Creating a great commentary for your owners and corporate is a monthly mainstay in almost every hotel. It can also be a large dose of drudgery.
NB: This is an article from Hotel Financial Coach
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We will look at how you can create an effective system in your hotel to generate a strong and meaningful commentary based on information from all areas of your business. Creating this kind of information system in your hotel is a powerful tool. This commentary power tool can help you drive superior financial results if you approach it with the right spirt and a system to follow.
Who invented this commentary and why? The need for a commentary exists because of the principle of full disclosure. Full disclosure is a basic principle in the business and accounting world. What the principle says is that the readers of the financial statements need to know all relevant information that did or may impact their investment or stake in the business. Readers of only the financial statements cannot ascertain many important facts from looking at just the numbers. They need a “footnote” or special report to round out the financial results and to explain many of the reported results and future forecasts.
If a possible future event is going to have an impact on the business it needs to be disclosed. Some examples would be: pending litigation, environmental issues, labor relations, governmental regulations, management changes, competitive changes, business trends, business on the books, etc, the list is long.
The footnotes give the readers of the financials the information they need to ultimately make the most informed decision about their investment and its future. We translate the full disclosure principle in hospitality and voila we have our monthly property performance commentary, or executive commentary and sometimes it’s called an owner’s commentary.
Hotels are complex departmentalized beasts that are all connected and also very separated. What’s happening in sales has zero to do with the kitchen, but the chef and his or her food have everything to do with image and the sales and marketing efforts. Good commentaries in hotels tell the various stakeholders what’s going on and what’s planned for the coming month, quarter and year. Much of the revenues for a hotel are booked in the month for the month. On the flip side of this, it’s the group base and its performance that drives the financial results.
