8. INVOICING
1) Accounts Receivable is comprised of two categories:
A. Guest Ledger-represent the unbilled accounts of guests who are currently in the hotel, advanced deposits, master accounts and house accounts. These receivables will remain at the front desk and are the responsibility of the front office personnel although the accounting department will oversee the high balance and Pm room reports.
B. City Ledger – represent the billed but uncollected accounts, both direct bill and credit cards, of guests who have checked out from the hotel. These receivables are the end result of the guest ledger process and become the responsibility of the accounting department.
2) Transferring to city ledger – the GSA is responsible for transferring the completed / authorized guest ledger accounts to city ledger on the day of check – out. Problem accounts should be solved and transferred no later than three (3) business day after the guest / group’s departure.
The Front office manager is responsible for ensuring that all miscellaneous / outstanding charges have been forwarded and posted to the group’s account.
The Income Auditor is responsible for monitoring the Three-Day Group Departure Report to ensure compliance with this standard. Only accounts which have ben approved by accounting within the Opera PMS can be settled to city ledger by the GSA at time of check out.
Therefore, the timely transfer of accounts becomes the joint responsibility of both accounting and front office. A thorough review of each account transferred to City Leger is the direct responsibility of the front office management. The intent of this review is to ensure that each item transferred is properly documented and reflects precise billing information.
3) Posting and/or Coding the Day’s Activity-the Income Auditor is responsible for balancing his/her daily work in city ledger by verifying the grand total of all posted miscellaneous charges, rebates and /or City ledger payments to their individual audit of postings’ grand total. The income auditor is responsible for balancing the final daily audit of postings which includes all employee postings and its corresponding back – up (miscellaneous charge vouchers, rebate/credit vouchers, etc.) Miscellaneous charges and/or rebates will be posted directly to the appropriate accounts in city ledger. In the case of credit card charge backs, the posting date is to be the date of the charge back.
4) Maintaining the city ledger control totals –the credit manager/officer control sheet (Opera trial balance-AR Ledger) will be completed on a daily basis, generally by the Income Auditor. This control sheet has both manual and system totals, which must be in agreement for proper balancing. Any discrepancies should be reported to the Head of accounting department/financial controller.
5) All invoices must be verified and forwarded to the account holders within three (3) business days after being transferred to City Ledger. The only exception will be guaranteed payment reservations (No Show) as this will be initially billed with the acknowledged/signed cancellation policy to ensure its validity. The billing responsibility rests with the front office.
6) Each invoice must be supported by a guest folio, restaurant checks or other dockets and must be verified for accuracy and completeness before mailing.
7) Questions and disputes must be resolved within seventy two (72) hours of notification.
8) A balance forward statement should begin at thirty (30) days following the initial invoice and should continue in thirty (30) day following the initial invoice and should continue in thirty (30) day cycles. Pre-defined reminder notices should only be used where it is considered industry practice to do so.
Note: Prior to mailing the invoices to the respective travel agents, ensure that a photocopy of the travel agent voucher/booking orders is filed in A/R.