Night audit

The night audit is usually done by the night auditor or night manager after midnight. They check that every payment and charge has been posted correctly, post the room and tax charges for the night, mark no-shows and roll the date forward in the PMS. In the morning, management and finance receive reports on occupancy, ADR and departmental revenue.

How it works in practice

Example: at a 90-room hotel, the night auditor compares the card terminal totals with payments in the PMS at 1 am, traces a £18 difference to an unposted bar bill, and marks two reservations as no-shows. After the day is closed, the system produces the reports for the next day.

How to Automate the Night Audit Process

The less re-keying, the faster the audit. Charges typed in by hand are a common source of night audit differences, so the first step is to cut the number of items the night auditor has to enter. With an OPERA integration, guest app orders are posted straight to the room bill, so fewer charges are keyed in by hand and fewer differences have to be traced at 1 am.

A cloud panel such as the G-Commerce Manager helps the night shift in three ways:

• Orders and revenue are visible per outlet in real time, so the auditor sees where a total comes from without waiting for a report.
• Online payments go through Stripe and the system settles sales per outlet automatically.
• Sales reports per outlet, day and month export to Excel in one click, ready for management and finance in the morning.

How technology helps

This covers sales of services such as room service, spa and minibar, each settled for its own point of sale.