What does the job involve?
As the Hotel Accountant, you?ll keep track of every financial transaction in the hotel to make sure that all incoming and outgoing money is accurately recorded and handled.
Discrepancies must be investigated thoroughly and corrected, or the reason reported, such as a mistake or fraud. Wage and salary calculations and payments are handled by your office too.
Key responsibilities
As Head Accountant, your main areas of work include:
- Preparing detailed reports of income and expenditure, with comparisons to forecasts and previous periods. These will usually be produced weekly or monthly for heads of department and the general manager.
- Preparing profit-and-loss accounts and the balance sheet for senior management.
- Assisting in preparing budgets and business planning, which includes projected room revenue.
- Reconciling bank statements and accounting for VAT and PAYE to be paid to the Government.
- Chasing late payments, reporting bad debts, and keeping a careful eye on the cash flow, so that the business avoids a crisis such as an unauthorised overdraft.
What skills do I need?
In addition to your accountancy skills, you?ll need to have the following:
- Good IT skills: financial transactions are usually done through computerised systems, electronic cash tills and so on.
- Excellent attention to detail: this is essential as you?ll be preparing detailed financial information for senior management, and assisting with budgets and staff wages.
What qualifications do I need?
To start working in the finance department, often you just need to be good at figures. A grounding in mathematics and some experience of PCs and spreadsheets are often required.
In larger hotels, the Hotel Accountant may be a qualified accountant. In medium-sized hotels, you may be able to find an employer prepared to allow you to train while working.
Is it the right job for me?
To be a successful Head Accountant, you?ll need to have excellent attention to detail, and the ability to stay focused when working with complex financial data.