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that Work in the Current Economy Companies Save Money, Improve
Performance with Reduced Staff;
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By Cam Troutman, Vice President, Aptech Computer Systems
October 2009 � As we enter year two of our challenging hospitality industry environment, creative hotel management teams are leveraging skill and experience to deploy effective new business strategies. Innovative management strategies, tech tools, and Business Intelligence (BI) are helping hotel companies save money, operate more efficiently, and increase profitability in the current economy. Concord Hospitality Enterprises, with over 60 properties, applied a technology strategy to its accounts payable process. As the company grew, its A/P system had become a resource-hungry beast that was costing time and money. �We tamed our A/P tiger with document scanning, bar code tracking and electronic databases instead of data entry, hardcopy mailing, and filing cabinets,� said Brian Cornell, Concord�s VP of information technology. �Initially, vendor A/P invoices were sent directly to each property to review, process into Aptech�s Webvue web-based accounting package, copy, file , and then mail the original to our corporate offices where the packet was opened and the invoices were verified, posted, and then processed for payment. After all this, invoices were filed manually and stored,� Cornell explained.
Paperless payment processes make a company greener, but that is only one benefit. By implementing an automated clearing house (ACH) strategy with electronic vendor payments through an automated back-office solution, a hotel company saves money on paper, envelopes, postage, and keeps its cash in high interest-bearing accounts longer. Rather than mailing checks that might sit on vendors� desks waiting to be cashed, an operator can release money electronically on the due date, not sooner. For many companies this means holding thousands of dollars longer so it earns interest that hits the bottom line. Reduce labor costs
The best time and attendance systems deliver reports by person, hour, and other measures. BI goes farther to compare labor data per-occupied-room and as a percent of revenue. Labor is the largest variable expense for hoteliers; it is also the most controllable. When operators have more current information, they can respond to red flags quickly so their managers are staffing as prudently as possible. Most hotel companies use a daily flash report as a report card on property performance. Developing this report from night audit metrics and historical records once took a staff member two or three hours every day, but BI systems can automatically produce a variety of custom flash reports through data uploads from hotel property management, time and attendance, and other systems. The same BI technology can include Smith Travel comp set information to make the flash report more relevant and automatically distribute them via e-mail to managers and ownership. By automating the daily report process, operators eliminate staff time while making reports immediately available to managers via the Internet. Flash report automation can also produce reports during the weekend so there is no delay on Monday in responding to potentially costly issues that arose on Saturday or Sunday. Accurate information is money
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