12A. WRITE-OFFS&ALLOWANCE FOR DOUBLTFUL ACCOUNT
1) When a receivable account has aged 90 days or obviously become bad debt, the head of accounting department / financial controller will propose to the hotel credit committee (Managed hotels) and the owner / BOD (Owned hotels.)
a) Whether to provision the account as uncollectible, or
b) Whether to continue collection efforts.
If, during the initial 90 days collection period it becomes evident that great difficulty will be involved in the collection of a particular account, the property may obtain assistance from a collection agency, if it so desires.
2) If the property wishes to utilize the services of a collection service, the head of accounting department should consult with the VP of finance (for managed properties) and management committee (for owed properties prior to contracting the collection service.
3) Legal Action (corporate Legal to Co-ordinate)
A. Any debt collection exceeding USD 5000.00 should be referred to the hotel’s local counsel for advice.
For dusit owned hotels and hotels in Thailand , before hiring any debt collection agency, the corporate legal department must be consulted.
B. The Head of accounting department should be responsible for managing and coordinating all legal cases with local counsel and/or corporate legal department
The general manager, VP of hotel accounting (for managed hotels) and management committee (for owned hotels) must be updated on the progress of each legal case a monthly basis.
Any collection matters involving “VIP” or ”good corporate clients” should be considered a marketing issue and handled on a case – by –case basis with the general manager and director of sales and marketing.
C. Lawsuit is an integral part of the collection process and must involve the corporate legal department if this has not already been approved by management. Lawsuit in collection matter shall proceed to default judgment. However, from time to time, a debtor will dispute a suit and force it to go to trial. If a trial is indeed imminent, the corporate legal department should be notified at least one month prior to the trial date in order to review the matter and take part in the preparation of witnesses and exhibits.
Bankruptcies should not be handled by the collection agency or the hotel and must be referred to the corporate legal department.