david lund

Hospitality Financial Leadership: The Basic Principles

David Lund | July 15, 2019

By David Lund Accounting was a trade that had a global language much like carpentry or plumbing. There were universal rules that applied and these principles were exactly the same in the hotel business. That was good news. Accounting principles are universal. The way in which accounting is done throughout the world is a direct by-product of these principles: “Accounting principles are the rules and guidelines that companies must follow when reporting financial data. The common set of U.S. accounting principles is the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).” These principles are the very foundation that the business worl...

Hospitality Financial Leadership: Why Financial Acumen Is So Important to Your Hospitality Career

David Lund | July 8, 2019

By David Lund It is common sense to know: With more knowledge and skills your career prospects and advancement possibilities are enhanced. In hospitality it is not quite as well understood. There exists a counter culture to growing up, to raising one’s self out of the guest- and colleague-only world into the financial arena. I know and have met many people who camp out in hospitality for this very reason. The idea that they will not have to deal with numbers and the black and white is part of our culture. In this piece I am going to examine why this exists and what you can do to rise up! The hotel world has changed tremendously in ...

What Is “Hospitality Financial Leadership Anyway?”

David Lund | July 1, 2019

By David Lund This is a question I have been asked many times. Exactly what is financial leadership and why hospitality? Finding the three words together “HFL” in a sentence three years ago was not possible. I know because I tried to google them and came up with a bunch of leadership consultants and courses. Even the words “financial leadership” revealed surprisingly little. Some tidbits about CEO’s and their role but nothing any broader. Financial leadership is in my opinion the cornerstone of any manager, executive or leader’s business acumen. It enables the individual to see the importance of being plugged into the strate...

Hospitality Financial Leadership: Zero Based Expenses – How to Plan and Manage

David Lund | June 24, 2019

By David Lund I help hotels manage their profits more efficiently and in the hospitality world, there are only two main cost types that need a system and a strategy to properly control them. The two culprits are payroll and expenses. In this piece, I am going to talk about expenses, namely a process for establishing and managing your expenses on an ongoing basis in real time using a zero base. Zero based expenses are nothing new. Here is the definition from Wikipedia. Zero-based budgeting originated in the 1970s. Many businesses will budget and plan out things to maintain financials. In the past, businesses would only look at specif...

Hospitality Financial Leadership: Lies Financial Leaders Tell Themselves

David Lund | June 18, 2019

The Lie: My Balance Sheet Accounts Can Go a Month Without Being Completely Reconciled By David Lund It is the worst lie financial leaders can tell themselves. Nothing is more important than the health of your books. If your books are not caught up and if your account reconciliations are not clean and up to date, nothing else you do in your financial world matters. Period. Full stop. It’s paramount as a financial professional that you never ever let a month go by where you have not completely reconciled the books. You can’t do a clean close without having your accounts reconciled. Preparing the month end statements and not having ...

Hospitality Financial Leadership: Conducting Financial Operations Reviews

David Lund | June 10, 2019

By David Lund Hands down one of the best experiences I ever had in my career was being part of the team that reviewed the financial performance of the hotels in my region. The reason I enjoyed it so much, and have such great memories, is because I learned so much at each one and not only did I learn about the business of hotels, I had a lesson in people. The review team consisted of my boss, the hotel GM, the hotel Controller and me. In addition to the four of us, one by one the other executives or department heads would be in attendance or be called when it was their turn to review their area. The examination was a low-tech event. No P...

Hospitality Financial Leadership: Journey “Don’t Stop Believin”

David Lund | June 3, 2019

By David Lund What does your hospitality career and the band Journey have in common? Lots. How I met the band and how you can get what you want in life if you're willing to work hard, never give up and most importantly "repeat" never give up and work hard. Journey first got together in 1973 in San Francisco. The band didn't really have any commercial success until 1978 and the real results came together in 1981 with their seventh album Escape. Steve Perry was the band's vocalist as of 1977 and the group saw a lot of success in the early 80's and mixed results well into the 90's. Steve's voice and the band's power sound became the anthem...

Hospitality Financial Leadership: Benchmarking and Key Business Indicators

David Lund | May 28, 2019

By David Lund This thing in the title of this piece, I want to say was a fad that died already. Benchmarking and KBI's were all the rage a decade ago and now, today, you don't hear much at all about their usefulness or how to create them. There is a good reason they have fallen out of sight in the hospitality industry – read on to find out why. In a former corporate life, I was the author of a quarterly exposé of benchmarking for approximately 50 different measurements for about the same number of hotels. I thought the information was revealing and it created a path forward for "continuous improvement." In this piece I am g...