General manager guide, part 3: running the day

This is part 3 of 4 of the Xenia general manager guide: 1. Your overview and your role · 2. Approvals and keeping control · 3. Running the day · 4. Menus, rates, stock and your team.

A morning routine

1. Overview: read the boxes (part 1).

2. Approvals: clear anything waiting (part 2).

3. Daily report: how yesterday went.

4. Alerts: read anything new.

5. Cashier shifts: make sure no shift was left open.

6. Front desk and Room board: who arrives and leaves today, and which rooms are ready.

The front desk guide shows the desk screens in detail. The rest of this part covers the reports.

The daily report

Open Daily report. Each morning Xenia works out how the hotel did on the day before and keeps it exactly as it was worked out, so you can go back to any day. Pick a day from the list on the left.

• Revenue, Payments taken, Occupancy and Still owed.

• Average room rate and Per available room: how much each night sold for, and how much each room earned whether sold or not.

• Arrivals and Departures.

• What to look at: discounts given, charges voided, extra nights charged by the night audit, and alerts raised. Each links to where you can read more.

Switch on Email me the report each morning at the top, and it arrives about 07:00 hotel time, after the night audit.

The night audit

Open Night audit. Every night, after the time set in hotel settings, Xenia charges each guest still in their room past their check-out date, so nothing depends on someone remembering. The page shows when it last ran, when the next pass is, and what it would charge now. History lists each pass and what it did.

Run now does it straight away. You rarely need it, but it is there if the hotel closes the day early.

Reports

Open Reports for the full pack. Choose a report, set the dates, and read it on screen, Print it or Export CSV for a spreadsheet.

The ones a general manager reaches for most:

• Bookings, Reservations and Rooms and occupancy: who is staying and how full the hotel is.

• Revenue by department: what the rooms, the bar, the restaurant and the rest earned.

• Outstanding balances and Due-out folios: who owes money, and the bills for guests leaving today.

• Cashier reconciliation: what each cashier counted against what was expected.

• Void log, Transfers and Credit limit overrides: the things that need explaining, with who did each and who approved it.

• Closed and written off: bills closed with a balance left on them.

Outlet reports: the bar and the restaurant

Open Outlet reports for sales, voids and what each cashier took, for the bar, the restaurant and any other outlet. Pick the dates and the outlet at the top.

• Sales: the total and how many bills.

• Paid at the outlet and Charged to rooms: how much was settled at the till, and how much went onto guests' hotel bills.

• Voided: items removed from orders, and how much they were worth.

• What was sold and How it was paid, broken into items, VAT, service charge, cash, card and transfer.

• A green check, Agrees with folios, confirms the room charges match what the front desk holds on the guests' bills.

• The tabs Sales, Voids, Dish costs and Cash-up go deeper.

Next: Part 4: menus, rates, stock and your team.