Types of Front Office Ledger in Hotels.

Introduction: What is a front office ledger in hotels?

The front office ledger is a summary form of information gathered from front office account folio. This information is used to manage the income and expenditure of any given hotel. The front office ledger is a copy of all the folios that are kept in a hotel front office.

How is the front office ledger used in hotels?

The front office ledger is used to ensure that the hotel’s income and expenditure are balanced. The front office ledger is usually maintained by a clerk/office manager. This person is also responsible for managing the folios of all incoming and outgoing guests.

The front office ledger is a summary form of information gathered from front office account folios. This information is used to manage the income and expenditure of any given hotel. The front office ledger is a copy of all the folios that are kept in a hotel front office.

There are mainly three types of ledger accounts used in hotel front office accounting;

1.     The Guest Ledger

2.     The Deposit Ledger

3.     The City Ledger / Accounts Receivable (AR) Ledger

1.The Guest Ledger, which is maintained at the front desk, consists of all of the charges made by guests registered in the hotel. Information contained in this ledger is from the account receivable  ledger (money owed to the hotel), which comprises the guest ledger (also known as transient ledger, front office ledger, or rooms ledger)

 2.Deposit Ledger– All deposits which have been collected for future reservations are kept on the deposit ledger. On the date of arrival after completing the check-in the amount from the deposit ledger is transferred or moved to the Guest Ledger.

3.The City Ledger (also known as non-guest ledger). The guest ledger contains account information on guests who are registered at the hotel. The city ledger contains account information on non-guests who have charge privileges. The incoming and outgoing cash statements are used to monitor (or track) all the money coming into and going out of the hotel.

During the cashier’s shift, folios charged to the city ledger are filed by order of room number; other charges are filed by origin, such as coffee shop, gift shop, or banquet. Before a check is charged to the city ledger, the cashier should verify the calculations and tip computation, and be certain that it has been signed. Occasionally the cashier is requested to transfer an amount from one guest account to another. Transfers also may occur between the guest ledger and the city ledger. In such cases, the cashier must fill out a charge credit slip with the amount, the name of the person being charged, and the name of the person being credited. This voucher must be validated for both transactions.