AUSTIN, TEXAS, USA (September 14, 2015) – Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) will honor David Meyer, CHAE as the 2015 Certified Hospitality Accountant Executive (CHAE) of the Year at the 2015 HFTP Annual Convention and Tradeshow. The CHAE of the Year honors the individual that scored the highest on the CHAE certification exam in a given year and this year HFTP will induct the 32nd honoree. The Annual Convention and Tradeshow will be held October 21-24 at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue, Wash. USA.

Meyer became fascinated with the hospitality business during college when he wrote a paper about hotel management. That experience propelled him to receive a degree in Hotel-Restaurant Management. During college, Meyer began working in hotels as a night auditor where his career in finance was born.

Meyer has been thankful to work for Hilton, Omni and Carlson Hotels as a night auditor to assistant controller to centralized accounting. Since 2013, Meyer has found a home at Graves Hospitality as the controller for the Crowne Plaza and DoubleTree hotels in Saint Paul, Minn.

“I am very thankful for this tremendous honor,” said Meyer. “My local HFTP chapter is a great group of people to collaborate, commiserate and celebrate with. Whether a hotel or a golf club, finance or IT, we all face the same challenges and those challenges are easier to face and overcome as a group. HFTP as well as my local chapter have provided so many great learning opportunities.”

Acknowledged throughout the industry, the CHAE certification elevates the professionalism of both the recipient and the industry by helping set standards for the field. In late summer of 2015, HFTP celebrated the 1,500th hospitality accountant to have been certified since the program began in 1981. In 2011, HFTP launched an online practice exam for the CHAE which includes a sampling of actual CHAE exam questions that have been rewritten for examination preparation. The association also completed a four-part online CHAE review course that is available for viewing on HFTP’s web site. HFTP also administers the examination and awards the Certified Hospitality Technology Professional (CHTP).

For more information about the CHAE or CHTP programs, please contact Robin Bogdon, HFTP certification manager, at [email protected].