from your business.  Here is a Glossary of this terminology. 

Category  This is the grouping of your types of accommodation; you may know these as Room Types or Apartments.
Area This is the individual locations that can be booked; you may know these as Rooms or Apartments.
Guest  Guest, Client, Customer
Rate Fee, Rent, Tariff

 

Live Reports

Go Paperless with RMS Cloud and Streamline Your Front Desk Operations

The In/Out Movement Screen is a dynamic, live report that keeps you updated with the latest reservation activity in real time.

As guests check in and out, the report refreshes instantly with no need to reload or print. For optimal efficiency, we recommend keeping the screen open to Departures in the morning and Arrivals in the afternoon while working at reception.

Everything you need is right at your fingertips:

  • In-House Guests
  • Account Balances
  • Reservation Notes
  • Housekeeping Status
  • Contact Details
  • Company and Travel Agent information
  • and a whole lot more, all accessible from a single screen.

With just one click, you can switch views or dive directly into a reservation to take action.

Need to share a report? Save time and reduce paper waste by Scheduling automated report deliveries to individuals or departments.

And because all data is live and stored in the cloud, emergency reports are accessible from any mobile device, unlike printed copies, which quickly become outdated and can be misplaced or inaccessible. 

 

Daily Front Office Procedures

  1. Today's Arrivals: All reservations scheduled to arrive today should be checked in.
    Late arrivals and no-shows may be processed later, in line with your property's procedures.
  2. Today's Departures: Ensure all departing reservations are checked out.
    If a reservation has an outstanding balance, it may still be checked out and followed up later.
    Important: You cannot check in a new reservation to an area that has not been checked out. 
  3. Housekeeping: Update housekeeping tasks regularly to maintain accurate cleaning status and area readiness.
  4. End of Day:
    1. If RMS is set to roll over automatically overnight, reconcile your shift using the Cash Transaction Report before finishing.
    2. If using the manual End of Day process, reconcile the day with the Cash Transaction Report and complete Night Audit processing to roll over the accounting date.
  5. Message Centre is an important tool for your communications. Check this regularly to stay on top of your Guest, Employee, and Reservation Communications. 

 

Reports

The following is a guide for when reports should be run.

Any reports that you use frequently can be saved as a 'Favourite' Favourites star icon for quick access.

All reports can be Scheduled for emailing, which will save time and ensure any custom selections are the same each time

 

Financial vs Operational Revenue

The reports in RMS can be categorised into two types of reports. 

  • Financial Reports: which will report on Actual Financial Figures and will not change.
  • Operational Reports: which will include calculations like averages, prorating, inclusions/exclusions, and percentages. 

For further information, see Financial Revenue vs Operational Revenue

 

Daily Reports

The following reports are recommended to be done Daily.

Arrivals/Departure Lists (inc Overdue Arr&Dep)

Go to the In/Out Movement Screen by either: 

  • In the side menu of RMS, go to Reservations > In/Out Movements.
  • Click on the In/Out Movements icon icon on the top toolbar. 

The date will always default to today's Date. 

Select the "Filter" or the appropriate list.

  • Expected Arrivals = Check Ins
    • Change the Date to Yesterday's Date to view Overdue Arrivals
  • Expected Departures = Check Outs
    • Change the Date to Yesterday's Date to view Overdue Departures
  • In House Guests = Guests Currently In House (Includes Guests who Have Checked In today and Guests who have Not Checked Out today.) 

You will be presented with a list of the reservations that match your search.  

From this screen, you can:

  • View and Edit Reservations
  • Check reservations In and Out
  • Print a Report based on the Filter.
  • Send out bulk SMS messages or Form Letters.
    • E.g., Registration Card, Welcome Letter, etc. 

 

Housekeepers Report

Reports > Daily > Housekeepers 

 

Task Allocation

If you have chosen to use the full Housekeeping module and wish to allocate areas/tasks to specific housekeepers, please refer to the Help Centre article

 

Housekeeping/Staff Portal

If you want to use the Housekeeping Portal, please refer to the Help Centre Article

 

Report

If you do not fall into the above categories, build the Housekeeper's report for today's date. 
Go to Reports > Daily > Housekeepers 

You may choose to Group by No Grouping or Group by Task; try the options to see what suits your property. 

When using a Printed Report, you will need to Manually update the Clean Status of the areas via the Clean Screen

 

Requirements & Packages Report

Reports > Daily Reports > Requirements List

Requirements and Packages that have been assigned to Reservations, Companies or Travel Agents are listed here for action. 

They can also be Viewed, Added, Monitored and Printed via the To Do Chart. 

For a printed report, in the side menu of RMS, go to Reports > Daily > Requirements List

  • Select a Date or Date Range. (Today's date will show by default)
  • Select Requirement(s) or leave all
  • Group By Requirement (Optional)
  • Include packages (Optional)
  • Select Build
  • Print the report

 

Traces Report

Reports > Daily Reports > Traces

Traces which have been assigned to Reservations, Companies or Travel Agents are listed here, for action on the day specified. 

They can also be viewed, added, monitored and printed via the To Do Chart for Traces. 

For a printed report, in the side menu of RMS, go to Reports > Daily > Traces

  • Select a Date or Date Range. (Today's date will show by default)
  • Select a specific Department or leave all (Optional)
  • Select Build
  • Print the Report   

 

Cash Transactions

Reports > Accounting > Cash Transactions

It is recommended that all properties use this report to balance their till takings on a daily basis. 

For Direct Credit & Cheque Receipts, replace the Transaction Comments with Date Banked for reconciling on the Cash Transactions report. (Optional)

Using the default options to build the report, the report should match your physical cash, credit cards, and cheques taken for today.

The Report can be filtered down for Shift balances using the options of: 

  • Transactions Created Between
    • Time Created Between (for transactions performed in a time frame)
  • User (for individual user transactions)  

The Cash Transaction Report must/should balance performing your End of Day processes. 

 

High Bills

You can check the balance of reservation accounts on the In/Out Movement Screen in the Balance Column. 

Click on the Header title "Balance" to sort from Highest to Lowest account balances and follow up on accounts with a high outstanding balance.

The Columns can be reordered for a view that suits your personal needs. 
Save Column Order Preferences on the In/Out Screen

 

Rate Variance

Reports > Management > Reservations > Quoted Rate Variance
Reports > Accounting > Rate Variance

Build a Rate Variance Report to check reservations for Overridden Rates and the difference between the Quoted Rate and the Overridden Rate.   

 

End Of Day

Please refer to option 1 or 2

Option 1. Manual End of Day 

  • Ensure all Arrivals & Departures have been actioned using the In/Out Movements screen. 
    Reservations > In/Out Movements
  • Cash & EFTPOS Machines are balanced to the Cash Transactions report for the full day period.
  • Run End of Day Utility: Utilities > New Day/Night Audit
    Follow the steps in the utility to the end
    • Help Centre Article: New Day/Night Audit
    • End of day will run if other users are logged into RMS; however, it is recommended to log out and back in to ensure the accounting date has changed.

 

Option 2. Automatic End of Day

RMS can be set to Automatically run End of Day at a time set by the property.

 

Weekly Reports

It is recommended to view the following reports Weekly

 

Arr/Dep/StayOver Forecast 

Reports > Daily > Arr/Dep/StayOver Forecast

Shows how many Arrivals, Departures, and Stay Overs you have for each day. 

A good report for guiding you when creating next week's Staff rosters. 

  • Run for required date range: usually 7-14 days
  • Build

 

Housekeeper Forecast Report

Reports > Daily > Housekeeper Forecast Report

Shows how many Arrivals, Departures, and Stay Overs, etc, you have for each day. A good report for guiding you when creating next week's Staff rosters.

  • Run for the required date range: usually 7-14 days.
  • Build

 

Overdue Deposits Report

(If using deposit rules set up in Rate Manager)

Reports > Daily > Overdue Deposits

This report shows reservations that have not paid a deposit by their due date. 

  • (Optional) Under "More Options"
    • Sort By – Deposit Date
    • Group By – No Group
      • If you are using the Second deposit option, ensure that you tick to group by 1st/2nd deposit.
  • Build

 

Projected Forecast Report 

Reports > Management > Statistics > Projected Forecast

May assist in Revenue Management Strategy 

  • By Month (or Date Range)
  • Build

 

Debtors Ledger 

Reports > Reports > Accounting > Debtors Ledger

The report will assist in following up outstanding balances for guests who checked out/cancelled with a balance

  • Select Reservation Status of: (Optional)
    • Departed
    • Cancelled
    • No Show
  • Under More Options:
    • Select: "Exclude Future Reservations" (Optional)
  • Build

 

RMS Pay Settlement

Reports > Management > Financial > RMS Pay Settlement

The RMS Pay Settlement Report allows RMS Pay customers to view transaction details, fees, and payout amounts for RMS Pay transactions.

Transactions may take up to three business days to clear, and only those that have completed processing will appear on the report.

The RMS Pay Settlement Report can be generated based on accounting date, settlement date, or batch ID. The batch ID can be matched with the deposit transaction on the bank statement when a payout is made.

  • Build either = By Settlement Date or By Accounting Date
  • Build

 

Monthly Reports

It is recommended to view the following reports Monthly

Debtors Ledger 

Reports > Accounting > Debtors Ledger

The report will assist in following up outstanding balances for guests who checked out or cancelled and have an outstanding balance. This will include Invoiced and Uninvoiced transactions.  

  • Group by Company or Travel Agent
  • Date = "Today"
  • Build

 

Statements for Accounts Receivable

Reports > Accounting > AR Statements

These Statements are used to issue bulk debtor statements to companies and/or Travel Agents, which show all outstanding accounts. 

  • Enter the date range you wish to print statements for.
  • Choose: Company or Travel Agent
  • Build
    • Optional: After reviewing the Statements
    • Select "Email Statement if Company or Travel Agent has an Email Address"
    • Build: This will then Email all statements to Recipients that have an Email Address.  

 

Statements for Company/Travel Agent

*If NOT using Accounts Receivable

Reports > Accounting > Statements

Help Centre Article: Statements

These Statements are used to issue bulk debtor Statements to Companies or Travel Agents, with an outstanding account.

  • Select: 'Specific Company or Travel Agent'
  • Select: the Company or Travel Agent
  • Build
    • Optional: After reviewing the Statements
    • Select "More Options"
    • Select "Email Statement if Recipient has an Email Address"
    • Build: This will then Email all statements to Recipients that have an Email Address.  

 

Cash and/or Charge Report

Reports > Management > Financial > Cash/Charge Report

Help Centre Article: Cash/Charge Report

This report shows all cash received or charges raised against each GL Code. 
It is recommended that you build the report based on your Accounting Method. 

  • Cash Accounting: Build the Report using the "Cash Report" option.
  • Accrual Accounting: Build the Report using the "Charge Report" option.

You may want to schedule this report for your Accountant. 

 

Occupancy Report

Reports > Management > Statistics > Occupancy  

This report is used to look at the properties' performance over a date range based on occupancy. 
A good report for the Revenue Manager

 

Marketing Report

Reports > Management Statistics > Marketing  

This report shows the number of reservations from particular reservation types/business sectors over a period of time and can be used to track reservation types/business sectors, performance. 
A good report for Marketing. 

 

Projected Forecast Report

Reports > Management > Statistics > Projected Forecast

May assist in Revenue management strategy

 

NZAS Report

*New Zealand Properties only

Reports > Management > Statistics > NZAS Report

This report shows the Occupancy and Accommodation Revenue statistics as set out by the New Zealand Bureau of Statistics. 

 

Quarterly Reports

It is recommended to view the following reports Monthly

 

ABS Report

*Australian Properties Only

Reports > Management > Statistics> ABS Report

This report shows the Occupancy and Accommodation Revenue statistics as set out by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

 

Annually/Yearly/EOFY

It is recommended to view the following reports Annually, Yearly or at the End of the Financial Year (EOFY)

Occupancy 

Reports > Management> Statistics > Occupancy

Shows you your occupancy per category as well as total revenue. 

  • Date Range = I.e. 1 July to 30 June 

 

Cash and/or Charge Report 

Reports > Management > Financial> Cash/Charge Report

This report shows all cash received and or charges raised against each GL Code. 
You may want to schedule this report for your Accountant. 

  • Date Range = I.e. 1 July to 30 June 

 

YTD Cash/Charge 

Reports > Management > Financial > YTD Cash/Charge 

This report shows a comparison of the charges posted this financial year with last year. 

 

Debtors Ledger 

Reports > Accounting > Debtors Ledger

This will show you all your Debits and Credits as of the "As Of" Date.

  • Sort By: "Arrival Date"
  • Group by: "AR" (Optional)
  • As of Date = "Today" or "EOFY"

 

Downloadable Copy

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