Evention Blog

Not only does Evention simplifies cash/dueback management and gratuity distributions and on a daily basis, but the application can also be leveraged by accounting at month’s end to dramatically simplify the end of month process.  This article highlights some of the methods utilized by hotel accounting to reduce time spent with month end closing

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Cash Deposits, Cash Clearing, and Cash Variance by day or by month

Depending on the process and general ledger setup for a property, it may … Continue Reading

The cash management process is one of the few practices in hospitality management that is almost completely paper driven and manually conducted.  In many cases, the methods have not changed at all in the last few decades with illegible hand-written envelopes and drop sheets, paper “IOUs” (duebacks), and a cumbersome manual audit all driving the management of the massive amounts of cash that flow through a hotel each day.  This article takes a look at the typical processes and highlights opportunities to eliminate or improve many of the inefficiencies.

To begin, outlined below is a high-level summary of the “standard” cash … Continue Reading

In 2010, tips and gratuities made headlines with lawsuits against many upscale restaurants charging management failed to distribute pooled gratuities appropriately to the service staff.  Lawsuits continue this year with the Fairmont Kea Lani becoming the latest Hawaii hotel to agreeing to settle over a dispute involving gratuity distributions.  Other recent lawsuits in Hawaii included the Turtle Bay Resort and the Maui Prince Hotel which both settled.  A number of additional lawsuits are still pending. – http://bit.ly/eKcZIe

Cash is king in hotels but management of employee drops and dueback can lead to enormous headaches for accounting staff.

With the recession hopefully now in the rearview mirror as we enter 2011, its effects are still shaping the hospitality industry. A surprising result is that consumer behavior has changed and the use of cash has actually increased as consumers have shunned credit cards in attempt to avoid the recent debt mistakes according to a recent survey from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Hotels and restaurants are of course not strangers to cash – in fact they are keenly aware … Continue Reading

New York braces for a new Hospitality Industry Wage Order that institutes sweeping changes state wide to hotels and restaurants allowing for mandatory tip pooling, increased minimum wage, and additional record keeping requirements

The media has been abuzz over the last year with lawsuits alleging violations in tip distribution to restaurant and hotel employees.  Famous chefs including Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich, and “Iron Chef” Masaharu Morimoto have all been affected.   It appears that legislators have taken notice by slapping a law on the hospitality industry effective January 1, 2011.   The sweeping changes are complex enough that the state has given … Continue Reading

RevPars are up, forecasts are improving, and staff is at a bare minimum.  How can you prepare for the upcoming increase in business levels by leveraging technology versus immediately hiring new staff?

Economic conditions are improving, rev pars are increasing and forecasts are up.  Projections from PricewaterhouseCoopers  point to an earlier than expected recovery for 2011.  Are you starting to wonder how operations will keep up with the skeleton crew now in place?  

As business improves many hotels find themselves in a precarious situation where there is a reluctance to hire new staff to meet potential new demand.  At the same time, the existing … Continue Reading

The management of gratuity and tip distributions is often handled through arcane and error prone processes. This is a major concern as employee compensation from tips in hotels, casinos, convention centers, clubs, and restaurants can equate to millions of dollars annually for a large property.  This article describes some best practices for better managing service charge, gratuity, and tip distributions to ensure fairness, accuracy, and efficiency.

First, to define gratuity distributions, there are typically two ways to manage money earned as a tip or gratuity.  In many cases, employees simply keep the tips they earn less tips outs (a portion of … Continue Reading

CHICAGO (11/1/2010) – I recently had the opportunity to attend a Hospitality Financial & Technology Professionals (HFTP) event at the Dana Hotel Chicago where Marc Gordon, President and CEO of the Illinois Hotel Lodging Association gave an enlightening speech about recent activity in the industry.  Marc presented fascinating insight to the group based on recent changes in hospitality that affect Chicago, and the entire US market. The conversation covered topics including:

• The narrowly passed McPier law which may have stopped the downward spiral of shows leaving Chicago,
• “Taxes” being collected as profits by online travel companies rather than going to the appropriate municipalities
• The … Continue Reading
  

Banquet Service Charge rates vary greatly across North America. In many cases, upper upscale and luxury hotels will charge different service charge rates even within the same city. What factors are most influential in determining the rates (region, brand, service level, local market, unions, etc.)? The map in the associated link ( http://tinyurl.com/yb9yos3 ) provides a sampling of rates across North America.

Lawsuits continue to emerge highlighting the confusion and complexity behind the distribution of banquet service charges, tip distributions, and hospitality gratuities.   Tips and service charges are common in hotels and restaurants.  Most hotels across North America typically charge between 18%-24% for a service charges on banquet events. What many customers do not understand is that the entire service charge is typically not distributed to the employees. In many cases the “house” will keep up to 5% of the service charge and the remainder will be distributed to the employees. Lawsuits are prevalent across Hawaii with recent suits also being filed in … Continue Reading