Question

"The City Ledger"

define what city-ledger, then categories and discussed/ create a list of best practices for a hotel chain of your choice. (Be sure to briefly describe the chain in your response.)

Analyze the mechanics of the entry and make at least one recommendation for improving the process. Please be as creative as you like.

Answer 1

• In hotel accounting, the city ledger is the collection of accounts belonging to non-registered guests. This is distinct from the transient ledger (or front-office ledger, or guest ledger), which is the collection of accounts receivable for guests who are currently registered. I chose the Hilton chain of hotels. Hilton is very well known and is known for their luxury accommodations. I feel the best practices for the Hilton brand would be credit card accounts. When a guest uses a credit card, this transaction creates an account receivable for the hotel to be collected from the credit card company. This account receivable is recorded in the credit card company's city ledger account. I also feel that and advance deposits would be a good option for Hilton. When a guest pays a deposit prior to registration, the hotel incurs an account payable to the guest for services to be rendered in the future. Advance deposits from all guests are collected in a common advance deposit account. This amount is then transferred back to the guest's front-office account (folio) upon check-in.
• I would recommend:
  • Smart cards- Have their hotel key card double as a prepaid card that can be used in restaurants, stores, and spa in the hotel.
  • Travel Agencies -Reward points can be used by the guest during their stay to get exclusive deals.

• I think the best way to improve entry would be to keep the organization as your main focus because entry can be very confusing. Maybe, on new entries print out the confirmation information for each guest and start them a hard copy file that you can look back on for reference.