Hotel PMS and Accounting Software

Is your hotel’s finance department still spending hours manually updating daily transactions? That time could be better spent on higher-value tasks.

Typically, account clerks have to manually enter every sales transaction into the accounting software. Imagine how long that would take if the hotel had 100 bookings a day. 

For a hotel with 100 bookings a day, it could take 2 to 3 hours per day just to input sales and payment data manually. It is important to choose a right accounting software to help you reduce your work.

Therefore, a hotel PMS that integrates with accounting software helps save them valuable time and effort.

The Role of an Account Clerk in a Hotel

Account clerk plays an important role in ensuring the business finances are managed well. Some of their key roles include recording daily transactions, managing expenses, assisting with financial reporting, and supporting overall financial processes.

With the right system in place, handling these tasks becomes much more efficient. When business is doing good, the number of transactions can increase significantly. It can be hard for account clerks to keep up and lose sight of the entries.

Categorization of Revenue

Categorization of revenue refers to grouping the income based on its source. Revenue is generally classified into two main types: operating revenue and non-operating revenue.

1. Operating revenue refers to the main source of the hotel’s business income
2. Non-operating revenue refers to the amount a hotel earns from activities that are not part of its main business

Example of Categories of Revenue

As an account clerk, you need to understand and categorize your revenue. One of the reasons why it is essential is the categorization of revenue to let you have clearer financial insights into which services generate the most revenue.

Breakdown of Revenue

Breakdown of revenue refers to analyzing the total income received from guests into its components like base revenue, service tax (SST) and tourism tax (TTX). 

This helps the accounting clerk to understand where the money comes from and how much of it belongs to the business like separating earnings from taxes.

For example, if a hotel charges RM106 for a room per night and that amount includes 6% SST (Sales and Service Tax), the breakdown would look like this:

Although the guest pays RM106, the hotel must set aside RM6 for the government, so only RM100 counts as the hotel’s actual revenue.

Type of Payments

As a hotel business, you get payments through multiple channels and methods, depending on how the guest prefers to pay. 

In some cases, especially online travel agencies (OTAs), payments may not be made immediately and are tagged as accounts receivable until they are settled. Account receivable refers to the expected payment that has not been received yet from the third party. 

For example, when a guest books through an OTA, the OTA collects the payment from the guest but only pays the hotel after the guest checks out. So, the payment is still pending on the hotel’s side. 

Here are the types of payments:

1. By payment channel
   

   This refers to where the payment is coming from.

   1. Direct booking
   2. Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)
      
      
2. By payment method
   This refers to how the guest pays.

1. 1. Online banking
   2. Cash
   3. Cards
      • Credit cards
      • Debit cards
   4. Digital payments
      • E-Wallets
      • Mobile payments
   5. Bank transfers
   6. Payment links
      
      

As you can see, there are numerous payment methods available. Now, how can you tell which payment is which? That’s why it is important to categorize the payment.

As the account clerk, it’s your responsibility to verify that each payment is reflected in the bank. If a payment shows up in the bank but isn’t categorized properly, you won’t know where it came from. 

How Accounting Software Integrated Hotel PMS Works

Now, can you simplify those activities in one platform? The answer is yes. 

Using accounting software integrated with hotel PMS, you can generate the transaction journal. A transaction journal is a record of charges, revenues and payments that take place within a system where it captures every in and out of money.

The transaction journal is generated as an Excel file, allowing you to transfer the data into your accounting software. This saves time, reduces errors, and ensures that your financial records are never outdated. 

When your hotel PMS is integrated with accounting software, it changes your way of working. No more manual work for you, making the processes faster and more efficient.

Summary

An accounting clerk plays an important role in making sure the hotel's finances are stable. Accounting software that integrates with hotel PMS helps account clerks work more efficiently by reducing manual data entry and organizing financial records automatically. 

In the PMS, you can categorize and break down revenue into specific components, such as room charges, taxes, and service fees. This makes it easier for account clerks to track income sources accurately, ensure proper reporting, and manage financial records more efficiently.

Instead of keying in every transaction by hand, the PMS generates a transaction journal in an Excel file that can be uploaded directly into the accounting system. This not only saves time but also improves accuracy.